Guest writer Stephanie C. recants her tales from Saturday.

I had my doubts, after all it is Dallas. And still, my natural inclination is to be a Dallas hater and complain and write about the few things that would help what is hopefully the first annual Homegrown Festival grow into its own for years to come. But, dammit…we had fun. It was cool, cool for Dallas at least.

A Late Start
MeVs didn’t arrive until late afternoon. I won’t lie, the heat of the day kept us away.  Perhaps that is the reason for the sparse crowd early on.  Had we known of the fountains or the covered mist patio,  we probably would have sauntered out there earlier. Wish we had, actually. I’ll blame that on the lack of information on the website. Apparently, Homegrown’s Facebook page was the place to go for questions. Wish we’d known that too.

The Music
Two stages, 14 bands, all things local down to the beer and artist tents. Dallas’s very own local acts, which I had forgotten Dallas had, and judging by the public’s responsiveness have been sorely missed.  This was immediately apparent in the in the amount of hip swaying, head bobbing, and singing that was going on while The O’s played during the remaining daylight hours in the concrete corporate-ness that is downtown Dalla.s Even so, it was so good to see, and felt so good to partake in for that matter. The evening cooled and the always late-arriving Dallas crowd finally started to show when Ishi took the stage and transferred their energy to a surprisingly receptive Dallas audience.  By nightfall, the crowd couldn’t hold back anymore. Headliner, Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights got Dallas to sing and dance their hearts out, no easy feat by any means.  The feel-good authenticity of this night made it, well, downright homegrown-like.

A Humble Beginning
As night fell and the sound (which by this point was much better) ricocheted off of what has oft defined Dallas: skyscrapers, we couldn’t help but feel a little excited. I sincerely hope that this wasn’t a big Dallas tease. Last year’s reopening of Trees, the promise of both Main Street and (the planned) Deck Park, and the steady streaming of local music flowing into venues such as City Tavern or the Double Wide is, for now, enough to get one a-buzz. Dallas’s potential for spotlighting a music scene that’s been largely left in the shadows of its towering skyline was for a few hours that night in full view. So, we’ll jump on the bandwagon of folks that have added “first annual” to Homegrown Fest and cross our fingers. Dallas, please don’t let us down.

-Stephanie C.