Due in varying degrees to Sitka's Glorious Youth Parade and BRAVEMonkey playing at the P-Bar, Bluegrass 101 playing at the Fireweed, and a pre-wedding on Friday night, this columnist could not find one direct review of the Clumsy Lovers show. By all indirect accounts, however, they were awesome.

I haven't watched MTV since eighth grade, but when I visited the Clumsy Lovers' Web site and watched its "Stand Up" video, I was taken back to idle summers of feel-good music in front of the tube. In the video, a mousy intern shows up to her first day of work in a cold-blue office with cubicles.

At first, the intern does well copying, until she is knocked down by an evil office worker. She hides in a closet until the benevolent Clumsy Lovers, who happen to be jamming in the office, come to her rescue. She, in turn, enlivens the morbid office workers who go crazy and throw their paperwork into the air.

The video may have a few plot holes and be a little clichéd, but what four-minute music video isn't? The Vancouver, British Columbia-based band plays a banjo, bass, fiddle, guitar, harmonica and drums, and its music is as exuberant as the intern liberating her office.

Who doesn't remember hearing the Gourds' version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" that everyone thought was by Phish? This hybrid country-jam band is brilliant. With one song, the group won the hearts of every suburban-raised, Snoop Dog-loving Generation Xer in America. The eclectic Austin, Texas-based band uses a variety of instruments from bass, guitar and drums to fiddle, mandolin and accordion. Folks have used words and phrases such as "kaleidoscope country," "witty" and "ironic redneck post-modernism" to describe the band.

Longtime Juneau resident and music buff Walt Chapman had nothing but praise for the Gourds. He approached the band's lead singer, Kevin Russell, in the green room where he had been invited by Juneau musicians.

When the fair staff politely asked Chapman to leave because she couldn't have every band's friend in the room, Russell followed Chapman outside, where they spoke about their kids and music.

"They are some of the most approachable, friendly guys around," Chapman said. "They played for about two and a half hours without a break. They have the Americana thing going on and have eclectic music tastes. Kevin told me they looked at the fair as more of a party than a concert."

The band honored one of Walt's requests, and, on the Sunday morning fast ferry, Chapman's son asked Russell to autograph his ticket stub. After thinking for a moment, Russell wrote: "flyyerfreakflag."