A Weekend of (filming) Music

So it took me a little longer than expected to recap the weekend.  It was a great weekend of music and we got some great footage for the documentary.  The only downside was that working to get that footage left me little time to just sit and listen.

The third 80/35 felt like it really hit a groove.  It's big enough to draw A-list bands but still feels like a neighborhood festival.  We shot a great interview with William Elliot Whitmore, and after negotiating level after level of handlers, and with the help of the amazing Jill Haverkamp, we were able to shoot an interview with Spoon's Britt Daniel.

Mr. Daniel, or Britt as I've decided he'd like me to call him, was very cool and had a real perspective on Daytrotter.  I'm so glad we were able to sit down with him for the film.

After watching Spoon's headlining set on the main stage, Naura and I were both feeling too tired to head to The Mews to catch the always amazing Poison Control Center.  But I must admit my head exploded a little the next morning when I saw this picture from the friends we would have gone to the show with:

Sunday morning, we rolled east to the Codfish Hollow Barn just outside of Maquoketa for the Daytrotter Barn on the 4th Show.  We went in with a few interviews in mind, a few performances we wanted shoot, but aware we wouldn't be able to get everything.  We got everything.

We shot performances and interviews with The Walkmen, Dawes and Justin Townes Earle, as well as performance from Jonny Corndawg with Dawes as his backup band.  We got great interviews and footage of the Daytrotter crew making the whole thing happen. 

But what made the footage so killer was the atmosphere of the event itself.  I've never seen musicians and fans so charged to be with each other.  The Walkmen and Dawes both played afternoon sets in Des Moines and then drove through the rain to play a second show because they wanted the experience of playing a Daytrotter barn show.

We wish we could just throw all our material into the social media stream.  But aspiring to put together a feature as we are, and in the interests of only putting out what we've had the chance to polish, we'll be sitting on it for now.

Once we're happy with the cut of our trailer, we'll be launching our website and Facebook pages, and then we will be posting shorter bits of video and pictures from these amazing shoots.

Several people approached us while we were shooting the barn show with enthusiasm and curiosity about the film.  We look forward to staying engaged.