Starry Nights Photos!

Here it is.  Our photo rundown of the little festival that could up in Bowling Green.  This was my first foray up to Starry Nights, and according to everyone things were way, way, way better than before.  For me, it was a perfect sized set up where you could get up close and personal with all the bands without having to sacrifice any other bands.  The people were great, and everything was run like clockwork.  There was no alcohol sales on the premises, but that was probably a good thing because Kentucky’s finest gave me and hundreds of others a thorough run through of the intricacies of field sobriety testing before finally admitting that I’m not an idiot who would drive out of a festival drunk.

I digress…. Cage The Elephant did a fantastic job curating these bands, and, honestly, it was an honor to be one of only a few thousand out there seeing a pretty incredible lineup.  I arrived with my photographer pal from Audible Exposure right as Bad Cop was finishing up on a perfect Saturday afternoon, and we got things going with The Kingston Springs who were right on point in time for the release of their LP.  Next up was the always smiling and entertaining PUJOL, who was letting the crowd name his songs.  Space Capone got the party going right before Wild Belle had every man (and probably woman) in the crowd swooning.  Margot and The Nuclear So & So’s rocked much harder than I’ve heard from them in the past, and that might have had something to do with impending crush that The Whigs, JEFF The Brotherhood, and Manchester Orchestra was about to lay down.  I’ll tell you this, Justin Townes Earle made me come around to understand.  I’ve walked out of JTE shows before because it just sounds twangy, but, when he busted out the Lightning Hopkins, I think I began to understand his roots more.  Portugal. The Man were in perfect form per usual, and local new comers Sleeper Agent certainly laid it all on the line for their hometown fans.  And then Cage… Oh Cage… It was like the Rolling Stones returned to Dartford, Kent as rock stars for the first time.  It was an amazing display.

Enough yapping from me.  Check out the slideshow of photos below, and keep your ears open for Starry Nights 2013.  It’s worth your time, just watch out for the law.

If you are one of the bands and want some of these photos, contact Brad Hochstetler.

[slideshow]