Good Time Guarantee — Mile of Music 12

I tore through the Mile of Music Festival like a crazy person this weekend, sprinting from one end of the Avenue to the other, determined to hear as much music as I possibly could. (As it turns out, that’s a lot of music!)

I soaked in every set I heard from Wednesday’s night through Sunday and I’m so grateful to everyone who works so hard to put this extravaganza of love and lyrics together.

If you’re a nut for live music like I am, you suffer from a curious combination of appreciation for the music you’re hearing, and FOMO that you might be missing a great band. You want to be everywhere, hearing everything all at once. At the same time, you’re thrilled to be exactly where you are, listening carefully to every note.

I’m telling you, it’s the best kind of exhausting I know.

As we gathered at our house in the mornings, resting our poor feet and gearing up for another assault on the Avenue, we compared notes.

Our son Vinnie and his wife Danni said they loved a band we hadn’t even penciled into our schedules — Bombargo. They described the energy and vibe and mentioned lead singer Nathan Thoen crowd surfing on an surfboard. Sunday morning, I scrolled through the Mile of Music team’s photo recap of Saturday and saw an iconic picture of that scene, and there, in the corner, was Vinnie, holding the surfboard high.

One of Bombargo’s songs is “Good Time Guarantee,” and the band from Canada delivers on that promise.

On their recommendation, we added Bombargo to our Sunday schedule and holy cow! What a show! The music and showmanship was excellent, and so was the message. They encouraged us to dream big, to let the good things inside of us grow, to plant them and share them with the world.

That’s the whole vibe of this festival — supporting dreams and letting good things grow.

Some of the really excellent bands we saw invited fellow musicians to share their set. Rebel Eves, a talented trio, happened to have lunch with members of Bermuda Search Party, recognized their talent, and invited their horn players to share the stage with them.

Claire Kelly and members of her band shared a set with Pat Byrne and we all enjoyed that high energy jam.

I’ve loved Mile of Music since it first came to town 12 years ago and I already can’t wait for next year’s festival. This year, with the great blessing of excellent weather, all 40 venues hosting all 200 performers got to operate at full steam for the entire weekend.

What a treat to have all that talent descend on our little city.

Here are a few pictures of my favorite moments. I’d love to hear about yours.