Zac Brown, O.A.R. and a beer bath at Preakness

So I survived yesterday's Preakness infield debauchery, which was much wilder than last year but not nearly as nuts as the BYOB days.

I think that's exactly how organizers wanted it. If you wanted to get wasted, you had to spend half your day waiting in beer lines.

I spotted a dude named Keith Carrier, who was carrying around a metal bucket filled with beer, and stopped him to see where he got it.

Turns out, he stole it from a beer stand and convinced a female bartender to fill it up for $10.

Here's a link to the little piece I wrote about him, and here is a link to a photo of him and his friends with the bucket.

Most of the day, I was in the middle of the masses who came to see the Zac Brown Band and O.A.R. (pictured). Both bands suited the sunny, breezy weather and college-aged crowd perfectly ...

Halfway through O.A.R.'s set, a young woman doused me with what must have been a full cup of beer. It was in my hair, all down my back, in my ear -- even my notepad was soaked. She was actually aiming for another dude, who started yelling at her. Then some guy came to her defense, and the two guys started brawling in the audience. I was content to let them duke it out while I dried off.

Over the course of the day, I had beer spilled on my legs, feet and shoulders, some dude bumped into me with his lit cigar butt and somebody else hurled a hoodie on top my head. Oh, the torments I suffer to get the job done. Hee hee.

Here is a link to my review of the Zac Brown Band, Collective Soul and O.A.R. It's not my best work ever, because I only had an hour to write it, but it's better than nothing.

Did you go to Preakness? Share some stories with me.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam)

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