Basilica Hudson, the internationally-renowned nonprofit arts center co-founded by musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone, is spotlighting area musicians, DJs, spoken word, visual artists and more with Jupiter Nights, a new weekly series taking place in its recently-renovated Gallery Building.
“In astrology, Jupiter is the planet that rules Thursdays and also the planet of expansion,” says Auf der Maur. “Our Jupiter Nights are a gathering place and performance space where local creatives can showcase their talents, while also connecting with like-minded explorers in their own and other artistic disciplines. With the recent expansion of our Gallery Building, they present the first opportunity for year-round weekly programming here at Basilica Hudson. In their intimacy and frequency, they also offer a wonderful counterbalance to our large-scale seasonal events like 24-Hour Drone and Basilica SoundScape.”
Peter Galgani, Cozy Oaks Productions
Music, both live performances and DJ sets, are very much the anchor of Basilica Hudson’s Jupiter Nights, along with poetry and storytelling, visual art and even cuisine.
Peter Galgani, Cozy Oaks Productions
The novel series kicked off May 5 with lovers x Navaja El Filo Tropical, an evening of Salsa, Cumbia, Ranchera, Reggaeton, Guaracha and Danzón music featuring artists from NYC, Mexico and Hudson. The night also boasted DJ sets by Adrian Is Hungry, Laura Se Fue and Sonido Talacha of the Barrio Collective, along with lovers, the duo of Hudson’s own DJ Uncle Rudy and Davon. This was complemented by a poetry reading by O Zotique and food by Casa Latina Pupusas Y Mas, a family-owned Hudson restaurant featuring authentic cuisine from El Salvador and Mexico. Murals made by local youth during a spray paint workshop led by Super Stories were also on display.
Avant-garde jazz was featured during a June 9 event produced by Melodius Thunk, a partnership between local artists and musicians Reggie Madison and Tshidi Matale. This evening featured the Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere Trio and a DJ set from Fulathela, AKA Mike Mosby. Ambient soundscapes and edge-pushing audio hijinks were the focus of the July 21 event headlined by claire rousay and Matchless (Whitney Johnson). The first season of Jupiter Nights concludes tonight, July 28, with performances by a trio of singer-songwriters Emily Ritz, Jackie West and Shana Falana.
Peter Galgani, Cozy Oaks Productions
Basilica Hudson’s Jupiter Nights will be on hiatus in August but return September 15 according to Allison Young, who co-curates the series with Sam Hillmer.
“Jupiter Nights has brought a heightened localized focus to both our curatorial vision and community presence,” adds Young. “It has been met with a very positive response from folks all across the Hudson Valley. It is bringing in both first timers and returning visitors, ones who are delighted to have a unique performance space that they can patronize weekly for the best in music and other creative forms.”
Peter Galgani, Cozy Oaks Productions
Young continues: “Come September, we will continue our mission to showcase a different style of music each week, complemented with new gallery openings by local artists, spoken word and some of the finest food that the restaurant-rich Hudson Valley has to offer.”
Doors open at 7 PM and performances begins at 8 PM Thursdays at Basilica Hudson, 110 South Front Street, Hudson. Updates on events and the announcement of the coming Fall schedule can be found at the series’ webpage.
The 32nd annual Adirondack Folk Festival takes place on Sunday, August 14, from 12pm to 5 p.m. at the Schroon Lake Town Park, featuring the best in classic Adirondack roots music.
The idea for the Folk Festival recalls a time when folk legends Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston would regularly play for tourists at the Schroon Crest Resort. This summer, Schroon Arts is pleased to present Three Quarter North, Dana and Susan Robinson, Sara Milonovich and Daisycutter, Lyndsay Stone and headliner The Bob Amos Band, featuring the best in modern country and bluegrass.
Locals and those passing through are invited to come and enjoy the sounds of these great musicians. Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and some good friends. The Adirondack Folk Festival is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (518) 532-9259.
The Adirondack Folk Festival is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrnat program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts.
After a two-year COVID hiatus, the 16th Pleasantville Music Festival returned on July 9. The all-day event featured a cornucopia of musical performances with 18 acts between three stages.
We try to check off as many boxes as we can so there is something on our stages that everybody will appreciate.
Festival Director, Bruce Figler
Under a bright blue sky, attendees moved freely between the Chill Tent, Pamnation Party, and main stages. With each location offered its own style of music. Superbcoordination of stage starttimes allowed most fans to catch most if not all of the performances.
Platinum Moon
Pleasantville music festival has prided itself on the promotion of local musicians. Staying true to their mission statement, the opening acts on each of the three stages were winners in the Lagond Music School ‘s 2022 “Battle of the Band” competition, where first place winners, Platinum Moon, were rewarded with opening the main stage. Rounding out the triumvirateof winners was Westchester based Noshows — who appeared on the Pamnation stage — along with Carter Quinn Tanis (hailing from Cromwell-on-Hudson) who performed in the Chill Tent.
The Pamnation stage, set up between the Chill Tent and the main stage, offered a separate dance area. The Narrowbacks from Pearl River took full advantage by getting the crowd up and moving with their Irish rock. Pamnation stage closers, Illiterate Light, raised the bar with a guitar and drum duet from the Virginia natives. The audience roared along with enough liveliness to mimic an arena.
The Narrowbacks
Resembling a circus big top, the Chill Tent offered an oasis for acoustic performers. Located at the back of the festival grounds, the Chill Tent lived up to its name: benefiting from a constant breeze flowing through the performance area. Throughout the day solo, duo, and trios graced the stage. Paula Cole closed out this space backed by a three-piece band. Under a subdued purple glow, Cole and band shared an intimate performance filled with songs and insights from her lengthy career.
Glenn Tilbrook
The main stage was not to be outdone. Highlights included Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze performing solo. Tilbrook played a host of Squeeze songs including “Take Me I’m Yours” and “Black Coffee in Bed,” to the crowd’s enjoyment. Standing tall with his custom-made red Squire Telecaster, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears followed, sharing a powerful blues set. Festival headliners, X Ambassadors, closed out the evening with lead singer Sam Harris singing and dancing from one end of the stage to another. Teenage girls lined the front of the stage giving their approval after every song. The Ithaca band presented a dynamic performance of their music, capping a stellar day.
X Ambassadors
With its 16th event in the books, the Pleasantville Music festival has proven itssustainability, offering top-notch performers in a suburban setting while mixing in crafts, food and family-oriented activities.
Main Stage
Platinum MoonClare Maloney & The Great AdventureGlenn TilbrookBlack Joe Lewis & The HoneybearsCrash Test DummiesX Ambassadors
Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter John Moreland will grace audiences with his mesmerizing country sound this July. On July 23, the Oklahoma singer will promote his upcoming album, Birds in the Ceiling, at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock before traveling to Buffalo Iron Works on the 24. The Dead Tongues will join Moreland for both performances.
The singer’s upcoming album will be released on July 22, just a day before the show at Levon Helm Studios. Bird’s in the Ceiling is John Moreland’s sixth studio album, and some of his previous works, including LP5, and High on Tulsa Heat, garnered much positive attention from fans and critics alike. The pandemic prevented Moreland from touring for LP5, so his live performances are highly-anticipated and a long time coming.
The imminent Birds in the Ceiling album, via Old Omens/Thirty Tigers, combines folk, retro-pop, rock, and roots with the foundations of Moreland’s strong sense of lyrical story-telling. The nine-track album gives listeners a glimpse into Moreland’s most recent thoughts and experiences. Singles off of the upcoming album were released earlier this year, including “Ugly Faces,” “Claim Your Prize,” and “Cheap Idols Dressed in Expensive Garbage,” all of which you can listen to below.
An artist known for his lyrics, much of Moreland’s music cuts deep. The reflective lyrics “does it even matter? does it ever last? / I didn’t want the answer to the question that I asked / Can I kill a monster? can I be a man? / I can’t afford to give a damn if you don’t understand” off of “Ugly Faces” lend a lonesome and introspective perspective.
With Moreland’s talented and accomplished guitar playing, emotional vocals, and combination of instrumentation, the live performances in NY this summer are sure to be memorable and captivating. For the Levon Helm Studio performance, tickets cost $30 or $45, and gates open at 6:30. The Buffalo Iron Works show begins at 8:00 pm with doors open at 7:00 pm and tickets cost $25.
Tickets for the upcoming shows at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock and Iron Works in Buffalo can be found with the link available here. To listen to some more of John Moreland’s work, see below.
The NBT Summer Concert Series is back in Norwich’s East Park, featuring artists hailing from all corners of the country, every Thursday night this summer.
Besides the fabulous music, East Park is the perfect place to set up some chairs and blankets, relax, and eat some good food.
The summer concert series kicked off July 7 with Fruition from Portland, Oregon. They fuse acoustic, bluegrass, and rock and roll music, and just released their newest album Broken at the Break of Day.
The McCoury brothers- Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) -were born into the bluegrass tradition, with their father Del McCoury being one of the most successful musicians in the history of the genre. The group became the only group to have each member recognized with an International Bluegrass Music Association Award for their instrument at least once.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes first achieved prominence in the mid-1970s, emerging from the same New Jersey area as his friend Bruce Springsteen. Their song “I Don’t Want To Go Home” became their signature song, a mix of horn-based melodic riffs and sentimental lyrics. Rolling Stone voted their album Hearts of Stone among the top 100 albums of the 70s and 80s.
Shinyribs is a band based out of Texas, that blends Texas blues, New Orleans R&B, Memphis soul, and more. The nine-piece supergroup is led by Kevin Russell, who continuously swaps out an electric guitar for a ukelele. They were named Best Austin Band at the Austin Chronicle’s Austin Music Awards (2017, 2018), awarded Album of the Year for I Got Your Medicine (2017), and Best 2020-Themed Song for “Stay Home” (2020).
The Garcia Project’s performances are recreations of full, classic Jerry Garcia Band set lists from 1976-1995, using thoughtful arrangements and proper instrumentation. Maria Muldaur is best known worldwide for her 1974 mega-hit “Midnight at the Oasis,” which received several Grammy nominations. She has worked closely with Jerry Garcia and joined the band officially from the fall of 1977 through 1978.
Blair Crimmins began his music career in Atlanta, Georgia, with the determination to bring Ragtime and 1920s-style Dixieland Jazz to new audiences. He has toured the country playing large venues and has opened for acts such as Mumford & Sons and Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Mike Zito is an American guitarist, singer, record producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is regarded as one of the most lauded artists in the contemporary blues genre today, he has won BMAs in the categories of Blues Rock Artist as well as Blues Rock Album of the Year.
Trigger Hippy’s music has roots in country, Delta blues, R&B, gospel, and Southern rock. Made up of Steve Gorman and Nick Govrik, the group hit it off when they first met, and have been unstoppable since.
Ever since powerhouse music manager Albert Grossman arrived at the dawn of the ‘60s, Woodstock has served as the delightfully laid-back domicile for some of the biggest names in music. With Grossman came his stable of stars – Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Paul Butterfield and also non-Grossman managed giants like Jimi Hendrix and, much later, David Bowie. What also arrived was an abundance of top-flight recording studios and informal artist retreats, like The Band’s legendary basement recording space Big Pink, where some of the finest moments in modern music were crafted.
Musicians are perhaps the most social of the creative breeds. These are a seemingly tireless brood who love nothing more than to get together after a long gig or recording session to chat, imbibe and, of course, jam to create even more sonic magic.
For ten years beginning in 1988, The Tinker Street Café was the place where the biggest names who were living or recording in Woodstock could be found. Locals like Rick Danko, John Sebastian, Mick Ronson, Tony Levin and The B-52s Fred Schneider held court alongside passing-throughs like Gregg Allman, Living Colour, Dave Matthews and many more. And where there are musicians, libations and a stage with a ready backline, there’s sure to be great music. There are also sure to be some unforgettably comic moments courtesy of these toasted and/or tanked music makers – events that are the heart of Mitnick’s slim but richly entertaining memoir.
Mitnick relates these tales in rapid-fire chapters and the captivating banter of a seasoned barkeep, which I assume he was at some point during the Café’s run.
He begins his story in his native Brooklyn, where the seeds of his love of music were sewn – first as a schoolboy devotee of doo-wop, then as a bassist in a series of bands. Jerry was a professional musician from the mid-‘60s through the late ‘80s, one who, like many, also drove a cab to make ends meet. His gigs included everything from playing in showbands at Catskill resorts to a close call with mortality when his band, The Human Condition, flew to El Salvador to play a concert in the middle of its bloody revolution.
A call in 1988 from his friend Freddie Sandell not only forever changes his life, but also rewired the social scene in Woodstock. Sandell invited Mitnick to become a partner in a club on Tinker Street, one that would be in the site of the former Café Espresso. Sandell would handle the bar, Mitnick the music booking and a third partner the restaurant service. Then turning 40 and tiring of the working musician grind, Mitnick eagerly jumped on board.
The author gives some good backstory on the history of the legendary Café Espresso. It opened in 1962 in the former site of another popular hangout dating back to the Roaring Twenties, The Nook. It immediately became a hotbed of music with live performances by Joan Baez, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Bob Dylan. The Espresso’s owners, The Pautrel’s, famously let Dylan live in “The White Room” on the second floor during 1963. It was here that he wrote much of the music for his 1964 classic, Another Side of Bob Dylan. The Espresso would also become the site of countless jam sessions featuring Jimi Hendrix and scores of other music glitterati. But after passing through a few owners, it was in a pretty sad state by the mid-‘80s. That was when it earned a new nickname among locals, “The Café Depresso.”
In the book, Mitnick recalls the many Christmas concerts The Band’s Rick Danko played for charity as well as the countless nights he dropped by to try out freshly-penned songs. There’s also a great tale about a legendary jam between Danko and Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, another rock luminary who resided in Woodstock in the ‘80s. Jorma and Hot Tuna would also come to hold the record for the “most songs played in a night” according to Mitnick. Another memorable happening was when the Dave Matthews Band took a break from their recording to play a benefit for the family of a girl killed in Kingston in 1995. Even though the event was unpublicized per Matthew’s wishes, the word spread fast and it drew scores who listened to the three-hour plus set from outside the packed club.
Jerry’s own highpoint might’ve been the night Gregg Allman dropped by. That night, Mitnick got to jam with him till the wee hours before a crowd of no more than 30 people. A low point may have been when Hendrix’s bassist Noel Redding came to town. He promptly passed out during the first song, ending his show. Mitnick also recalls other great events witnessed by surprisingly small crowds. This included when Joey Ramone sang “I Wanna Be Sedated” and B-52s Fred Schneider crooned the “Patty Duke Show” theme at an Open Mic night. There’s also a funny yarn about songwriter Loudon Wainwright III overhearing a woman wax poetic about what she’d like to do with his tongue. Loudon tended to poke his oversized licker out while singing, something that seemed to capture the bawdier quadrants of the unnamed woman’s imagination.
Mitnick also describes The Tinker Street Café’s renowned “Wall of Fame.” What the author calls a “Poor Man’s Hard Rock Café” exhibit would grow to include items like John Sebastian’s harmonicas, drumsticks from Steve Jordan, strings from the guitar Carlos Santana played at Woodstock ‘94, Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics to “To Ramona” and “It Ain’t Me Babe” and the bass guitar Tony Levin played on Peter Gabriel’s hit “Sledgehammer,” one that was burnt up in a fire before it was gifted to Mitnick for his display.
According to Mitnick, it was the Tuesday Poetry Nights and not the rock events that were the most volatile. Here seemingly peaceful wordsmiths/hosts like Gunga Dean, Les Visible and Max Schwartz, Jim Morrison’s old college roommate, would sometimes come to blows with each other over their strong opinions about their works. And speaking of wordsmiths, legendary metal wild man Ozzy Osbourne would come to the Café during breaks in his recording sessions to sit quietly and write lyrics. Mitnick also discusses the weekly Blues Nights hosted by Orleans’ axeman John Hall, its Sunday Jazz Nights hosted by vibraphonist Karl Berger, the very short-lived Karaoke Nights and its Smoke-Free Women in Music Nights, which featured notables like Jill Sobule and Patti Rothberg and no ciggies. There is also a discussion of the Live from The Tinker Street Café broadcasts on Radio Woodstock. These featured memorable sets by artists like Cracker, Aimee Mann, Garbage and Jewel, a then-unknown who Mitnick found “incredibly boring” and unlikely to be successful in the biz.
The author also devotes a good deal of space to local heroes who are not household names but were beloved. These include the late guitarist/studio builder Ted Orr of the band Futu Futu, singer/guitarist Jim Eppard and even some of the more off-the-wall customers and Tinker staff. There are also testaments to hysterical hijinks like “The Cockateering Club.” This effort, instigated by a Tinker bartender and his well-lubricated customers, erected 7ft. snow penises all along Tinker Street during winter storms. The Cockateers’ ultimate goal was to create a “Dream Field of Cream,” 300 or so of their snow schlongs on the town’s golf course. Sadly, this never came to be.
Mitnick’s book would not have been possible without the assistance and artwork by Mike Dubois of HappyLife Productions. The veteran poster and graphic artist who has worked with artist like Grateful Dead provided the cover art for book, one based on his artwork for a 1994 Tinker Street Café compilation CD, and several more posters within.
Today, Dubois is also playing a role in the revitalization of the former Tinker Street Café, under the direction of its new owner, Lizzie Vann, who also runs the Bearsville Theater complex.
Dubois’ HappyLife art gallery/gift shop has moved into half of the former Tinker Street Café space at 59 Tinker Street. The other half will feature food, drink and some periodic music performances orchestrated by Vann. It will also serve as a satellite to Vann’s popular Bearsville Theater, where folks can purchase tickets to events, merchandise and more.
Two veteran Hudson Valley-based music promoters have teamed up to create Hudson Valley Live, a venture designed to bring critically-acclaimed world music, edgy jazz, experimental sounds and much more to the region beginning with seven events this summer at Colony Woodstock and White Feather Farm.
Hudson Valley Live is the brainchild of Danny Melnick and Isabel Soffer. The Saugerties-based Melnick has produced hundreds of festivals, tours, concerts and special events in more than 30 countries since 1989, efforts accelerated with the 2007 formation of his company, Absolutely Live Entertainment (ALE). A sample of these currently include: The Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival; tours by the all-star ensemble Artemis and The Joyce and George T. Wein Shape of Jazz Series at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Danny also is curating concerts for a criminal justice fundraising organization called JusticeAid and will produce the “Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour” in 2023, among many other projects.
A Brooklyn native who has lived and worked in Malden for five years, Isabel Soffer has been at the forefront of globally-centric cultural programming for nearly three decades. She was instrumental in the development of the American global music and dance scene as Director of the World Music Institute in the ’80s. But Isabel may be better known as Co-founder and Director of the globalFEST, a non-profit that produces this much-anticipated and acclaimed annual music festival and conference in New York City now marking its 20th year. Soffer is also the founder of Live Sounds, a company that curates and produces multi-genre initiatives that connect artists with cultural opportunities. Live Sounds has been responsible for producing scores of historic concerts and tours by the likes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and The Masked Dancers of Kerela, as well as the founding of The New York Flamenco Festival, The New York Fado Festival, a Sufi poetry fest and much more. All totaled, she has orchestrated well over 1,500 concerts, with artists from more than 100 countries.
“Our goal is to produce an eclectic music series for curious and serious music listeners, with the kind of global sounds that have not been readily available in the region,” says Soffer. “While the Hudson Valley has a wonderfully rich and lively music scene, the greatest and latest in global music has been kind of hard to come by.”
“This series at the Colony and White Feather Far will fill that gap,” adds Melnick. “We’re bringing our decades of experience and contacts with world music’s best to bring more of the best to the Hudson Valley. We’re delighted to partner with these two forward-thinking venues to do events will be truly unique and ear-opening for the Hudson Valley’s discerning music-lovers.”
The artists featured at the seven forthcoming events span from cutting edge jazz to Afropop, Gypsy, Flamenco and Brazil, Latinx sounds plus regional American traditions. Following are the events scheduled at Saugerties’ White Feather Farm, curated in partnership with Barbes, and The Colony in Woodstock. More info can be found at http://hudsonvalleylive.co/:
Friday, July 15 – Fela Kuti Tribute with Nikhil P. Yerawadekar Living Language
The Pleasantville Music Festival will be held on July 9 at Parkway Field in Pleasantville N.Y. The festival’s Main Stage headliner this year will be X Ambassadors – current hit makers from Ithaca, NY with hugely popular songs like “Renegades”, “Unsteady” and “Boom.” “Renegades” was featured recently in a national Jeep advertising campaign. Other performances on the Main Stage will include Tarrytown native Clare Maloney & her band the Great Adventure. She and her band perform regularly at Garcia’s and are favorites of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane crowds. She’ll be followed by a solo performance by the legendary Glenn Tilbrook; founding member and lead sing of the band Squeeze. Next up on the Main Stage will be Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears, performing their funk and R&B mix, often channeling James Brown. They’ll be followed by ’80s and ’90s icons 10,000 Maniacs featuring Mary Ramsey, a band that has come to be known for hit songs like “What’s the Matter Here”, “Like the Weather”, “Trouble Me” and “These are Days.”
This year, the Chill Tent Stage will feature performances from Cornwall on Hudson’s Chaz Kiss; singer-songwriter Greg Jacquin, originally from Sleepy Hollow; Riki Stevens , a singer-songwriter from Norwalk, CT; and Cole Quest & the City Pickers – a five-piece bluegrass band. The band’s founder and namesake, Cole Quest, a Mt. Kisco native, is Woody Guthrie’s grandson. The Chill Tent’s schedule will culminate with a performance from the Chill Tent Stage’s headliner, singer-songwriter Paula Cole, known for huge hit songs in the ’90s like “I Don’t Want to Wait” and “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone.”
The Party Stage this year will feature The Breaks Inc. , a retro rock band with a Beatles vibe featuring guitarist Adrian Cardenas from Croton on Hudson; Blankslate , a Denver-based alt-rock trio with partial roots in Armonk; Sid Simons , alt-rockers from Brooklyn featuring the Simons brothers from Mamoroneck; and The Narrowbacks – Rowdy Irish rockers hailing from the Bronx and Pearl River. The Party Stage will close out with headliner’s Illiterate Light, a talented Virginia-based duo known for their recent radio hit “Better Than I Used To.”
“We do our best to appeal to a wide variety of musical tastes and demographics. We try to check off as many boxes as we can so there is something on our stages that everybody will appreciate,” says festival Director Bruce Figler. “Some come to see the headliners. Some come to see artists they have never heard. We’ve got something for every one. After two years off, we are super pumped to get the festival back up and running, and I think our audience is pretty pumped too.”
The Pleasantville Music Festival, presented by Northwell Health, is known as New York’s Backyard Jam. It’s become a must-attend summer event for the whole family, with great local food and drink, a warm positive vibe, and of course, world-class rock. Tickets to the Pleasantville Music Festival are available through Ticketweb and the Festival Box Office located in the Pleasantville Rec Center. More information about the event and links to the performers can be found at www.pleasantvillemusicfestival.com
The unique event features craft beer accompanied by live musical performances throughout the day and evening – topped off with a massive firework finale.
Over 50 NYS craft breweries will travel to share their unique brews with festival-goers, many of who had participated in the NYS Craft Beer Competition.
Heritage Hill sits on 300 acres of protected farmland and resides on one of the highest points and center of New York State. Nine counties can be seen from the venue, creating the perspective of being “top of the world.”
Heritage Hill
Dan Palladino, Owner of Heritage Hill Brewhouse, spoke about the excitement of hosting the BriteVibes Beer and Music Festival.
Our family is excited to be the new host of the BriteVibes Festival and we cannot wait for you to experience the beauty of our farm and location. As host of Empire Farm Days, we know how to host a great event and by partnering with NYSBA we are going to collectively give you a full-day experience you will never forget.
Today we look back at perhaps the most memorable and influential music festival of the 21st century, the first Bonnaroo. Held June 21-23, 2002 in Manchester, TN, Bonnaroo has helped pave the way for the success of the modern day music festival. The original 2002 edition skewed jam band-heavy when compared to the contemporary version, but the communal vibes and appreciation for live music that the festival has fostered over the years have only gotten stronger. Discover how the first Bonnaroo Music and Art festival came to fruition, the memorable musical offerings that weekend, and how the festival laid the groundwork for successful music festivals in the years and decades that followed.
photo by Pete Mason
Origins
Bonnaroo, in name alone, is steeped in musical culture. The word derives from the French words “bonne,” meaning “good,” and “rue” which means “street.” This was done out of respect for the music tradition of New Orleans, a spirit the founders of Bonnaroo were looking to carry over into their next venture. And even more fittingly, “bonnaroo” also serves as Creole slang for a “really good time,” the very essence of any successful music festival.
Not only that, Angola Prison was located on Bonnaroo Avenue. To be on that street, and not in prison, was naturally, a good thing. The cajun expression “desitively bonnaroo” came to mean “better than the best,” originating among the inmates of the South Louisiana prison, for if you were on that street and not in the prison, it was “desitively bonnaroo.”
Not only that, Angola Prison was located on Bonnaroo Avenue. To be on that street, and not in prison, was naturally, a good thing. The cajun expression “desitively bonnaroo” came to mean “better than the best,” originating among the inmates of the South Louisiana prison, for if you were on that street and not in the prison, it was “desitively bonnaroo.”
The closing of Knoxville’s World’s Fair Park in 1999 unknowingly got the ball rolling for the creation of Bonnaroo. The park had been the yearly home of the Hot Summer Nights music festival until construction forced concerts to no longer be held there. Festival founders AC Entertainment were forced to pivot and look elsewhere and from there the seeds of Bonnaroo were hatched.
The closing of the World’s Fair Park for concerts precipitated getting creative and trying to find, ‘OK, if we can’t do this anymore, how can we still participate in the summer outdoor concert business,’ and it was from that that Bonnaroo was ultimately launched.
Ashley Capps, co-founder AC Entertainment
Bonnaroo seemed like a natural name for the massive new venture on a giant farm in Manchester, TN. Not only for the aforementioned translations, but the term itself wasn’t completely foreign either after being introduced to pop culture through Dr. John’s 1974 release Desitively Bonnaroo.
Superfly, who produced shows during New Orleans Jazz Fest in the late 90s, had experience in staging 28 shows over 8 nights at various New Orleans venues, typically late-night and catering to jam band fans. Superfly founders Kerry Black, Rick Farman, Richard Goodstone and Jonathan Mayers had attended Glastonbury and Coachella Festivals in years prior, and used these experiences to frame their vision for Bonnaroo Music and Art Festival.
The Superfly team brought in Coran Capshaw, who managed Phish and Dave Matthews Band, among others, to assist with financing, and worked with regional promoter Ashley Capps (AC Entertainment), based out of Knoxville. Working together, Superfly, Capshaw and AC Entertainment combined resources and dove in feet first, creating America’s most successful multi-day camping music festival since the original Woodstock.
Farman spoke to Relix in April 2002 noting that the first task was to establish bonafides to the fans:
The first thing that I think is important to let everybody know is that we have an extremely experienced and professional crew behind this event. I know many people know Superfly from the events we’ve done at Jazz Fest and other things. And I know people know AC for the events he’s done. But what I really wish to emphasize is that we have hired the best people in the camping festival business to help us put on this event. We have a lot of experience between AC and us in putting on concerts and concert promotion but we certainly understand that our experience is limited in putting on an event of this size.
Our basic plan has been to make the learning curve zero. Most of the people that we’ve hired were also key players in putting on the big Phish events- everything from our project manager, site coordinator, vending consultant, production manager, parking company, business manager, the head of security and the different security companies that were hiring. We’re going to have Clean Vibes out there, which I think people know through many events, including the big Phish events. So in terms of the quality of the people putting on the event and the quality of the facilities, its really going to be top notch.
The location the team would choose was found in Central Tennessee, in the small Coffee County town of Manchester. Located an hour drive southeast of Nashville, the town of less than 9,000 at the time had previously served as host to at least one previous music festival, Itchykoo.
Named for the Small Faces song “Itchykoo Park,” the festival was held only once, from August 12-15, 1999, featuring 40 bands over four days and nights. The event sold 20,000 tickets, but the event did not repeat, something apparent before the weekend concluded, with event staff reportedly departing mid-shift when it became clear their work would not be paid.
The classic rock-centric festival featured Dave Mason, Survivor, Rick Springfield, Blue Oyster Cult, Sammy Hagar, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Iron Butterfly, Leon Russell, Davy Jones and Mickey Dolenz (performing separately), Starship and the Wilson sisters from Heart. The lineup, while ambitious, did not have a true headliner, but instead a list of classic rock bands with no clear connection between the artists.
Itchycoo not returning to Manchester for additional installments, coupled with World’s Fair Park closing for construction, made the perfect conditions for Bonnaroo to arrive in 2002. Of course, the two festivals would have a similar sounding name, and an ambitious first year endeavor like Bonnaroo needed to establish their brand as distinct from the predecessor, at least to all who were aware of Itchykoo. With a name that signified a ‘good time,’ was the name of a street in New Orleans as well as a Dr. John album, confusion with the 1999 festival was not a factor.
The location in Manchester, a 700-acre farm with access roads left over from Itchykoo gave it perfect location next to I-24, something that was a necessity for any major music festival to ensure easy access for arriving fans. The farm was purchased in 2007, and a permanent power source was added shortly after, so as not to use the TVA hookup that accounted for 70% of all power, with the rest coming from generators.
On March 13, 2002, with little advertising, tickets for Bonnaroo went on sale, at an initial cost of $100, eventually sold for as much as $170. Tickets were sold exclusively through the Bonnaroo website, with 10,000 tickets sold the first day. Within the first week, 70,000 tickets were sold, and the festival announced a sell out on March 24. Within 11 days, and mostly by word-of-mouth, Bonnaroo had sold out their first year with a lineup and vision that fans agreed with.
There was of course another failed festival in 1999 that also had an impact on Bonnaroo, and music festivals in general. Woodstock 99, which quite publicly showed Baby Boomer greed meeting Gen X angst, in full view on MTV. While Itchykoo failed due to lack of headlining acts and lack of funding, Woodstock tarnished a brand permanently, with founder Michael Lang unable to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock with a festival 20 years later.
