On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in June we loaded up the car with blankets, lawn chairs and various 
other supplies and went to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland to experience "A Day in the World"
This concert – starting at an extra early 5:30PM featured Thievery Corporation, Manu Chao, Bebel Gilberto and 3 DJ’s from ESL Music Ursula1000, Thunderball and Nickodemus.
When the show was announced, we decided that this was a Lawn show. At Merriweather they have a Pavilion and then an expansive lawn which can be heavenly or hellish depending on the weather and crowd around you. We also decided to wait until a few days prior to decide if we would go – wishing to avoid hell…
We lucked out.
A more perfect day could not be imagined for June 23rd in Maryland. Chelsea was not so sure about this show – but we suggested she bring a friend and at worst they could make fun of people and at best they would love it.
As we arrived Bebel Gilberto was in mid set and her fine voice and the 21st century Samba beats floated over the lawn as we found our way to the top of the hill. By the time we settled in her set was ending and one of the DJs took over… So it was a good time to go hunt for Food and Beverages.
We got in line behind this:
THis was, without question, one of the most beautiful Tattoos I have ever seen. She said it was 4 months old and had taken 12 hours over 4 sessions.
Thievery Corporation’s set was wonderful. They featured Drums, more drums, Violin, Sitar, Bass, Trumpet, Sax, Guitar, plus Rob Garza and Eric Hilton – the duo that creates the music and produces the records on keyboards, computers and turntables.
On their albums they feature many famous guest vocalists. The last CD The Cosmic Game featured David Byrne, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips and Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction) Live, the lead vocals changed from song to song, the singers were from Columbia, Argentina, Brazil, Jamaica, Washington DC and I don’t remember them all. This band does not really tour – they are only doing this show and a festival in San Francisco this summer. Last December they did 5 nights at the 9:30 club in DC. If they do come to your town don’t miss it!
Rob Garza – Not a typical Rock Star.
Several Thievery Corporation songs featured a Belly Dancer.
Meanwhile, up on the lawn, we were dancing too…
We knew very little about Manu Chao before he and his band Exploded onto the stage, I had heard just a few samples of songs and knew it was an upbeat dance happy party groove, that he sang in several languages, often mising them up inthe same song and was a superstar in various parts of the world.
You know you are in for high energy when half of the band STARTS the set shirtless. None of this – "Oh, I am warming up and need to cool off now". They started out effectively saying saying "Yes, we are hot, now get up and dance!" The crowd responded. The music had elements of The Police "Cha! Cha!" Bob Marley "War in th East, War in the West…" Plus the shirtless funkified intensity of The Red Hot Chili Peppers – and dozens of other elements beats and grooves. He won me over completely, but by this time – now about 10:30 all 3 girls were tired and we made a run for it.
Here’s a free legal MP3 sample Download RainininParadize.mp3
By the way, I took all of the band pictures with my little Canon digital camera shooting from our place on the top of the lawn – zooming in on the giant screen. Here is what the view looked like – un-zoomed. But the sound was perfect!
The Big Bright spot is the screen at the outer edge of the Pavilion, the little spots are the screens on either side of the stage, and the little tiny light at the top of the picture is the Moon.
It was a beautiful night for A Day in the World.