I assume there have to be people who get to the CHUN Capitol Hill People's Fair every year just for the perennial tie-dye, Bob Marley shirts and turquoise jewelry - the Bigfoots or Nessies of humanity. They leave behind evidence that they've been through - a footprint here, a homemade soap vendor making a living there - but damn if they don't escape detection.

So if you're not one of these elusive cryptids, you're probably there for the overpriced beer (ticket prices work out to about four bucks and change for friggin' Miller) or the music. I played some semi-sanctioned hooky from work June 2 and 3 to catch some of it.

There's a trick to doing the People's Fair right. Musicians are picked in a sort of democratic process by a jury of media and music people. Unfortunately, that applies some pressure to who makes it - some pressure against a lot of musicians who push the envelope. Some top-notch, quality music slips through the cracks, but you have to make a schedule to hit all the right spots.

I didn't have time to get to all the talent out there, but here's some bite-sized looks at some of the highlights.

Unofficial dance commander honors go to Los Lunaticos, whose reggaeton, salsa and merengue filled up the plaza at the main stage with swarms of booty-shaking strangers.

I've seen bands with entire sets that were shorter than Buckner Funken Jazz's sound check. It just wasn't in the cards, and no amount of oozing talent was going to buy their way out of mic problems and feedback. Win some, lose some.

Does anybody still listen to modern ska music? 12 Cents for Marvin makes a pretty good argument for it, though it works better live than on record. At a whopping eight members, they'd better. Thank the gods and Desmond Dekker, though, that they're not another one of the seemingly infinite bands full of ska-punk clones. 12 Cents digs a little deeper into the sound for some of the bounce that came in old soul ska and the two-tone revival, instead of blaring horns over grinding guitars. The kids will dance for it, but apparently so will soccer moms and their toddlers. It's a good case for mass appeal.

Kara Nomadica is what happens when you bring together a mess of overqualified music geeks with middle eastern instruments you've never heard of. It's not much of a show to watch a bunch of serious musicians sit around and noodle on original tunes in the style of Persian folk, but it's a damn captivating sound, and to cover the visual end, they brought along belly dancers from TribalTique. Suddenly, I wasn't the only fat guy with a camera out. Eww.

I felt worried for Ian Cooke; is being one of the most talented musicians in Colorado enough to grab the crowd when you're on stage by your lonesome with a cello, mic and pre-recorded backing tracks? Would people even get it? Consider this a mea culpa, as I underestimated Cooke's hold over a crowd, and the audience's ability to handle something new. Cooke reeled 'em in, and the layers upon layers of recorded and live cello do justice to his sharp wit and weird sentimentality. When the crowd demands an encore at the Peoples' Fair -- where schedules won't allow it -- you've done your job.