-Having a friend arrive early and stake out a spot ten feet from the center of the stage. -Thoroughly enjoying the opening set by Okkervil River, instead of just glaring at them for 45 minutes wishing we could just get on with the headliner that (in all other cases) I had paid to see.
-The arrival of a 40-ish stoner, clad in sweaty tie-dye T-shirt, mystic necklaces and clutching a copy of the dictionary (naturally) as he twirled around madly, high on any number of illegal substances, screaming "I'M HERE" over and over only inches from the four disgusted teenage plastics who had seen their crafty effort to cut up to the front of the crowd thwarted by his unbridled odorous enthusiasm.
-The constant look of bemusement on the bearded face of Sam Beam as thousands of fans pushed, struggled and bounced beach balls at him while he made his way through a set of intimate acoustic favorites.-Finally seeing the battery light start blinking on the camera the 6'4" surfer doofus kept holding up in front of me the whole night.
-The moment halfway through the Iron & Wine set when the 5'0" girl next to me grabbed the 5'3" girl who was trying to cut in front of her (and drag another friend through with her) by the shoulders and shoved her back into the crowd with extreme prejudice.
-Listening to a beautifully minimalist take on "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," knowing that half the crowd was having daydreams of vampires and high school dances, and the other half was cursing the fact that they ever used that song in the "Twilight" movie.-The fact that the entire spectacle came free of charge.
