As I pulled into the Shoreline Amphitheater parking lot to photograph the Lilith Fair concert series, which "celebrates women in music," I listened to my favorite Miranda Lambert song Heart Like Mine. (Miranda played at the Bay Area Lilith Concert.) The chorus goes something like,
Cause I heard Jesus, He drank wine,
I bet we'd get along just fine.
He could calm a storm and heal the blind
And I bet He'd understand a heart like mine.
In the parking lot, I met a group of wine drinking women. They seemed to be getting along just fine with each other, and I enjoyed taking their photos. Later, when I walked into the Shoreline, I met a few people who... yelled in judgment. So I photographed them too. This first slideshow also includes several of the first acts including the Bangles who performed Manic Monday. Notes follow the slideshow.
Manic Monday at Lilith Fair - Images by bryan farley Photos: Marie Digby, Terra Naomi, Susan Justice, Chloe Chaidex, Ann Atomic, Blake Hazard and The Submarines, The Bangles, and others. (Other galleries in the next three posts.)
Manic Monday at Shoreline - Images by bryan farley
While I photographed the man in orange, I was aware that he was probably offending many people. I was also aware that many of the passersby wondered why he was attacking women. To be fair to the man in orange, I believe these same people attended the Tim McGraw concert; however, I did not hear the man in orange yell at the Tim McGraw fans about tattoos the same way I heard him yell at the mostly women Lilith Fair audience about their tattoos (and other things). It happens. Almost everyone has self preservation, and not all women are made of gunpowder and lead.
I also looked at his sign a little closer. It was creative. These people took time. They prepared. There are times when I do not go somewhere in the Bay Area, because of the crowds. These people were also protesting even thought they knew they would be unpopular. On a holiday. Our country was honoring our independence this 5th of July, and the man in orange was expressing his right to free speech, even if he were offensive. This counts for something.
This does not mean that I agreed with the man in orange and his crew. I did not, but I was there as a journalist, so I just took his photo. In fact, under my long sleeve white T-shirt, I wore my UCSB Women's Studies t-shirt I received for being a Women's Studies major. I also have a different idea about religion than the man in orange.
However, if Jesus understands a heart like Miranda Lambert's and a heart like mine, I am guessing that Jesus or God or the Higher Power also understands a heart like the person in orange, even if I do not understand him. That says more about God's grace.
I am still trying to understand myself.
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