Fishin' in the Dark

Soooo the Western Montana State Fair is in town and Paige, Justin and I took the opportunity to go see the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band last night. For those of you who don’t know, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has been together for over 40 years and sings the song, “Fishin’ in the Dark.” A true country bluegrass classic.

The entire night was fantastic – the concert took place out on a big field behind the fairgrounds and you brought a blanket and/or chairs and set up wherever. We got a spot near the back and then went out to grab some food and beers. I got to try something called a Viking, which is a sausage on a stick. Paige said that Vikings only show up at County Fairs and whatnot and that Missoula people went crazy for them, so I had to try one. They’re different from a corn dog because it’s not a hot dog inside, but rather this short, fat German sausage. Let’s be clear – meat on a stick is always delicious.

The thing that surprised me the most is how low-key and laid-back everything was. You bought tickets to buy beers and then you could get as many beers as you wanted at one time (they’d just put them in a big bag for you) and then could carry them anywhere. If this would have been a concert at the Gorge or the Rose Garden, we would have only been able to order one at a time and then we would have had to stay in the “Beer Garden” and if you wanted beer inside the concert, you would have had to wait in the HUGE line inside and then paid $8 for a PBR. The casual air of “whatever” that was following us was very refreshing.

A couple things I learned about concerts at the Fair:

1. If it’s a country concert, watch out for the die-hard fans. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has been around forever and attracts fans of all ages. There were old people in the stands screaming and lifting their shirts up, girls from high school in tube tops, short shorts and stilettos dancing by the stage, and a group of intense hippies who happened to end up right next to us. They were flinging themselves around all night doing what I assume they though was dancing and yelling, “Woooooo, Doggy!” over and over and over again. I would have been pissed off if it weren’t so amusing. I managed to capture a photo of one of them by pretending to take a picture of Paige:

2. People will THROW DOWN if you mess with them in the Porta-Potty line. There were ten Porta-Pottys set up for the concert and three lines of people. This left three stalls for each line and one wild card. Two things kept consistently happening: 1. Little kids would skip the entire line. I’m sorry, but OH NO YOU DON’T. Just because you are 7 years old and have a smaller bladder than me, you think that gives you the right to cut the line? I’ve had four Coors Light’s, Kid! Talk to me when we’re on the same level. 2. People in the line next to us would take the wild card bathroom every time. This was okay until one girl tried to go for one of our three stalls. This is unacceptable to Paige and me and so we’re like, “Ummmm – I don’t think so! That’s our stall!” Then the whole line starts yelling and then ALL the lines are yelling at her. AND SHE GOES IN ANYWAY! People started screaming about how they were going to tip her over and we’re laughing thinking it’s all in good fun (except it was really inappropriate that she still went in. Who does that? Super ballsy) until we hear really angry yelling coming from two lines over and an old man screaming, “What? You think you’re better than us? We’re all the same here!” Turns out a group of middle aged drunk men tried to form their own line up at the front. They were successfully heckled away. Lesson learned: Wait for your turn in the Porta-Potty line, keep quiet, and stick to your own stalls.

A great evening, indeed. Oh – and I tried to buy a cowboy hat with pink accents on it and Justin wouldn’t hear of it. So he just took our picture instead:


Good times!!