Recent Stories with tag bonfire sessions

There are one hundred or so lucky people in this city wandering around right now smiling. They are thinking back to their Saturday night and recalling things like s'mores, hot dogs, PBR, a bonfire, music, and a fantastic show. These smiling people were part of the first annual Jansport Bonfire Session.

The line began on the south side of Pike between 10th and 11th early in the morning. I spoke with the group that was first in line and they told me they had been waiting since 9:15 a.m. for their chance to get on a bus and ride to a secret location to enjoy more free stuff than you can shake a sharpened marshmallow roasting stick at. When they arrived, they told me that it was completely worth it.

The buses pulled in to Bear Creek Studio out in Woodinville at about 7:00 p.m. and offloaded the lucky hundred into the woods behind the studio. Bear Creek is a special place for me, since it's where my band put down our only studio recording. More generally, you might recognize former visitors like Soundgarden, Built to Spill, Lionel Richie, Foo Fighters, Harvey Danger and a ridiculous list of amazing bands who all recorded there. Visiting the studio before the crowd got there was an awesome treat.

It wouldn't be the only treat of the evening, as Jansport provided a wide array of food and drink for the lucky showgoers. I had a wonderful falafel sandwich from Hallava Falafel and cooked myself a s'more for dessert. Others washed down free hot dogs with free PBR and followed it up with watermelon slices. The crowd wandered between the two bonfires eating, drinking, and playing beanbag horseshoes to DJ Case0ne performing impeccable mashups of '80s and '90s hits. My guide for the evening remarked that each song was "exactly what I want to hear at that moment."... (more)

Last weekend I went to two birthday parties. Both sets of party-goers eventually found a ring of stones, filled it with wood, and set the wood on fire. A party is just not complete unless something is on fire, I guess.

Jansport, the backpack folks, are sponsoring a show this Saturday, August 28th, that will undoubtedly be quite a party, since they are planning a fire and free stuff is involved. This party will feature local indie/hillbilly sensation The Cave Singers and the 100 people that can correctly find the secret location where the bus will pick them up. Tickets are free, treats are free, and beer is free. I assume this leaves out the underage crowd.

Hints are located on The Bonfire Sessions Blog and don't appear to be too hard to figure out, so get there early. (Supposedly, the location of the bus stop will be revealed tomorrow, via the blog, as well as Jansport's Facebook and Twitter.) Then we'll all head out on a bus to a secret location, sit by a fire, sing some songs and enjoy the last days of summer. Hopefully there will be marshmallows.