The Lady Floats

PSG is a spiritual event, but it's also a musical one. There are constantly bands performing, either at the cafe (yes, it's a primitive campsite, but not so primitive that you can't get a large mocha latte on demand), on the main stage, at the morning meeting, or in their various camps. Bands invited to perform give three concerts - a nooner at the cafe, a midnight at the cafe, and a main stage event.

Wednesday was our main stage concert, and it coincided with the full moon.

The site has done a lot of work on the stage, raising it up higher, replacing the floor so that petite, delicate flowers such as myself aren't fearful for their lives when they walk on it, adding a sturdy ramp to one side rather than shaky stairs, and installing new lights. It's a huge stage, more than capable of handling our small number with room left over for a Vienna Boy's Choir or two. They hadn't gotten the roof on it yet, so we sang under a massive tarp, but it was a clear night and it that was fine.

Our concert started at nine-thirty and rolled right along. Lots of folks were up dancing, getting into the groove, and generally enjoying themselves. We always tell them "The better the show you put on for us, the better the show we put on for you!", and they were flamboyant about their dancing. We are blessed with a fan base (is there a minimum number that one may call "fan base", or is even one person enough?) that is as enthusiastic as they are forgiving - we make mistakes, and then we point them out and laugh about them...terribly unprofessional behavior, according to the "rules" of performance...but we don't care. I was chuckling over the fact that sometimes the crowd knows the words better than we do!

We introduced several new songs which were met with cheers and some terrific foot stomping, and the crowd was thrilled with our other new addition - we have a dancer! She does belly dance, veil and scarf dance, and fire dancing - dancing with fire poi, wands, and fans ablaze. She's amazing, and the first time she performed with us we got lost in a song because we were distracted. Important note to band - don't watch your dancer!!! She also leads the crowd in a spiral dance during one piece, and it's beautiful. I'd wager that close to a hundred people (maybe more, it was dark and I couldn't see everyone) took part in that, and it was...awesome.

As our concert was coming to a close, we had the pleasure of watching the moon rise up over the trees. The stage is at the bottom of a hill, and the audience sits on the slope with their backs to the road, vendors, and more trees. The moon was inching up behind the trees, rather like a late concert goer who is trying unobtrusively to find their seat. While the crowd was watching us, we were watching them and the moon.

We made the decision to sing one more song after we were "done", because we just had to. It's called "The Moon is High", and it's about people gathering together on the night of the full moon and celebrating the return of their spiritual strength, community, selves. It's rich in harmony, and powerful.

Just as we reached the heart of the song, the moon caught her cue and broke free of the entangling trees.

Who needs stage lighting when we have the best spotlight of all?