Music is my religion,

and for me a live performance is often times a spiritual experience.

I saw my share of concerts attending BottleRock but a few stood out to me.

These were a few of my angels of the weekend. All three strong female leads at different stages in their career. All were in their element, so incredibly happy and grateful to be there.

The first, was Claire George from Heartwatch. A band I had never heard of that played early on Saturday. She just seemed so incredibly happy to be there. She showed gratitude, put her heart into it and I am sure she quickly gained many fans. It didn’t hurt that she was incredibly adorable and could sing.

The second was Mandy from MisterWives. She also seemed incredibly grateful to be there. The lyrics of her songs were very positive as were her messages in between.

She pushed for love over hate, love of oneself and empowerment of women.

The third was Florence from Florence and the Machine. This woman is just in her freaking element.

Another person that quickly gained my respect is Michael Franti. I did not see him perform at BottleRock, but at a benefit concert the night before the festival for his charity, Do It For the Love. It was a very small concert and I was very lucky to be there. I went with the intention of “making connections” with rich philanthropists but when I got there I realized everyone was trying to do that and I didn’t want to play the game and I was clearly out of my league. I just enjoyed the experience and meeting some interesting people. I have never met anyone “famous” and I didn’t that night (at least not that I am aware of) but I did get to observe Michael Franti from close range around his immediate family and fiancé. I was so in awe of the love coming from that family. He and Sara are going to do good things for this world.

They already are.

At the end it seemed everyone wanted to talk to him but I just wanted to say thank you because really that was all that needed to be said.