The Peach Music Festival returned to Montage Mountain for its 11 year in a row showcasing headlining acts like My Morning Jacket, Ziggy Marley, Les Claypool, Umphrey’s McGee, JRAD, Goose, and many more. Along with music veterans were a large number of newer bands such as Dogs in a Pile, Thumpasaurus, Andy Frasco, Brown Eyed Women, & much more.
The festival takes place on a ski slope/water park. The trek up the mountain to camp or even between stages is physically demanding, but the leisurely vibe of the waterpark provides much needed relaxation.
Security was definitely beefed up this year, probably due to the recent shooting at an EDM festival on the west coast. There were dogs sniffing for explosives and some nonsensical rules enforced by security. The photo pit was entirely too small and quite dangerous. I scraped my legs on metal bars many times trying to maneuver in there around a slew of other photographers. We maintained civility in the pit, everyone was very kind and respectful.
The first day started off with Friends of Brothers followed by Thumpasaurus who played a very energetic set to get the crowd going. Next up was Twiddle, opening up with funky favorite “Jamflowman.” The band also performed the fantastic “Slipping in the Kitchen” and heart-touching “Out in The Cold.” The first night concluded with two monstrous sets of Goose. Their set started with “Feel it Now,” showcasing Rick Mitarotonda’s vocals. Their first set ended with “Butter Rum,” and the set was filled with clever improvisation and classic Goose jams. The second set featured “Fish in the Sea,” a Fat Freddy’s Drop cover, “Red Bird,” “Hollywood Nights,” a Bob Sager cover, and concluded with “Thatch.” “Hollywood Nights” had everyone in the house grooving and “Red Bird” featured some tasteful solos.
On Friday all three stages were open and the day was packed with music! Trouble No More brought out Daniel Donato to sit in with them, playing a full set of Allman Brothers tunes including an incredible “Blue Sky” and a shred-filled “Whipping Post” to close out the set. Dogs In a Pile are quickly getting popular and they packed the Mushroom Stage with dancing fans. They started and ended with “Wipeout” and played a masterful “Jack Straw.” Umphrey’s McGee played a heavy set that had the main stage raging, with songs like “Remind Me” and “Escape Goat.” Tauk played an incredibly energetic set with the help of the ever-talented Kanika Moore on vocals. Ween was up next with a great set filled with exceptional vocals and guitar solos, spanning 25 songs.
Fans were going crazy for favorites like “Roses Are Free” and “Piss Up a Rope.” LP Giobbi played a two-hour set of Grateful Dead house remixes which was very danceable but left fans with mixed reactions. Due to a food vendor’s propane tank exploding, the pathway to the Mushroom Stage was temporarily blocked off for about an hour. When security finally figured out a path around, I had made it for the last hour of Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Peach which was much more Lotus-like jamtronica rather than the country vibe I was expecting.
Day three was epic. Circles Around the Sun played an incredibly funky, spacey set with Mikaela Davis on the harp. Andy Frasco is quite the entertainer. This year they put him on the main stage, and that wasn’t going to stop him from stage surfing. There was a guy being held up by the crowd on a board while he was throwing jello shots into the crowd via slingshot. Then it was Andy’s turn, he crowd surfed from the stage all the way to the lawn! The set included sit-ins with Dogs in a Pile, Mike Dillon, & Mihali as well as raging covers of “Teenagers” by My Chemical Romance and “Ramble On.” The energy was high and Mike Gordon delivered with his band playing new songs off his album like “Guilty Pleasures,” “Mull,” and crowd favorites “Cities,” as well as a raging “Carini” to close out the set. The place was going wild.
Les Claypool played an epic set including Pink Floyd’s Animals album in its entirety with masterful solos by Sean Lennon. Les wore a pig mask for a song and a disco ball helmet on “Whamola” to close out his set. My Morning Jacket played an absolutely rocking set with incredible vocals by Jim James including a Beatles cover of “The Ballad of John & Yoko” and a Rolling Stones cover of “Happy”. The place was lit up like a giant disco ball and everyone was dancing hard. Australian Pink Floyd put on a spectacle, playing Dark Side in full with three incredible female vocalists doing the vocal parts in “Great Gig in The Sky.” They covered favorites like “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb” as well as digging deep in the archives with “High Hopes” and “See Emily Play.” Their stage antics included a giant teacher monster the size of the stage during “Another Brick In The Wall” as well as a giant inflatable bouncing Kangaroo.
The final day had come but it wasn’t over yet. Ghost Light played a packed set at the Mushroom Stage including the very catchy “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.” Tom Hamilton would later return to the Main Stage to play an electric set that had every deadhead grooving on their feet. This featured crowd favorites like “Shakedown Street,” “Hell In a Bucket,” “I Need a Miracle” and a Jack Straw to close out the set that had Tom Hamilton shredding a solo like a madman! Rain delayed Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel since the Mushroom stage is uncovered, but they eventually got around to playing an incredible set featuring a cover of his father Dickey Bett’s “Blue Sky.”
Ziggy Marley was up at the main stage keeping the energy very…high. This included Bob Marley songs like “Jammin” and “War” as well as originals like “Look Who’s Dancing.” There were some rumors going around about Tedeschi Trucks Band not playing that night, but boy did they prove us wrong. The crowd was a bit tired at this last set but still going strong. The combination of Derek’s masterful shredding, Susan’s vocals, and their diversely talented big band proves to be a true powerhouse. Their set included covers like the opener “Woman to Woman” by Joe Cocker and “Dreams” by the Allman Brothers as well as many originals like the epic “Midnight in Harlem.” The band came back out for a massive encore ending with “Space Captain” a Matthew Moore cover that featured a dueling drum solo and a guitar solo by Derek that almost blew the roof off.
This festival is filled with incredible music and loving fans. Both old and young are happy to see music veterans they love and discover new younger bands. With a gathering so big on a ski slope is logistically difficult and there will always be some hiccups, but this year went off rather smoothly aside from maybe one small food vendor explosion and a very long shuttle line on the last day. Other than that everything was more than Peachy and filled with respectful people for the most part. In conclusion, I’ll leave you with a lyric from an Allman Brothers song I recently discovered I love called”Blue Sky.” “You’re my blue sky, you’re my sunny day. Lord, you know it makes me high when you turn your love my way.” Another Peach Fest is in the books, see you on the mountain next time!
