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Purple Door is the last of the major festivals of the summer season, and, over the last few years, it has become a must-attend event.It was held this year at a ski resort, just west of Lancaster, Pa., called Ski Roundtop and drew a crowd of nearly 7,000 people. The festival is divided into three stages: the main stage, the HM stage and my favorite, the gallery stage. The gallery is a showcase for independent and local acts who play for a more intimate audience than the main stage acts.

Although plagued throughout the first part of the day with periodic sound problems, this was the place to be without a doubt.

The morning started off with one of the best indie bands around, Madison Greene. This group just keeps getting better and better every time that I see them. Think acoustic percussive oriented folk music with an attitude. If they were the only act to be playing that day it would have been worth the trip, but this was just the beginning. Up next was a group called The Gold.  Actually, it was only the group's vocalist/guitarist. The rest of the band was not able to make the trip, but as a solo performer, he more than held his own before an appreciative crowd. Next on the roster was a band called Scientific. They have a retro-mid 80's new wave sound, if that makes any sense, which is quite infectious. Keep an eye out for these guys, they have a lot of potential.

After a short lunch break, the afternoon started off with a band hailing out of Canton, Ohio called Kerith Ravine. Apparently they were a local favorite because when after their second song, they announced this was their last show as a band the sigh from the audience was quite loud. They turned in a set of straight on rock 'n' roll which had the audience shouting for more. After a set change we were regaled by the somewhat demented sounds of Brother Danielson who performed from within the bowels of a tree. If you have never seen any of the various incarnations of The Danielson Familie then you are missing some genuinely innovative artists. It is virtually impossible to describe their set other than saying it was sanctified weirdness.

Up next was a speaker named Byron Borger. I have found most festival speakers aim their talks at 13-year-olds and having left that age behind many years ago, I took the opportunity to run over to the main stage to check out some old friends, Poor Old Lu. The few years that they took off to pursue solo work have not diminished the tightness of an amazingly great live band. I am really looking forward to hearing their new album due out in about six months.

Back to the gallery for a set of soft acoustic music by singer/ storyteller Denison Witmer who is quite good at what he does. This was followed by a solo acoustic set by Aaron Sprinkle who performed material from an upcoming Silent Planet release. It was interesting seeing the electric side of Aaron in Poor Old Lu followed by his softer solo side less than an hour later.

Some people who have been to Purple Door every year have said that the Door is not complete without the Cajun jazz rock of Havalina Rail Co. They took the gallery stage as the last act of the day to thunderous applause and brought the house down with a set that featured tunes from their newest disc, A Bullfighter's Guide to Space and Love. And so ended the gallery stage portion of the 2001 Purple Door Arts And Music Festival. I look forward with great anticipation to next August when we can do it all over again. Thanks go out to Kurt Weaver and his entire staff for another job well done.