Lovewhip

Roadtrip Vignettes, Part 13: Ketchum, ID

I was driving north through Ketchum on my way out of town. I happened to glance left at a stoplight and caught a glimpse between the buildings of many, many people a few blocks over in what had to be a town park. "Gotta be a summer concert, right?" I said to myself. "I better investigate."

I got there just as the M.C. was introducing the headlining band. "From Boston, Massachusetts," he said, "Lovewhip!" (I thought, "Boston? What are you doing all the way out here?)

They were a three piece, bass, drums and singer/guitarist (male, male and female, respectively). They wore silly glam wigs and shiny 80's-style clothing and played disco-inflected electro-pop. They were pretty solid and a lot of fun. The singer played a pretty good guitar and shook her hips fetchingly in time to the music.

A varied crowd took to the dancefloor. I saw little kids and their parents, groups of teenagers, a rather weathered and willowy dreadlocked blond woman, a middle-aged woman and what I took to be her elderly father. Ketchum is the beautiful people, but that didn't prevent (or maybe it encouraged) a couple of plastic-surgery disasters. Deep tans were weirdly prevalent. The cutest puppy in the world lay in the grass at the edge of the dancefloor. And diversity? You betcha. I saw over six people of color.

After the band was done, I went up to their merch table and chatted with the singer a little. Her name was Erin. "I enjoyed your music," I told her, "and I like your guitar playing. Pretty into that slapback delay, huh?"

"Like the Edge," she admitted. She enjoyed talking about music and so we did for a while.

I asked how long they had been touring (weeks) and how many weeks left (several) and how the hell they'd gotten booked for Ketchum Alive, of all places. "We have a booking agent," she said. They had just finished playing three shows in Utah, had two more shows in Idaho, and would be in Denver in a week. "Denver?" I said. "Maybe I'll come see you. I'll be home by then."

And I did. The band was thrilled to hear that I'd made an effort to see them twice. Erin still did that thing with her hips. And I got to make a fun connection between my adventures on the road and my life at home.

Here's one of their songs. You can listen to more of their music on Soundcloud. You should. It's fun.

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