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Deer Creek RustFest I (August 28, 1996)

Your Host - Ted Wilson


Pre-Fest Notice

The Fest Call was put out by Ted Wislon....

My Fellow Rusties...

For those of you who have never been there, Deer Creek is in the middle of nowhere - "out in the fields" as it were. There is nothing but farmland around for miles. I thought there was a campground near DC, but I cruised out there last weekend and it's 10 miles away (my place is about 9 miles from DC). Pine Lakes (or "Pin Lakes" as the signs sez) is just a couple of pine trees, a pond, the freeway and a couple of trailers; I thought it was a bit depressing. The parking lot at DC is NOT an option - the drill sargeants see to it that you move along.

Anyway, my lovely wife Ginger has reversed her previous ruling that she made when I announced I wanted to have 40 or so close friends stop by before the concert...(I can't quote her exactly, but it was something like "No fxxxxxx way!") But heck, we were going to have 10 people over anyway! So, (ta da) after much searching for alternative venues and lobbying on my part;), I am offering up my back yard as the venue for the official Deer Creek RustFest.

It's an acre or so of lawn surrounded by trees. If anybody wants to camp overnight (before or after the concert) that's cool too - there is good privacy from the road and neighbors. We have a huge deck but are a little short of lawn furniture (anyone have 50 chairs laying around?) We will supply a gas grill, horseshoes, port-o-let (Gin doesn't want anyone in the house because her parents are staying with us - but then we couldn't get 50 people in there anyway!), and possibly a keg o' bzzr (if anyone is interested that is... :)

We have musician friends coming over that play a lot of Neil, plus any Rusties are welcome to bring a guitar or what have you.

This will work well if the weather co-operates. I think it will be more relaxed (and cheaper for everyone but me) than going to a park or campground, plus it will be safer for the, uh, recreational fans amongst us...

If it rains, I will come up with an alternate plan - probably a restaurant/bar thing. If anyone would like to offer any other ideas or knows of a closer place, just let me know.

Still the Searcher
. . . . . Ted Wilson
( ted@in.net ) http://www.netusa1.net/~wilsont/


Fest Report

(Also see the Show Reviews)

First off, pictures are on my web site. I haven't had a chance to do much but stick them on there - I'll pretty it up later. I need to get some sleep! The bonfire lasted 'til 3:00 am, not bad for a Wednesday!

Hey Brad! There were many MORE BARN! shirts, and I have a picture of about six of them in front of my barn.   :)   There is a close up picture of a MBTee on my web site also. This is the first time I've seen them and they are cool!

Overall the fest was a rousing success (nobody got arrested and the cops didn't show - that's a plus). The best part for me was meeting many of my fellow rusties. The band and jam session never quite materialized, but we had non-stop Neil tunes nonetheless. We gave away a couple of door prizes; a big framed Neil Young Solo picture, and a copy of Crazy Horse's album Left for Dead.

We did have one...um...incident. My lovely wife Ginger was driving to the show up highway 37 with two or three Rustie cars following us. Well, there was a bit of construction traffic (indicated by the large orange barrels blocking the right lane). Ever the adventurous one, Ginger decided that the right lane would be faster. And it was - for a while. Ginger was barrelling down the road passing lots of cars in the left lane - the other rustie vehicles were in close pursuit behind us ("oh yeah, follow us - we know where we're going!").

Suddenly, a cavernous ditch appeared in the road...

When the tire blew we careened wildly on the gravel and nearly into the traffic on our left. . . In slow motion, faces of shock and dismay passed my window.

We pulled over and put the "MayPop" tire on with help from said rusties. Unfortunately this particular car is 15 years old, and the spare has never been used - and had no air   :(   Rustie Tom Hanna kindly rescued us and gave us a lift to and from the show.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
We still got there in time to catch most (all?) of Jewel.

Special thanks also to Joe Crane for bringing the fire wood and the VIP pass.   :)

And thanks to everyone who came to the (first annual?) Deer Creek RustFest! My best estimate is 50-55 rusties and friends attended based on the guest log. What a great bunch of people!

The setlist has already been posted and I'll leave the concert reviews to others. I'll simply say "It was Neil - it was great!"

Still the Searcher . . . . . . . . . I've been a searcher, I've been a fool...


Full Moon Over The Rust Belt
Computer Cowboy's Report

It's about 7am here. Ted's RustFest broke up about four hours ago, everyone's still sleeping. I was up about an hour ago with the sun, cleaned up a little, hooked up my pc to play back this echo of last night's show at Deer Creek, Indianapolis.

Ted's excellent RustFest - where do I start? We were late (I'm blaming Dan the Damage Done Roughton, and I'm counting on Misty Mountain to back me up   :)   so there was already a good crowd when we arrived. Folks kept coming in, right up until we left. Somewhere around 50 I'd guess. Ted's in charge of the actual list & headcount. Thanks to you and your wife, Ted -- the hospitality was great!

Is this where I'm supposed to tell who I met? Well, I think I met everyone, but I am lousy with names. I remember meeting Tom Hanna, Brent Garrett was there (Hardaway - you'll have to deliver that one yourself:), Joe Berkemeier (who got us our RustRow.) Len Trimmer, another Cincinnati RustRower made it just fine. Met a Rusty from Phoenix, which may be the longest trip - I never did get the story on the German couple, tho. Could be they take the prize (hey - they did scoop up the door prize!)

A beautiful full moon, by the time we got to the venue. Not sure if Neil could see it through the lights, but it was perfectly framed by the pavilion structure, throughout the show. Moderate temps, mostly pretty cool crowd.

(See my show review in the Tour reviews section.)
Return to Ted's Fest turned into Ted's Foggy Trip. Really foggy. Big bonfire, smell of Ted's horses, a couple of guitars. Very mellow evening all around.

Well anyway, that's my version of events. Neil's antics get to echo across the globe now, and I hope they find you doing well.

Adios!
Gary Wilson
the Computer Cowboy
Addendum:
Back home now, about ready to upload this - thought of a few more items.
  • Sheila - thank you.
  • MORE BARN! Maybe a third of the folks at Ted's had 'em. I didn't see any others at the show. Those of us without barn scrounged up some Canadian Freeloaders Society shirts - cool pic of Neil on it. (If you care - CFS appears on a jacket that Neil is wearing in a pic from his high school yearbook -- I think it is in the Don't Be Denied book.) Anyway, since I'm barn-challenged I'll probably be wearing my CFS to Detroit & Cleveland. Brad - there *will* be a picture of the barners - standing in front of Ted's barn!
  • The pump organ didn't get played, just sat there in the back on a raised platform. Sort of a gothic look. Midevil is maybe a better term. Anyway, it looked like a big damn throne. Some rusties seemed bummed he didn't play it. Has he played it this tour? Personally, I wasn't in the mood to be that mellow. The rock was a good thing, Neil.
  • Catharsis - I was grumbling about this adventure as a manifestation of my mid-life crisis. Dan looked at me & said - you've been this way as long as I've known you. That's probably ten years. I'd say it's life, not mid-life. Thanks Dan.
Thanks to you.
"as it echoes through the crowd
who run and cast their doubt
in the deep forbidden lake."


Brent's Mini-Report

I know it was only 2 days, but what a great 2 days. Neil in Indy and Columbus, and Ted's Totally Excellent Deer Creek RustFest (TTEDCRF).

There have already been a few mentions of Ted's wonderful hospitality, but I'd also like to thank Ted and Ginger for welcoming 50 or so people they have never met before to their beautiful estate. It was great meeting Rusties from all over, especially running into Joe S. who also saw Neil open his RNS tour almost 18 years ago at Purdue. A great time. A big thanks also needs to got out to Joe and Sheila for acquiring 64 tickets for a bunch of people they had never met. It's the Teds, Gingers, Joes, and Sheilas that make Rust such a great community.

Brent Garrett (bgarret@ihdi.ihdi.uky.edu)


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