It was early in the morning, we were only hours away from having to depart the MusicFest at Steamboat. The living room furniture was in the upstairs bedroom. We were rushing to reassemble the condo based on the still photos we took on my iPhone. Time was of the essence. But we had one last performance we needed to capture. The second year of the Gondola Concert Series™.
Brandon Jenkins volunteered for this mission. It was -3 degrees. He showed up armed with hand warmers, hot coffee, and his trusty Martin. Our Twitter winner, Vicky, from Ft. Worth, happens to be a huge fan of Brandon's. She was so excited she could barely speak. So we spoke for her...in Spanish.
This Music Fog recording required nimbleness, quick thinking, and a lot of AA batteries. Hell, there wasn't even time to clean the lens. Chris took Camera 2 onto the gondola ahead of us to film the disaster from a safe distance...and to make sure "we got that B Roll." The rest of us piled into car #89. We're pretty sure that we were under the weight restriction, and safety officials didn't seem to be too concerned. The rest speaks for itself.
Paula Nelson(The Concept History & Inside Story) The concept was simple. Find an artist who would be willing to sing their guts out on a Gondola (300 feet in the air) while riding up a mountainside in Steamboat, Colorado. Then find a Music Fog Twitter follower who was willing to come along. Tape the whole thing, have a few pops, and put it on the website.
It was going to be called "The Gondola Concert Series." And the whole thing was dreamed-up during a drunken moment in an airport bar in Minnesota. Our own Ben Krech was the brainiac on this idea. Jessie Scott also signed-off on it. But I was apprehensive. I just didn't think it would fly. There would be official people we would have to talk to about it...Gondola operators, management, security officials with big arms....etc.
It was the night before our last day in Steamboat. Jessie and Ben proclaimed, "If this thing doesn't happen, we're not leaving." But both chose to sleep in late and take care of their individual hangovers. I got up early to try and make both of them happy and set something up. I made a call to Paula Nelson's manager. I explained the concept...there was silence on the other end of the phone. "What!?" he proclaimed. I explained it again. "Are you high?" he said. I explained that I wasn't high and that this was someone else's dream. "Oh, I suppose I could make a call," he said. Moments later Paula had signed on with her guitarist George. And I had cleared it with Steamboat officials. The game was on...and a tweet was posted to find a fan to come along.
-Beans
Sheila, George Devore, Paula Nelson(The Other Side of The Story) So it was an odd sequence of events that I can't even explain. Not cause it was weird or anything, but I seriously don't know how everything fell into place.
I was checking out stuff about the MusicFest a few weeks before the trip and stumbled across something about Music Fog. I don't know where, or how, but magically I decided to get on board with the whole "Twitter" thing. I had no idea what twitter was, or even what to do with it. But it curiosity got the best of me, so I signed up.
On a lovely morning in Steamboat I was messing around on my computer while nursing a hangover. On twitter, there was a tweet from MusicFog that made very little sense. Something about a gondola, a concert, and a seat? I had no idea what it was really getting at. But my brother and I concluded it meant they were taking someone on the gondola. Seriously, it did not make sense at the time. My friends were skeptical but I had nothing to lose by checking it out except for a bit of time. I responded and BAM! A few hours later I met these guys with a camera by the gondola and had an awesome time that changed my life.
Make sure you follow @musicfog on twitter because you might be the lucky soul that gets to enjoy a concert ride up the gondola with a mystery musician, and these Music Fog guys.
For better or for worse, here is part of the video shot last year with Paula Nelson and George Devore. Never mind the quality! It's on a Gondola for Christ sake!
Brandon Jenkins volunteered for this mission. It was -3 degrees. He showed up armed with hand warmers, hot coffee, and his trusty Martin. Our Twitter winner, Vicky, from Ft. Worth, happens to be a huge fan of Brandon's. She was so excited she could barely speak. So we spoke for her...in Spanish.
