Salt Lake resident Cathryn Cannon experienced the HORDE Festival for the first time this year.
But instead of the bands that played or the multimedia game ports and hippie-goods kiosks, she was most impressed by the X-96 radio station's deluxe outhouse."I just thought it was cool," said Cannon, 17. "It was so big and spacious."
The outhouse was one of the useable displays at this year's HORDE Festival that was held at The Canyons yesterday. Other featured stations at the site included the John Lennon Songwriting Bus (which was closed) and three performance stages - the tiny workshop stage, the larger festival stage and the main stage.
This year's mainstage acts included Alana Davis, Fastball, Barenaked Ladies (a band, not a cabaret show), Ben Harper and Blues Traveler. On the festival stage, up and coming bands such as Guster, Bran Van 3,000, Galactic and Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise treated music fans to a mixture of styles. Also appearing was the locally based band Chola.
The Workshop Stage featured musical segments from the likes of Spin Doctors' lead singer Chris Baron and guests.
"I'm just here to see Blues Traveler," said Jared Sperry, 18, of Salt Lake City. "They really know how to jam."
Kate Sutton, 17, wanted to see Alana Davis but arrived too late.
"I'm bummed," she said. "It would have been great. I love her voice."
HORDE - the acronym for Horizons of Rock Development Everywhere - has passed through Park City the past three years.
Festival veteran Tommy Harrison said he also wanted to see Blues Traveler, but liked the other bands as well.
"I like all kinds of music," he said. "That's why I like coming here."
Lenny Kravitz, Dave Matthews Band, Rusted Root and Blues Traveler were among the artists who cranked out some sets back in 1996. Then in 1997, Blues Traveler - the organization who also conceived the festival - took a sabbatical, leaving Neil Young & Crazy Horse to headline. Young was rivaled by co-headliners Primus and Toad the Wet Sprocket.
This year's HORDE didn't have as many kiosks and displays as in the past. The mall seemed a bit bare, but it didn't dampen the mood of Stan Riegeal of Heber, via Seattle, Wash.
"I'm partial to Ben Harper," Riegeal said. "I like his philosophy - you don't have to listen to peer pressure. You have a choice, and if others don't like it, they don't have to be around you."
Riegeal's girlfriend, Carol Aarts, also from Heber, said she is a music festival junkie.
"We've been to so many," said Aarts, who works in the bone-marrow transplant section of the University of Utah Hospital. "I just love the socialization and feel of what's going on around us."
One of the HORDE darlings was newcomer Davis, who treated the audience to a 45-minute set filled with her smooth, chocolate-velvet vocals.
The other was clearly the Barenaked Ladies. The band members' quick wits and nerdy humor even attracted a crowd who gathered backstage to watch the set.
Barenaked Ladies made fun of the security guards on horseback, Celine Dion, Barry Manilow and Sesame Street in the same breath, which brought smiles and cheers from the audience.
But the humor was lost on a toddler named Cyrus. The 11/2-year-old just merrily waved to other audience members while the bands played. By the time Blues Traveler hit the stage, the youngster was fast asleep in his mother's arms.