Southern Jammers Widespread Panic have confirmed a two night stop in Brooklyn at Kings Theatre within their first leg of Spring Tour 2015.
The band who do not usually play the Northeast much let alone New York State, is starting to make it up north more frequently. Playing Lewiston’s Artpark this past Summer and Syracuse in November 2013, the band continues to play more frequently which all at certainly welcome. The two night show in Brooklyn will be on April 24-25 at the newly refurbished Kings Theatre. Tickets will go on sale January 30 at 10am
Spring Tour 2015
03/13 Boise, ID -Morrison Center
03/14 Spokane, WA -Martin Woldson Theater
03/15 Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
03/17 Portland, OR – Schnitzer Concert Hall
03/19 – 03/21 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
03/24 – 03/25 Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum Theatre
03/27 – 03/28 Las Vegas, NV – The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
04/24 – 04/25 Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre
The second Annual Lockn’ Music Festival was a huge success, drawing approximately 30,000 fans to the massive Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, VA over September 4-7, 2014. Founders Peter Shapiro and David Frey listened to fan complaints last year to make major changes to the festival grounds, including building new stages, roads, and entrances, as well as hiring better-trained staff to handle parking, security, vending, and logistics. Music started daily around 11 am and continued until 3-4 am each night (except Sunday).
Thursday
The music kicked off promptly at 4 pm with the No BS! Brass Band from Richmond, who treated the first fans to horn-loaded renditions of popular favorites by Michael Jackson and Led Zeppelin, including a fiery version of Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean” with a “Black Dog” riff at the end, ending with a festive “Thriller”.
The Revivalists, from New Orleans, started on the Oak stage, hosting one of the first sit-ins of the weekend from Lettuce’s guitarist Eric Krasno. They covered the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” with rocking soul that amped up the sweaty crowd, as lead vocalist David Shaw jumped off the stage to sing in the crowd.
New York’s own Lettuce brought their extreme funk to Lockn’ with fast-paced tunes that set the groove for the night. One of the highlights was Alecia Chakour sitting in on vocals for “Do It Like You Do” from their latest album, Fly, with a swanky melody, smooth bass line, and sensual flair thanks to Chakour. She also dedicated “The Sun” to her friend, Brian Farmer, who was Warren Haynes’ guitar tech and recently passed this year. Lettuce broke out fierce classics like “Lettsanity” and “Last Suppit” along with one of their newer songs, “Phyllis”, and closed the set with “By Any Shmeeans Necessary”, joined by the No BS! Brass band.
Just as the sun began to set and cool off festivalgoers, back-to-back sets by Umphrey’s McGee andThe String Cheese Incidentheated things up. Umphrey’s McGee executed their first set with precision and purpose as the 6 piece band rocked the stage with triumphant sound. String Cheese immediately followed Umphrey’s on the adjacent stage with a set of crowd-pleasing originals like “So Far From Home” and “Can’t Stop Now”. Umphrey’s returned with a solid “Wappy Sprayberry”, and a fresh song off their newest album, Similar Skin, “Cut the Cable”. Flexing their jam-band prowess, Umphrey’s tore into a half-hour version of “Puppet String > Higgins”, and closed with a rousing rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”.
SCI ended the night on the main stage with a tribute set to Kool and The Gang, joined by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and JT Taylor (a founding member of Kool and The Gang). There was no fighting the dancing bug when a trio of backup singers joined in, where everyone on stage showed off their dance moves. The old school disco funk had the crowd singing along to “Ladies Night” and “Get Down on it”, with a wild “Celebration” encore.
A new stage conveniently situated on the walk back to the campsites, the Relix Shakedown Stage, hosted late-night sets all weekend. Following the funk theme, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk packed the grassy amphitheater for an explosive dance party in a field framed by a colorful line of trees. Playing crowd favorites “Everybody Want Sum” and “Put It In the Dumpsta”, Dumpstaphunk was joined on stage by the Steel Town Horns for “I Know You Know” and “I Wish You Would”, closing the night with “Raise the House”.
Friday morning brought blue skies and a hot sun making most festivalgoers crawl out of their tent just in time for Keller Williams‘s Grateful Grass set on the Acoustic Triangle Stage at 11am. His 5-piece all string band included mandolinist Jeff Austin from Yonder Mountain String Band, fiddler Jason Carter from Del McCoury Band, Keith Moseley the bassist from The String Cheese Incident, Ray Starling, and the man himself, Keller Williams, who altogether drew a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. The foot-tapping, southern swing style set was greatly appreciated by the audience and musicians, as Williams continuously thanked everyone for the chance to perform some of his favorite Dead songs. Walking out of the shaded forest area to the top of the hill, guests had an amazing view of the festival grounds and colorful tents, backed by the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains.
NY’s instrumental progressive rock band, Tauk, opened the main stage with an insane breakdown of The Beatles’ “She’s So Heavy”. Tauk kept fans cool with fluid segues and refreshing grooves, which have appeared on Sirius/XM JamOn. When asked about plans for fall tour, bassist Charles Dolan beamed that they have shows booked until January, with a Halloween gig being announced soon.
Friday began steamy, as the 6 piece bluegrass plucking madness of Cabinet took the stage, followed by Del McCoury Band, who dressed in their finest suits to play harmonious and authentic folk tunes. Drive By Truckers brought a classic rock ‘n’ roll sound with the help from four screaming guitars and simple lyrics. Their “Grand Canyon” set closer sent layers of ringing guitar riffs echoing across the field.
The String Cheese Incident returned to the main stage for a second night of two sets, much to the delight of fans. This Colorado band rarely tours the East Coast, making their appearance at Lockn’ even more special. The set was light and breezy with caribbean vibes that drove the crowd wild. The set took a turn towards electrified bluegrass when Sam Bush joined in on fiddle for one of their more popular new songs, “Colorado Bluebird Sky.”
A last-minute addition to this year’s lineup was Bill Kreutzmann’s Locknstep Allstars, stepping up to fill the gap left when Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir cancelled his appearance. The Allstars included keyboardist Aron Magner from Disco Biscuits, guitarist Tom Hamilton from American Babies & Brothers Past, ace guitarist Steve Kimock and the legendary bassist Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers Band. The musicians shared intense chemistry, gliding through the set of Dead classics, with sit-ins by Keller Williams for “Bird Song” and Taj Mahal for “Further on Down The Road.” Kreutzmann’s set closed with “Franklin’s Tower”, a Dead cover played later by Phil Lesh and Friends (one of many “cover collisions” throughout the weekend).
The last main stage act wasPhil Lesh, Grateful Dead bassist and founder, along with his Friends, drummer Joe Russo (Furthur), keyboardist John Medeski (Medeski Martin & Wood), legendary jazz guitarist John Scofield, and guitarist Warren Haynes (Gov’t Mule, Allman Brothers) for a two hour set of improvisational spacey jams. They kicked off the party with a festive “China Cat Sunflower”. It was refreshing to hear other band’s covers such as Traffic’s “Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” and Cream’s “Sunshine of your Love”. Deadheads rejoiced to hear familiar favorites such as “Shakedown Street” and a lengthy “Unbroken Chain”, a dark and mysterious “Mountains of the Moon” and a furious “The Other One”, followed by Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy”. Curiously, Phil Lesh and Friends closed with “Franklin’s Tower”, which was also played earlier by Bill Kreutzmann’s Locknstep Allstars.
The warm summer night was capped off with a beautiful acoustic Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi set on the Triangle Stage, and Chris Robinson Brotherhood on the Relix Shakedown Stage, who performed one Black Crowes cover, “Tornado”, and mostly originals, such as “Shore Power”, from their new album, Phosphorescent Harvest, along with a smokin’ version of “Never Been to Spain” (by Hoyt Axton). Chris Robinson closed the evening with an intense version of Slim Harpo’s “Got Love If You Want It.”
Saturday brought blazing sunshine and high humidity for Lockn’ fans, eager for two more days of incredible music. It was so hot that even the speakers were sweating. The steamy afternoon started on the Oak Stage with the bluegrass expertise of Larry Keel & Sam Bush, joined by Larry’s wife Jenny Keel on upright bass. The music shifted to upbeat rock, as Ween guitarist Aaron Freeman (aka “Gene Ween”) took the Ridge Stage, playing a new song (as of yet untitled), starting off with the crowd scratching their heads. He rocked through “All the Way to China”, and “Covert Discretion”, the latter a song about saving himself from his chemical dependency. He played most of the songs off of his new album, Freeman, which are very philosophical stories of his life and the battles with various influences of fame.
Bluesy guitar virtuoso, Gary Clark, Jr. brought out-of-sight guitar licks and powerful vocals to the Oak Stage in the early afternoon, as the heat took over while fans sought or made any shade possible. Clark opened with “Catfish Blues” (Robert Petway) and “Ain’t Messin’ ‘Round”, and as his guitar playing warmed up, so did the crowd, but the cold local craft beer helped dull the heat. Clark played an hour and a half with mostly originals, including “Don’t Owe You a Thing”, a fuzz-guitar finger-picking blues ballad, B.B.King’s “3 O’Clock Blues” and the sultry “Bright Lights”.
Tedeschi Trucks Band proved to be one of the best acts of the weekend, with adoring affection for each other that speaks through their music. The crowd cheered with all the variety from soul, blues, and southern rock that was full of heart. They played blues classics such as “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” (by Hambone Willie Newbern), “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” (Willie Johnson), a rousing version of Derek and the Domino’s “Keep on Growing”, and a beautiful version of “Bound for Glory”, which was dedicated to the late Brian Farmer. In a 10+ minute long “Misunderstood”, Derek showed off his deft slide guitar, moving to “Bound for Glory”, graced by Susan’s angelic vocals and soulful guitar, along with intense Hammond riffing by Kofi Burbridge.
Wilco opened with their 2001 classic, “War on War”, from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. During Wilco’s set, a passing sun shower provided a brief relief from the summer heat, as well as a bright double rainbow across the horizon. Frontman Jeff Tweedy cracked jokes about the weather, quipping “don’t rainbows suck?” during “I’m the Man Who Loves You”, then teased “Let it Go” from the film Frozen. As they dove into some serious jamming, keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen smashed his keys with a pillow. Guitar duels ensued between Nels Cline and Pat Sansone, with rhythmic backing by bassist John Stirratt and drummer Glenn Kotche. Wilco played other favorites, “Handshake Drugs”, “California Stars” and “Kingpin”, closing their set with “A Shot in the Arm”.
Phil Lesh and Friends kicked off Saturday night with a slew of segued songs, starting with a killer “Going Down the Road Feelin’ Bad” and ending with a beautiful “Bird Song”. Mingled into the line was a somber “Wharf Rat”, along with a picturesque “Eyes of the World” and a psychedelically-tinged “Caution”, augmented with great walking bass lines by Lesh and lovely organ fills by Medeski. “Dark Star” was enhanced by the soulful vocals of Warren Haynes. During the Beatles’ “She Said, She Said”, Phil & Friends’ set was cut short due to a nearby lightning storm, which prompted Lockn’ authorities to order an orderly evacuation of the concert field.
‘You can’t have a Panic show without a little panic’, as a few fans commented while the skies grew dark over the fans rushing to their campsites. The rain delay was lifted after an hour, with Widespread Panic starting on time. Steve Winwood sat in for strong vocals that were as cool as the fresh air after the rain. “Can’t Find My Way Home” went into dark jam territory as Winwood added a touch of the blues. Sax man Randall Bramblett joined alongside Steve and Widespread for “The Ballad of John and Yoko” through nearly the end of the set. Winwood played the best version of “Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys”, which was also covered by Phil the night before. Winwood’s powerful organ solo brought recognizable delight for the set closer, “Gimme Some Lovin’.”
One of the biggest acts of the weekend was the main stage closer of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. The legendary rock group opened with the iconic “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” (The Byrds), blasting through top hits “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”, “Free Fallin’” and “Yer So Bad”, with Petty on acoustic. His set finished with a rocking “Refugee” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream”. Petty encored with “You Wreck Me” and a sizzling “American Girl”. The familiar in-your-face rock had stretched out jams, and was much better live. Tom Petty is like hanging out with old friends, making jokes about music and poor memories of the past.
Late-night Saturday started up the hill on the Triangle Stage, for a rare appearance of Hot Tuna Acoustic, with founders Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady on guitar and bass, and Barry Mitterhoff on mandolin. For his 17th birthday, Jorma’s son Zach joined Hot Tuna on stage to play guitar during their opener, “Been So Long”. Hot Tuna did a number of classic covers by Reverend Gary Davis, such as “I Am the Light of this World”, with Jorma’s incredible fingerpicking and Jack’s virtuoso walking bass thunder, which really took off at the last half of “Hesitation Blues” and the lively “Keep On Truckin’” encore, as well as sprinkled throughout their set, along with Barry’s tasteful mandolin picking and occasional audience support on the choruses.
Late-night closers and the real “break-out” band for Lockn’ was Bustle In Your Hedgerow, who completely burned up the hillside at the Relix Shakedown Stage with passionate instrumental versions of Led Zeppelin songs, bringing a fresh intensity to these classic rock anthems. Led by the multifaceted Marco Benevento (with his army of keyboards and circuit-benders), Dave Dreiwitz of Ween on bass (a modern-day John Paul Jones), Scott Metzger (of Particle & Rana) on guitar (shredding Jimmy Page licks with aplomb), and the ever-limber Joe Russo (Furthur) on drums, pounded out Bonham beats to the responsive crowd. Bustle gained many new fans at Lockn’ with incredible renditions of “For Your Life”, which went into a dark and mysterious “No Quarter”, as Marco unleashed alien sounds from his vast array of keyboards and effects, with stratospheric keyboard solos.
Few people were sleeping, even at the campsites, but everyone said how much they loved listening to Bustle. A Native American tribal dance circle evolved around the sole campfire, and fans slowly soaked in the Bustle set as the three days of music, camping and walking started to sink in.
Sunday
Sunday started out cool and mellow, with a welcome cloud cover to thwart the blazing late summer sun. Keller Williams played his Grateful Gospel set on the Early Triangle Stage at 11 am, with classics like “Ripple” done with a bluegrass feel, assisted by a skilled gospel vocal troupe. Keller then went into a light and airy version of the Dead’s “Eyes of the World”, where fans didn’t mind another ‘cover collision’, as it was fresh and tastily enhanced by soothing vocals and guitar work. Hailing from Charlottesville, Erin and the Wildfire opened the main stage at noon to a few early risers, but more fans arose from their camps to flood the concert grounds for SOJA, who brought a large local following and fired up the crowd.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals kicked the afternoon into overdrive, with straight-ahead power rock anthems like “Ah Mary”, “Low Road”, and “Sweet Hands”. “Nothing but the Water” went into part of Sly’s “I Want to Take You Higher” and ended with an eerie”White Rabbit”. Potter dedicated their encore to the memory of Brian Farmer with a sorrowful “I Shall Be Released”, with Grace taking the helm of the B3 and belting out vocals that echoed off the hills. GP&N ended their set and completed the tribute with The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends”, propelled by Grace’s blasting organ & vocals.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Willie Nelson treated long-time fans to straight-ahead versions of many classics like “Crazy”, “You Were Always On My Mind” and “Georgia”, playing almost 30 songs in an hour and a half. He joked throughout, making fun of the hard road life and introducing songs like “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” with related stories to provide context. Wilco had another memorable set, with “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”, “Hesitating Beauty” and “Hoodoo Voodoo”, finishing with “Outtasite (Outta Mind)”. Widespread Panic also played a great closing set on Sunday, treating fans to Neil Young’s “Vampire Blues”, where Randall Bramblett again joined the band, this time on harmonica. They closed with a funky version of the Bill Withers classic,”Use Me”, with Susan Tedeschi joining on guitar and vocals, and Bramblett on sax.
The Allman Brothers Band performed Live at the Fillmore East, kicking off with “Statesboro Blues” (Blind Willie McTell) and “Done Somebody Wrong” (Elmore James), and a sweet & smooth version of “Stormy Monday” (T-Bone Walker) with soulful vocals by Gregg Allman, sweet slide work by Derek Trucks, and rhythm guitar by Warren Haynes, who took a soaring solo at the end. A few of the standouts were a nearly 15-minute “Whipping Post”, with ridiculous slide and guitar solo trades between Derek and Warren, and a lengthy “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”. The Allmans closed out the set with “Blue Sky” > “Mountain Jam”, ending with “Little Martha” and an encore of “Mountain Jam Reprise” to close the main stage, while group and album cover photos of the Allman Brothers of yore graced the audience, who cheered to thank the Allman Brothers for a lifetime of music, reflecting on the band who will soon retire.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps0K3SFMS-Y]
See You Next Year
Entry into the festival was far smoother this year due to skillful planning, as well as better layout due to the purchase of adjacent land so all the campsites could be closer. The concert fairgrounds and camping areas were completely redesigned, with new stage locations and new roads built to handle more fans. VIP and Super VIP had larger camping and concert field space, more bathrooms and showers than last year.
Moving the late-night Triangle Stage to the nearby ridge made it less than a 20 minute walk from the main stage field (versus a long 45-minute walk last year). VIP facilities were larger and cleaner this year, under constant maintenance until after midnight. Patrons enjoyed more food choices, more fresh water taps, colder beer, and better use of space, as compared to 2013.
There was a temporary shortage of porta-johns, but more were promptly delivered the next day. There were complaints of minor thefts of tapestries, coolers, and other personal items, but in general the fans were well-behaved and all the major areas were kept safe and sound. The crowd was well-behaved, withstanding the blistering sun with umbrellas, wide hats, shade tents, and water mist guns. In spite of a cancellation by one of the major headliners (Bob Weir and Ratdog, which also cancelled a Furthur reunion), other musicians stepped up to the plate to fill the open main stage slots (namely Bill Kreutzman and Phil Lesh with their respective super-groups).
One of the newest additions to this year’s activities was the on-site biking program. Fans were encouraged to bring their bikes, or could rent one, courtesy of Snowshoe Mountain Bike Park. Oak Ridge Farm has over 30 miles of trails to explore with guided tours from the Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club. Because of the beautiful weather, bikers could be seen pedaling at all hours of the weekend. Disc golf, yoga, and swimming hole trips, cultural awareness and crafts were also some of many activities that Lockn’ provided to patrons.
In spite of threats by the ABC to shut down Lockn’s liquor license, county and state police reported only minor incidents, and Lockn’ ran very smoothly, especially considering the amount of fans and crew this year. Thanks to careful planning, and expenditures on key infrastructure like new staging, camping, electricity, and roads, Lockn’ organizers seek to improve the area further, and bring more business into Nelson County next year. Although The Allman Brothers are retiring, we can hope to see many of the headliners return next year.
Anyone can tell you that putting on a music festival is no easy task; it takes months and months of planning. Each year is a fresh start to learn from previous mistakes and create improvements for everyone involved from volunteers, festival goers, musicians and more. After the inaugural four-day Lockn’ Music Festival, organizers have made some serious changes involving musical lineups, camping spots, vendors and hopefully less frustrating traffic jams. Check out ‘s own Nick Fitanides’ review and Phrazz’s photos of the last year’s Lockn’.
The 2nd annual Lockn’ Music Festival is set to take place Sept 4-7 at the Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington, VA with a star-studded lineup that is sure to make every second of the weekend count. This year’s artists include Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, Phil Lesh & Friends, Willie Nelson and many more. Bob Weir & RatDog as well as Further were originally set to perform but recently Bob Weir cancelled all remaining shows for the forseeable future, including his appearance at Lockn’. To fill in the void, Lockn’ has booked Bill Kreutzmann’s Locknstep Allstars to Friday’s lineup plus funk masters Lettuce and two-sets from Umphrey’s McGee for Thursday. Lockn’ – the interlocking festival, features two side-by-side identical stages, providing a continuous flow of music with multiple sit in guest possibilities.
Click here for the weekend schedule so not to miss out on any of the music on the various stages. Check out the official Countdown to Lockn’ 2014 playlist on soundcloud.com with 19 tracks featuring many of the artists performing this year.
New this year will be the festival layout with the addition of a 385 acre farm located next to the current festival site. The new use of fields and woods for camping means that all campsites will now surround the concert site, making them almost a mile and half closer than last year. With the new farm fields, the traffic plan will now allow better site access and hopefully less congestion plus pedestrian and vehicle interactions will be greatly minimized. Also new this year is the on-site Biking program, giving people the chance to explore over 30 miles of bike trails as well as a convenient way to travel from camp site to the main stage. Guests are encouraged to bring their own bikes but may borrow the top of the line mountain bikes brought in by Snowshoe Mountain Bike Park with plenty of bike racks throughout the festival grounds.
Lockn’ recently had their liquor license revoked by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) due to last year’s undercover ABC agents witnessing hundreds of instances of inappropriate drug/alcohol use. This is not the final ruling, the license remains active until the 30 day appeal. Hopefully, everything will work out because Lockn’ is partnering with Sixpoint and many other local craft vendors to bring Brewers Village, a separated section of the festival for fans to enjoy a nice cold one.
Tickets are still available for general admission, VIP Packages, student tickets and single day tickets. Unfortunately, RV camping tickets are already sold out as well as preferred tent-only camping tickets. Each ticket requires a GA camping pass with various prices depending on your camping situation between tent, car or forest camping.
Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Conn. once again played host for the 2014 edition of the Gathering of the Vibes, a music festival which featured a dreamlike musical lineup with rock legends at every turn. Literally offering something for almost all musical tastes, Vibes once again showed why it has become one of the most entertaining and dominant festivals this country has to offer. The music that these four magical days produced seemed to blow the sky-high expectations out of the water and will certainly serve as one of the true highlights of this year’s summer festival season.
Thursday Gathering of the Vibes offered a full four days of music and the proceedings kicked off early Thursday afternoon. One of the early headliners was White Denim, a true up and comer on the scene, currently in the midst of a full-scale North American tour. Their set on the Green Vibes Stage, the secondary stage of the festival located just outside the main grounds and near Boardie Camping, featured selections from their new album Corsicana Lemonade. Afterwards, Rusted Root took over the stage and contributed a set filled with their usual selections including their entertaining take on the Elvis classic “Suspicious Minds”. Following a spirited set of tunes from Ryan Montbleu & Friends on the Main Stage, old school northeastern jam icons Strangefolk delivered the first memorable set on this stage with a poignant yet lighthearted string of songs that included a full set sit in from Jason Crosby of God Street Wine and Assembly of Dust. Stanley Jordan, a guitar virtuoso who essentially served as a musician at large throughout the entire festival, made his first appearance with an inclusion on “Sometimes”. Despite a solid start of music, an unfortunate mishap occurred on the opening night of the festival as East or Boardie Camping, an area of campsites located near the festival grounds that comes with an additional cost due to its close proximity, was improperly arranged with cars due to a staffing deficiency earlier in the afternoon. This forced the area to close at a certain hour of night and force campers who had rightful access to it to park in West aka General Camping which is further away from all the stages and main festival grounds. To the festival’s credit however, they did allow campers with passes to East Camping to move their cars and belongings to the right area the following morning when sunlight would allow for a much more feasible transition.
The latter part of music on Thursday night included a Grateful Dead tribute band and one of the true rising talents in the jam scene. Dark Star Orchestra did not replicate a Dead show of yonder but instead delivered two sets of covers that traversed both the Dead and Jerry Garcia Band catalogs. “Shakedown Street” served as an appropriate opener before seguing into an impressive “Greatest Story Ever Told”. Later, the GOTV veterans smoothly moved through the JGB classic “Cats Under the Stars” before bringing Stanley Jordan and drummer Kenwood Dennard on stage for a sit in on “Bird Song” which ended the first set. DSO’s second set, as expected, was a little more spacey but not before a “China Cat Sunflower” started things up again before giving way to a “Hey Pocky Way” and, eventually, “I Know You Rider”. A stellar “Playing in the Band” then sandwiched a drums jam which featured another appearance from Jordan and Dennard for good measure. This performance helped set the tone for what is typically a heavily Grateful Dead inspired weekend and this year’s Vibes would certainly prove to be no different. A late night set from Dopapod was the only thing left on the menu this evening and the thriving electronica quartet was the perfect fit for last act of the day. The group displayed a deft touch in moving in and out of different musical styles ranging from hard rock to psychedelic dub and showed off a much improved light rig that definitely enhanced the performance. The collaborative spirit was still alive and well late at night as Dopapod’s set also featured another sit in from Stanley Jordan and later Todd Stoops and Adrian Tramantano from Kung Fu joined the fray for two songs which included a monstrous version of “Trapper Keeper”. Dopapod seems to slowly be making the ascension many thought they would and their set capped off an extremely busy first day.
Friday Another band making a slow yet steady rise to prominence in the festival circuit, Twiddle, served as the wake up call on the Main Stage for the first full day of music. As would be expected for any set starting at 11 a.m., the group played a fairly laid back but heartfelt set of songs to a crowd that steadily grew as the festival population continued to rise and shine. By the end of their set, the band seemed genuinely honored with how many people were present which suddenly made such an early start time not as bad. Afterwards, the next Grateful Dead inspired act took the stage in the form of a certified power trio. Keller Williams brought his Grateful Grass act to Bridgeport which featured the very capable assistance of Jeff Austin on mandolin and Reed Mathis on bass guitar. On an increasingly humid afternoon in front of a rapt crowd, the group acoustically plowed through a string of Dead tunes from all eras. The set began with the band intricately weaving in and out of a sublime version of “Eyes of the World” that featured a strong outro jam which segued right into “Brown Eyed Women” which, in turn, transitioned right into the opening of “Birdsong”. Perhaps more impressive than the quality of play from these masterful musicians was their innate ability to craft cohesive jams that seamlessly flowed right into one another. After Williams delivered a heartfelt thank you to the crowd for giving them an excuse to play all of these wonderful songs, the group demolished one last segue in the form of the set closing combination of “Scarlet Begonias -> Fire”.
The musical tone then shifted, albeit briefly, to big band style as Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue followed on the Main Stage with a rousing set of New Orleans themed funk and jazz numbers. Strong rhythmic jams with heavy brass overtones filled this lively set as festival goers slowly started to populate areas in the crowd with lawn chairs and blankets in an effort to carve out personal real estate for the rest of the night. In the true spirit of a communal festival, setting chairs and leaving other personal belongings on the ground to do this is not only safe and permissible but also somewhat recommended as long as it’s not done too close to the stage or it interferes with someone else’s vantage point. Once the Mardi Gras atmosphere that had been built up subsided a little, it was once again time to pay homage to the Grateful Dead, the band responsible for the inspiration of the first Gathering of the Vibes festival 19 years ago. Drummer extraordinaire Joe Russo has assembled an all-star band of sorts that is making themselves quite known due to their ability to both pay tribute to Dead compositions of all sorts while adding a modern-day influence and style to the jams that ensue. Featuring other established artists like Marco Benevento on keys and Scott Metzger on guitar, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead tore through Grateful Dead staples like “Casey Jones” and “St. Stephen” and did so in a fashion that seemed to have even the oldest or most jaded Deadheads slowly nodding in agreement. A true highlight was a soulful version of “Reuben & Cherise”, a song Jerry Garcia often performed with his solo projects, that slowly but steadily morphed into yet another stirring rendition of “Eyes of the World”. Guitarist Tommy Hamilton took care of lead vocals on the majority of songs played and the set ended with one last segue of “Lazy Lightning -> Uncle John’s Band”, a pair of songs which had been played in the opposite order to begin the set.
This would be the last of The Grateful Dead themed portions of the day as the final three acts on the Main Stage greatly varied in both substance and style. San Diego rockers Slightly Stoopid brought a loose, fun and total West Coast vibe to this East Coast festival with a lengthy set of rock and reggae inspired songs. A vibrant horn section helped give a lot of their songs an old school ska feel to them as well. The band even decided to reach back into the vaults for an older song from 1994 that was straight up punk rock which, no lie, resulted in a full-fledged hippie mosh pit. This may be a first for Vibes but research is still ongoing. With a fun and ‘lively’ mood in the crowd now firmly established, it was then time for one of the weekend’s true headliners, John Fogerty. The driving force behind Credence Clearwater Revival, one of the most iconic American bands ever formed, seems like he hasn’t lost a step at all and prowled all over the Main Stage with a complete set of classic rock hits. Starting with the “Travelin’ Band” opener, Fogerty began his set with a string of popular songs like “Born on the Bayou”, “Lodi” and “Lookin Out My Back Door”. Following this, he then went back and forth between lesser known solo numbers and other CCR classics like “Susie Q” and a set closing “Fortunate Son” that seemed to feature the entire crowd on backup vocals. The rock legend then came out for a stirring encore of “Bad Moon Rising” and “Proud Mary” which allowed Fogerty one last chance to show off his infectious stage presence and properly end a set that was much more lively and powerful than many may have expected.
Finally, it was time for one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend as Lotus, an established act in the jamtronica vein of today’s music scene, promised a set of ‘deconstructed’ Talking Heads covers. This meshing of two distinct musical styles had everyone dreaming big and also wondering if the performance would be all instrumental or not. This question was answered immediately with Gabe Otto taking care of the lead vocals on the opener ‘Pull Up the Roots’. Donned in his finest all white suit and doing an admirable impression of David Byrne, Otto handled the vocals on all songs when needed. When it wasn’t needed, Lotus delighted the evening crowd with a stunning technical proficiency and truly unique take on another immensely influential American band. Driving guitar riffs and spacey synth effects served as a foundation for the music that expertly mixed the percussive heavy jam style of Talking Heads with the electronica aspects of Lotus – a match made in music festival heaven. ‘The Great Curve’ was played to perfection and, later, Tommy Hamilton reemerged to lend guitar work on “I Zimbra” and the Lotus original “Spiritualize”. Some of the other highlights were songs taken from the Talking Heads Remain in Light album like “Born Under Punches” and “Crosseyed and Painless”, the latter of which featured Jason Hann from String Cheese Incident and EOTO on percussion. What appeared to be a first time musical experiment can clearly be deemed a success which was met with resounding applause from a tired yet appreciative Vibes crowd. With action now complete on the Main Stage after a thorough day of music, the crowd slowly parted as people weighed decisions on whether to retire to campsites, trudge over to the Green Vibes stage for Deep Banana Blackout and EOTO late night sets or take a nice long walk down the shoreline to the Silent Disco which featured a plethora of DJs spinning well into the night.
Saturday The term “Super Saturday” can be thrown around loosely at times and may not always ring true but on the third day of Gathering of the Vibes it most certainly did. With superstar names like Umphrey’s McGee, Widespread Panic and The Disco Biscuits all on the day’s lineup, Saturday was, by far, the day most people were looking forward to and it certainly featured the largest crowd of the weekend as many came to the festival this day only based on the music that was being offered. If it’s possible, a day that began with very high hopes seemingly had them all exceeded and then some with a Saturday that produced one magical moment after another. Appropriately filling in the pre-noon time slot on the Main Stage was Assembly of Wine – a hybrid of band members from Assembly of Dust and God Street Wine. Their relaxed and quasi-folky sound helped those few who were in attendance to wake up and start a new day with a relaxed attitude. Afterwards, Connecticut locals Kung Fu got things a little more warmed up with their signature brand of ‘in your face’ funk rock. When their set was completed, Stoops, Tramantano and guitarist Tim Palmieri held court in the media tent, answered questions and shed a little inside light on what appears to be a potentially exciting and popular band on the rise.
Gathering of the Vibes really showed its musical diversity on Saturday with the bands performing that afternoon. First, a relaxed and intimate set of bluegrass inspired rock went down on the Main Stage as the recently reunited Leftover Salmon were joined by Bill Payne of Little Feat for the entire set. Covers of Little Feat classics “Oh Atlanta” and “Dixie Chicken” stood out amongst everything played even though they stayed fairly true to the original versions. Next, acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela wowed spectators with their unique style of synchronized strumming and picking before giving way to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, a relatively new indie folk band and one of the few West Coast acts to appear this weekend. All of these acts served as wonderful musical appetizers of sorts, but now it was time for some main courses. Starting with a lively Dumpstaphunk set on the Green Vibes stage, for the rest of the evening, music would be served by true titans of the current jam scene. One of these is the popular Midwestern rock outfit Umphrey’s McGee. Certainly no stranger to the festival circuit, Umphrey’s played a set full of songs from their newest album Second Skin starting with the opener, “Cut the Cable”. Later, Kenwood Dennard would lend his percussive assistance again with a sit in on “Women Wine and Song”. The Chicago rockers then proceeded to deliver a complete set of their popular blend of musical improvisation fueled by prog rock themes and blistering cohesiveness. UM showed off its dark side as well with a harrowing cover of Tool’s “Forty Six & Two” with drummer Kris Myers taking care of the vocals. This paved the way for an old school closer in “Miss Tinkle’s Overture” that served as a fitting end to a remarkable set.
The bar had certainly been set high with this performance, but amazingly, Widespread Panic was able to build on it and take the music to another level. With all traces of sunlight now finally gone, the Southern rockers opened things with an energetic “Tall Boy” opener highlighted by some spirited play on piano from JoJo Hermann. This moved seamlessly into another older, classic tune in “Climb to Safety” and the band was off and running and didn’t look back. Other highlights included a massively psychedelic “Little Lilly” which featured some captivating background lighting on stage. A slow and steady jam followed that eventually picked up in pace and before long, Col. Bruce Hampton joined the band on stage and lent his vocal prowess to a wild version of “Fixin’ to Die”. Between the truly inspired guitar solos from Jimmy Herring and an ultra-steady rhythm section, Panic delivered both a musical and visual show for the ages that touched on all areas of their extensive catalog of songs. Classics like “Chilly Water” and “Driving Song” were expertly mixed with newer songs like “Cotton Was King” and covers like JJ Cale’s “Ride Me High”. The finished product wound up being one of the most impressive and memorable acts of the entire weekend, a feat unto itself right there. While most people knew what to expect from a Widespread Panic performance, the one that followed had everyone guessing as to the possibilities. The kings of the modern jamtronica scene, The Disco Biscuits, recruited the help of some familiar faces for a potentially mind-blowing musical collaboration. Mickey Hart & Bill Kretutzmann, the Rhythm Devils themselves, would be joining them for a performance that saw old school Grateful Dead songs performed in a truly new school manner. At first, only the Philadelphia foursome appeared on stage as they warmed everyone up with a fairly standard run through of “Story of the World”, a Bisco original. A surprising cover choice in James Brown’s “I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing” followed which also featured a guest vocalist in Greg Sherrod to give it a truly soulful touch. Soon after, the music steadily shifted back from funky to untzy as the band ripped through the ending of another standout original song, “Confrontation”.
While hopes of an inverted version went by the wayside, it was then time to bring out the guests of honor as Hart and Kreutzmann got both the introduction and warm welcome each deserves as they arrived on stage. In a truly fitting first song choice, the newly formed sextet delivered a stunning version of “Home Again” that was marked with a superb ascending jam. It only made sense to play a first song like this with two members of The Grateful Dead, a band which helped inspire the notion of festivals like this. In true jamband fashion, the opening number eventually turned into a new one without any stoppage and a string of modernized Dead classics ensued. Starting with “West L.A. Fadeaway” – the next sequence of songs was one for the ages as the drum icons lent a steady and recognizable rhythm to the proceedings. “I Know You Rider” and yet another “Eyes of the World” with keyboardist Aron Magner on vocals followed; the group did a remarkable job of keeping the basic integrity of these classic songs intact while injecting a faster tempo with contemporary musical effects at certain times. The always upbeat “Shakedown Street” also made an appearance and as a slow, gentle rain began to descend on the crowd towards the end of the set, another impressive jam steered its way into a take of “Viola Lee Blues”. A song that was expected to be heard as The Disco Biscuits had debuted it in a performance earlier this summer. One last Bisco tune rounded out the set in the form of a long and powerful “I-Man” that was rich in musical texture and served as a fitting end to the set. The encore featured a legitimate choir on stage that sang everybody home with a spirited version of “And We Bid You Goodnight” – a song often used to close out Dead shows of the past and a more than fitting ending to an epic day of music.
Sunday The final day of Vibes generally has a more relaxed and intimate feel to it as people begin to pack up campsites and prep for the ride home back to reality. This year’s Sunday was no different as afternoon sets from Maceo Parker and McLovins were fairly laid back and mellow. After each of these, the music then took on a true Upstate New York vibe as two more legends graced the festival with their respective styles. Donna the Buffalo has been delivering their infectious sound of zydeco fueled grassroots rock all over New York and the rest of the country for many years now. Their set on the Green Vibes stage fit the relaxed Sunday atmosphere perfectly as Tara Nevins belted out the inspirational lyrics of the band’s classic hit “If You Only Could”. Over on the main stage, fellow New York rock legends moe. treated the Sunday crowd to a set full of originals. A lively “Tailspin” opener soon turned into “Hi and Lo” – a much older tune, before transitioning into “Little Miss Cup Half Empty”; a song from their most recent release No Guts, No Glory. A fairly straightforward set followed with “Buster” and “Wind it Up” serving as songs/jams of note.
Once the Upstate New York portion of the festival was completed, the end of a memorable weekend was within sight, but not before two more notable acts closed out the Main Stage. Ziggy Marley was the perfect choice to fill one of the Sunday afternoon time slots as he led his band and the audience for a set composed of mostly original numbers. As good as they may have been, it’s hard to argue that they got the same reception as his father’s ‘love’ songs as “Is This Love”, “One Love” and “Could You Be Loved” all made appearances. Afterwards, one of the last additions to the festival’s lineup, Dispatch, closed things out in fine fashion with an upbeat and positive set of rock and harmonies. The 19th Gathering of the Vibes was now in the books and what a weekend of music it was for those fortunate enough to be in attendance all four days. Despite some early mishaps, the festival smartly put all its chips behind the immense musical talent that truly defined this year’s Vibes. With pleasant weather throughout and the same warm, communal vibe that’s present every year, it would be hard not to declare this year a resounding success with one of the finest musical lineups ever assembled.
Well, at least we got one set of Widespread Panic, as rain and winds cancelled the second set of the famed Georgia’ jam band’s show at ArtPark in Lewiston on Tuesday, June 17, but for what we got in the first set, it was worth the ticket price, as well as my five-hour drive from Albany.
Opening with the instrumental illness of “A of D”, the seated crowd of a few thousand watched with curiosity and interest as the Athens-born worked through compositions, leaving room for improvisation in the right spots. The driven rock of “Surprise Valley” wowed the crowd via Jimmy Herring’s guitar work, while “Hatfield”, a song about the weather, was played to a backdrop of a divided sky which had formed on the horizon behind the stage, a storm drawing not far from the venue, but skirting by. These back to back extended songs, most notably “Hatfield” with John Bell’s trademark rambling lyrics, led to a short “Dyin’ Man”.
“Henry Parson’s Died”, a cover that I am not typically partial to was surprisingly strong, with Herring particularly shred-happy and consistent throughout; tonight the crowd got a real treat in southern-bred guitar playing. “Little Kin > Radio Child” featured a tight segue between the two songs about the kids. “Casa del Grillo”, a Los Lobos-style Chicano rocker was a rare treat, only played once or twice a year over the past 5 years. “Casa’s” lyrics were mixed between Spanish, English and John Bell-ese, and featured the organ accents from JoJo Hermann that perfectly framed the body of the number.
“Greta” and “Cream Puff War” were a pairing full of dirty funk and a seamless segue into “Cream Puff War’. The early Grateful Dead song filtered out of a higher intensity “Greta” jam, with Dave Schools’ bass taking charge to push Todd Nance to drive the rhythm into the faster-faced “Cream Puff War”. Listen to the two tracks below.
Then the winds came, followed by a downpour. We were asked to leave the park, and the helpful staff directed us to shelters and the parking lot. The heavy stuff did not come down for quite some time, taking pause and leading us to think we had a good shot at a second set, since this rainstorm started moments after Widespread Panic took setbreak. But the calm of the storm brought an onslaught of rain and high winds, forcing cancellation of the rest of the show. Not the optimal ending for the rare Widespread Panic show in Upstate New York, but we got one helluva set!
Gathering of the Vibes 2014 organizers knocked this year’s lineup out of Seaside Park and clear across the Long Island Sound for a grand slam. Rounding out the mid summer festival season with a variety of performances, Vibes promises four days of unique musical experiences and collaborations, friendship renewals and spiritual awakenings – traditional VibeTribe happenings – founded on celebrating the life of Jerry Garcia.
Gathering of the Vibes will return to Bridgeport, CT from July 31 – August 3, 2014. Widespread Panic and John Fogerty are making their first appearances to the festival. As southern rock outfits perfectly suited for the other, on stage collaborations are likely. The biggest surprise to this year’s lineup and perhaps the most talked about is the appearance of the Disco Biscuits featuring Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. Keeping with the Dead theme, this promises to add an element of unique musical styling and soundscape. Rounding out the Grateful tradition will be performances by Dark Star Orchestra, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead and Keller Williams Grateful Grass.
Completing the spotlight are moe. and Umphrey’s McGee. Other acts set to perform are Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Ziggy Marley, Latin duo Rodrigo Y Gabriella, Left Over Salmon, Rusted Root and many more. A variety of acts put Vibes on track with a special musical experience for its nineteenth year.
Hard Working Americans, a new collective of musicians out of Nashville, TN, released their self-titled debut this week on Melvin Records/Thirty Tigers. Led by singer-songwriter Todd Snider, the band captures 11 songs written by notable country, blues, and folk-rock musicians and reinvents them as their own. Joining Snider is an all-star group of like-minded individuals representing a spectrum of styles: Dave Schools – bass (Widespread Panic), Neal Casal – guitar (The Chris Robinson Brotherhood), Chad Staehly – keys (Great American Taxi), and Duane Trucks – drums (Col. Bruce Hampton’s School of Music and of the Trucks family lineage).
Hard Working Americans is a smart and well planned selection of songs for an album intended to capture the spirit of what the band’s name suggests. This album is reminiscent of Johnny Winter’s 2011 comeback release Roots where Johnny covers blues standards with an all-star lineup of guest musicians varying between each song.
The performance on six of the tracks retain much of the feel and emotion of the original performances, though the sound is often more robust with added instrumentation. The other five tracks are significantly reworked making Hard Working Americans’ performance of them their own.
“Blackland Farmer” is electrified from an acoustic country tune to one with a straight-ahead blues feel while retaining some of those country elements on slide guitar. A similar rework was done on “The Mountain Song” though retaining less of the original country version. “Stomp and Holler” is slowed down slightly from the rockabilly style of the original with a harmonica solo taking the lead rather than guitar. “Straight To Hell” is performed in a way that gives it much more emotion than the original recording, though both versions are equally appealing in their own ways. “Run A Mile” is much like the original; however a fun twist is added mid song with a brief hard hitting interlude before returning back to its starting pace.
Hard Working Americans is an enjoyable, well produced album to listen to from start to finish. A notable feature of the album is the sequencing of the songs which works to tell a story of the blue collar American. As a debut cover album, Hard Working Americans has established the band as a capable new collective of musicians with a solid chemistry. Though the band does not have original material recorded yet it is anticipated that, given the talent of the band, it would be well received by music fans. Hard Working Americans is touring in support of their debut album and it will be interesting to see what what they bring to the stage aside from this album.
Track Listing: (Original performer in parenthesis)
Blackland Farmer (Elizabeth Cook)
Another Train (Will Kimbrough)
Down To The Well (Kevin Gordon & Lucinda Williams)
The Mountain Song (Kieran Kane, Chad Jeffers, Sean Locke)
Stomp and Holler (Hayes Carll)
Straight To Hell (Drivin’ N’ Cryin’)
Welfare Music (The Bottle Rockets)
Mr. President (Have Pity On The Working Man) (Randy Newman)
Run A Mile (BR5-49)
I Don’t Have A Gun (Will Kimbrough & Tommy Womack)
Wrecking Ball (David Rawlings & Gillian Welch)
Key Tracks: Stomp and Holler, Straight To Hell, Run A Mile
Find out more about Hard Working Americans and details on how to get the album on their website and on Facebook.
“Greta” and “Cream Puff War” were a pairing full of dirty funk and a seamless segue into “Cream Puff War’. The early Grateful Dead song filtered out of a higher intensity “Greta” jam, with Dave Schools’ bass taking charge to push Todd Nance to drive the rhythm into the faster-faced “Cream Puff War”. Listen to the two tracks below.
Hard Working Americans is a smart and well planned selection of songs for an album intended to capture the spirit of what the band’s name suggests. This album is reminiscent of Johnny Winter’s 2011 comeback release Roots where Johnny covers blues standards with an all-star lineup of guest musicians varying between each song.