Before I fall asleep, I need to write a few words about LouFest. I signed up to volunteer a few weeks ago because the lineup looked amazing. I asked myself if a free ticket to the event was worth the price of a few hours of my time. The answer to that question is a resounding “yes,” most likely because I am cheap. I was really looking forward to The Roots and was disappointed when Hurricane Irene had other ideas and forced airports on the East Coast to be shut down, making it impossible for the group to make the festival. However, Questlove managed to make it and put on a DJ set that had the entire crowd shaking and moving to 85 years of music. Beyond that set, I thoroughly enjoyed !!!, TV on the Radio, and a teen band called Feedback. They were playing the kids stage to my right and when they busted into some Led Zeppelin, I initially groaned, thinking that there was no way that they would do the song justice. My caution was unnecessary as they rocked it. Thumbs up to young talent!

Beyond the music, LouFest gets my blessing for its efforts to lessen its environmental impact. They encourage festival-goers to bike or ride Metro to the venue, use compostable containers for all food items, have on-site recycling, and ask everyone to bring their own water bottle. This year, Event Water Solutions provided free water refills to everyone and I had the pleasure of volunteering in this booth all weekend. Paul and Patrick are great guys (even if they are Canadian) and I had a lot of fun goofing off…I mean…working hard to keep the masses hydrated. I have not heard the final count on the amount of plastic water bottles kept from the landfill but the last I heard, it was over 12,000. I am very proud of the event organizers for all their efforts to bring great musicians to St. Louis and to make the festival as eco-friendly as possible.