The Jam ‘Lympics brought out the best in bands on day 3 at LOCKN’. ‘A’ games ruled the day.
In the early going, Moon Taxi? quickly became Moon Taxi! as the Nashville band quickly won over the early afternoon crowd with their Southern rock inflected jams, with highlights being an “All Along the Watchtower” cover and set-closing “All Day All Night” and it’s soaring guitars big rock finish.
Vermont jammers Twiddle spun around the stage next, opening with a lengthy take on “Polluted Beauty” that brought out influences from many jam band mavens before them. Keller Williams came out to lend a hand on “Best Feeling” which ended with a jam on Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”. The set ended as it began, with a drawn out version of “Jamflowman” which opened groovily but ended in a flurry of explosive guitar rock (which would continue to be a theme on this day).
Stanton Moore picked up nicely on the departing sounds and brought in Galactic with a flourish of drums before the rest of the band joined in. New Orleans native Erica Falls joined the band throughout the set to pick up the vocal duties on songs like “Hey Na Na” and “There’s Something Wrong With This Picture.” The real highlights of the set came when harmonica giant, Lee Oskar, of War fame, came out to add a little more funk muscle for takes on “Slipping Into Darkness,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and nearly half the set overall.
Hard Working Americans brought their rough and tumble barroom rock attitude next. They weren’t going to win on style points, but were trying to crushing it on raw rock power alone. Dave Schools and Duane Trucks provided the engine while Neal Casal’s guitar and Jesse Aycock’s lap steel twist around each other. Lead man Todd Snider lead them through incredible versions of “Stomp and Holler,” “Dope is Dope,” and “Something Else.” With Phil Lesh’s set delayed the band extended their set, Todd Snider taking over with some spoken word ramblings while the band rocked out behind him, building yet another rocking finish. “The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. Well I listened to the wind and it didn’t tell me a fucking thing, so much for folk music,” Snider quipped, like a true rockstar.
The rotating stage and interlocking sets concept didn’t quite work so well for most of the day, including a break of over 30 minutes while Phil Lesh got his friends ready to go. It certainly was a lot of musicians to coordinate. But Phil Lesh is the ultimate coach, and what seemed to be a bizarre collection of players, Lesh knew it would work. With Page McConnell, Jon Fishman, Joe Russo, Anders Osborne and the Infamous Stringdusters it was essentially a LOCKN’ All-Stars. The set took advantage of the players, mixing some bluegrassy tunes like “Dire Wolf” and “Rosalee McFall,” with more stretched out versions of “Uncle John’s Band” and “Scarlet Begonias.” Russo kept the gangly band tight together while McConnell provided an enormous and impressive groundwork for the others to launch from. Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi joined the group for takes on “Mr. Charlie” and “Sugaree,” which saw Trucks and Jeremy Garret weave solos together that was brilliantly unexpected. Leave it to a coaching genius like Lesh to see the potential of the the fiddle and slide guitar to sound so good in that spot.
The Tedeschi Trucks Band left it all on the field for LOCKN’ with a stellar performance. The 12-strong band beat out even Lesh’s assemblance in total manpower. The set ranged from straight blues, classic rock, New Orleans jazz, fusion and soul, and they stuck the landing from every angle. Trucks assumed control of the band throughout the night, taking solo after relentless solo, showcasing his talent in all its magnificent glory. The set consisted almost entirely of covers, including “Within You Without You” (Beatles), “Keep On Growing” (Derek and the Dominos), “Had to Cry Today” (Blind Faith), and “Bitches Brew” (Miles Davis). But the highlight of the set was when all the diverse influences came together for their closing rendition of their own “Let Me Get By,” yet another big rock finish.
Many fans dread a band’s “festival set” due to their generally truncated nature and their tendency to lean heavily on the hits. My Morning Jacket operates in exactly the opposite direction. Their festival sets are something to seek out and look forward to, and their first LOCKN’ appearance was no exception.
My Morning Jacket declared victory with their set opening “Victory Dance.” The bar had been set high by what had come before them. But they set the bar higher, and then vaulted over it with relative ease. An early set “Off The Record” set the scene properly. There had been a lot of rocking on the stage during the day, but none quite as coordinated and ferocious as that. Throughout the set the band would take songs further and deeper than usual, and focused on the songs that could do so. “Steam Engine” got dragged out into a powerful sax lead jam, while “Phone Went West” found a melodic run and built it into a blistering rocker. Every single song in the set seemed to end with the aforementioned big rock finish, the energy reached a point that just could not be topped so they just kept pushing it back to the top. They played tribute to Bob Marley (“Could You Be Loved”), Prince (“Purple Rain”), David Bowie (“Rebel Rebel”) and the world on the whole with a surprisingly fun and rocking “What the World Needs Now.” When “One Big Holiday” reared it’s head, it became clear the energy couldn’t be sustained any longer, and the set came to a close after over 2 hours of relentless rock genius.
Sunday’s artists will need to watch out for splinters after that stage shredding that took place on the penultimate day of LOCKN’.
Up first was 23 year old William Michael Morgan. Morgan released his self titled debut album this past March 18th, which is coincidentally only a few days from the day that his first child, a beautiful baby girl named Presley was born. When I heard Morgan sing I was surprised at how mature he sounded for his age. He had a deep twangy, classic country sound, that reminded me of Clint Black and Merle Haggard. Given that the country music industry of late has gone in the direction of a pop and sometimes even rap fusion of music, I was did not expect to see such a young artist concentrate on the roots of the genre. Most notable was the single that has brought the new artist on to the country charts, “I Met A Girl” which was co-written by country Star, Sam Hunt. The country love ballad reminded me of how country music used to sound.
After a short break, around 3:00 p.m., Old Dominion took the stage. The group consists of Matthew Ramsey on lead vocals, Trevor Rosen on guitar and keyboard, drummer Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung on bass, and Brad Tursi on guitar. Three of the band’s members, Ramsey, Rosen and Tursihad, had success in the country industry writing hit songs for the Band Perry, Kenny Chesney, Tyler Farr and even NBC’s country music based drama, Nashville. Their energetic stage presence and unique fusion of pop-rock and country seemed to get the crowd in a great mood. Old Dominion is currently on tour with Kenny Chesney.
Up next to the stage was sibling duo, the Swon Brothers, made up of Zach and Colton Swon. Like so many country artists, the Swon Brothers got their start singing and playing music in their local church. They went on tour with their parents’ gospel group, Exodus, when they were just children. In 2000 they decided to form their own group, and the Swon Brothers band was born. In 2008 Colton Swon was picked to be an American Idol contestant and reached the Top 48 before being eliminated. More recently in 2013, the Swon Brothers were picked by coaches Usher, Blake Shelton and Shakira to be on the artist’s teams for the music competition, in the NBC show, The Voice. They ultimately decided to be on Blake Shelton’s team. The brothers finished in third place on fourth season of The Voice. Their appearance led to a contract with record label, Arista Nashville. During the show, the duo performed their own material as well as covers of Merle Haggard, and even Kings of Leon. Their sound showed hints of their gospel roots, and also mixed in some good old fashion rock.
I made my way to the smaller, indoor Bud Light Stage to see newcomer Elizabeth Lyons. Lyons has had a love for performing from a young age, but decided to complete her education at Vanderbilt University in 2013 before dedicating herself to becoming a full time country artist. She has been featured on CMA Close Up’s “Who is New To Watch in 2014.” She has also opened for country stars like Luke Bryan and Cole Swindell. I would describe Lyons’s music as having a country-pop sound reminiscent of early Taylor Swift which is exhibited in songs like “Boys in Every Zip Code” and “Go Girl”.
Starting at around 6:00 p.m., Eric Paslay began his show on the main outdoor festival stage. Like so many current country music stars, Paslay got his foot in the door of the country music industry writing songs for other artists. He has written hits like “Rewind” for Rascal Flatts, “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” for Jake Owen, and many other songs for the likes of Lady Antebellum and Eli Young Band. Paslay ventured out as a solo artist in 2014 with his self titled debut album. Unsurprisingly, he continued to make hits with songs such as “Song About A Girl” and “Friday Night.” Watching Paslay perform with a great deal of passion definitely made me appreciate the hard work the he had put into his music. I believe that if an artist performs music that he wrote, it can add a whole new layer of visible dedication to the music and that was definitely present in Paslay’s set.
“Can’t Stay Away” sees the album begin with a classic upbeat country theme that any lost boy can relate to; being hung up on another lover. The female harmonization is immediately utilized, bringing a refreshing angle to a few of the 3 to 5 minute tracks that make up Hole. Lugubrious slide guitar can be heard on “Not Enough Whiskey,” taking us away from the hustle and bustle of our usual bright lights, big city drag. “Going Home” provides a defiant edge for any young guns listening.
Festival attendees enjoyed perfect weather in a comfortable outdoor setting, and were treated to a variety of roots and blues music styles from more than a half dozen other outstanding acts, leading up to the headliner, New Orleans’ Anders Osborne.
Following the tent stage show Friday evening, fans were treated to a jaw-dropping preview performance by Saturday’s opening act, Noah Wotherspoon, at a small local tavern.
Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons
It was an interesting scene, seeing Disco Biscuits heads mingle among the usual weekend patrons of Coney Island. Roller coasters whipping past, the wafting smell of the salt water battling for dominance with the odor of the famous boardwalk hot dog, and good ol’ White Castle Express. It reminds you of a time past, but the New York City energy is still unmistakably crackling up and down the worn boards just as much as in the asphalt a few boroughs away. The Ford Amphitheater opened its doors at 6PM, revealing state of the art facilities and high quality monitors flanking the stage.
The Hungry March Band provided a nice introduction for the Biscuits, with members of the headlining act slowly joining as the March proceeded into a familiar melody. Both acts broke into “Spectacle,” and as the Biscuits began to take over the groove the Hungry Marchers exited stage left. Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig seemed to have some intonation issues during the opener, stopping abruptly to re-tune during the noodley 11/8 time section. He wasted no time getting his mojo right back in line however, as his solo during “¿Donde?” melted more than a few faces. The song was extremely put together considering the last time they played it live was September of 2010. Keyboardist Aron Magner provided a surreal acoustic piano introduction for a stunningly tight “The Very Moon,” which gave way to an absolutely raging “Tempest.” The segment transitioned into a flawless inverted “Digital Buddha,” continuing seamlessly into the funk section of “The Very Moon.” Seguing into the end of “And the Ladies Were the Rest of the Night” would complete the unfinished version from the previous evening, as well as bring the set to a dramatic close.
The Biscuits chose the Beastie Boys classic “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” as a perfectly apt opener for the second set, giving a nod to the Hip Hop titans as well as the location of the evening’s show. Having only played it out one other time in October of 2009, bassist Marc Brownstein seemed positively giddy to play an anthem from one of his childhood influences. “Run Like Hell” provided back to back covers for the last set of City Bisco. Without a single standalone song the entire set, the boys seemed to get into the pocket and stay there for a few songs after “Run Like Hell,” playing off of each other effortlessly but effectively. “Cyclone” seemed an obvious choice considering the name of the local minor league baseball team who’s stadium was about a quarter mile down the board walk and was a complete shredder.
After yet another weekend of unexpected bust outs and crazy set list arrangements, Bisconauts both tenured and amateur have a lot to look forward to. The Biscuits have proved that they’re back on the right track, 2016 seeming their comeback year. They’ll be headlining this upcoming Saturday, August 27 at Imagine Festival in Atlanta, as well as two nights in September at the Great North festival in Maine. This should give curious jam fans plenty of time to relax with the Disco Biscuits. And remember…they nasty, but they good.