I have been a long time fan of Alu. She sings like an angel. Her lyrics are intelligent and unique. Her music reminds me of an art film or some type of escape into a dream world. I find her work to be refreshing when so many so-called artists these days lack depth and substance.

But as a fan of Alu, I have to say I wish she did not choose to perform at events such as these.

As her music builds the atmosphere, and the atmosphere helps build on the music, these prefab events of get-in-get-out performances never allow for the majority of artists to truly expose that which makes them who they are. A better fit would’ve been to have this band performing on a stage that not only had proper performance-lighting, but that also allowed for each artist to make use of their own instruments. (Apparently the event crew had Alu’s percussionist using  “Rhythm and The Method's” drums.) As an artist myself, I must say this is an annoying thing to put up with.

It was interesting to see so few members on stage, as all other times I’ve seen Alu, there was a bassist up there. I’m assuming someone was ill or perhaps just unable to fit on the tiny poetry-reading stage of the “mature audiences” room. Still not sure I get the purpose of such a stage at a festival event like this. I heard a number of artists at the event had to endure reduced stage-time than initially allotted. Alu sadly suffered this same fate, as what was apparently her final song of the night seemed to have been abruptly stopped. I mean come on… If you let an artist start a song, have the courtesy to let em finish it.