by Jeff Mease, Guest Blogger/Supporter/Festival Fan/co-Founder + CEO – One World Enterprises
If you’re like me, and I think you are, you’ll have the best Lotus experience by doing it in a different way than you normally approach music performance. Most of us most of the time go to see live acts where we already know the music. Well, even if you’re a Lotus vet, you’re not ever going to know most Lotus acts. You’ll probably look over the line-up and think, “Nope, never heard of any of these bands.” and it’s ok, because the good folks at Lotus (who really know their stuff) work tirelessly to source some of the finest music from all over the planet and bring it here to our backyard. Your job is simply to go buy a ticket. And whether or not you’ve ever heard of any of them, it will be good, you can count on it.
All of which is not to say that you will like it all. I walk out of plenty of acts after a couple songs. Some things are not my thing, and that’s ok ‘cause my thing is probably playing right now just down the street and I don’t want to miss it. Which brings me to the most important point of distinction about how to do the Lotus festival. An idea that will raise fear in some and ire in others, but just trust me and try it– DO LOTUS SOLO.
That’s right. Do Lotus ON YOUR OWN. When your group says “Hey, Let’s all hang out at Lotus together.”, let them know that you love them and you’ll see them in the street but you won’t be going to the shows together. Why? Because nothing sucks as hard as feeling obligated to sit through a show that you don’t like because one of your friends SEEMS to be into it and you sit there thinking “Well, I’d really like to go check something else out, but I said I’d stick together” or “this is probably good and I’ll look stupid for walking out”, or ”It’s too quiet to negotiate a later time to meet up…”, or all sorts of other self defeating stories. You get the picture. Free yourself of that BS, because here is a fact: Nobody else hears exactly what we hear or sees exactly what we see. I meet people who say they’ve been to Lotus and it was just ok. When I ask them if they went with a group of friends the answer is always yes. So meet up before the event, meet up on the street, and then let go of everyone but your beautiful self and have the greatest time imaginable.
See you in the street! –JM
The Lotus Music and Arts Festival, crown jewel of the Bloomington music scene, annually hosts dozens of musical acts from all over the world. One World Enterprises has supported the festival since the very beginning and BBC beers have been a festival standard since 1996. This year, you’ll find our beers and the One World Night Market (street food) at the big tent on 6th St.
