Festival of Faith and Music 2009

I am going to quickly blog from the opening day of the Festival yesterday, so that I don't get behind and never write about anything. The opening day was quite fun, beginning with a neat artist interview with the Hold Steady's Craig Finn. He talked a lot about his background and how it affects how he writes. The most interesting thing was how he likes writing with cinematic elements and about characters which allows him to write fuller songs rather than just writing songs in first-person style.

Mokoto Fujimura was incredibly interesting and deep, however, if I try to recap, I will never be able to re-capture what he said. He made a great case for art and things that might seem extravagant but make the world a better place, humanize our world and depending upon your theological bent, please our creator.

I chose to go see David Bazan instead of The Hold Steady and even though I have seen Bazan a few times, it was quite worth it. He began with a few classic Pedro the Lion songs and then played a ton from his new album coming out in August. I have always enjoyed Bazan by himself better than with a backing band (even though Pedro was great) and he was great, confident, relaxed and really on top of his game last night. I couldn't really get into his last EP, but I am now excited for the new album. Also, I have never been to the Ladies Literary Club and it is a really neat venue downtown.