Broken laptops, bromances and rock & roll

Almost nothing has gone right so far at this year's Forecastle, starting with a laptop that won't work and a lot of people who apparently decided to stay home. It's by no means barren, but there seems to be a lot of open real estate in front of the main stage, where Widespread Panic is getting ready to play.

I've hijacked Joe Lord's laptop. I tracked him down at the North Stage, aka the Girlfriend Stage, where local bands are playing to buddies, stragglers and significant others. Dangerbird did a set of nasty rock earlier.

Manchester Orchestra ruled the main stage with a set that referenced every kind of heavy music ever created, and inspired a bit of slow-motion bromance that involved crouching, spinning and the clutching of heads. It was quite special, but maybe not as good as Manchester Orchestra.

Whoops. There goes Widespread. Those guys noodle louder than anybody else in the history of noodling, and the first song has a cowbell solo. Pretty awesome.