Bigworld-smallworld-ness

I ran into Mike Donofrio yesterday, of the band The New Year. He was running along my road with his dog. As it turns out he's off to Barcelona this week to perform in a major music fest (lineup below):

I think what strikes me most about this is the bigworld-smallworld-ness of it all. I mean, this is a guy I don't know tremendously well, but I know him, and it's always nice to run into him. He's quite unassuming for someone who has been in a couple of very well known (in some circles) bands (Saturnine and The New Year). My kids trick-or-treat on his street; he gave one of our local librarians a bass so that he could teach himself to play "Sunshine of Your Love"; he has a dog, a couple of kids. He's just a guy. And yet he's on his way to Barcelona to play in a festival with the likes of (to pick some names randomly) Art Brut, Bloc Party, Damien Jurado, My Bloody Valentine, Neil Young, St. Etienne, Sonic Youth, Spiritualized, The Bad Plus, The Jayhawks, The Vaselines, Throwing Muses, Yo La Tengo. I don't know how many people The New Year will be playing for in Spain (there are several stages) but the contrast between the Mike I know (who hobnobs with librarians and the likes of me) and the guy who hobnobs with Neil Young and Sonic Youth is...what? Kind of surreal.