Saturday night the stage was set for an epic evening of Minnesota music. Four of our arguably most talented acts were to descend on one of the most picturesque venues at Duluth's Bayfront Festival Park. We were keeping a keen eye on the forecast all week, as the threat of thunderstorms looked to be very real. Arriving in Duluth early in the day it was obvious that our concerns were justified as the city was blanketed in a thick fog.
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| Canal Park Lift Bridge shrouded in fog |
A cold wind blew in off the lake making temps at the front of the stage dip into the 50's and a drizzly rain was off and on for most of the first part of the evening. Haley Bonar got things started off as the crowd began to filter in through the gates. The smell of beer and fried food made making it more than 50 feet past the front door without a pit stop all but impossible. With local fare in hand we headed to the stage, a towering construction of stone and steel just feet from the edge of Lake Superior.
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| Cargo ship passes behind the stage as Doomtree gets started |
Doomtree took the stage and the winds literally changed. Reversing direction from North off the lake it changed to coming from the South and was warmer and felt heavy with humidity. The clouds in the sky were dark and swirling. Things were about to get even more sketchy. Doomtree's set was action packed and their immensely talented front-woman Dessa brought her brand of soulful vocals to Duluth for the evening.
Even as the rains came, the Doomtree fans stood strong. (A quick side note on Outdoor Concert Etiquette; go ahead and bring an umbrella if rain is in the forecast, just don't stand at the front of the stage if you plan to use it. There is nothing quite as annoying as standing in the rain to try and enjoy a show but only getting a view of the umbrella in front of you. You need to make a choice, be up front OR use the umbrella, not both!) Wrapping up their full set to a huge crowd dancing in the rain was more than a little fun and the sound from the Bayfront stage was amazing.
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| The sky gets ugly while Doomtree performs |
Unfortunatley, Mother Nature wasn't wiling to play nice and after just a handful of songs TBT was forced to leave the stage due to lightning strikes. Check out Heady Trade Co's video of mid song lightning HERE, pretty cool stuff. After just a few short minutes they returned telling the crowd that for the safety of their crew they would keep playing but if lightning struck again they'd have to leave again. Cheers of appreciation filled the air. Just a few cords into the next song and the sky was once again filled with bolts of lightning and that marked the end. As TBT left the stage their tour manager came out telling people to head over to Amsoil Arena, just a few hundred yards away. There we could wait out the storm and that they would eventually continue. After nearly an hour of killing time and witnessing several more lightning strikes, we decided to head out. This turned out to be a major fail on our part as eventually TBT did return to the stage to play for a tiny crowd of about 1000. I'm not sure how long they played, but even one more song would have been worth the wait.
Until next year, Bayfront. We're hoping to see this show happen again.
