10:00am
The doors are scheduled to open an hour early today--2:00pm--instead of the regular 3:00pm. From the bus, since we've parked in the parking lot, I can hear the cheering and hollering from the steadily growing crowd outside of the gate. Strangely enough, our bus seems to be in the middle of this mayhem and there's all sorts of folks walking around and inspecting our big yellow Kodak vehicle. From all the peering in the windows, knocking on the door, taking pictures of each other by the Lilith Fair logo and whatnot, this crowd is growing totally restless and anxious. The weather isn't helping matters any. There's not a cloud in the sky, nor a breeze in the air and the humidity is suffocating. Shade is a commodity and if I had some, I'd try and sell it. But hey, I'm not complaining, I'm on my way to eat a breakfast I don't have to cook!

Noon
We've grabbed the video cameras and ventured out beyond our safe yellow bus to talk with some of the fair goers. As we approach the people in the front, they start to scream their heads off, whooping and hollering, waving their hats around and clawing over each other to get their face in the camera. They eagerly inform us they've driven nearly two hours to get here and started waiting in line at 6:30am. Crazy. Now, I should probably explain why this is happening. Basically, the only seating is right on the field, so it's arranged on a first-come-first-serve basis. As such, these kids are prepared with their blankets, coolers, sandwiches and sun tan lotion to lounge in the front row of the main stage and wait for their favorite performers. This is so cute.

2:00pm
I have just discovered exactly how far our bus is from catering, probably nearly a third of a mile. Some nice golf cart drivers and shuttling people back and fourth, which is good since it's so hot. Since this is normally used as a fairground, everything is spaced out really far from each other--but then again maybe it's my New York sensibilities to think everything should be so close together. As I'm walking back towards the bus nearing the main stage, I realize the grave mistake I've made: Thousands of fans are running in my direction, dragging their towels, water bottles and loved ones behind them to jockey for the golden spot up front. Aghhhhhh! I can't dodge them and I can't slice through them, so I'm just going to have to wait until the commotion dies down. Geesh.

4:00pm
There's a new performer on the B Stage, Ebba Forsberg, who totally rocks! Her and her bands music is edgy, her voice is raspy and even though I've only heard them once, I'm hooked. And apparently so is the audience because despite the sun being right in their faces as they watch Ebba and the sweltering humidity, hundreds of fans cheer her on.

5:00pm
I've skipped on over to the Village to make some final purchases. Seeing that I've dressed in camp-wear for the past several weeks, I figure I'm due for a change of clothing. I've found a very cool purple rayon dress at Avitar that I refuse to pass up, and a black tank top to go underneath it from the Love Tent, plus another oil from B-Girl. Now, I know I sound like an ad for the Lilith vendors, but the truth is they have great stuff and I'm dying to junk these cargo shorts and nasty t-shirt for something a bit more, well, OK, you got me, clean. I've failed at doing my laundry in a timely manner, but hey, I really do want another dress.

7:00pm
Because the venue doesn't normally host concerts like this, there isn't a permanent stage to speak of. There is, however, a gigantic portable stage that serves as the Main Stage. Because it sits a story or two above the ground, there's no real backstage, which stinks because that's my favorite spot to plop myself down and watch all the action, on and off stage. Right now I'm banished to a spot on the railing to watch Bonnie Raitt's final song, you know the one, it's my favorite, and since it's my last day, I've decided to cover all my favorites.

9:15pm
Lucky me! They have moved a bunch of equipment to the trucks so there's a huge space up on the stage to serve as a backstage of sorts. I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor and this is by far and away the best spot I've had to watch Sarah sing my favorite lyric to "Building a Mystery." "Wears sandals in the snow and a smile that won't wash away." I'm just a few yards away from Sarah's drummer, Ash and one of the guitarist, Shaun and amazingly not in anyone's way. Across the field miles beyond the fair ground, lightening is streaking horizontal across the sky and illuminating everything up in a spooky reddish tint.

A gaggle of artists are gathering near me, waiting for their turn to join Sarah on stage. Oh wait, it's not just the singers, it's all the band members too. Rebekah's drummer has taken over one of Ash's kits. Gabrielle, Natalie Merchant's guitarist is sharing amp space as other band members grab tambourines and microphones. What a great show! There's like 30 people on stage. I'm so tempted to ditch my backpack and notebook and shimmy on over to the spotlight. Even though I really can't, in every other way except physically, I'm already up there dancing and singing with them.

Midnight
Oh, this is the hardest part: saying goodbye to everyone. I'm packed and I've started to give hugs and exchange phone numbers and email addresses. This totally sucks. I'm going to miss my bus mates and bus driver and all the people I've worked with something terrible. It's funny how attached you can become in just a few shorts weeks. You'd think we'd all known each other for a lifetime. To commemorate my departure, a few of my bus mates indulged me in a game of Turbo Racer, a neato dual video driving race located in the Lilith Lair. I won several times, but it didn't deter them.

In all seriousness, I will miss Lilith a ton--the music, the friendship, the work, the camaraderie, the hysterical fits of laughter and even living on a bus. I had a most excellent adventure and I hope with all my little heart I can return before the tour's finished.

Thank you Lilith!