FloydFest 2008 has come and gone, leaving us with fond memories until next year. Organizers for the annual event situated just off the Blue Ridge Parkway estimated the four-day crowd to be around 12,000-15,000. Festival organizers notoriously overestimate their attendances, but I (Editor, Tim W. Jackson) would say that estimate was pretty close.

When arriving around mid-day on Saturday and seeing the line waiting in the parking lot for the bus, I might have guessed the crowd would have been even higher, but it seems I picked the peak time to arrive over the course of the event. Sunday’s crowd was much lighter and had thinned out considerably by the time the Avett Brothers finished their show, marking an end to the 2008 version of FloydFest.

Here are a few of my impressions of FloydFest, followed by those of Managing Editor Taryn Chase.

Most Pleasant Surprise: Cadillac Sky. Not that I didn’t think the bluegrass band generally from Texas would be bad. I just had never heard of them and didn’t have the highest expectations. But this band blew me away. They could play the traditional stuff with great style and flair, but their originals were truly original, with some experimental instrumentation on occasion. And they were fun! One of their covers is mentioned below.

Best Covers: There were a few. I would put Rusted Root‘s cover of “Suspicious Minds” toward the top, but I had seen them play that the week before in Baltimore, so that sort of ruined the surprise at FloydFest. So I’ll have to go with Amos Lee’s cover of Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” and Cadillac Sky’s cover of Green Day’s “Basket Case.”

Surprising Crowd Favorite: Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band rocked the Blue Ridge & Beyond Dance Stage over the weekend. On Sunday it seemed a quarter of the crowd wanted to hear the raucous sounds and lively stage show of this wild and woolly group. The Reverend’s voice reminded us a bit of Les Claypool from Primus and he and his Big Damn Band took crowds away from all the other stages.

Southwest Virginia Pride: Admittedly (as you’ll see below), I missed several of the Southwest Virginia bands, but I did catch No Speed Limit and they did our area proud. I’ve seen banjo picker and pride of Galax Stevie Barr a couple times on his own or with other acts and caught No Speed Limit at the Rex Theatre in Galax a couple years ago. But this band has really come together over the past two years or so, and I think they rank right up with the best national bluegrass acts now.

Most Dangerous Festival Moment: Working my way back through the crowd after shooting a few photos of Rusted Root, I moved through the thick crowd and caught my shin on the huge guidewire coming into the crowd from the stage. I bloodied my leg pretty good, and it still hurts! Looks pretty nasty, too!

Good to Meet You: I finally met in person Floyd artist Aaron Staengl, who had produced a couple of covers for the print version of the New River Voice. He was selling his art at the festival’s Healing Arts Village.

Regrets: I would have liked to have seen more of the local acts. I missed Blacksburg’s Curious Strange and only caught a couple songs from Kat Mills. I would have liked to have seen the Midnight Ramblers and Blue Mule, but both played before I made it to the festival. I also missed the late-night activities such as Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Gokh-bi System, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, and Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk. I’m old and it seems Radford gets farther and farther away, so I had to bail earlier than I would’ve liked.

OK Taryn, what were your impressions?

Musical Highlight: For me, Lynx was the standout act of the festival. This little gal from Colorado was looping and beatboxing up a storm. Sound out of place? Not at all–her socially conscious vibes fit right in. Hopefully next time they give her more than a few 15-minute sets. Amusingly, someone came up to me after her set thinking I was her–I’ll take that as a compliment. (Oh yeah, stay tuned for a CD review soon!)

Festival Reality Check: I’m not much of an outdoors type, which is the main reason we didn’t camp at FloydFest. I was thankful of this fact when I had to visit the porta-potties mid-afternoon on Saturday. I went in 3 different stalls before forcing myself to go–the first was beyond gross and none of them had toilet paper. The moral of this story is: either befriend someone with a nice camper or bring your Stadium Pal with you!

Biggest Splurge: I was trying not to spend too much but I broke down and had my “fortune told” for $20 bucks. It may seem like a lot, but I found my (relatively) young palm reader to be very insightful and encouraging. She also gave excellent eye contact which reassured me that she was trustworthy.

Best Food: The black bean and corn quesadilla hit the spot, as did the homemade strawberry ice cream. (The sweet potato fries were a bit disappointing, however, since they were more like shredded curlicues lacking sufficient cinnamon sugar, and cost $5 to boot.)

Recommendations for Next Year: Pack light so you don’t have to haul all that gear so far; drive a motorcycle for the free and nearby parking; and wear layers–it can get mighty cold and clammy up there when the sun goes down.

Tim W. Jackson & Taryn Chase have several more festivals to attend this season and hope that practice makes perfect.