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Traffic factor: Surprisingly traffic turned out to be worse than the day before. Many people must have decided not to stay and camp, and lots of other folks had bought the Saturday-only ticket to see R.E.M., two factors that dramatically affected the amount of cars trying to enter the festival grounds on Saturday afternoon. The two hours I spent in bumper-to-bumper traffic right outside the festival gates made me wish for a second that I had camped, but one look at the mud caused by the rain and made me realize that traffic wasn’t that bad after all.

The weather: The cold front that started blowing through on Friday night made the temperatures drop significantly, blessing concert goers with a clear sky and a fairly brisk breeze that kept everybody cool during the afternoon shows. At night it got down right cold, the wind chill factor in the 40s making everyone cuddle and wrap themselves in blankets.

Overall: Despite the mud on the ground and the cold wind, Saturday at Langerado was an amazing day of music, a crescendo of incredible bands that peaked with R.E.M.’s flawless performance at night. From Ben Folds to Matisyahu, the schedule was varied and guaranteed to make everyone happy. The “facilities” (a.k.a. port-a-potties) were still in half-way decent condition and the beer was definitely colder than the day before.

The Benevento Russo Duo

Can you imagine a rock band that doesn’t have any base guitar and is composed by only two people? Neither could I, until I wandered to the Cheekee Hut stage to check out the Benevento Russo Duo. These two guys play an incredible array of instruments, some conventional some other not so, and create amazing instrumental-only rock tunes that, on occasion, reminded me of early Coldplay.

Where & When: The Cheeke Hut stage, 6:45 to 7:45 p.m.

The weather: A soon as the sun went down it was definitely time to zip up those jackets and cuddle up with whomever you happened to be with at the time.

What they played: Since their songs have no lyrics and they rarely announced the titles it’s hard to name some names. However, their repertoire was incredibly various and complex, especially if you consider that only two people were playing.

Highpoint: These guys are great to look at while they are performing. Sitting one in front of the other, they almost look like dueling musicians, constantly trying to speed up the pace and engaging in bizarre musical experiments.

Lowpoint: After a while the instrumental jams got a little stale and repetitive, the crowd slowly loosing interest and enthusiasm.

Bottom line: What fun would it be to go to a festival like Langerado and not explore some new, unheard-of music? The Benevento Russo Duo’s musical concept was so innovative and different it made it worth the long walk to the Cheekee Hut stage in the cold wind.

R.E.M.

After the less than exciting performance the Beastie Boys provided on Friday night, I was more than a little nervous approaching Langerado’s main stage to see Saturday’s headliners R.E.M. Having loved the band since I was 8 years old my expectations were very high and many questions raced through my head as I camped out in front of the stage to make sure I could watch the show from a reasonable distance. Are they one of those bands who are really good live? Are they going to play all my old favorites? Is their new music worth listening to? Turns out, the answer to all these questions was yes. R.E.M. put on a mind boggling show and Michael Stipe proved to be one of the most entertaining and talented performers I’ve ever seen on stage. Twenty years have gone by, but R.E.M. is still going strong and their voices sounded better than ever.

Where & When: The Everglades stage, 9:30 to 11:30 p.m.

The weather: Very cold, but the massive crowd that showed up in front of the stage significantly warmed up the air with body heat.

What they played: A perfect mix of old classics like “Losing my religion” and new songs like the powerful “Horse to Water”, from their latest album “Accelerate”. Singing “Man on the Moon” as an encore made the whole crowd jump around and sing on top of their lungs with an enthusiasm that is rare to find in a bunch of tired, burnt out festival goers.

Highpoint: Michael Stipe opened the show addressing the crowd “Children of Langerado, come to me!” then he proceeded to slowly count from ten to one before launching into the most amazing version of “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” you can imagine. One minute into the show and the audience was hooked and completely mesmerized, including the teenagers who had scoffed at this “old people music” until a second before.

Lowpoint: It’s hard to find a lowpoint in such a flawless performance: the music was just right, the volume was perfect, the instruments and the voices came together in perfect harmony. My only complaint is that the show was too short: a hour and half of R.E.M. performing live, only 50 feet away from me, is not enough. I left wanting more and already knew that I was going to play “Automatic for the People” in my car all the way to Naples.

Bottom line: No matter how old they are, R.E.M. performs the type of ageless rock that most bands only can dream about. My dreams and expectations were met and judging from the size of the crowd and the happy smiles on everyone’s face I can say with confidence that I wasn’t the only one.