What can I possibly say about one of the best times I have ever had? In Jacksonville? In the world? I’ve traveled pretty far and wide, but the Tallyrand Music Festival that just stormed its way through Jacksonville’s metro park, hipsters and hippies alike, really stole the show yesterday.
It wasn’t crowded, but there was definitely a crowd. Spread between the three stages set up for our entertainment, it definitely made the audience seem a little sparse at times. At times throughout the day my friends and I, spread across some oversized beach towels, questioned whether or not the thin audience was a good thing or a bad thing. All in all, we determined, it was better for us. Therefore, a good thing.
People of all ages were showing up to support a relatively underground art scene that is bursting and budding through the topsoil to make Jacksonville a great up and coming artistic community. Everyone there was there for a reason. Not because it was the thing everyone was doing. Not because it had been massively publicized. But because Jacksonville has finally broken through to become a population of artists, or people who revel in the art that is made available to us.
Tallyrand brought a new breed of underground/mainstream music to Jacksonville that many people here love and enjoy, but has in the past not been made readily available to us. I hear these songs in the clubs or bars. DJ’s spin their discs and hipsters dance to them. we play them in our bedrooms and on our car stereos, but never before have they all come to us as one unit, as one massive party live and in person.
One might have expected a festival like this to have more of a draw. I mean, such big names in music as Polyphonic Spree, The Bravery, Spoon, and Keller Williams were all coming together for Jacksonville’s viewing pleasure. Or listening pleasure. But the atmosphere seemed to reflect a trend in Jacksonville these days. Really cool things are happening, and only those keyed into really cool things are picking up on it. These days in Jacksonville this kind of event is mostly spread through word of mouth. And I was a part of that massive mouth. So, all in all, I felt cool that I knew to come, and that I was basically surrounded by cool people.
I didn’t get there until right before Polyphonic Spree went on at 3. The Tallyrand stage was located at Metro Park’s Sydney Opera House-esque, a stage covered by a massive white tent that stretched into four peaks. They cut into the sky elegantly, and Polyphonic’s music seemed like a perfect match for it. It was eloquent and jovial and perfectly in sync. There must have been twenty people in the band hitting each note on cue. “They must practice all the time,” I thought to myself, envisioning the oversized band stuffed into a tour bus with their instruments banging together in an attempt to practice on the road.
I ran into a friend almost immediately. A guy I haven’t seen in years, a throwback to my high school days, walked into the present with a big grin and a huge hug. It started off a day filled with friends crossing paths, cold beers, hugs, bobbing heads in front of an amazing show, etc.
I ran into another friend, a few cousins, my sister’s old best friend from years ago, an acquaintance that is now one step closer to friend status, and some kids from my old church. And that’s just to name a few. It felt like my whole past, present, and future had come together for one of the coolest things to ever happen in Jax.
I remember the days when Jacksonville would try and have festivals like this, but no dice. I like to blame it on the conservative right that seemed to control this town for at least a decade. Maybe they still do, but are loosening their tight grip on our “society”. Call me crazy, but I think they were preventing the cool from coming to Jacksonville. But, you cant keep the cool away, no matter how hard you try. And as Jacksonville’s art scene has slowly trickled through the cracks over the years to finally form one massive puddle, the cool finally came to us. And being there for this festival, the first of its kind to my own knowledge, I was ecstatic to be a part of it. And extremely proud that I knew so many of the people there. It kind of reaffirmed my belief in my own coolness.
The Bravery put on another great show and I was singing along to songs I didn’t even know. But more than that it was just a great day in all. One of those days that only happen every so often, that keep you going through the crap days because you know one like the Tallyrand Festival will eventually come along again. The weather was beautiful. We could walk around outside with beers in our hands. We were listening and watching some of our favorite musicians. And it wasn’t too crowded. If this keeps on happening, if Jacksonville really is breaking through into the cool, then it wont be long before this kind of event is packed full of people leaving us beer stained, shoulder bruised and irritated. But it was perfect. Peaceful. And insanely fun.
My friend kept saying she wished we could do this every weekend, only to retract and say that if that were the case we probably wouldn’t appreciate it so much. I think that’s a profound insight to where Jacksonville is at right now. We are on the cusp. Things are booming. The cool is coming full force these days, but people haven’t caught on yet. We aren’t jaded yet. We still thrive in the greatness. We still think being outside with friends and great music and great weather is one of the best days ever.
I’m sure one day Jacksonville will kind of reach that place where we are jaded and are too cool to find these things cool, but luckily that day isn’t quite here. In my opinion, I moved back to Jacksonville at just the right time. And I can appreciate it. Coming from San Francisco, one of the country’s biggest cities, that jovial, appreciative perspective is long gone. So, we get the best of both worlds these days. We get the cool, but we also get to enjoy it.
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