Today was Power to the Peaceful in Golden Gate Park up in San Francisco. I got there just in time for Rebelution's set. After wading through several thousand people (I heard rumors that there were about 70,000 there total), my friend who I was with and I managed to get situated about 30 feet behind the sound stage tent. Rebelution played a killer set, albeit short. The setlist included "Attention Span," "Feeling Alright," "Courage to Grow," "Green to Black," and copious amounts of pot smoke. After that, a woman led a yoga-inspired prayer that involved the entire crowd. A different prayer was offered to each North, East, South and West. Michael Franti and Spearhead finished up the day. I had never heard their music before and thoroughly enjoyed it. Though it clearly has roots in reggae, their songs tend to be more upbeat and dance-y. We left about half way through the set to (hypothetically) beat the crowds and fought our way back through the thousands of people.
On the other side of the park, another stage was set up for DJs and I heard a few snippets as we were heading out, but nothing really noteworthy. There was a great street artist that was spray painting large canvases maybe while we were making our way to the main stage. There was also a tent that was selling pocket vaporizers, another with blown glass jewelry, and many others. Only being there for two hours severely limited our wandering amongst the tents, but if the event happens again next year, I will make a point to be there the whole day, if not the whole weekend.
--Gayle
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