We took off early Saturday morning driving East towards a beautiful sunrise.
(Ignore the bugs)
(Ignore the bugs)The music started pretty early...I think around noon, so by the time we got our tent set up, there was plenty of live music to entertain us.
This was a group called Toubab Krewe who played a lot of percussion. It was great to dance to!!
The fella with the popped collar kinda rubbed me the wrong way...or at least his collar positioning preference did, but the guy in the back in the purple shirt was tons of fun!!
They have a small stage where the late night bands play after Ekoostik Hookah is done with their final set for the night. We got to see the band Oakhurst play late night on Saturday. They are a really good bluegrass band. It is always lots of fun to go see all the drunk people dancing at about two in the morning. I'm not sayin I'm never the drunk one....but the later it gets, the more they come out!! :-)
Ryan was stoked Sunday because one of his favorite bands, Secret Chiefs 3, was playing. We were really surprised to see them on the line up this year. They were a great addition to the music of Hookahville!!
I wasn't familiar with Sectret Chiefs 3 before Hookahville this year, but I was pleasantly purprised. They came out in navy blue monk outfits...except for the bass player. I'm not sure what that was all about. Maybe he hasn't gone through all the hazing to earn the uniform or something...who knows. I just know that I really enjoyed them. They played a lot harder music than Hookah, which I don't have any problem with, but like I said before I think it was a really good musical match for Hookahville. They do a really good job of keeping things interesting around there.
His band was all wearing creepy dead president masks.
It's good to see a crowd this size at Hookahville!! 
Les also came out in a pig mask and an Elvis mask, which I failed to get pictures of.
The fella with the popped collar kinda rubbed me the wrong way...or at least his collar positioning preference did, but the guy in the back in the purple shirt was tons of fun!! He was extremely energetic and semed to play the most dominant sounding drums of the bunch. He really caught my attention for some reason. (Maybe it's the hair)
Saturday night was a blast!! I didn't take many pictures while Ekoostik Hookah was on stage. Why? I have no idea....I'm usually juggling my camera and my drinks all night long. Guess I was just having too much fun!!They have a small stage where the late night bands play after Ekoostik Hookah is done with their final set for the night. We got to see the band Oakhurst play late night on Saturday. They are a really good bluegrass band. It is always lots of fun to go see all the drunk people dancing at about two in the morning. I'm not sayin I'm never the drunk one....but the later it gets, the more they come out!! :-)I wasn't familiar with Sectret Chiefs 3 before Hookahville this year, but I was pleasantly purprised. They came out in navy blue monk outfits...except for the bass player. I'm not sure what that was all about. Maybe he hasn't gone through all the hazing to earn the uniform or something...who knows. I just know that I really enjoyed them. They played a lot harder music than Hookah, which I don't have any problem with, but like I said before I think it was a really good musical match for Hookahville. They do a really good job of keeping things interesting around there.
One of the great things about Hookahville is that the entertainment is all over the place...not just on the stage....
I have no idea who these guys are, but they were lots of fun!!
Les Claypool, the bassist from Primus, was one of the main attractions for people this year. I think having his name on the bill probably brought in an extra 800 to 1000 people. The attendance was higher than it had been in years. I was happy for the band.
This is Les.
As the night prgressed, so did our drunkeness. Ryan officially put on the beer goggles. I bet EVERYONE was looking good to him that night!!
his is Dave Katz singing LONER.As the night went on, I got a little more courage and began to push my way to the front. Usually I try to get there early and just stand my ground until the band starts, but we were hanging out towards the back of the crowd for awhile. I knew eventually Eric would be out from behind his drum kit singing us the encore song, so I had good motivation!!
Cliff hung out behind the keyboard while Dave sang a couple songs. He kept the base going with one hand, and the keys going with the other. AND he was wearing ski goggles.................?
The Muffins Middle is the best place to be for photos. This is a great pic of John Mullins AKA Muffins.
When the hat came off, the party really got started!!!
Watch out for the hair...it can be used as a weapon!!! 
This is Ryan and I just before we finished packing up to go home on Monday. It was a long fun-filled weekend. I can't wait to do it again in the fall!!! Ony 3 months till fall Hookahville!!!
Over Labor Day weekend, Ryan and I celebrated our Honeymoon Hookah style!!!! We decorated our tent with a bunch of "Just Married" stuff and our friends decorated their tents with luau stuff for our honeymoon. We even won some freebies for our decorations.
Kelly Ann even found one of those cardboard cut-outs that you stick your face in for pictures. I only got one picture of it, but Ryan got almost a whole roll of 35mm of people goofing off with it. 
We saved all the beer cans for the first day or so to string up and hang on the tent. Cousin Aaron was going to pull us around in the cart with some cans hanging off of it, but we got too distracted, and that never happened. Oh well, it was a fun idea.
Here's part of the gang hanging out in "Reynoldsburg." That's what we called the area where Nick and Ashley Reynolds were camping behind Ryan, Dave, Kelly Ann, and me. We called our area Chaplis. Ashley's dad came with her. I was happy to see him there. It totally reminds me of something my dad and I would have done together.
Caught Ryan and Cousin Aaron in mid high five!!! YES!!!!!
Nap time for Matt and Liz. That's one of the best things at Hookahville....taking a nap in the shade. I slept almost one whole day away. It was awesome!!!! You all know how I love my sleep!!!
The lineup for Hookahville was great this year. We got to see Arrested Development. It was so cool!!! They split up for awhile after they hit it big in the early nineties, but I'm pretty sure this is the original lineup. I could be wrong, so forgive me if my facts aren't right, but that was my understanding from hearing the band talking about being "back together again." The old guy is even still with them. I always wanted to call him Mr. Wendel because of that song they did by the same name, but I'm not sure if that's his name, or just my imagination. He definitely gives them a spiritual feel when they play.
This chick had the most beautiful voice. She was the main singer in their big hit "Tennessee." The crowd went nuts when that song started.
Another act I was happy to see was Indiana's own Derick Howard. He's from Columbus, IN. He does a really cool little loop thing with his music where he plays a little of each instrument, records it, and then plays another instrument over it. He plays every instrument himself. Kind of like Keller Williams, if you're familiar with him at all. in this picture, he is sitting on his drum. it sounds kind of like a big congo or something like that.
I missed a few bands that I wasn't already familiar with, but I could hear everything from the campsite. Everyone sounded great. It was just way too hot to be out in front of the stage all day long. There's no shade out there at all, so jumping, dancing, screaming and singing along with the band can get real hot real quick!!! We never missed a second of Ekoostik Hookah though!!! We never do!!!
We had a pretty bad experience at Spring Hookahville with hassels getting in and out the gates so we could get to our vehicle. Some people, including our group, stood in line for nearly seven hours AND missed the opening bands because of the line, so the guys from Ekoostik Hookah and Steve Trickle, the owner of the venue where Hookahville is held, did what they could to make it up to everyone.
As some of you may remember, there have been a couple times when people's underwear end up on stage. This time, we set them up with some big ol' Granny Panties!!! All the people who were camping with us signed them, and Ryan and I wrote "Just Married" on the waistband. Our friend Kelly Jo from Michigan sewed a schwa on them ahead of time. Cliff, the bassist even copmlimented my throw. He called it a "three pointer." I only had a split second to actually catch John holding them up. he grabbed them in between songs, so I only got one blurry picture to remeber the moment!!!!!
They guys were on fire all weekend long. They pulled out a couple older songs that we hadn't heard much since John Mullins rejoined the band. They also covered some good old songs I never thought I'd hear them play. One of them was "All Apologies" by Nirvana. That was a total surprise!!! Cliff sang that. We are all big fans of anything Cliffy sings!!!
Towards the end of the evening, especially at Hookahville, Cliffy usually gets a little playful. He dances around all over the stage, and gets this ornery little way about him. It always gets fun when Cliffy's been drinking!!!
My man Eric got up from the drums just before the end of the show. He always does. It's a huge treat for eveyone when Eric gets up to sing. He did a cover of "Chest Fever" by The Band with horns backing him up. It was SWEET!!!!
Well, I finally managed to find some time to post about Hookahville. Yeah, it took me two weeks to recall the weekend, WHAT?!?!? This first picture is just the view from our campsite. Nothing special, but it gives you an idea of our scenery for the weekend. It was a pretty nice spot, but it was way too far from the parking lot and the stage for my taste, so we will no longer be camping in the area referred to as Mars at Legend Valley anymore. We called it Mars because our new friends we met in the line called it that. There are huge holes everywhere, and what looks like graphite or something like that all over the ground and the walking paths. It made for a few interesting walks back to the tent in the dark, for sure :-)
There's my man, Eric. I believe this was just before they started playing Saturday night. I was happy to get to hang out with Eric a little, and even hassle him a little over the weekend. By giving Eric hell, however, I got myself a chance to get on stage with the band at the end of the second night............keep reading.
This is our buddy, Shane. We always have a lot of fun when he's around. We met him through Dave and Kelly last spring at Hookahville, and we've seen a lot of shows together since then. These crazy glasses he had on had me tripping out all night. They were flashing, and I have no idea how he could even see to walk.
As I was sitting by the fire the first night, I kept noticing this little swirly spot in the fire. It looked like a Schwa, or an upside down, lower case "E." That's Ekoostik Hookah's logo....pretty crazy, huh? I thought maybe I was hallucinating, even though I hadn't taken any of the many options of hallucinogenics floating around, so I took a picture. Sure enough, I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing......a Schwa in our fire.....it made me smile.
Ryan didn't know which way to look :-) I guess we were taking a lot of pictures at this time. That's Julie on the left, and Nick on the right......he looks really enthused, doesn't he?
Here's Dave Cheesing really hard for me. I said "Cheese real hard for me," and this is what I got. Isn't he cute?!!?
We unfortuantely had a huge line we stood in for nearly five hours to get into the venue. They were trying a new system with bracelets you had to get scanned each time you went in and out of the venue to the parking area. Normally, everyone makes a few trips because you can't park where you camp. There have been problems in the past with people cutting their bracelets or sneaking them through the fence to let their friends in for free, so this was supposed to deter that from happening anymore.
This is my sweet baby angel with his kickball shirt on.....notice his nickname..................
Just chillin' with my baby :-)
Here's the painting that Steve-O did on stage. I think it turned out great for a few hours of work that was done on stage, in the middle of a concert, with a few thousand people watching.
