However, there are still those who manage to express their enthusiasm in really annoying ways, specifically those who bring along ten foot poles with flags, toys and other accessories on the top which they wave gleefully around regardless of whether they are standing in front of one of the big screens designed to aid everyone's views or in a tent which is full of people who have already seen a fishing pole in their lives and don't need another one waved in their faces while they are trying to listen to a band. There was one particular offender who managed to obscure the views of hundreds of people by planting a massive Japanese flag with a skull and crossbones underneath it right in the middle of one of the stages, so we had to continuously dodge back and forth to try and see Dr John busting some impressive moves, including a rather natty little number where he bent over and touched the floor.
Having said that, the quality of festival goers is by far higher than the gang of drugged up 'we're so crazy' students that you get at the kind of festivals I have frequented in the UK - for a start there's a good contingent of oldies rocking out which is always nice to see. Plus plenty of families with small children who are always good value particularly last week when there were a goodly number of mud puddles which were like catnip to the littlies and watching their repeated and unrelenting escape attempts was an entertaining pastime with just a tinge of guilt as we saw their parents continually breaking away from their attempts to relax to round up their offspring and try to park them in at least a semi-permanent position. The joys of the child free jazz fest experience certainly made for enjoyable viewing.
