{"id":86523,"date":"2022-10-04T09:22:45","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T09:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-evokes-a-bygone-san-francisco\/"},"modified":"2022-10-04T09:22:45","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T09:22:45","slug":"hardly-strictly-bluegrass-evokes-a-bygone-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-evokes-a-bygone-san-francisco\/","title":{"rendered":"Hardly Strictly Bluegrass evokes a bygone San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"

I asked this question last week after attending the first year of the Portola Festival, a thumping bounty of electronic music and DJs the likes of which San Francisco has rarely seen. The topic was on my mind again this weekend at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, an Americana-rooted event at Golden Gate Park that is, dare I say, beloved to San Franciscans young, and more importantly, quite old.<\/p>\n

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The two festivals couldn’t be more different. Portola was thrown by Goldenvoice, the organizers of Coachella. Tickets were $200 a day and it took place at Pier 80, a 60-acre slab of concrete. Hardly Strictly, set in Golden Gate Park, is financed by the late investment banker Warren Hellman and thus free for attendees, Portola could have taken place in any city in the world (and next year it just might), but Hardly Strictly couldn’t have happened anywhere but San Francisco.<\/p>\n

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Fans enjoy Bela Fleck at the Swan Stage of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Chris Partin\/Special to SFGATE<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Music festivals are a young person’s game, but this was an exception. It has been years since I, at 38 years old, felt so youthful in a large crowd. On my way to the park, the Panhandle looked like an advertisement for kid cargo bikes. Never in my life have I seen so many people over the age of 60 smoking weed. The average tie-dye T-shirt at the fest was older than most of the people who attended Outside Lands. I imagine some of these elders might’ve been in attendance when Jimi Hendrix played a free show in Golden Gate Park 55 years ago. Seeing so many enthusiastic older music fans flocking to a cultural event warmed my jaded heart.<\/p>\n

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Aside from \u201cI’m too old,\u201d the second most common complaint about festivals is the cost. These days access is synonymous with money. Outside Lands and Portola will set you back at least $200 for a pass, and that’s not counting food and drink. For most attendees, the memories (or selfies) are worth it. But there’s a lot of pressure to make the day count, and brutal FOMO when choosing between seeing SZA or Phoebe Bridgers (apologies to SZA, but based on my colleague’s review, I regret my decision). <\/p>\n

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Brixton poses with his guitar on Sunday, Oct. 2, at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.<\/p>\n

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\n Chris Partin\/Special to SFGATE<\/span>
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\n (Left to right) Rahoney Stanley, Anthony Albert, David Blood, Heidi Lucas, and ‘Incognito’ at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2022.<\/span>
\n Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/span>
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Rusty sits with owner Jerry Edwards, at the Towers of Gold Stage on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. <\/p>\n

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\n Chris Partin\/Special to SFGATE<\/span>
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\n throw dasa at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2022.<\/span>
\n Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/span>
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\n Attendees of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Credits: Douglas Zimmerman and Chris Partin.<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But nothing attracts a bigger cross-section of humanity than the word \u201cfree.\u201d Yes, that means the festival is crowded, but thoughtful infrastructure like plantiful food vendors and wayfaring signage lessens the hassle of being in a crowd of tens of thousands. More importantly, the nice price lowers the stakes. If you see one amazing band (for me, it was Antibalas), the day counts as a win. Without the upfront cost or $14 beers (the event is BYOB), patronizing a local food truck (shoutout to Peaches Patties) feels like a treat rather than an expensive pit stop. Although the crowd skewed old, the free admission also attracted a ton of hacky-sacking teenagers blowing their allowance on beaded necklaces and smashburgers.<\/p>\n