For me, this was a familiar face. I knew the "Barlow Girls" music video, so seeing Superchic[k] perform live was very cool. It's so bizarre to see these people I recognize from music videos standing right in front of me! They look just like themselves. Go figure... She is one tall girl! Plaid is apparently back, much as I hate to admit it. Now don't quote me on this, but I think this is the Newsboys' sound engineer. I think... I met their engineer back in March at Rock the Universe. Being the pesky never-met-a-stranger type, I asked a security guard if the Newsboys would be doing their own sound check. (See, it was half an hour past when I had been told they'd be out to do the checks and thus far no Newsies.) Security pointed at a large sound board across from the stage and told me to "go ask him." So I did, asking if the sound check would occur soon. "Yeh," he said in a wonderfully thick Aussie accent. "They'll be out in a few minutes." "And it will be the Newsboys?" I asked. "Not someone else?" He chuckled and said, "It'd BETTER be them! I'm their engineer!" That tickled me so. Wow. Sorry for the long story. All this to say, I think this might be their Australian-accented sound engineer. But I'm lousy with faces, so for all I know, this guy was born and raised in Alabama and is on The Elms' staff. You never know... Bob Smiley, emcee extraordinaire! He was great! I even laughed at his jokes the next day, identical as they were. He was just that funny. But, umm, someone should tell him to cut those strings hanging from his shorts. :) Lead singer of The Elms. They were pretty good. Paul really liked them. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Paul wasn't with us until the next day... More Elms. Don't worry, Elms fans. I have more pictures from the next day, too. Their drummer was hilarious to watch! He'd make the craziest faces. This is another group I had never heard of before the festival. Phat Chance. I joked that, with "only" four guitar players, they definitely needed more guitars. They were pretty good. Their drummer amazed me. He's only 14! Of course, the lead singer (middle, in the green) made a big deal about that, calling him the "baby" and ruffling his hair. Bet the drummer got sick of that joke really quickly! Another Phat Chance member. Sorry he didn't appear in the above picture. I just couldn't get all of the stage in one shot. Ah, check out the shirt. The 70s are very in, aren't they? How come I didn't get a vote in all this?! I'm a child of the seventies (she admits with some shame) and I'm not eager to embrace those fashions again. Oh, who am I kidding? I was born in late '78. My biggest fashion decisions of the 70s involved little booties, I think. Hee hee hee. One more (slightly blurred) shot of Phat Chance before we move on. All right. Next on the agenda, the final act I'd never heard of, the insanely loud PAX 217, and a little Switchfoot fun. Ready?
