Atlas Genius– It’s Raining Bread at the Taste of Fort Collins

Usually, food festivals have their share of free food provided throughout the day-- kabob samples, cheese-on-sticks, what have you.  It's the unwritten rule all featured restaurants keep in their back pockets: free, be it samples, tasters, or even just water, usually means a crowd. That was the mindset of one bread company, Nature's Harvest, who gave out whole loaves of bread throughout the day on Saturday, June 13.

Teenagers and college kids alike flocked to the booth with grocery bags and open arms, piling the free loaves on as if groceries were actually--gasp--expensive? The free bread seemed like nothing more than an odd gimmick by the time Atlas Genius took the stage, preparing for an awesome show as the sun set over Civic Center Park and the air cooled to just the right temperature.  Goldberg from 99.9 The Point called the band up to the stage and they launched into their first song, for which the crowd went crazy.

It wasn't until their fourth or fifth hit that someone in the audience reached into one of their free loaf bags and extracted a single slice of white bread, launching it like a frisbee onto the main stage almost right at lead singer Keith Jeffery's feet.  That's when all hell broke loose.

The slices rose up into the sky as every man, woman, and child with a free promotional bread loaf reached into their bags to copy the one hero who had started it all, and as the band played on, baffled, the security guards around the perimeter just watched in horror.  It's not as if you can barrel your way into the crowd and remove each sad slice from every sweaty grip, so they looked on, defenseless.

Towards the end of their set, as bread flew onto the stage, into the back of people's heads, onto the stage fan, the keyboard, etc., Jeffrey leaned into his mic and said, "I know this is a food festival, but..."