As much time as I spent at Via Colori this year, I have to write some kind of a recap. Yes, this will cover both days, and it will get a bit lengthy.

Saturday was the day I was officially scheduled to volunteer. We were instructed that we would be called or e-mailed Thursday night if the rain plan was activated. I didn't, so I assumed (correctly) that plan A, Sam Houston Park, was still in effect. The rain did push back the official start time, such that my original assignment was replaced with setup-type duties. Which, actually, worked out rather well. Turnout for Saturday was rather low due to the weather.

The bands still tried to play as best they could. I think it was a member of Spain Colored Orange that made a crack about being more worried about the equipment than being electrocuted (which I found rather amusing). By 4pm some of the artists who had stuck around were finally beginning work and it actually started looking a bit like a street painting festival. I wrapped up the needed duties at roughly 5:15pm (I had arrived early), hung around a bit, and then headed out. I paid only scant attention to the music (enough to know I either missed the Flying Fish Sailors completely or they never took the stage); I did catch some of Beetle on my way out. I did get to talk to a few people I know as well before I left, and that combined with the work we got done made it feel worthwhile.

Sunday was much better. I arrived at 12:06pm, a few minutes into Runaway Sun's set scheduled to begin at noon, which I am assuming started on time. It was the usual greatness, up until the last song of the set. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Indeed, these wise words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery were quite thoroughly validated by the impromptu addition of a tambourine part to the last number (Sweetheart) which quite honestly, I found to be an annoyance and unwanted. Hopefully, this mistake won't be repeated at future shows.

I spent most of the time that Grupo KaCha was playing taking pictures of the artists at work. This is not to say that the act was any less worthy, and there were several die-hard fans lined up in front of the stage. What I heard of the band was good and contributed well to the ambience.

Somewhere in here I caught a couple of Elaine Greer's songs on the smaller stage (the Whole Foods Market Cafe Stage).

I paid somewhat closer attention to Wild Moccasins, enough to say with confidence I could probably become a fan of theirs given enough time; at some point I will definitely go see one of their shows again.

The final act was Buxton who I remember vaguely from the Houston Press Music Awards Showcase about a month before I launched this blog. And yes, hindsight really is 20/20, because I wish I had this blog then so I could refer back to my recap now. The rather faint memories of excellence from the first show came back rather quickly. I didn't catch the entire set, but I did pay close attention to the beginning and the end.

After the conclusion of this set, I walked back around and snapped up a few final pictures of the street art before heading back home. I'd just dump the whole lot onto Flickr but I'd like to be selective. Hopefully with the holiday weekend I'll find more free time than usual.

Here's hoping Via Colori is even bigger and better in 2010. I'm already counting down the days.