All Points West Festival 2009

So I have attended 3 festivals / outdoor concerts so far this summer. While the others are equally worth mentioning, probably the biggest one was All Points West Festival by far. This year was a good line-up, and my hopes were high that the festival organizers would be able to learn from lessons from last year's inaugural festival. I think that they succeeded on improving both the functionality and options available, but unfortunately mother nature was not on the side of them this year. Probably the most memorable thing most people will speak of when they hear of APW 2009 can be summed up in one word: MUD. Now this was no Woodstock '69, but the Liberty State Park + weeks of rainy weather = a messy festival. It was fun in the sense of bringing out my primal instincts of playing in the mud, but I tell you it was a little annoying after a while. I honestly think the rain kept more people away than would have come otherwise. This year the festival organizers have added some options of comedy and the "renegade art tent" which includes local artists with their work for sale. I thought both were good additions. Now for the music! I thought the line-up was quite good. My personal favorites were Arctic Monkeys, Fleet Foxes, and Cage the Elephant. Unfortunately due to rain and my own schedule I wasn't able to attend the 3rd day, which included some of my favorite artists.. I was a little surprised at the last minute choice for Jay-Z to fill in for the Beastie Boys. I know there wasn't much time for a fill-in, but I find him to be rather a bad alternative. I find myself especially more excited about the lesser known artists too at the festival instead of the headliners. Overall, I was pleased with the selection even though I didn't see all the bands I planned to. The last thing the stood out at the festival to me was the level of commercialism that is prevalent there. I was particularly annoyed this year when I was denied access to the festival if I didn't dispose of my bottled water! What?! I cannot bring my own purchased water in here?? When I pressed them on the point they admitted it was so you can buy their own water inside the festival!!! Wow, I was livid! I made it a point not to buy there water the whole day till I broke down before I left. It annoying that the festival has to be so concerned about the money. It's all about the art and music, right?! Well not entirely... Very sad... Anyway, besides the commercialism and the rain, it proved to be a great musical experience. Since they were filming most of the performances, I am assuming you should look out for a DVD/Blu-ray disc coming out in the near future..