After a decade of writing about Riverbend, it sometimes feels as if I’ve covered the festival from every possible angle.
I’ve hung out on the wings of the Coke Stage and developed a wicked headache from inhaling too much of Earth, Wind & Fire’s artificial smoke.
I’ve wandered around Riverfront Parkway with roaming performers and spent one exceptionally hot and sweaty day hanging out with a food vendor serving up fried gator tails by the cartload.
I’ve boarded boats on the river, crashed with the WTM Blues Band in Thorpe McKenzie’s swank tour bus and convened with a holographic cowboy in the Texas on Tour mobile unit/hellscape. I even saw a man get laid out during a fistfight while Willie Nelson sang about peace, love and pot smoke.
Trying to think up new angles to cover each year can sometimes feel like a herculean task because, rightly or wrongly, I’ve long felt as if I’ve seen all there is to see and done all there is to do.