Words by: Kayceman, Dennis Cook & Justin Gillett | Images by: Dave Vann & Susan J. Weiand

Outside Lands Music Festival :: 08.28.09 :: Golden Gate Park :: San Francisco, CA

Outside Lands Festival 2009 by Weiand

There’s something intrinsically cool about a festival that opens one of its big stages with Akron/Family and closes the same stage opening day with Tom Jones. There’s a crazy quilt quality to Outside Lands Music Festival, who’s second year combined thoroughly mainstream entertainment with scattershot echoes of S.F.’s Summer of Love, forward looking audio explorers and an increased local focus. Once again, Golden Gate Park was cordoned off and transformed into a playground for adults looking for strong musical diversity combined with good food and drink in a striking outdoor setting. While hardly a full blown “happening” in the classic San Fran sense, Outside Lands offered a sanitized and commercialized version of the sort of wooly, wild gatherings this city is famous for, dotting the huge space with a ridiculous amount of distractions, pleasure triggers and a kaleidoscope of aural delights. For three days at least, folks were welcome to unfurl the freak flags they’d tucked away in the drawer next to their work clothes, and despite some kinks that still need working out (one day they’ll figure out an effective, non-headache inducing way to move the masses in and out of the park), this second outing showed a major new U.S. festival evolving nicely. (Dennis Cook)

Friday, 08.28

Akron/Family :: 1:45-2:30 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

Beginning like some lingering hippie dream left within the soil of the park, AkAk quickly grew pointy teeth and howled for freedom inside the thick heat and humidity that gave Friday a muggy overtone that was hard to shake. Their newer material has a lovely connection to the elements, which worked well in wooing the gathering crowd. But things truly exploded with “Ed Is A Portal,” where their hardcore admirers ignored the unremitting sun to dance, rant and sing with the damp trio. Aided by Howlin Rain‘s Joel Robinow and the Rain’s new drummer Raj Ojha, Akron/Family wove a more succinct version of their usual spirit dance, culminating in a sing-along about living in Woody Guthrie’s America. This band truly makes one glad to be alive. (DC)

Built to Spill :: 2:30-3:30 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Akron/Family :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

Not even an early slot on the first day of the festival or a blazing hot sun could slow Built To Spill’s maelstrom. The three guitars of bandleader/singer Doug Martsch, Brett Netson and Jim Roth weaved in and out of each other with nuanced slide work and heavy use of distortion pedals. “The Plan” was stretched out with call-and-response guitar licks that led to an ambient back section, while “Unconventional Wisdom” turned violent with its high-pitched guitar progression. As heavy and guitar-based as this music is songs like “You Were Right,” “Carry The Zero,” “Car” and new one “Hindsight” (from the forthcoming album due in October) reminded fans that underneath the wall of noise and occasional punk rock delivery is a serious songwriter crafting brilliant hooks and radio-ready melodies. (Kayce)

Los Campesinos! :: 2:30-3:15 p.m. :: Presidio Stage

Despite a name that suggests mariachi outfits and flower bedecked senoritas, this Welsh seven-piece charmed enormously, suggesting a kinder, gentler Clash or mayhap a ballsier Dexy’s Midnight Runners with their dense, happy sound full of noisemaking violin and unruly electric guitars to offset the crunchy sugar of their boy-girl vocals. Their accents were too thick to catch even a single song title accurately but it mattered not a lick when music is this wholeheartedly inviting and performed with such arms-outstretched enthusiasm. One of the hidden gems on Day One. (DC)

The Dodos :: 3:20-4:10 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

Midnite :: Outside Lands 2009 by Vann

From go, their set possessed a gravity that pulled listeners from down the field, their steps gaining bounce as the full force of their increasingly filled-in music overtook them. Heck, even Dave Matthews gave ‘em props during his Saturday headlining set! For just three guys they make a hellacious amount of sound, loud enough to require earplugs but also sometimes so sweetly sung that it seemed Meric Long was uttering some siren-like alien tongue. Equal measures clatter and croon, The Dodos set continued to mingle folk, rock and jazz (this last beefed up considerably by the totally pleasing vibe work of newest member Keaton Snyder) into music easy to take in but hard to pin down. (DC)

Midnite :: 4:05-5:05 p.m. :: Twin Peaks Stage

St. Croix’s international reggae sensation delivered one of the best sets I’ve ever witnessed by them, resisting the urge to “lively up” their unique, Nyabinghi influenced, deep roots reggae for a Cali festival audience. Instead, they stuck to their persistent, insistent, dub touched steadiness and created a sound that made love to the ground they, and we, stood upon, a vibration that stirred the place where things grow, in the earth and us. Truly holy music. (DC)

Silversun Pickups :: 4:15-5:15 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Silversun Pickups :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

Following Built to Spill – which caused frontman Brian Aubert to “geek out” and profess his adoration of the legendary act – L.A.’s Silversun Pickups played on the same stage to a crowd twice as big and twice as rowdy, and they played almost twice as loud. Cranking out the kind of indie fuzz-rock that acts like BTS, Dino Jr. and, obviously, Smashing Pumpkins helped create, SSPU may not be doing anything particularly new, but that doesn’t always matter. As if trying to prove this point, songs like “Kissing Families,” “There’s No Secrets This Year,” “Swoon” and others were played with confidence and attitude, the screaming vocals and crashing sheets of guitar underscored by pretty harmonies and subtle string accents. With a knack for writing catchy rock songs with big guitar lines, a cute girl on bass who rips, a good, very likeable bandleader and a huge sound that could one day fill stadiums, Silversun Pickups are worthy of the hype. (Kayce)

The National :: 5:00-6:00 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

Despite an initial impression of simple pleasantness, The National pulled out a phenomenal set. About the halfway mark all the great curves and sheer richness of their songwriting and delivery became clear. Exciting, muscular live musicians, the band achieved a cumulative effect, where the secular tales and gospel punctuation of their music combined to reveal perhaps one of the best rock bands currently striding the boards. It’s no mystery to me after this set why this Brooklyn group is beloved on the U.K. festival circuit. (DC)

Q-Tip :: 5:50-6:50 p.m. :: Twin Peaks Stage

Tea Leaf Green :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

Starting with a shout-out to J Dilla and dedicating the second half of his set to the recently departed DJ AM (most of the crowd clearly learned of AM’s sudden death from Q as there was a rapid array of texts and Google searches being fired off), Q-Tip put on a very solid set that had the masses dancing hard. Backed by a full band (bass, drums, guitar, keys and DJ), Q let his unmistakable flow roll atop heavy funk breaks that were peppered with classic samples and a few instrumental solos. After a quick piece of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” Q dropped Tribe hits “Bonita Applebum” and “Scenario” before shocking everyone by bringing out A Tribe Called Quest co-founder Phife Dawg. The legendary duo hadn’t been together in years and after running through “Award Tour” an excited Q-Tip reminded fans just how special this reunion was when he closed the set by saying, “Don’t know if y’all will ever see that again.” (Kayce)

Tea Leaf Green :: 6:00-6:45 p.m. :: Presidio Stage

I love TLG’s energy. Their huge charisma and abundant talent were on glorious display at their Lands debut, where they showcased a bundle of topnotch new tunes and a general togetherness that announced in no uncertain terms that the quartet with Reed Mathis in the bass position has fully gelled. “This is the best day of my life,” said Trevor Garrod (keys, lead vocals), “I even swam in the ocean, because it was hot.” I was again struck by how memorable and flexible their compositions are, and hearing them with a good sized crowd only reaffirmed the feeling that their music would be glorious shared with massive main stage size audiences, perfect songs for 30,000 people to belt out as one voice. All the crazy chops onstage were harnessed to pointed purpose, serving each number so it struck with maximum impact. And it’s not that they no longer improvise or jam but the freakouts are controlled bursts that actually work far better than some of their earlier meandering. A great barrelhouse fueled take on “Taught To Be Proud” and a rowdy “If It Wasn’t For The Money” were happy reminders that TLG makes music one can tuck away for rainy days, just the gleaming coin one wants to pull from their pocket when they feel broken and bereft. What they were is no longer, but the metamorphosis taking place may ultimately land them a much bigger audience, and it couldn’t happen to nicer, more deserving guys. (DC)

Tom Jones :: 6:50-7:50 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

Tom Jones :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

“I’m alive! I’m doing my thing and singing my song! I’m a man!!!” roared Tom Jones to begin the best set I caught Friday and perhaps the highlight of my two days in the park. An old school showman of the highest order, Jones led a huge, incredibly tight band through his lengthy catalog, setting off joy bombs on the lawn with “Delilah,” “What’s New Pussycat?,” “She’s A Lady” and “Kiss.” More fit and frisky than he’s any right to be at 69-years-old, Van Morrison’s favorite singer showed he’s lost almost none of his explosive, seductive vocal range or unbridled, wholly manly charm. So, when he asked us, “Are we gonna have a good time tonight?” the positive affirmation was almost deafening. The new songs from his recently released 24 Hours album were surprisingly excellent and largely on par with the sort of quality material that he built his rep on in the 1960s. He also murdered (in a good way) covers of “You Can Leave Your Hat On” and “Mama Told Me Not To Come,” while taking side trips into credible G-Funk (seriously) and a dirty blues where Jones growled, “I don’t need to be your best friend/ I don’t even need to see you come/ I just want to be your plaything.” His appeal cut across multiple generations and his sex appeal made most folks a little moist, regardless of whether their pendulum usually swings this direction or not. At the end of his set, he wistfully offered, “We gotta go right now, but we’ll be back one day. I promise.” For men like Tom Jones the show truly must go on. (DC)

Thievery Corporation :: 7:40-9:00 p.m. :: Twin Peaks Stage

In an inspired bit of counter-programming for those not into Pearl Jam, Friday’s headliner, Thievery Corporation were the tasteful, classy alternative for those that wanted to simmer rather than sizzle. What’s impressive about TC is how it could just be more background listening for the folks that buy those Buddha Bar compilations but isn’t. Skillful choreography, a panoply of gifted spotlight musicians and a quiet sort of pageantry were the linchpins of their set, which ultimately felt like a glimpse at what radio may sound like in a few decades as the continents continue to cross-pollinate. Thievery Corp moves the notion of the DJ forward a few miles, infusing the sustained roll of the club with strong musicianship and an almost unfailing ear for interesting flavors. (DC)

Pearl Jam :: 7:50-9:50 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Pearl Jam :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

14 years ago Pearl Jam played in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. That was a crazy night. Eddie Vedder got sick and was only able to perform a few songs before Neil Young came out and triumphantly finished the set. This evening wouldn’t be quiet as crazy and we wouldn’t see Neil, but we would get two Young tracks and the power of Pearl Jam’s performance stood up well against their live shows from back then. Soon after the sun had set with the sky still glowing orange, the band kicked into an almost two hour rock assault with “Why Go.” By the time they hit “Corduroy,” lead guitarist Mike McCready was drilling into truly nasty ground as Stone Gossard and Vedder both pushed their guitars into the mix for an overwhelming three guitar attack. Playing both “Got Some” and “The Fixer” from the forthcoming new album, the crowd reaction spoke to the band’s incredibly strong following, as no one missed a beat or lyric.

As much as they excel at big ball swingin’ power rock, Pearl Jam is equally adept at haunting slow burns like “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town,” “Better Man” and “Black.” Although Vedder’s voice was shot from heavy touring, it hardly mattered and he was even able to use it to his advantage on “Crazy Mary.” Any shortcomings in Vedder’s range were swooped-up in the over-the-top drum work by Matt Cameron, the thunder bass of Jeff Ament and the never-ending riffs from McCready, which even found him taking intricate solos behind his head. This is a band in the truest sense of the word. If Vedder’s vocals are hurting the rest just play harder. And this isn’t just any band; this is a band of seasoned pros that have been playing to huge crowds for more than a decade. These guys have mastered their art form and they bring it hard every single night.

The marathon double encore included a psychedelic “Daughter” that called to mind vintage Pink Floyd, an awesome reading of The Who‘s “The Real Me,” a devastating “Alive” and a final blow out with Young’s “Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World.” 14 years after their first appearance in Golden Gate Park and long past their commercial prime, Pearl Jam proved to be a very impressive headliner for Outside Lands. (Kayce)

Pearl Jam :: Outside Lands 2009 by Vann

Setlist

Why Go, Animal, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Low Light, The Fixer, In My Tree, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Even Flow, Got Some, I Am Mine, Given To Fly, MFC, Down, Black, Save You, Do The Evolution, Go

Encore 1: Wasted Reprise, Better Man, Daughter, The Real Me (Pete Townshend), Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams), Alive

Encore 2: Throw Your Hatred Down (Neil Young), Rockin’ In The Free World (Neil Young)

Continue reading for Saturday’s coverage of Outside Lands…

Saturday, 08.29

Loop!Station :: 12:00-12:40 p.m. :: The Barbary

The Barbary :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

Just the sort of wood floored, stained glass saloon one could want in a town where months of gold mining could be lost in a single night of cards, carousing and canoodling, The Barbary, a “spiegeltent” or “magic mirror tent” imported from Belgium, showed off Bay Area talent all weekend. Hosted by the Vau de Vire Society, the air conditioned, largely seated space offered a respite from the summer heat and a great opportunity to catch some homegrown treasures. To wit, Loop!Station, who are probably correct in their claim of being the world’s only live looping voice and cello duo. I entered thinking I’d find a small choir of ladies and instead discovered just Robin Comer, a potent, intoxicating vocalist, and Sam Bass, who pulled WAY more noises from a cello than I ever imagined possible. Often marked by drone and drift, their music is a slow seduction that required some patience to really understand. However, their emotive, intense, interesting approach ultimately left most impressed. (DC)

Infantree :: 12:00-12:40 p.m. :: Panhandle Solar Stage

Quite the hodgepodge, Infantree initially struck one as quirk-grass with hickey harmonies, acoustic guitar and banjo playing off electric keys and trap drums, but soon more indie rock currents emerged and their set ended with some blippy Caucasian reggae. Not sure what to make of this band. (DC)

The Dirtbombs :: 12:45-1:35 p.m. :: Twin Peaks Stage

Extra Golden :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

Caveman percussion pummel called us closer, followed by serrated guitars that stretched hamstrings to unleash forgotten pogo instincts. A beat, a noisy swirl, a totally human moan and then it all exploded into an all-encompassing sound that retains the rawness of the garage but handled by folks way more clever than newbies just picking up their instruments. Formed in the early ’90s, this Detroit institution and adored underground perennial rattled and rolled with the same moxie as The Sonics, early Roxy Music and Brian Eno and others that keep rock nasty and tough and glued to the dance floor. Watching The Dirtbombs leap, kick and snarl, one felt like they’d been delivered to the fountain of rock’s origin, a place where this music is still a bit dangerous and exciting and unpredictable, inspiring us to twist and shimmy as they went up, down and every which way. (DC)

Extra Golden :: 1:35-2:15 p.m. :: Panhandle Solar Stage

“Sometimes you eat, sometimes you get eaten.” Sage advice offered to a mostly listless audience at the start of this stunning African/American collaboration’s set. Beaming in full sunlight, one basked in their interwoven mixture, a fractal basket forming in real time to hold together stinging African accents and the rough edged mores of urban Chicago. Hearing them again for the first time in almost a year, I found their cross-continental hybrid had grown even more together. Eventually, after some playful shaming from the band, most people hopped up and moved a bit, which only makes sense when music this quicksilver smooth and original is passing over you. (DC)

Raphael Saadiq :: 2:05-3:05 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Eric McFadden Trio :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

Strolling onto the plush green grass of the Polo Fields main stage area with the warm sun (though thankfully a few degrees cooler than Friday) shining down and Raphael Saadiq belting out buttery R&B tracks while talking about Hurricane Katrina, it felt a little like New Orleans’ Jazz Fest. With his remarkably tight, sharp dressed band that included horns and a back-up singer, combined with his super-pro skills as a frontman, Saadiq’s set was a prime way to roll into the second day of Outside Lands. (Kayce)

Eric McFadden Trio :: 2:05-2:45 p.m. :: The Barbary

EMT played The Barbary every day of the fest and mostly to packed houses. Just before their Saturday set, Kitten On The Keys played quality burlesque behind the piano, singing songs about her snatch and greeting McFadden with, “Hello, sexy man! I heart you more than bagels and cream cheese.” EMT hit like a heatwave, a blur of unwholesome sound that took your knees out from under you. McFadden (guitar, vocals), uber-bassist James Whiton (a real force of nature with seemingly no end of extraordinary vision on his instrument) and drummer Doug Port wrangled flamenco, hard rock, gypsy jazz and more into an utterly cool whole. Their brute force sometimes hides what not-simple-at-all music is happening, much like the more complex bits hidden within The Stooges’ raging. The swing between fierceness and hushed observation would flop in lesser hands, but with some of the strongest songwriting and playing happening in the S.F. area today EMT soared mightily. (DC)

Groundation :: 2:20-3:05 p.m. :: Presidio Stage

Dengue Fever :: OL 09 by Weiand

More one-drop rich than Midnite, I was drawn in by Groundation’s Mighty Diamonds style harmonies, tempered by welcome feminine energies. Unlike most roots reggae being made by newer groups, this feels honest and not just a recreation, a genuine effort to move the genre forward a bit. Groundation did so with jazz inflection, Cuban accents and engaging builds, creating reggae traditional enough to appeal to traditionalists but fresh enough to snag picky sourpusses like me. (DC)

Dengue Fever :: 3:10-4:00 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

It was evident from the start that this always-fun band has moved a fair distance from their Cambodian Rocks origins, with their opener carrying echoes of ’70s Ethiopian pop with sax and Farfisa dancing in the wings. It took them three albums to introduce songs in English – powerful, compelling lead singer Chhom Nimol sings primarily in Khmer – so for the majority of us the vocals are a mysterious quantity to be enjoyed as another instrument (nothing wrong with that either!). However, when Nimol began one tune a cappella one didn’t need to understand the words to know we were dealing with a real powerhouse. One new cut had a spook house shiver – what one expects to find at an after hours shindig at Disney’s Haunted Mansion – that burst into a surfy sing-along with a suddenness that left one a little disoriented. It’s getting harder to pinpoint where this Los Angeles band is headed from tune to tune, but it’s all pretty effective, right down to one piece that could be the theme song to a Bond film set in Cambodia. (DC)

Portugal. The Man :: 3:10-3:50 p.m. :: Panhandle Solar Stage

Looking like they’d jumped from a vinyl sleeve circa 1972, Portugal. The Man showed equal facility with gutsy classic rock and feeling drenched ballads. There’s a lot of buzz around this band, who drew a big crowd, but based on what I caught I’m not entirely sure why. Sure, it’s nice to see real men cry while organ and emotional guitars whoosh around them, and it’s never a bad thing when folks put their foot on the amp and just rock it out. Perfectly decent rock ‘n’ roll but not much to report beyond that. (DC)

Mastodon :: 3:55-4:55 p.m. :: Twin Peaks Stage

Mastodon :: Outside Lands 2009 by Vann

Starting with The Dirtbombs and ending with The Mars Volta, the Twin Peaks Stage was a psychedelic hard rock fan’s little slice of heaven. And right in the middle was the heaviest and baddest of the bunch, Mastodon. No matter how many times you’ve seen these metal gods they always seem bigger, louder and better than you remember – and if it happens to be that special first live encounter with Mastodon chances are you either run towards the light with glee (and earplugs) or run away in fear. Certainly a divisive band at a festival with Dave Matthews Band and Black Eyed Peas headlining across the way, Mastodon wound up winning over many skeptical music fans with their virtuosic playing. Superhuman drummer Brann Dailor and bassist Troy Sanders made the park shake with sludge-metal rhythms as the twin guitar hysteria of Brent Hinds (definitely the best face tattoo of the weekend) and Bill Kelliher twisted into impossible shapes. Mastodon has slowly been inching towards a slightly more accessible sound for years and these efforts are evident in moments of fist-pumping power rock, the addition of a keyboard player (which adds a moody Floyd vibe), banjo intros, whammy bars, a lot less screaming and increased tempo dynamics. Another note worth mentioning about their set, it never stopped. From the first note till the last lick the sound never broke. Much like the jam band tradition, there was never a moment of dead air as every song transitioned into the next with a jam segue, loop or just a bit of distortion. This was clearly one of the best sets of the weekend. (Kayce)

Jason Mraz :: 3:50-4:50 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Saturday’s main stage lineup was custom made for folks that get their listening cues from VH1/MTV and major chain stores. That’s just fine, for what it is, but Jason Mraz was seriously the lowest lowest common denominator music I’ve come across in forever. I entered his set as he ordered “a table at the gratitude cafe,” just the first of many lines that made me physically wince. It’s never my goal to be unkind to musicians, and Mraz’s band were total pros that played slickly but well, but Mraz’s music seems designed from the outset for TV show montages and department store backgrounds, asking little to nothing of the listener and always aiming for the widest possible mainstream appeal. Obviously, I’m not Mraz’s target audience and he really seemed to make a huge amount of people sway. But, his calculated, mincing stage persona, hipster Bing Crosby hat, unctuous attempts at blue eyed reggae and many other elements rubbed me so very, very wrong. (DC)

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue :: 4:00-4:45 p.m. :: Presidio Stage

Os Mutantes :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

Already well situated in a happy pocket when I arrived, Shorty and his men delivered their typically excellent style of funk ‘n’ soul, which always strikes me as similar to getting one’s toast or coffee delivered to them just how they like it – a basic hunger fulfilled in a way that makes you want to order up more. Shorty seemed a stronger lead singer than the last time I’d seen him at High Sierra, and his skill as a bandleader only keeps growing. Introducing one number, he said, “I wanna see if Pete [Murano, lead guitar] can give us some chicken grease. I’m talking New Orleans pot pie chicken grease.” And it sounded even better than that finger lickin’ description! Nice one from a rather reliable young band. (DC)

Os Mutantes :: 4:50-5:50 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

Brazilian superstars and adored U.S. hipster icons, Os Mutantes rolled out an intoxicating set that highlighted pretty much the cream of their catalog (“Jardim Electrico,” “She’s My Shoo Shoo” and “Tecnicolor” being standouts) while offering promising new material that hints that their story isn’t finished yet. Founder/guitarist/singer Sergio Dias, decked out in a royal blue jacket that suggested some religious office, lead his young, enthusiastic band through an exciting, very pleasing performance accented by some Stephen Stills-esque guitar workouts by Dias and killer, rock chick vocals from Zelia Duncan, who more than gives original female lead singer Rita Lee a run for her money. (DC)

Bat For Lashes :: 4:55-5:35 p.m. :: Panhandle Solar Stage

Playing on the smaller Panhandle Solar Stage. where bands were relegated to shorter 40-minute sets, Bat For Lashes was a bit of a mixed bag. Coming off Mastodon’s metal rage, it was difficult to transition into the singer-songwriter vibe of Natasha Khan (aka Bat For Lashes). She has a gorgeous voice falling somewhere between Bjork (if she were from this planet) and Feist, and her little band was adding the right touches, but it just wasn’t particularly engaging under the circumstances. But, a healthy crowd was gathered and something tells me that in a different environment the whole Bat For Lashes thing might unlock before my very eyes. (Kayce)

Black Eyed Peas :: 5:40-6:40 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Black Eyed Peas :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

“Put ‘em up!” was the oft-repeated instruction that welcomed me to the Peas’ set. A decent enough muddle of club musics, at least they stretch beyond the usual Ibiza/North American tributaries for Latin and Caribbean touches. But, their clean room/studio perfection made them sound about as alive as the blowup robot that loomed over them onstage. There was far too much auto-tuning going on (curse you Lil’ Wayne!) but they are very active performers (dressed like cyberpunk pimps & hoes) who excelled at reaching and stimulating the now-massive crowd assembled at the main stage. I only made it through part of their set before the creeping feeling that I was watching a band created at Westworld became too strong to ignore. (DC)

JJ Grey & Mofro :: 5:50-6:35 p.m. :: Presidio Stage

JJ Grey is absolutely one of the most soulful, ear-catching singers of his generation, and his songwriting and guitar work are dead solid, too. However, this set, like many others I’ve caught in recent years, was pretty much more of the same. Mofro has been stalled in largely the same comfortable place for years, where decent, if not especially noteworthy, backing players execute Grey’s Southern tinged rock & soul pretty well. Nothing here is bad and most present clearly enjoyed this set, but one longs for Grey to be surrounded by musicians with as much ambition and natural talent as him. It’d be nice to see Grey pushed out of his comfort zone, where he might discover the x-factor that could move Mofro from being a nice but sadly predictable band into the richer territory hinted at within the existing framework. (DC)

TV on the Radio :: 5:40-6:40 p.m. :: Twin Peaks Stage

Playing their final show of the tour, and, according to lead singer Tunde Adebimpe, the near future, TV on the Radio made the most of their time. Starting with an ambient groove that found guitarist Kyp Malone on bass, the members eased onstage revealing the addition of a three-piece horn section (featuring Antibalas‘ Stuart Bogie). Instantly, the horns made their presence felt and they would prove to be the difference makers in a superb set. Often shaping songs more than just adding highlights, the horns gave TVOTR everything from a rough Motown soul grind to Afro-grooves to obtuse sax squalls, but nothing seemed out of place or overdone. Perhaps suffering from something like Eddie Vedder’s end-of-tour vocal strain, Adebimpe stayed away from the delicate beauty he’s capable of and gave a much harsher, almost punk vocal performance which helped keep the songs aggressive and tense. Everything was fuzzy with distortion but even when things would get heavy they always remained funky and danceable. Everything worked, but highlights included “Golden Age,” “DLZ,” “Dancing Choose,” “Staring At The Sun” and the fierce mid-set combo of “Wolf Like Me” and “Red Dress.” After a set like this one can only hope they don’t stay off the road too long. (Kayce)

Deerhunter :: 6:40-7:25 p.m. :: Panhandle Solar Stage

The Mars Volta :: Outside Lands 2009 by Vann

Hustling from TV on the Radio to Deerhunter in much the same way I did for Bat For Lashes after Mastodon, I got pretty much the same underwhelming result at the Panhandle Solar Stage. Eager to check out Bradford Cox‘s experimental indie rock/noise-pop band, after TVOTR it just came off flat. The heavily processed, delayed vocals and guitar showed moments of promise but never seemed to take off and would often revert to repetition instead of exploration. When trying to wrestle Pavement and My Bloody Valentine into pop arrangements there’s no question you might fail, and perhaps in a dark club with more speakers this could work, but in a field with little focus it didn’t. (Kayce)

Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band :: 6:40-7:40 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

“Just two more nails left to go in this pine coffin,” Oberst quipped cheerfully. For someone with such a gallows sense of humor, he was pretty damn uplifting. He seemed happier with this group than any of the Bright Eyes outings I’d witnessed, which made for lively, switched-on performances, beginning with a jammed out “I Got A Reason” and extending through a fine guest turn from Jenny Lewis and songs about love that makes your back hurt and sad lynch mobs full of national men who believe in God. In the live setting, the music was as memorable as Oberst’s tremendous lyrics at one of Saturday’s best sets. (DC)

The Mars Volta :: 7:30-9:00 pm :: Twin Peaks Stage

Working their mojo fast and hard like a spike to the vein, once The Mars Volta entered the airwaves there was no turning back. Abusive guitar passages full of strange notes and whacked-out effects tumbled along with Thomas Pridgen‘s destructo drumming while unsung hero Juan Alderete smothered it all in bass and frontman Cedric Bixler Zavala crawled around on his belly singing about “mental hygiene.” And that was just the first song, “Goliath.” After Cedric got back on his feet he grabbed the giant stage sign (which almost crushed him) and kicked the crap out of it before regaining his composure and remarking that it was very appropriate they were playing the Twin Peaks Stage, warning us, “Don’t drink the coffee because there’s a fish in the percolator.”

With their punk energy meeting their advanced, intricate approach to music, The Mars Volta is creating some of the most exciting rock music of the day. Usually when something gets this technical it looses some soul, dries up and borders on prog, but here the juicy Latin rhythms and punk ethos never let that happen. However, influence and intent will only get you so far. It’s the manner of execution and inspired implementation to create something new that makes The Mars Volta special. Putting these dynamics on display with tracks like “Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of),” “Drunkship of Lanterns” and new one “Luciforms,” the band shifted effortlessly from amazingly heavy sections to pristine, tranquil moments of peace back to neck-snapping metal. As much as any other single aspect that draws fans to this Grammy Award-winning band, it’s their ability to keep listeners on their toes, stringing them along through multi-part songs with impossible time changes that allow fans to get lost in the music. At Outside Lands we were swept up in the current with no idea how to get back to shore – a glorious way to close out Saturday night. (Kayce)

Setlist

Goliath, Cotopaxi, Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of), Eunuch Provocateur, Viscera Eyes, Halo Of Nembutals, Drunkship Of Lanterns, Luciforms, Ilyena, The Widow, Wax Simulacra

Dave Matthews Band :: 7:30-10:00 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Dave Matthews Band :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

You know how you can tell you’re truly big stuff? When news helicopters fly over your concert to get footage for the late broadcast.

I’m not sure how I avoided it but this was my first time actually watching DMB in concert. One just misses things in the busy, modern shuffle, and while up to speed on his radio singles and new album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, I came in with a pretty clear slate. And you know what? They were really good. “We’ll start off a little stoney and then fizzle a bit,” remarked Matthews, who’s a very personable dude onstage with the rare ability to erase the obvious distance between the audience and himself in such a gargantuan setting. You just feel like he’s talking to YOU and not just some random, amorphous blob o’ people. He was also able to sell lines like, “Don’t cry, baby, don’t cry,” in a way that made you dry your tears and snuggle into him, which the Roman Legion sized audience did with every song. He’s also quite funny, throwing out zingers like, “You look beautiful tonight. What’s that scent you’re wearing? Is it Eau de Reefer?”

The band is serious business, too. The instrumentation, solos, etc. suggest a monster ’70s jazz-fusion group that’s suckled the teats of James Brown AND the ’70s singer-songwriter brigade. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin is far groovier with DMB than he ever was with Bela, and moments in his playing drew strong comparison to Gary Bartz’s work with Miles Davis. Tim Reynolds also proved a real treat, especially when the guitarist whipped out his Flying V and shredded with controlled abandon. But really the whole bunch of them onstage were hugely impressive, weaving melodies together with merit badge worthy knot-work.

I found this kinda ideal music for a summer evening in a world famous park as dusty rose tinted clouds rolled by and the temperature fell with the sun. Matthews’ music is a warming joy buzzer grounded in the line, “Doesn’t everybody deserve to have the good life? But it don’t always work out.” Dreams and mishaps, broad aspirations and laughter at our tumbles, these are the cornerstones of DMB, and even this outsider could see they do people a world of good with their music, especially when delivered with such clockwork proficiency and a stage acumen that knows just how to get jumbo crowds off. (DC)

Dave Matthews Band :: Outside Lands 2009 by Vann

Setlist

Why I Am, You Might Die Trying, Don’t Drink The Water, Stay or Leave, Spaceman, Cornbread, Lie In Our Graves, Alligator Pie, Shake Me Like a Monkey, Gravedigger, Jimi Thing (with Fergie and apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas), You & Me, Ants Marching, Two Step

E: Stefan solo, All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan cover with Robert Randolph),
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Sly & The Family Stone cover with Robert Randolph)

Continue reading for Sunday’s coverage of Outside Lands…

Sunday, 08.30

Big Light :: 12:00-12:40 p.m. :: Panhandle Solar Stage

Big Light w/ Cummins :: Outside Lands 2009 by Vann

Even under thick clouds (that wouldn’t break all day) during the first slot on Sunday, Big Light still drew a nice crowd. Ever since adding super-shredder Jeremy Korpas on guitar last May the band has developed incredibly fast and there’s a reason they’re playing a huge festival like Outside Lands. And there’s also a reason that a big time keyboardist like Umphrey’s McGee‘s Joel Cummins came out just to sit in with them for this show. It’s not yet full-blown smoke machine guitar god madness and huge rock blowouts, but the potential is there and that’s what folks are responding to in Big Light. Fred Torphy writes interesting, relatable songs that could be considered pop in some cool alterna-rock reality, and the band (particularly drummer Bradly Bifulco) is getting more powerful and dynamic with each show. It’s been a fun summer watching these local boys find their feet, and it should be interesting to see where they go now. (Kayce)

Bettye LaVette :: 12:50-1:50 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

It’s a joy to see 63-year-old soul queen Bettye LaVette singing on the main stage of a festival like Outside Lands. The Detroit native’s road has been long and hard, and she has struggled as much as any artist to earn her spot. And on top of all that, girl be looking good! She danced and shimmied across the stage like a woman half her age, and she wasn’t afraid to sex it up with her hips. All that aside, it’s about her voice, just like it was when she recorded her first Top 10 single at age 16. LaVette still has the voice, but the pain of the past few decades and her troubles with the record industry have given that voice the emotion, intensity and anger to become the truly special singer she is today. With a sharp band providing just the right support, from grinding gospel organ to searing blues solos, when LaVette exposed herself with deep, raw vocals she had the small, early-day crowd under her spell. (Kayce)

Robert Randolph & The Family Band :: 2:35-3:35 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

The Avett Brothers :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

With a sound that draws from Robert Randolph‘s humble beginnings playing steel slide guitar with a touring gospel act, Randolph and his Family Band served up an almighty midday set on the Outside Lands main stage. The tight-knit cast of musicians, that truly stays in the family (Robert’s cousin Marcus Randolph drums and his sister Lenesha Randolph sings back-up), did a good job of getting the crowd pumped up for the diverse line-up still to come. One of the only soul inclined funk acts to be playing over the three-day music festival, the Family Band’s set was unabashed musical and lyrical bliss. Occasionally playing a Bo Diddley signature Gretsch guitar instead of his stalwart steel guitar, Randolph displayed a keen musical talent, especially when the band busted into Hendrix’s “Purple Haze,” with Randolph handling the guitar solo on his slide. Another cover was the socially inclined Michael Jackson classic “Man in the Mirror,” which saw Lenesha taking command of vocal duties. With the band often falling into simple scat jams, listeners got the impression that this band would play just as well in a small club as they did on a massive, slightly obtrusive festival main stage. (Justin Gillett)

The Avett Brothers :: 2:55-3:55 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

Featuring Scott and Seth Avett (banjo and guitar, respectively) along with stand-up bassist Bob Crawford and on most gigs, including this one, Joe Kwon on cello, The Avett Brothers are a true American treasure. Refusing to be backed into any box or genre, they play folk, country, rock, bluegrass, blues, classical. They’re all of it and they’re none of it, and whatever it is, it’s distinctly American. Like all the greats from any of those genres, what makes The Avetts special is the songwriting. They sing about universal issues like love, pride, family, friends, death, pain, murder and heartache, but they do so in a way that’s fresh and compelling yet still classical and timeless. With the addition of a drum kit (which both Scott and Seth take turns on) the band truly does become a country-rock act with ease, but it’s moments like “Murder In The City” with just Scott and Seth accompanied by one guitar and sharing vocals that we see the real power behind this band. With a new Rick Rubin produced album about to drop at the end of the month and a live show of this caliber, The Avett Brothers appear poised for huge things. (Kayce)

The Dead Weather :: 3:50-4:50 p.m. :: Twin Peaks Stage

The Dead Weather :: OL 09 by Vann

How does Jack White do it? No matter who he’s playing with, what material they attack or where they are, dude is the living breathing definition of a Rock Star. It’s hard to tell if Jack finds the players or if they are just pulled into his orbit and find him. Regardless of how it happens, Jack White aligns himself with musicians who constantly help him turn vintage blues into contemporary rock gold. And with The Dead Weather Jack has found the ultimate foil in singer/frontwoman Alison Mosshart of The Kills. More than just complimenting Jack, Mosshart is the female version of White. Rock star cool with jet-black hair and radiating sex, like Jack, Mosshart was born for this. With White spending the majority of the time behind the drums, the stage was left open for Mosshart to prance like a giant leopard, balancing on speakers, hanging off the mic stand and spitting on the ground. Watching her grind against the music and give herself completely to the thundering rhythms (Jack Lawrence on bass is a monster of epic proportions) it appeared that Mosshart studied at the same school of rock where The Mars Volta’s frontman Cedric Bixler Zavala got his freaky degree. Pulling most of the material from the band’s Horehound debut, standouts included, “60 Feet Tall,” a wire-tight, tense reading of “So Far From Your Weapon,” Dylan’s “New Pony,” a psychotic version of “Treat Me Like Your Mother,” a dirty-funk romp through “Cut Like a Buffalo” and new one “Jawbreaker” that found guitarist Dean Fertita (who plays guitar in the same over-driven, filthy manner Jack White does) dropping some strange keyboard accents. Everything shook hard but the final song, “Will There Be Enough Water,” was the climax of this carnal offering. With Lawrence on drums, Fertita adding organ grooves reminiscent of “No Quarter” and Jack White out front on menacing guitar, White and Mosshart shared a single mic as they sang so close their lips were almost touching. First it was The White Stripes, then it was The Raconteurs, now we have The Dead Weather. It’s nice to know there are still some things we can just count on. Jack White is that something. (Kayce)

Modest Mouse :: 4:20-5:20 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Even though many old fans of Modest Mouse have turned their backs on the Seattle alt-rockers – claiming the band has left behind its musical morals, now favoring pop sensibilities – Isaac Brock and co. managed to pull off an impressive set on Sunday, that saw the band pulling deep from its five album catalog. Performing with the surprising absence of guitarist Johnny Marr, the group played a no-nonsense, straightforward show that went over well with the clearly enthused crowd that packed close to the main stage. With 16 years of experience as a band it’s no wonder that the musicians onstage played extremely well. Occasionally an accordion was brought out to add a more distinctive tone to songs, an accent that helped define the unique Modest Mouse sound. The band proved with its Outside Lands performance that even a group of veteran rockers (still far from old) who’ve seen their share of success, can still play with as much dedication and heart as an eager young band looking for its big break. (JG)

Brett Dennen :: 5:45-6:35 p.m. :: Presidio Stage

M.I.A. :: OL 09 by Weiand

After emerging on the scene with the release of his self-titled 2004 debut, Brett Dennen has been busy making a name for himself as a respected singer-songwriter. Hailing from outside the Bay Area, Dennen occasionally sings about the region and often cites the “City by the Bay” as a favorite place to play. Typically playing solo, Dennen’s Outside Lands performance saw the folk/pop musician accompanied by four other instrumentalists who helped add perspective to Dennen’s often-minimalist music. With messy red hair and tall stature, Dennen is commanding onstage even though his stage dialogue and demeanor is humbling and slightly self-deprecating. As he danced around the stage and crooned into the mic, it was clear that he was having a good time and drinking in the pleasures of playing at an outdoor music festival in Golden Gate Park. (JG)

M.I.A. :: 6:05-7:05 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

This past year, the M.I.A. song “Paper Planes” has been everywhere. The track has been hyped and played so much that even if someone did enjoy hearing the song back when it came out in 2007, listening to it now with any semblance of enjoyment is simply impossible. The nonstop rotation of the single has somewhat eclipsed the career of M.I.A – as tends to happen with musicians who quickly rise to prominence with one song. Being in the category of people who don’t really care for the overplayed tune, or subsequent M.I.A tracks, I was slightly disinterested in seeing the musician’s live performance, although after seeing photographs and reading reviews of M.I.A performances at festivals earlier this summer, I did want to check out what everyone has been buying into. After taking the stage, I quickly realized that an M.I.A show is more spectacle than performance. The musician, of Sri Lankan decent, was dressed in an elaborate costume and displayed a true knack for showmanship. Backed by male and female dancers, the sunglass sporting M.I.A, aka Mathangi Arulpragasam, got the crowd pumped as massive screens and flashing lights helped shock the audience into submission. As intense as the show was the performance lacked for serious musicianship. M.I.A rarely seemed to be focused on her vocals and the drummer seemed to be playing along with click track. The people onstage seemed less concerned with the music than they were about the overall show and stage aesthetics. In a nod to the Beastie Boys, who were forced out of performing at the festival due to Adam “MCA” Yauch cancer diagnosis, M.I.A did a short medley of Beastie classics, including “So What’cha Want,” “Sabotage” and “Intergalactic,” which seemed an appropriate and heartfelt tribute to the ailing MC. (JG)

Ween :: 5:35-7:35 p.m. :: Twin Peaks Stage

Ween :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

Kicking off their manic set with the crushing guitar work inside “Exactly Where I’m At,” things started hot and Ween never let off the gas. Wasting no time getting the crowd lubed up, the island vibe of festival favorite “Bananas and Blow” made sure the casual fans were just as excited as the hardcores, and a stellar reading of “Roses Are Free” that put any cover versions you might have heard to shame sent the Twin Peaks crowd into hysterics. But, this gig was far from just sing-along hits. Ween busted out the rare Claude Coleman Jr. (drums) sung “The Final Alarm,” which sounded like a lost P-Funk nugget from the ’70s, as well as “Ice Castles” and a vicious “Buckingham Green” that would have made Black Sabbath blush. Two things really stuck out about this set. The first thing is the band’s overwhelming instrumental abilities and group dynamic. Whenever talk of Ween comes up people become so fixated on the inside jokes, juvenile behavior and crazy-weird fans that rarely do we hear enough about how insanely talented these dudes are. Deaner is a guitar god, plain and simple. Hunched over and thick with distortion, dude can rip as well as anyone and the rhythm section of Dave Dreiwitz and Coleman cover so much sonic territory that there is never a flat moment or boring interlude. The second big thing is the songwriting. It’s lazy to just call them weird, quirky or an acquired taste. Whether it was the pretty pop of “Flutes of Chi,” the super heavy “Johnny On The Spot,” country rager “Learning To Love,” chugging rocker “I’ll Go Crazy” or the drugged-out “Zoloft,” every song had a distinct feel but they all were clearly Ween. Maintaining such an unmistakable voice while swapping genres so freely is no easy thing and with all the fog machines and face-melting solos this was a stand out set of the festival. (Kayce)

Band of Horses :: 6:40-7:40 p.m. :: Sutro Stage

Leaving the Ween party to check out Band of Horses and their “Weed Party” (which was played towards the beginning of the set) was no easy decision, but it was the right one. Openers “Great Salt Lake” and “Is There A Ghost” filled Lindley Meadow with Ben Bridwell‘s distinctive drawl and instantly the very packed crowd was swaying in time and belting out choruses. Switching from weeping pedal steel to crunching guitar, Bridwell led his Horses (which have truly found their galloping legs) through a powerful set that included the upbeat “Islands On the Coast,” the introspective “Marry Song,” a stop-you-in-your-tracks beautiful version of Gram Parson’s “A Song For You,” the country-stomp of “The General Specific” and the twin tear-jerkers that might be their best songs yet, “The Funeral” and “Ode to LRC.” It’s one thing to write great songs and perform them well, but there’s an x-factor in all great bands. Here that factor is Bridwell’s voice. When he sings, “The world is such a wonderful place,” Bridwell pushes his vocals to their limit, and when they start to break it opens a window into all the pain, joy, dreams, failures and deep-seeded emotions we all struggle with. Vocals more than any other aspect of a band are often very personal. What one person relates to and digs another may not. For those gathered at the Sutro Stage’s final show of the weekend, it was clear Bridwell was their bard and when he let loose it struck deep. (Kayce)

Tenacious D :: 7:50-9:20 p.m. :: Lands End Stage

Tenacious D :: Outside Lands 2009 by Weiand

When it was announced in July that Adam Yauch had cancer, subsequently forcing the Beastie Boys to cancel their remaining summer music festival appearances, speculation immediately arose about who would replace the New York hip hop group at these festivals. Pretty quickly Lollapalooza nabbed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and shortly thereafter All Points West landed Jay-Z. All eyes were on Outside Lands. Who would the organizers decide on? What band would be chosen to fill the almighty shoes of the Beasties? Tenacious D. The self-proclaimed “greatest band in the world” must have known that they really needed to step up and deliver an impressive set at Outside Lands to make true believers out of those that question the power of The D. Strutting out onstage and looking at the massive crowd, Jack Black and his cohort in crime Kyle Gass were stone faced as they picked up their guitars and lurched into a massive set that comprised the better parts of the duo’s two albums. Even though Black and Gass performed with a few backing musicians, the two still managed to carry on classic D stage banter. Although, anyone familiar with the group’s HBO series or severely less funny feature film knows the stories and could predict how the stage show would play out – the band staged a mock fight and pretended to break-up only to stage a come back; a guy dressed in a devil costume came out and sang a few songs; Black attempted to prove his physical prowess only to be mocked by Gass, etc.

While the group is considered somewhat of a joke band, the musical chemistry between Black and Gass was impressive and clearly evident during this set. When the two sang together their harmonies were so honed and precise it was surprising that two overweight stoner dudes were responsible for them. As the duo closed out their set, Black gave a salute to the Beastie Boys and Yauch – the least the musician/comedian could have done. For their encore the band played a medley of tunes from The Who’s Tommy, which saw the comedic team, mainly Gass, displaying some impressive chops on acoustic guitars. (JG)

Continue reading for more pics of Outside Lands…

Images by: Dave Vann

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Read More » Dusty Rhodes: Winning You Over August 14th, 2009 | No Comments By: Mike Bookey Dusty Rhodes and the River Band by Brent Murrell Getting hit by a pickup truck is a categorically bad thing. That’s just a rule of life, physics and motor vehicle safety. However, if it weren’t for an absent-minded driver that smashed into a scooter-riding young man earlier this decade, there’s a good chance that the planet would never get to know, and fall increasingly in love with, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band. Riding home from work in Anaheim, CA on the Honda Elite scooter that he’d purchased from his grandmother with his high school graduation money, Dustin Apodaca drove into an intersection when the driver of a pickup truck ran a red light and slammed into him so hard that his helmeted head left a sizeable dent in the hood of the truck. This is the part of the story where you’d expect to hear about how this resilient youngster fought against adversity, relearning to walk or maybe finding musical inspiration in his new lease on life that urged him to reach for rock & roll stardom. Well, this isn’t one of those stories. This is about a kid who wanted to have a killer band and just needed something like, say, an insurance settlement to get him properly outfitted. You see, Apodaca wasn’t seriously hurt in the accident. “At first all I had was a guitar, but when I got hit by a truck I was like, ‘Yes!’ and I got like four keyboards and a nice big box Buckingham amp. I got an accordion, too, and a van – a 1987 Mitsubishi. It was so cool looking; it was like a starship,” says Apodaca from his home in Orange County. “If it wasn’t for me getting hit by a car, we probably wouldn’t be doing this.” Now, Apodaca doesn’t only have a new scooter but he’s also part of that killer band he was looking to get off the ground. Anaheim’s Dusty Rhodes and the River Band isn’t a twangy gang of burned-out hippies relegated to cowboy bars, as the name might suggest, but rather a young, genre-smashing six-piece (all of them in their twenties) that takes all the energy of power pop and melts it together with its members’ collective love for classic rock, folk, gospel and other shades of American roots music. In late May, the band rolled out its second record, Palace and Stage (released May 17 on Side One Dummy Records), a collection of tightly wound, powerful cuts ranging from pop-rock to folk to all out rockers. The record showcases a band with the crossover ability and musical smarts of an act like The Decemberists, but with the explosive rocking power of (and this is going to seem strange, but it’s true) Electric Light Orchestra. Just listen to the first cut on the album, “All One,” and that comparison should make instant sense. Dusty Rhodes and the River Band from myspace.com “We tried to make it super focused, but obviously we can’t do that, so it’s still a little different on each track. We tried to bring it in, tighten it up and make it more of a rock album, more straight up POW!” says Apodaca, making just one of the many sound effects he unleashed during the conversation. Apodaca is almost never serious, speaking in about five different phony voices during our conversations, always employing the “and they were all like… then, I went” mode of storytelling. He’s a goddamn pleasure to speak with, even if there are several moments when it’s mostly impossible to tell if he’s serious… about anything other than playing rock music. On stage, it’s similar. He keeps his curly mop of hair bouncing for the entirety of the show, often stepping back from the mic for delightfully obnoxious handclaps. His stage presence might remind some of a seemingly impossible combination of the Crowes’ Chris Robinson and a less-mobile James Brown, but he’s likely more inspired by whatever could possibly be running through his head at that moment. Apodaca is one of rock music’s rare keyboard-playing frontmen, a position he says (not quite believably) wouldn’t be the case if he had more keyboards and would need to stand in a corner of the stage. After a youth spent playing guitar in punk bands, Apodaca decided, while still a teenager, that he needed to be on the keys. Dusty Rhodes and the River Band from myspace.com “My parents had just got cable and VH1 Classic had just come out. I was maybe 16 and they had this live show with Rick Wakeman [Yes] freakin’ on ice. It was so cool it changed my life. I was like, ‘I’m not playing guitar. I’m not playing bass. I’m playing synthesizers and that is it.’ And that’s because of Rick Wakeman,” he says. And thus Apodaca became the only 16-year-old in 1999 to become an infatuated Yes fan and synthesizer enthusiast. At an outdoor street festival show in Bend, Oregon this past June, with a cold wind whipping between downtown buildings like summer has turned back to spring, Apodaca is wearing a classically ’80s black-and-red windbreaker and sitting backstage sipping a beer he plucked from what appears to be an old bowling bag. We’re talking in vague terms about music, and soon Apodaca uses the expression “too cool for night school” to refer to the hipper-than-thou-unless-you-have-the-most-recent-leaked-album ethos that is omnipresent in music clubs these days. A month later, I ask him about the phrase over the phone because it seems like it might apply to those who don’t quite get Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, people who, perhaps rightfully so, are pretty damn confused by this act. He laughs, as is his wont, and tries to clarify himself, saying that he wasn’t knocking anyone in particular but rather the whole idea of how buzz-happy music fans can be and how his band has chosen a more built-to-last approach. “In a career, it’s better that way because people will keep coming back,” says Apodaca. “If you’re a fluke or a buzz, people are like, ‘They’re cool, but, next.’” Continue reading for more on Dusty Rhodes and the River Band…   At first all I had was a guitar, but when I got hit by a truck I was like, ‘Yes!’ and I got like four keyboards and a nice big box Buckingham amp. I got an accordion, too, and a van – a 1987 Mitsubishi. It was so cool looking; it was like a starship. If it wasn’t for me getting hit by a car, we probably wouldn’t be doing this. -Dustin Apodaca   Photo by: Matt Grayson Dusty Rhodes and the River Band By Jake Krolick The band’s debut, First You Live, was a solid release, even if it was even more diverse than Palace and Stage, including a couple straight-up country songs. But where the band has earned its credibility over the past five years has been on stage, where Apodaca serves as a gyrating focal point, though several other members take lead vocal duties and also show off skills of their own. Guitarists Kyle Divine and Edson Choi both throw impressive licks, and also take the lead vocal duties from time to time as Andrea Babinski (her brother Brad Babinski plays bass) provides the lone female voice as well as violin and mandolin, adding another layer to an already thick mix anchored by drummer Eric Chirco. At the show in Bend, the band kicked off with a medley of cuts from Palace and Stage then peppered in a few rootsier, almost honky-tonk numbers from First You Live. Then, they do something that pretty much sums up this band – they launch into a cover of “The Weight” by The Band, trading verses between band members, all of them returning to shout out the chorus with the crowd joining in. Next, they cruise through a string of more pop-rock influenced tunes, yet the people who’ve flocked to the stage during “The Weight” don’t leave and are still dancing along. This is typical for Dusty Rhodes, a band that has opened for Flogging Molly AND Jonny Lang, as well as Blind Melon and Los Lobos, and can also headline a street festival like this or fit in perfectly at jammy gatherings like Wakarusa and High Sierra, as they did this summer, gaining across-the-board positive reviews (read JamBase’s review of Dusty Rhodes at HSMF here). Dustin Apodaca by Max Knies Kyle Divine, the slender guitarist who is wearing a mustache, oversized glasses and a hoodie bearing the name of label mate Gogol Bordello when we meet, says that the band’s accessibility has been both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, they sometimes fall by the wayside without a genre to nestle into, but conversely, they can pretty much play anywhere and be accepted. It’s a weird place to be in, and Divine realizes that. “We’ve always just been about playing anywhere, anytime for whatever crowd because we know we can win them over wherever we are,” says Divine, “I think it’s because we have so many influences of our own that we appreciate all kinds of music.” Neither Divine nor Apodaca is a fan of the band’s name, which has provided them with some strange experiences, including but hardly limited to playing with cowboy band openers and also having their lead singer mistakenly introduced as “Dusty Rhodes,” which, of course, isn’t his real name. The band’s genesis came after Apodaca and Divine met when Apodaca was taking a community college screen-printing class with Divine’s roommate. “This is where brilliant minds come together, in screen-printing class at a community college,” Apodaca says of the experience, pointing out that Divine was his scholastic superior, enrolled at Cal State Fullerton at the time. They originally wanted to name the band Dusty Rhodes and the Santa Ana River Band, in honor of both the brand name of Dustin’s old electric piano and the concrete sludge canal near their hometown, but decided it was too long. Never fans of the name, the band actually wanted to change their name with the release of Palace and Stage, which, for obvious reasons, wasn’t realistic. Dusty Rhodes and the River Band by Brent Murrell “We did want to change it and we still do. But, when you’re 19 you make up ridiculous names, you know, so we just kind of stuck with it,” says Apodaca, who in the band’s earlier days would claim his real name to be Dusty Rhodes but now says he’s planning on going by Frances, his middle name, to alleviate the confusion. As this name debate illustrates, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band is, in a way, one of the first long-term specimens of the current DIY era in music. As Apodaca puts it, they started doing things the way they wanted to do them, playing whatever music felt right, and there was really no one there to tell them to stop, so they didn’t and they haven’t. They haven’t concerned themselves much with fitting into any given genre or meshing particularly well with any concert bill or festival lineup. But the funny thing is in being so flagrantly autonomous they have created a massively accessible brand of music with an almost confusingly broad appeal. “Indie rock, in general, is so broad and you can do whatever you want. That’s what we’re going to do, and no one has really told us ‘no’ yet. The label hasn’t told us ‘no;’ they’ve let us do whatever we want. It’s almost 2010. It’s about time we just get on with making music,” says Apodaca, “who cares what it sounds like or what genre it’s supposed to be. If it’s cool, then it’s cool, and if you like making music like that then just do it. If you’re touring with no label or no booking agent, just do whatever you want, and that’s how we started this band. Again, man, it’s almost 2010. Get over the whole genre thing.” Dusty Rhodes and the River Band are on tour now; dates available here. JamBase | Dusted Up Go See Live Music! Read More » NASA aircraft studies receding Arctic sea ice to improve understanding of its life cycle July 18th, 2009 | No Comments A small NASA aircraft has completed its first successful science flight in partnership with the University of Colorado at Boulder as part of an expedition to study the receding Arctic sea ice and improve understanding of its life cycle and the long-term stability of the Arctic ice cover. NASA’s Characterization of Arctic Sea Ice Experiment, [...] Read More » High Sierra Music Fest | 07.02-07.05 | CA July 12th, 2009 | No Comments Words by: Kayceman, Jake Krolick & Justin Gillett | Images by: Josh Miller, Jake Krolick & Sarah Law High Sierra Music Festival :: 07.02.09 – 07.05.09 :: Quincy, CA HSMF 2009 by Krolick The High Sierra Music Festival is a festival put on for the people by the people. I have heard nothing but great things about the small festival nestled in the Plumas National Forest on the fairgrounds in the town of Quincy, California. But it wasn’t until I was meandering around the grounds on Thursday with one of the festival locals that it really hit me how intimate and amazing this fest truly is. I may have been born in the East, but my heart lies in the West. You might as well toss the tough exterior attitude out the cabin door high over the Rockies because it’s not welcome in the western world. In the kingdom of High Sierra the one thing that does reign supreme is fun, and boy do those good times roll. Apparently all the creative types who received their pro-status in doing a festival proper have transplanted out west. I’m not talking about your everyday run of the mill music fan, no, I’m talking about throw caution to the wind, costume wearing, cocktail party having, bring the 20-foot inflatable pool with all the trimmings festival fanatics, each whom would give you the car they drove in with if they just thought you would have a better time at their party. The community that surrounds High Sierra is one tight knit crew made up of musicians, staff and attendees, but the lines between those distinctions blur continuously and you’re left wondering, “Who really runs the HSMF festival and makes it so great?” Certainly you can start with the music, but I saw equally as much great music away from any of the official stages featuring official and unofficial performers. Take the sunset shows like Tracorum tearing it up on top of an RV running down the road behind the yoga, tightrope and kickball field. How about Saturday evening’s late night lineup at Camp Harry with Big Light, Nathan Moore, and Surprise Me Mr. Davis? The performance was dreamlike and left many questioning if it really happened or had they imagined such an amazing time. If there was ever a summer camp for adults then the High Sierra Music Festival is it! The camps were barely camps, more intimate villages of color and convenience, each with a vibrant and distinct personality. These home away from home settings were what you may imagine in your dreams, full of flowing flags, airy spaces of shade, neat nooks containing fresh colorful foods, drinks, lazy chairs, hammocks and toys. You could walk from one side of the festival grounds to the other in 20 minutes; yep it’s that small, and so well laid out. Want to meet your favorite artist playing at High Sierra? Man, it’s hard not to run right into them! They camp right in the center of the grounds as an invitation to come hang out, no barriers or fences here. You run into them in line for coffee, in the playshops, dancing in the late night barn, at one of the many showers, or perhaps at the morning kick ball game. Yes, it’s official: my heart has a new love and I am absolutely infatuated with the High Sierra Music Festival. (Krolick) The Slip The Slip :: HSMF 2009 by Miller The High Sierra Music Festival celebrated its 19th anniversary this year. The Slip has been a part of the past 12 installments. In fact, the Boston-bred trio hold the record for most consecutive appearances at the fest, and for many they are the band we most look forward to seeing in the Sierras. I am from that tribe. Put Marc Friedman, Andrew and Brad Barr on the bill and I will show up – I don’t even care who else gets booked. Part of this blind devotion is based on the fact that these guys just don’t really tour anymore. These shows over 4th of July weekend have essentially become the only chance many of us get to see The Slip all year. The last time I saw them was at High Sierra 2008 and the time before that was High Sierra 2007. So, when I say that The Slip is the heart of High Sierra it is not hyperbole. They are the constant, the beat that pushes us forward, whether we know it or not. Their one job each year is to come out west and flood our systems with enough fuel to make it through another trip around the sun. Over the course of two sets (9:15-10:45 in the Vaudeville on Saturday night and the 7:15-8:45 “sundown set” on Sunday) fans were treated to songs from across the band’s vast career, but there was a clear focus on new material. Uncorking five brand new originals one couldn’t help but hope for another Slip album and proper tour in the year ahead. All of the new stuff sounded incredible, with “Give The Devil Back Its Heart” taking a distinct African feel featuring both Brad and Friedman weaving lead guitar lines (Friedman generally plays bass) into intricate patterns as Andrew went tribal-rock. Other new songs found Brad on acoustic pushing a subtle gospel vibe and singing about “keeping the faith” or laying down huge chunks of distorted guitar. The new material was expansive with lots of room to blow out the jams, but they were also often far more focused with a keen pop eye that previous work may have lacked (at times). And adding to the enjoyment thoroughly were the several points over the weekend that The Slip sounded like The Who circa 1973. HSMF 2009 by Krolick Along with the sharp new songs, what perhaps impressed this forever Slip fan most was the guitar playing. We’ve long known Friedman is unquestionably one of the most talented bass players on the scene, but to see him crush the six-string was a joy. But perhaps even more than Marc, Brad had me captivated. He’s always been a stellar guitarist, but this weekend I really noticed how refined, rich and just advanced Brad’s technique is. He coaxes an ungodly array of varying sounds from his big green Guild jazz hollow body, shifting from clean spikes to messy guttural distortion and pedal stomping. Standing a few feet from the stage, I was overwhelmed with the notion that I’d put B. Barr up against any guitarist alive right now. Where you at Jack White! (I said I’d put him up, I didn’t say he’d win). While it wasn’t all perfect – the first “Get Me With Fuji” fell flat (but the second one more than made up for it) and Brad’s voice hit a few rough patches come Sunday (being up late Saturday night will do that) – but The Slip at High Sierra sure as hell packed the emotional punch only The Slip can do. And that’s a big thing. There are places The Slip can only go as a trio. Spacey, crazy, deep instrumental areas, only accessible when a band operates on 15-plus years of mental telepathy. Whether we were soaring to “Airplane/Primitive,” rocking to the new version of “Weight of Solomon,” getting teary-eyed during “If One Of Us Should Fall” or almost starting a mosh-pit (a loving one, of course) with Nathan Moore during “Children Of December,” The Slip once again seeped into the soil of High Sierra. (Kayce) Surprise Me Mr. Davis Surprise Me Mr. Davis :: HSMF 2009 by Krolick So, we don’t get to see The Slip much anymore, but we do get to see their alter ego, Surprise Me Mr. Davis featuring Nathan Moore on vocals, harmonica, acoustic guitar and the occasional magic trick. Moore is a long lost Barr brother and he fits like your favorite pair of worn down jeans. Fans in the know were treated to three sets of Davis: late night Friday, main stage Saturday and a super late Saturday night secret blow out at Camp Harry. The general assumption amongst die-hard Slip fans is that they’re too smart for their own good, flying over the heads of most. Slice down some of the more daring instrumental passages and let Moore take over on vocals for Brad and Davis seems primed to break through to the masses. Songs like “I Hate Love,” “Sisyphus,” “Sleepy Head,” “One Sick Knave” and “Summer Of My Fall” (featuring the line: “I opened the door, I opened the window/ she came through the wall/ it was the winter of my spring, the summer of my fall”) are genuinely some of the best songs written this decade. During their Funk’n Jam House late night set something happened that I’d never witnessed and it shook me hard. Coming out of “I Want To Get To Heaven Before I Die,” the tempo was brought way down and The Slip started creating a strange canopy of digital noise and atmospheric buzz. Moore came to the mic and started talking over the haze, almost giving a speech that had me seeing visions of a new type of political leader. He spoke of taking back the government, of making it ours, urging us to realize it is OURS – we are the government, we are the country, WE ARE AMERICA. If you don’t like it, change it. Pulling this type of thing off is incredibly hard and often falls flat and feels preachy. Here it filled us with inspiration. Also of note were a few new Davis songs, one that felt like The Beach Boys if they kept eating acid and the other felt like “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” with Jimmy Page playing guitar. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t make mention of Trevor Garrod (Tea Leaf Green) sitting in on Rhodes for the Camp Harry set. With an official High Sierra sound guy doing the Camp Harry boards, this was the best Camp Harry party ever. Big Light into Nathan Moore into Surprise Me Mr. Davis at the super-intimate Harry jam was the stuff of legends. I stopped taking notes and let the love train run me over. (Kayce) Big Light Bradly Bifulco – Big Light :: HSMF 2009 by Miller There was no better introduction to this festival than a hungry Bay Area band. Capturing the opening spot on the main stage, San Francisco’s Big Light opened Thursday with “Rainbow Eyes” as meandering beats and blasts of guitar reverberation echoed out over the fairgrounds. This was the second time that Big Light had “officially” played HSMF. The folk-rock band features Fred Torphy (lead vocals), Bradley Bifulco (drums), Steve Adams (bass), Dan Hurley (keyboard) and new, sonically gifted shredder Jeremy Korpas (guitar). As Korpas (aka Swordfish) destroyed “Heavy” you could just tell that the band had been playing a bunch as they waxed out a poetic set. These soon-to-be indie darlings stretched their legs on their latest tour with Nathan Moore. The next day their Friday set was also intriguing and featured a “Caution” that was filled with Torphy’s Jeff Tweedy-esque vocal styling. Bifulco’s punchy playing snuck up on us as we took in their music at the Big Meadow stage. It’s the ease and grace that Big Light plays their own material with which separates these guys from the pack and makes you realize that not enough younger bands try to cultivate that comfort level. Torphy, along with Adams, Korpas, Bifulco and Moore have created a small side project called The Dun-Four, showing that they have depth beyond anything you could imagine. Late night Saturday after a strong opening set by Big Light at Camp Harry, The Dun-Four busted out two tracks, “One Beautiful Girl,” a charming a cappella style song style that has yet to leave my brain, and the just as catchy “Mañana.” This was one of those rare and wonderful moments that make small festivals like High Sierra so special. (Krolick) Marco Benevento Trio Marco Benevento :: HSMF 2009 by Miller The Benevento Trio’s Thursday afternoon set met my expectations and then some. Their slot started a few minutes late due to Marco Benevento having to rush from Reno, NV to make his 4:30 p.m. stage call. The music was striking; all draped in eccentric keyboard work and covers galore from the Trio’s new album, Me Not Me (JamBase review here). They opened with “Bus Ride” and let the crowd warm to their free-range jazz jams. Reed Mathis‘ smile was as widespread as the High Sierra pines were tall. Mathis is such an amazing bass player that many are quick to simply say he killed it, but with the Marco Benevento Trio it’s a bit different. Mathis had his moments, but it’s what he holds back that is the magic of his selflessness. He allowed Andrew Barr and Benevento the freedom to slaughter the jam out of the “Real Morning Party” that ended just like the Brooklyn CD release parties version with a monstrous saloon style jam that shook the main stage and led into a rhythm heavy version of My Morning Jacket‘s “Golden.” Again Mathis sat back and let Barr place in all the subtle flourishes as Benevento did his dainty finger surgery. He removed note after note and placed them out in the world all shimmery and drenched in sunlight for us to enjoy. The Knife‘s “Heartbeats” started as fragments of smoke and free jazz as the crash of cymbals stirred up swirls of dust from the edges of the stage. Deerhoof‘s “Twin Killers” brought out the fun center cut jam of Disney’s “Pink Elephants on Parade” before the Trio ended by tearing through a deconstructed version of Led Zeppelin‘s “Friends” with the force of a can opener. My main highlights of the following day’s Vaudeville tent show were all based around Marco’s two-year-old daughter. She danced on stage, next to Mathis for a while as he thumped away and then ran across the front of the stage to daddy’s side. After Skerik finished sitting in she even offered him her too-tiny-for-an-adult chair to rest. The interaction between her and the band was priceless. (Krolick) Umphrey’s McGee Umphrey’s McGee :: HSMF 2009 by Krolick Umphrey’s McGee is not one of my favorite bands. I honestly don’t know how someone could put them in their top five category – or even their top ten. Their awkward song arrangements and quirky instrumentation, the staple of their sound, is a bit too abstract for a band that could ever think about breaking into the mainstream. But every time I see the Umph I am literally blown away by the musical talent members of the band display. The dueling guitar battles of Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss and the amazing talent of drummer Kris Myers (in contention for Best Drummer at High Sierra 2009) is undeniable. They’re a strange band whose unique sound is really unmatched by any other out there. Their sheer talent is what has bolstered their notoriety in the jam scene and led them to be hailed as the heir apparent for the jam thrown. After taking a three-year absence from High Sierra, the members of Umphrey’s were visibly giddy with excitement when they played both their late night and headlining day sets. Arriving on a stage that was already burning hot from Pretty Lights‘ intense set, Umphrey’s went into an odd choice for their first song – “Bright Lights, Big City.” Seeing that the High Sierra grounds are nowhere near a city or any sort of urban sprawl, the song seemed slightly out of place. Maybe irony is what the members were trying to get across by playing the song. A few tunes in, the band busted into crowd favorite “The Triple Wide,” which was an obvious good choice for Umphrey’s to bring out of their song arsenal. The trance-like melodies of the track diffidently helped individuals who were still recovering from Pretty Lights’ set. When the boys ripped into the obscure Police classic “When the World is Running Down You Make the Best of What’s Still Around” it seemed to fit the mood of the evening, especially seeing that it was nearly 3 a.m. and there was no foreseeable end time for the music. As Umphrey’s progressed through their late night gig it seemed like the band was not playing as tight as they could have. The solos were not as mind-jarring and the vocals seemed lackluster. As the clock ticked on, the band closed out their second set with “Cemetery Walk II” then a strong encore of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.” The crowd and band were obviously worn out as the show ended at nearly 5 a.m. With no more music happening festival-goers were forced to walk back to their tents as the sun started to rise over the mountains in the distance. All the pre-conceptions I’d held about Umphrey’s not hitting their mark at High Sierra, as indicated by the band’s late night performance, were smashed by their headlining day slot on Friday. Picking up where they left off the previous evening with “Cemetery Walk,” the band got things started with one of the best cuts off their most recent album, Mantis. Next came “Miss Tinkle’s Overture,” a staple of UM’s live shows. While the song is not one of my favorites it seems to sum up what the Chicago six-piece represents – dizzying guitar virtuosity, unrelenting cymbal and tom work and well crafted bass arrangements. The hits kept coming as the band busted out seasoned classics like “Bridgeless,” “The Bottom Half” and covers like a super dirty and sexy reading of the Motown great “Heard It Through the Grapevine.” Looking back, Umphrey’s McGee’s two shows at High Sierra did not do much to change my opinion about them. In fact, their performances further cemented my thoughts about the band. They’re still strange, almost impossible to categorize in musical sense, but amazing musicians nonetheless. (Gillett) The Disco Biscuits The Disco Biscuits :: HSMF 2009 by Krolick So, if you’re a Disco Biscuits fan you’ve probably already heard about the massive sound problems plaguing the late night show, but quite honestly it only led the Philadelphia band to perform one of the wildest sets of music I’ve heard from them in quite some time. The show started with a jaw-dropping transition from Orchard Lounge‘s set directly into “Run Like Hell.” From there the show was a free-for-all of unexpected moments, some good while others just fell flat. After a short break around 4:00 a.m., Marc Brownstein emerged holding a small scrap of paper and said that the curfew was dropped and so they played until about 5:15 a.m. The last section early Sunday morning was very sinister, dirty Disco Biscuits that featured some severe vocal samples and a wild Aron Magner playing intensely on the keys. The band filled the early morning with lots of interesting jams and heaps of risks. Some earlier portions of the show were just bizarre, like the transition into “Svenghali.” Some of the later risks paid off with huge rewards like the “Digital Buddha” > “Orch Theme” > “Digital Buddha” sandwich. During the peak of “Digital Buddha” they even managed to slide in some “SexyBack” samples that made the floor quake with delight. This combined with the quadraphonic sound and a killer version of “Astronaut,” plus working lights, and you had yourself one wild finish to an eventful yet weird Disco Biscuits show. Overall, Sunday’s main stage closing set was a solid showing; a quintessential Disco Biscuits festival set that probably even won over some new fans. It was interesting hearing four new songs to open the set. “I-Man” and “The Great Abyss” were my highlights of the night, each filled with liveliness. It was a wonderful experience seeing firsthand the love that is shown to The Disco Biscuits on the West Coast, and I’d recommend that any East Coast fan trek out west to catch them in a whole different light. (Krolick) Dr. Dog Dr. Dog :: HSMF 2009 by Krolick The first late night shows of High Sierra are always electric. People are amped up as the weekend is just getting under way (and just getting weird) and the energy takes on a physical element, wrapping around your legs and torso and shooting straight into your skull. Walking into the Funk’n Jam House for Dr. Dog’s set (opening for Tea Leaf Green), I bumped into TLG guitarist Josh Clark. Speaking of electric, homeboy’s eyes were aglow and we shared a moment as he proclaimed, “I’m just excited to play a bill with these guys!” The Dog came to play and wasted no time, instantly tossing us down a well, where guitars were swirlin’ and whirlin’ like Dervishes. Every time I see Dr. Dog they are bigger, badder and better. Thursday night at High Sierra was perhaps the best I’ve seen (the electric excitement thing definitely didn’t hurt). People were going nuts to “Old News,” “The Arc” and everything else they dished out. After the late night Thursday set, Dr. Dog was the talk of the town. Carrying the momentum straight into their Friday Big Meadow set there was a bigger crowd and they delivered just as big a show. With Beatles structures and harmonies but with nastier guitars, whatever Dr. Dog is smoking, I want some. With all the brilliant, red-faced screaming of bassist/vocalist Toby Leaman and perfect counter-point/tasty lead guitar of Scott McMicken, the religious undertones could perhaps get lost in the psychedelic roots hoe-down, but don’t be fooled – they carry God’s word. And certainly not in some lame-ass preachy manner, I mean the real God’s word delivered with open-ended spiritual rockers that not only allow you to be set free, but make you believe in something bigger. Sitting atop an RV with some of my closest friends just 50 yards from the stage I closed my eyes and felt the perfect breeze blow my troubles away. The sun was beginning to set, I was surrounded by mountains and trees, Dr. Dog was playing “Hang On” and I knew this was one of those special moments I wanted to lock away and remember forever… or at least until tomorrow. Life simply does not get much better. (Kayce) HSMF 2009 by Miller Continue reading for more coverage of HSMF 2009… Everest Everest :: HSMF 2009 by Krolick It’s no wonder Neil Young signed these cats to his label. Earnest, deep, shit-kicking rock & roll with a soft side that’ll make you weep, Everest is a no-brainer for Vapor Records. When it was time to bleed they’d circle the troops center stage like Crazy Horse and let it rip, but when frontman/guitarist Russell Pollard peals it back he can also burn you slow with his smoky voice. Rock of this type requires a serious rhythm section, and these dudes crush it. Elijah Thomson‘s pile-driver bass was way up in the mix for both sets (just the way it should be) and drummer Davey Latter was relentless, rolling off thunder fills with effortless cool. In addition to Neil, there are trace elements of Band of Horses, The Mother Hips, Black Crowes and there’s something about the acoustic/electric dynamic that made me think of Wilco (though way grittier), but it never sounds derivative, just inspired. Showing remarkable restraint and control of tempos, Everest would stretch things out, always paying attention to space. It felt right to hear this music outside amongst the trees. Of particular note during both sets was the cry of, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Deep within a drawn out beauty full of delays and reverb, Pollard repeated this phrase over and over, eyes closed, taken over by the moment. It wound down until a spark set the whole thing off and the set came crashing down in full rock pomp. (Kayce) ALO ALO :: HSMF 2009 by Krolick For lots of bands High Sierra seems like home. It’s the closest “jam friendly” music festival to San Francisco, so many bands that call S.F. home often feel like their band is a part of the annual festival. ALO hasn’t performed 12 times (like The Slip has) at High Sierra but their performances this year clearly indicated their love of playing to this crowd. All the members of ALO have individual side projects and many of those side projects played at High Sierra, but the music that was created between the four members of ALO was far superior to any of the side gigs. Having just recorded a new album in Hawaii, ALO treated the High Sierra crowd to many new songs that still seemed a bit unorganized and in need of more road testing. The seeds for amazing songs and jams where already evident and with more time these songs will no doubt become fan favorites. One of the things that’s always interested me about ALO is how accessible the band and their music is. The songs they play are unabashed pop tunes, which, I’ll be the first to admit, can turn some listeners off. The lyrics are up-beat and cheery (Lebo sang on Thursday, “We got to try just a little bit harder/ And let it shine just a little bit brighter/ We got to walk just a little bit taller”) which almost seems to act as a disadvantage to the band. They rarely get serious with their lyrics and their vocal styles – it’s Jam-Lite. There’s nothing wrong with being happy all the time but if you’re constantly laughing, smiling and singing about how good life can be there’s really no room for the seriousness that’s required if a band wants to be a well respected act that consistently manages to churn out well made albums and interesting live shows. One thing that I will say about ALO is that they have always managed to impress me with their jam abilities. For a band that is known for their pop tendencies and studio refined sound, the ALO guys really can crank out some crunchy jams. At High Sierra, they felt comfortable with the crowd, which let them stretch out and explore new musical territory. For a band to be able to reach a high point with their free form jams the group really needs to trust the crowd. And as evidenced by ALO’s sets at High Sierra, the band is comfortable and seems to treat the gathering as a sort of hometown festival. (Gillett) Tea Leaf Green Reed Mathis – TLG :: HSMF 2009 by Miller Trevor Garrod, Josh Clark, Scott Rager, and Reed Mathis were so massively influential, not to mention busy, at the 2009 High Sierra Music Festival, they made me tired just watching them play. It felt like they were part of every band, and they almost were. These princes of the festival kicked things off with their own band, Tea Leaf Green, in the Funk’n Jam House during the second half of Thursday’s late night show. They primed us for a few hours of dreamland by getting intensely sinister and deeply funky. Guest guitarist Sean Leahy jumped into jam on a killer “Sex in the 70s” that was a spacey and psychedelic homage to the mother ship. Then, they unleashed the highlight of their set, a “Panspermic De-Evolution” > “The Invasion Sandwich” that was en fuego from the get-go. Clark was doing his nasty lower lip snarl all evening, and as he snarled he’d dig into the guitar and make it howl like a real rock ‘n’ roller should. Clark even jumped on keys for a few minutes as Garrod got a jam started on harmonica. Tea Leaf Green backed that funky bus right over the screaming crowd and a grooving, moving mass of raging bodies bounced around, dragged along by the music. Their Friday Big Meadow set wasn’t nearly as dirty, but it had a great pace and made a few believers out of those unfamiliar with their music. The “Standing Still” opener was a very charming tune, and nice way to start off. They played a great “Garden 1″ > “Garden 3,” and Mathis was all “O” faces as he dropped bass bombs that worked the magic sauce into “Red Ribbons,” featuring crowd participation from some clever folks who tossed streamers. And if that didn’t win ya over, their stunning cover of CSN’s “Wooden Ships” had to seal the deal. Mathis should perhaps win the High Sierra MVP for most appearances all weekend playing with Steve Kimock Crazy Engine, the Benevento Trio, Tea Leaf Green, and at least two other sit-ins, but my favorite incarnations of him were defiantly with Tea Leaf Green. Garrod could also be found sitting in on keys on top of the back road RV with Sean Leahy & Friends, as well as at the Troubadour Sessions and a couple late night guest spots with The Travelin’ McCourys and much of Camp Harry’s Surprise Me Mr. Davis set. To the best of my knowledge Clark had only one other spot at the HSMF during Guitarmageddon, where he sported a flowery green muumuu and some classic Ronald McDonald red Chucks. This now infamous gathering of High Sierra shredders featured a revolving lineup including Clark, Leahy, Dan Lebowitz, Jeff Pevar, Steve Adams, Dave Brogan and at points, Reed Mathis, Jason Smart, Simon Kurth and Jeremy Korpas. The Guitarmageddon set included a huge array of music including a 9-minute version of Nirvana’s classic “Breed,” a version of Ween’s “Roses Are Free,” Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” and finally finishing with a relentless version of Iron Maiden’s “Aces High.” If you missed this I feel badly for you. (Krolick) Red Cortez Harley Prechtel-Cortez – Red Cortez :: HSMF 2009 by Law Trying to guess which band will be the next to “make it” is a fool’s game. Wise journalists never get involved in such ridiculousness. Lucky for us, one thing I am not is wise, so I have no problem telling you I think Red Cortez will indeed “make it.” And it’s not just because I personally really dig their blend of jangly, post-punk, soul-on-fire, tent revival rock; there are several obvious factors that play into “making it.” First, you gotta have good material and you gotta want it – and these dudes burn it down every freakin’ time. Then, you gotta have the songwriting – spend some time with their music and you’ll hear the best of every generation from the ’60s straight through to 2009. Next, and perhaps most important for the glossy mag covers, you gotta have the right guy to sing the songs. Switching from guitar to piano, Harley Prechtel-Cortez has a fantastic voice and is one of the most captivating frontmen around, plus he’s got that crazy look in his eye. And then there’s that intangible rock vibe, which these guys have coming out from under their dark eyes and leather jackets for sure. When they rolled through campsites late at night guys stopped and stared and girls started to whisper to one another. But you probably don’t care about all that. You here on JamBase are here for one thing and one thing alone – the music – and these fellas play some seriously great music. Flailing across the stage barefoot, Harley sang about “original sin,” quoted Walt Whitman and urged us to create our own freedom while searing guitars and primal drum slaps burned through our bodies. Later in the set, they dared us to wake up and live as the entire band screamed, “I’m not dead/ You’re not dead/ Oh no.” Of particular note was the old school War-era U2 aspect to much of the new material, just one more reason to believe the big time isn’t far off for Red Cortez. (Kayce) These United States These United States & Red Cortez :: HSMF 2009 by Law If it’s 4th of July and there’s a band called These United States playing you obviously go see them. But, what I learned on this particular 4th was that it actually doesn’t matter what the date is; if These United States have a show, you go. A rootsy, foot-stomping blend of well-crafted American rock, it went down easier than a burger and Budweiser. The slower, tense moments were often built upon a soaring pedal steel, and the big, swinging ball rockers were ushered in by the thick rhythm section. Three-part harmonies over acoustic guitar rubbed up against burning electric guitar solos or crying slide work. As impressive as the instrumental interaction was, one was brought back time and again to the songwriting and delivery of frontman/brainchild Jesse Elliot. During standout selections “Six Fast Bullets” and “Honor Amongst Thieves” there was a touch of honky-tonk and something made me think of Okkervil River, but before I could figure out why I was spinning around on my heels, kicking up dust and thinking about how timeless it all felt. Truly a marvelous way to begin one’s Independence Day. (Kayce) Skerik Skerik (w/ Galactic) :: HSMF 2009 by Miller Skerik was this year’s artist at large as well as playing two shows of his own with varying personal styles. His first appearance was as one half of the “In the Kitchen” playshop, where Benevento and Skerik got weird in the early afternoon. The duo warmed up for the day of music by running us through the zaniest stew of mountain sounds hatched out of pinecones dropping in the woods – it was all over the place and the odd just grew and grew and grew. At one point Skerik sang, “I like to frolic with the hippies,” and followed it up with a bong-sized hit on his sax before working the honk into a version of Benevento’s “Real Morning Party.” Skerik popped up latter in the day at Bonerama‘s afternoon set to add his NOLA spirit for “Shake Your Regulator” and an amazing cover of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks.” Hand’s down my favorite incarnation of Skerik was McTuff. The band started by Hammond organist Joe Doria and featuring Andy Coe on guitar and drum stud D’Vonne Lewis delivered their own incredibly funky takes on classic works from Jimmy Smith and Captain Jack McDuff. Between 5:30 and 6:30 Saturday afternoon there was no other place I’d rather have been as the Vaudeville Tent filled with some of the grooviest surreal funk played by some seriously heavy-hitting cats. At one point Skerik stepped back to admire the scene as McTuff tossed it out trio style. They finished their set with a classic from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America World Police. Yes, they covered “America, Fuck Yeah” and it was easily another of my highlight’s from the festival. (Krolick) Pretty Lights HSMF’s small layout is so amazing that you can get a taste of just about everything. Case in point, I was fully prepped and ready for Bonerama as the sizzling Friday sun burned at my shoulders. Over by the Vaudeville Tent a sprinkler wagged its water tail cooling all in the vicinity. As I approached to get some wet relief I was struck by the ass-shake going on under the tent, where MC Serch look-alike Pretty Lights, aka DJ Derek Vincent Smith, was laying it down hot and heavy accompanied by drummer, Cory Eberhard. Together these two were stimulating the potpourri of hippies, freaks, players, sprayers and girls wearing nothing but stickers and fruit into a frenzy. The front row was passing around a clear skin filled with pinkish jungle juice that was being freely chugged as the raucous dance party blew up. The spirit of Dionysus blew through the tent as the DJ and drummer tapped into something primal and quite nasty, like the score to a particularly dirty porno one watches curiously from a distance. It was dance madness, ecstasy and indulgence at its best and worst. (Krolick) Bonerama Bonerama :: HSMF 2009 by Krolick Trombones are awesome! Perhaps it’s just that this instrument can speak as well as any guitar, but it’s way more then that. It’s just such an expressive instrument in its movements. It was just so great to watch trombone players Mark Mullins and Craig Klein flick their wrists and push that glistening, telescopic slide out into the space in front of them on Friday afternoon! Mullins and Klein are the founders of Bonerama. One thing that has pushed Bonerama’s reputation is their use of multiple trombones and other brass instruments to play rock riffs. Mullins is all business and doesn’t miss a note. It’s no wonder because he’s been playing trombone since he was 13. Klein resembles a character out of some endless summer rather than a funkateer, but he can play a trombone with the best of them. This brass funk band from New Orleans helped to transport a little more NOLA love our way by doing an evening set on Thursday (I heard I missed a “War Pigs” encore) and a playshop with the Pimps of Joytime earlier on Friday. Friday afternoon they offered a 10 song set featuring guests, trombone dance moves, stage antics and some insane ‘bone moments. The first came during “Hard Times” as the frontline just wailed away, each man pumping hard with their eyes closed. Skerik joined them as their first guest and the crowd went nuts. I watched dancing road construction workers, flying monkeys and plenty of kids riding shoulders. Marco Benevento followed Skerik, jumping in on organ for “When My Dreamboat Comes Home.” The interplay between Klein and Benevento was spirited as Klein encouraged him to bust out a jam on keys during “There’s A Certain Girl.” Bonerama concluded with a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic,” complete with the trombones running through sets of wah-wah pedals. In my next life I’d truly enjoy being a trombone player. (Krolick) Del McCoury Band Del McCoury :: HSMF 2009 by Krolick The Del McCoury Band’s set in the afternoon at the grandstand was delightful. A lesser-known moment from that session actually came before it started. The McCoury family sat before the set next to an old Model T Ford that was parked behind the main stage. Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury warmed up on mandolin and banjo with a bit of “Nashville Cats.” Del walked up and inspected the car. The camaraderie he has with his sons was unashamed and it’s no wonder that their music is so insanely grand and timeless. It struck me a lot like that old Model T Ford, which I saw putting around the fairgrounds all weekend, bringing smiles wherever it went. Their music, similar to the car, continues to truck forward making new generations happy. This was the third year that the Del McCoury Band had played the HSMF and Del’s Carolina-infused vocals, slow handed kindness and gentle eyes captivated the Friday crowd, showing them once again why they are legendary in the bluegrass world. (Krolick) Cornmeal There was significant buzz around Cornmeal and since I had yet to see them I was intrigued. Allie Kral lived up to her hype, not only as a striking and spirited fiddle player but as a serious songstress, a siren among scruffy men. I was bouncing back and forth between their late night set and The Disco Biscuits and caught Vince Herman‘s sit in on “Get No Better.” However, the highlight of what I caught was “When the World’s Got You Down,” featuring a feverish ripping of the bow across the fiddle strings by Kral and Kris Nowak‘s spirited fingers on guitar. If this music didn’t get your heels kicking then nothing would. They never seemed to take a break and I later found out that the late night set lasted three hours with no stops. Hot damn! Cornmeal offers some serious pickin’ and obviously I’ll need to further investigate this band later in July when they are back East. (Krolick) HSMF 2009 by Krolick Continue reading for more coverage of HSMF 2009… Leftover Salmon Day Set/Vince Herman and Friends Kickball Set Herman & Moore – Sunrise Kickball – HSMF 2009 by Krolick If performers like Skerik and Reed Mathis are princes of the festival then Vince Herman is the king. After enjoying years of Leftover Salmon their main stage show did not disappoint. The vibe was loose and the festival spirit on Saturday July 4th was in full force. The afternoon set was a quieter down-tempo Salmon performance, but we had figured they would still have some Cajun funk slam leftover from their late night show. The highlights of an all around splendid show were mostly off of Salmon’s Ask The Fish live album. “Bend in the River” included a nice bit of finger picking by Noam Pikelny. A 15-plus minute “Lonesome Road” featured some great vocals and just really made me miss Mark Vann. At one point Vince Herman said that they should have the kids of the band play and he brought out his son, Silas Herman. The moments they shared together on stage were quite special as Herman smiled over at his son and encouraged him with proud glances. Their movements and mannerisms are really quite uncanny. Drew Emmitt was a bit understated during this show, but as always just amazed the crowd with his subtle mandolin acrobatics; it’s just too bad he never really got a chance to let loose and slice the strings to shreds. The set was filled with poignancy as Herman told a story about their late friend Sandy Alexander, who had snatched up his headphones, found some sunshine and got one little dance in. “Woody Guthrie” made a great statement with the lyrics, “The big dogs are back at the door.” This band is ready for a substantial tour and with some new blood joining them on stage one wonders if we will see them take on more tour dates. Personally, I miss seeing more of these Colorado legends. Like in days gone by, Leftover Salmon managed to jerk the heartstrings and make us chuckle. Little did we know that during our early Saturday morning kickball game Herman and Emmitt would lead a small army of musicians, including Nathan Moore, Brad Barr, Steve Adams, Anders Beck and Silas Herman, running across the field with instruments in hand and grins on their faces. Hey, it’s High Sierra so not many batted an eyelash until the ragtag crew of merry tricksters start playing. Sure, they started slow with a “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” but as soon as Herman started in on a homemade kickball song that questioned why Mr. Davis was still in suits many of us stopped playing and joined the sideline party. The sing-along ended in a two-minute chant of “kickball, kickball, kickball, kickball.” It was another amazing High Sierra memory for the record books. (Krolick) Leftover Salmon (Late Night) HSMF 2009 by Krolick One of the few bands that I can really appreciate for their no-nonsense jovial take on music is Leftover Salmon. They refer to their music as “Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass” for Chrissake! They’re not afraid to do what they feel works, regardless if people accept it or not. On stage they’re six goofy looking guys (Vince Herman accidentally tucked his jeans into one of his socks) that are able to craft some of the most jam-intensive music ever. Their sound is able to conjure images of their native country – Colorado (watching these guys I almost felt like I was at a mid-mountain hoe-down in some backwoods cabin in the Rockies). Their late night set was the first time I’d seen the boys live and they were in top form, playing their hearts out and rocking like they were in their prime back in the mid-90s. While many of the members have their respective side projects, (Vince Herman with Great American Taxi, Drew Emmitt with the Emmit-Nershi Band and Jeff Sipe with the now defunct WMD’s) taking time off from performing as Leftover, the boys’ late night set Friday saw the group playing like they’d never left each other’s sides. While the music was superb, Leftover Salmon’s stage show was a bit dull. As mentioned earlier, the goofiness factor played its part, but the crowd never seemed fully engaged in the stage movement of any member of the band. With the exception of Vince Herman, who was sporting a perma-grin the entire show, none of the musicians seemed to move at all. Banjoist Noam Pikelny was like a bluegrass shoegazer. He hardly moved at all, let alone looked up from his speedy, pickin’ fingers. Hearing the classic “Mama Boulet” off their breakthrough Euphoria was something I’d been waiting for since I was a young lad grappling with understanding why someone would devote their life to following some obscure band around the country. Leftover Salmon’s performances at High Sierra, while far from career defining, were still enjoyable and fun. It was good to see the aging jammers, visibly road worn, hold down a groove with ease while maintaining their signature sense of humor. (Gillett) DeVotchKa DeVotchKa :: HSMF 2009 by Miller Knowing little to nothing about DeVotchKa before I arrived at High Sierra, except that they opened up for David Byrne on his most recent tour, I was more than pleasantly surprised with their set on the main stage Saturday. It could have been the drastic temperature decrease as the sun started to set, it could have been the Eastern European song orchestrations, it could have been the scarcity of dancing wookies, but regardless of the factors, DeVotchKa played one of my favorite sets all weekend. Their sound is an interesting mix of gypsy looseness combined with a chamber pop adherence to song structure and musicianship. The Denver four-piece were one of the most unique acts to be featured at High Sierra – one of the most foreign sounding at least – and their set was a nice relief from the jam intensive sound that permeated the four day festival. Frontman Nick Urata made good use of his Theremin and added an eerie element to the music that furthered the group’s unique sound. The band seamlessly transitioned between several genres including Americana, folk, polka and punk, all while keeping a unified sound that held tight in the confines of the lush songs. (Gillett) J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science was combustible enough to almost fill the Vaudeville Tent Thursday eve. The white awning glowed under the moon while all the dancing California Freaks shook it to J Boogie. His dub music was set off by an extraordinary horn section called the Jazz Mafia. As they blasted out the notes, Rene Flores would slather them up with his Afro-Latin percussion. Singer Aima the Dreamer had nowhere near the flow of today’s great female hip-hop artists. Her rapping was less than smooth, but when she sat back on the beats and just sang it worked much better. Their reggae-flavored cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” was her redeeming factor and it held my attention a few minutes longer before skipping out to catch Greensky Bluegrass doing a blue-grassed out cover of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” (Krolick) Paper Bird Paper Birds :: HSMF 2009 by Miller After riding my Dirty Projectors kick for far too long, along came Paper Bird and it appeared that I’m once again hopelessly smitten with the vocals of a band featuring a trio of ladies. Sisters Esme and Genevieve Patterson and Sarah Anderson have the harmonies of something otherworldly, or at least almost forgotten about until bands like the Fleet Foxes pulled out hymnal songs and made it popular to enjoy vocal harmonies again. However, don’t roll those eyes. This Colorado-based group is all folksy Americana and their musicianship is just as fine as the vocals. The trombone (Tyler Archuletta), guitar (Paul DeHaven), banjo (Caleb Summeril) and bass (Macon Terry) all help add to the trio’s harmonies. Paper Bird’s afternoon set on the Vaudeville stage set my heart fluttering as they performed “Livin’ Lucky.” This dainty ditty trucked along with a pluck of banjo and soft blasts of trombone as the singers’ harmonies soared. There was an interesting dynamic between Esme Patterson and red-haired Anderson. During the afternoon set, Patterson was very angelic and at any moment I thought she might curtsy to the crowd, while Anderson was fire to Patterson’s ice as she tossed vulgarities and sassy looks freely. Put the two together and toss Genevieve into the mix and you had a fascinating group to watch as well as listen to. Their dynamic changed on Sunday during the gospel sessions, especially when Dre Anders joined the mix. Their harmonies and Anders just didn’t fit and the look of discomfort on their faces was pretty obvious. From what I caught of their playshop the crowd ate them up as they encouraged the group to each take a portion and sing a round. This Colorado band is one to watch over the next few years. (Krolick) Ollabelle Reid Genauer – AoD :: HSMF 2009 by Miller Named after legendary Appalachian songwriter Ola Belle Reed, Ollabelle is a rootsy five-piece playing old timey songs that touch on the gamut of American music – folk, blues, gospel, jazz, bluegrass, country and rock – and they play it all with effortless joy and big smiles painted across their faces. Featuring Levon Helm’s daughter Amy on mandolin and vocals, Ollabelle certainly grew from The Band’s tree, though blossomed into a peaceful patch of flowers as opposed to the tortured, drug-fueled briars The Band found themselves wrapped up in. Everyone shared vocal duties and they swapped instruments frequently. The twin ladies out front, Fiona McBain joining Helm, made quite the team, but it was Glenn Patscha on soulful, funky keys who just about stole the show when he led the band through the Grateful Dead’s “Wharf Rat” and “Promised Land.” (Kayce) Assembly of Dust Assembly of Dust has a new album landing at the end of July and it had been forever since I’d seen Reid Genauer and company play. Genauer is another guitar master on the same level with Brad Barr and Josh Clark. His fingers run the fretboard like a ferret chases its prey – fast and nimble with aggressive, cunning tendencies. Why he wasn’t involved with the Guitarmageddon jam I don’t know. Genauer performed three new songs from the upcoming album, Some Assembly Required, including “Cold Coffee,” “Arc of the Sun” and “Second Song.” The set was quick but fun, and I was disappointed to have missed his Troubadour Session, where apparently both Nathan Moore and Genauer had been hitting the sauce quite a bit and the banter went into some funny realms. It sounds like before the show Moore told Genauer that they were going to have a little competition on stage. If you know more please comment at the end of the story. (Krolick) Gospel Sessions Gospel Sessions :: HSMF 2009 by Miller Before these even started you could sense something special in the air as The Lee Boys, Zack Gill, Dan Lebowitz, Shane Theriot, Dre Anders of Dre’s Awakening, the Paper Birds, Dusty Rhodes and others warmed up behind the Big Meadow stage. The ladies of Paper Bird kept saying how amazing the experience was and they looked as if they would burst from excitement. During the warm-up, The Lee Boys basically led the group, asking if everyone knew this or that gospel song and the group would start to sing it and then move onto the next. They set the whole thing up about an hour beforehand, deciding which parts each person or group of people would sing and where they would take the session next. People would stop and watch them practice and it seemed that most of the fun was in seeing them work out the kinks and plan the arrangements. The session was steeped in traditional gospel songs, some well known and others that many had never heard before. Two that particularly stood out were Bob Dylan‘s “I Shall Be Released” and Albert Brumley’s “I’ll Fly Away,” which really got the crowd going. It was wonderful to see many folks come down to the Sunday service dressed to the nines in their suits and large sun hats. When the jams really dove into high gear, arms went up and some folks just testified to the heavens, while others shook their behinds feverishly and swung their partners around. The morning’s music was just the jolt needed to wake the entire festival and give them strength for the last day of festivities. (Krolick) Dusty Rhodes and the River Band It’s Sunday and you’re tired. Music, parties, and sunshine have taken their toll. You just can’t seem to summons the energy, and then Dusty Rhodes and the River Band begin. Taking the stage directly after the Gospel Sessions, this was the ultimate one-two punch to shake off a weekend full of fun and slide us right into the final stretch. Wearing a sky blue jump suit and sporting his curly, wild white man ‘fro, Dusty (Dustin Apodaca) wouldn’t take no for an answer. At first the crowd was small and sitting 20 yards from the stage. He convinced us to get to our feet and slowly lured us forward. By the mid-point of the set it was an electric Holy Ghost revival. And boy howdy, Dusty truly gets taken over by the spirit. Easily the most animated bandleader of the weekend, when he wasn’t slaying the keyboard – even taking a full solo with it on his back! – or punishing the accordion, Dusty was roaming the stage like a crazed preacher on moonshine and mushrooms. Running through sing-along anthems like “Ghost Trails,” “First You Live,” “Street Fighter” and the psychedelic burner “Goodnight, Moonshine,” if the electric guitars didn’t spin you out then the soaring violin surely did. Also touching on new songs like the stunning “Davidians” off the brand new Palace and Stage album, it was really the giant set closer of CCR’s “Fortunate Son” that blew it open. Juiced up with gospel flavor and headed straight for sin, Dusty had us all kneeling way down low as he stared into the eyes of folks up front and said, “We can’t let the rich people tell us what to do,” before jumping to his feet and belting out the chorus once again, “I ain’t no fortunate one, no!” It all came crashing down beautifully and seemed like the right way to honor America. Before he walked off stage Dusty addressed the congregation one last time: “Thank you very much. We’re Dusty Rhodes and we’re gonna make the rich people pay!” (Kayce) Vieux Farka Toure Vieux Farka Toure :: HSMF 2009 by Miller Having seen all of the other “big names” on the lineup, it was Mali star Vieux Farka Toure who I was most excited to see at this year’s HSMF. Like many other music freaks, Vieux’s legendary father, Ali Farka Toure (who died in 2006), was monumental in shaping my perception of music. By taking American blues back to the source in traditional African (in this case Malian) roots, Ali offered the west a door to a whole new world of never ending sound. Vieux has taken the torch and run with it. Still built on the foundation of t Read More » High Sierra Additions: Salmon, Slip, AOD, DeVotchKa April 18th, 2009 | No Comments ONE OF THE SUMMER’S SWELLEST GATHERINGS SWELLS Marc Friedman (Slip/Davis) :: HSMF ’08 :: by Scott Galbraith The 2009 High Sierra Music Festival, taking place Thursday, July 2 – Sunday, July 5, 2009 in Quincy, CA, has announced the following additions to this year’s lineup: DeVotchKa Leftover Salmon Greensky Bluegrass Delhi 2 Dublin Orchard Lounge Assembly of Dust The Slip Surprise Me Mr. Davis These United States Red Cortez Big Light Lubriphonic Zach Gill (special kids show) Alice DiMicele & Friends Paper Bird Izabella Bourgeois Gypsies Raina Rose Loyd Family Players These artists join the already announced initial lineup: John Butler Umphrey’s McGee Ani DiFranco Disco Biscuits Galactic The Del McCoury Band Steve Kimock Crazy Engine feat. Melvin Seals The Wailers Tea Leaf Green Ollabelle Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue ALO Vieux Farka Toure Dr. Dog Devil Makes Three The Travelin’ McCourys The Lee Boys Cornmeal Bonerama Marco Benevento Trio McTuff feat. Skerik, Joe Doria, Andy Coe & D’Vonne Lewis Skerik will also appear as an artist-at-large Joe Craven and Sam Bevan Duo Joe Craven will also appear as artist-at-large and emcee Nathan Moore Fareed Haque and The Flat Earth Ensemble Pretty Lights Everest Dusty Rhodes and the River Band Pimps of Joytime J-Boogie and Dubtronic Science Poor Man’s Whiskey Living Folklore Read More » Page 2 of 2«12 Latest Video 'Fight For Your Right Revisited': Beastie Boys' Film Trailer (VIDEO) Recent Posts Kyle Hollingsworth Announces Summer of Brews Events The 10 Tackiest Celebrity Mansions Democrats yet to decide on candidate for PM Democrats fail to decide on candidate for PM German chancellor “locates” Berlin in Russia German chancellor “locates” Berlin in Russia The Sadies: Summer U.S. Dates FIFA suspends its decision on Kosovo FIFA suspends its decision on Kosovo FIFA suspends its decision on Kosovo Copyright © 2012 ICT magazine - News portal Powered by WordPress | designed by ThemeTiger.com