It was a busy, but great weekend. After kicking off with Wits on Friday night, Saturday night was the second night of the hugely anticipated Doomtree Blowout 8 at First Ave. I was bummed to have missed the Friday night kickoff, but figured by Saturday the crew would just be on a roll on the 2nd of their three night stand in the main room. After a song or two, Dessa sat down on the side of the stage to break some sad news to the crowd – Stef (P.O.S) was not going to be performing. He had played his heart out the night before, and while backstage before the show had begun to feel particularly ill. Stef's battle with kidney failure has been public since early this fall, and so the crowd reacted with pure support rather than disappointment. P.O.S's absence was clearly felt as the start of the show was a little rough, but the crew pushed through, leaning heavily on the crowd to help carry some of P.O.S's songs. Andrea Swensson wrote great review of the whole show on The Local Current Blog. The fact the show rallied into the high-intensity show we expect from Doomtree is really a testament to the support of the crowd and the strength of Doomtree's members.
