Review: All Good Music Festival Pt. 2

I caught the first few songs of the set by Santa Barbara’s Rebelution, a reggae band that combines socially conscious lyrics with strong instrumentation bringing to mind Jack Johnson meets Michael Franti meets the bastard child of Matisyahu and the late Bradley Nowell of Sublime.

The Big Nazo are…um…a band of bizarre and silly galactic monsters who make groovin’ music, and I couldn’t help but smile whenever I happened to see them around the festival. Really, they’re a troupe of puppet makers, dancers, and musicians who put on a helluva fun show. Their actual set was pretty impressive musically, in a big, funky, dance-inducing way. But the visual spectacle does draw most of my attention, which doesn’t necessarily detract from appreciating the music. However, it is more of a larger performance overall, a la Blue Man Group. The show that the Big Nazo put on was a sight to behold, a stark contrast from many jam bands that must rely on light shows for any kind of eye candy because they’re not jumping around.

Following the Big Nazo’s set on the smaller Crane Stage, indie rockers Dr. Dog played the main stage to a fairly large crowd for a hot, early, Saturday afternoon. I’ve had their latest album – Shame, Shame – in regular rotation lately. Their particular brand of indie-rock is musically, vocally and lyrically interesting. Started by bassist Toby Leaman and lead guitarist Scott McMicken, who also share vocal duties, Dr. Dog’s live performance builds a bit on their studio work, but they are certainly not a jam band in the traditional sense. Regardless, Dr. Dog have become more than an indie favorite, but a great festival act as well, as their narrative lyrics and stirring metaphors evoke thoughts of Bowie and the Clash.

Papadosio from Athens, Ohio are young musicians pushing some interesting boundaries. I’d just seen then for the first time a few weeks before when they played with the Macpodz at my local club. At first glance, I was taken by their spin on the livetronica genre. However, such pigeonholing was quickly left in the dust when they played solid, original tunes sounding more like moe. than any jamtronica band.

Among my personal favorite bands playing, Railroad Earth embodies the best elements of the jam and festival scenes. Their All Good set was a solid performance, although an hour isn’t nearly enough time to fully appreciate them. Bands that play a lot of festivals, and who have extensive repertoires, often adapt their set lists to the time of day. Late afternoon sets make me think of a line from the Grateful Dead tune Me and My Uncle, when Bobby sings, “ . . . and you know it was the hottest part of the day,” often played during daytime, summer sets outdoor. So rather than some of the intense jamming that their nighttime performances are more likely to feature, Railroad Earth’s 4PM set featured multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling’s banjo playing bending notes around Tim Carbone’s always-impressive (seriously – ALWAYS) fiddle playing, and John Skehan’s precise mandolin.

The voice of six-string acoustic guitar player and lead singer Todd Sheaffer reminds me of a young Jerry Garcia at times, before the ravages of time and his 2-pack a day smoking habit. Stand out RRE numbers included a festival-appropriate Elko that had the audience dancing up a storm, and a crowd-pleasing set closer of their song Hard Livin.

The Rex Jam was a special edition of Matt Butler’s Everyone Orchestra for the Rex Foundation to benefit a local school music program. The Rex Jam featured Perpetual Groove’s Brock Butler and Albert Suttle on guitar/keys and drums, Oteil Burbridge on bass, the Macpodz Nick Ayers on percussion, the Lee Boys’ Roosevelt Collier on pedal steel guitar along with Jennifer Hartswick’s trumpet playing and Dr. Didg holding down the didgeridoo. Like the previous day’s Everyone Orchestra, the Rex Jam was a scrumptious nugget of controlled chaos. I spoke briefly beforehand with Matt Butler who told me that as fun as it is, it can be difficult getting everyone together beforehand to work things out. To tell the truth – I’d have never known it from the performance.

I skipped out the George Clinton Parliament/Funkadelic set to regroup at the campsite before seeing great performances by Perpetual Groove and the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band. PGroove’s set was another one that transcends labels beyond jam or livetronica – just good music and Butler’s guitar and keyboard work never fails to do something unexpected as their songs with driving rhythms and complex melodies were interspersed with lyric songs. A big part of that is just incredibly strong musicianship as one of the hallmarks of the jam and festival scenes is the musical prowess fluency exhibited by so many of the performing musicians at All Good.

Speaking of musicianship, I’d seen the Trucks & Tedeschi band at Rothbury last year, and Susan Tedeschi’s guitar playing has come a long way in that year. She wasn’t bad before, by any means but the difference was impressive. I suppose when you’re married to Derek Trucks, well – I could see him being a pretty effective mentor. Combine that couple with BOTH Burbridges, two drummers and two backing vocalists and you’ve got a recipe for some serious soul.

After the soul came the funk, all the way from across the pond as the New Mastersounds brought their Brit-funk to the hills of West Virginia. Crowd reaction was generally very positive, as the evening grew dark and people were looking for a party. But the real party started to rage with the appearance of headliners Widespread Panic. A strong first set opened with Heroes before the southern favorite Tall Boy got the party going strong before bringing it down from the fevered pitch with solid performances of C. Brown and True to My Nature – a tune off their latest album.

In a reprise of the Allmans/Panic tour last year, Derek Trucks sat in with the band for Second Skin. As he traded licks with Herring, each seeming to taunt the other to take it a bit further before the band brought it back down with a sweet performance of their song Gimme. The Henry Parsons set closer threw the crowd into a tizzy, only to wait for the start of the second set. It was the second set when I think I lost my mind. Starting off, Panic played a heavy Imitation Leather Shoes featuring Dave Schools’ mind-boggling bass lines. Then, they decided to Bust It Big with the almost-superhuman improvisational dexterity of Jimmy Herring on lead guitar. But it wasn’t until much later that I realized Panic was telling a story with their setlist, the likes of which I’m still trying to decipher completely.

The part that left me amazed and confused was the unbelievably tasty, double-decker jamwich (sounds like a jam, but eats like a meal!) of Driving Song > Tie Your Shoes > May Your Glass Be Filled > Drums > Jam > Tie Your Shoes > Driving Song which they then transitioned into Travelin’ Man > You Should Be Glad. When I first heard them shifting from Tie Your Shoes into May Your Glass Be Filled, I thought it was the weirdest thing I’d ever heard in a Panic setlist. But by the time I’d heard the whole set, I was smiling ear to ear, hugely impressed with what I’d witnessed. After Panic’s encore tribute to their late friend and collaborator Vic Chesnutt of his songs Protein Drink > Sewing Machine, darkness descended on the Crane Stage.

Garage a Trois – featuring Skerik’s sax, Mike Dillon on percussion, Stanton Moore’s drumming and Marco Benevento behind the keys – was another festival highlight for me. Weird, dark, different, compelling, fun and just fuckin’ crazy – it was the perfect Saturday, festival, post-Panic late night set. Skerik sulked around the stage throwing his hands in the air in devil/rocker signs, just being his usually freakish self, while Moore’s fills and Marco’s keys rocked the hell out of that mountainside. I could have watched them for days just to see what they’d play or do next. After an all-too-short 45 minute GaT set, complete with Skerik-led group stretching, Yonder Mountain String Band came out on the Dragon Stage for the final late night performance.

Although I’ve never been an actively avid Yonder fan, I have always enjoyed their live performances. The late night, 2AM YMSB performance at All Good couldn’t have been more fun. Since seeing Phish cover Exile on Main Street at Festival 8, I’ve been listening to a lot of Rolling Stones albums and Beggars Banquet is perhaps my favorite. I’ve been waiting to hear a good bluegrass performance of songs off that album, and Yonder’s cover of No Expectations practically made the festival for me, as I’d been telling every bluegrass band I know they should cover it, ignorant of the fact that Yonder’s played it some 280+ times over the last eight years.

For me, it was still a special moment, and if nothing else, gave me more impetus to really listen and enjoy their set as openmindedly as possible. Their set also included a smokin’ Traffic Jam > After Midnight > Traffic Jam sandwich topped by My Sisters and Brothers. All of that, together with their final encore of Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train, may have made me a fan for life of Jeff Austin’s hyperkinetic mandolin and vocals and the tremendous performances by the whole band. And it didn’t hurt the overall festival experience when a naked guy jumped up on stage and ran around during their set, rounding out the whole day.

After Yonder’s set, I wandered in a daze back to my campsite, where I hung out with the neighbors for a bit before we wandered out to found Greensky Bluegrass holding an impromptu 4:30AM performance near the campgrounds. As cameras from CNN.com rolled on guitarist Dave Bruzza wearing a gorilla suit – yes, really – the band covered Lionel Richie’s Dancin’ on the Ceiling and Bob Marley’s Small Axe before playing their own song, Dry County, which they sandwiched around a cover of Pink Floyd’s Time. I couldn’t tear myself away, and ended up back at the campsite at 7:00AM to get a short power nap of two or three precious hours of sleep.

Day 4:

Waking up and chugging black coffee can be a shock to the system. Hearing Keller and the Keels across the valley, however, was a nicer way to start the day. Looking around the campground, it was apparent that a fairly large contingent of folks had decided not to stay for Sunday’s music. As such a thought never occurred to me, I dragged my festival-weary body down to the stages in time to see the Travelin McCoury’s and the Lee Boys combine their respective brands of bluegrass and sacred steel into what they called “sacred grass.” I learned an important lesson: pedal steel and mandolin go together extremely well. As the extended McCoury and Lee families passed the solo around, it seemed as if everyone was enjoying themselves immensely as grins were evident on the faces of the crowd and musicians alike.

Following the Sunday higher power hour, the five-piece Florida band the Heavy Pets took the Crane Stage for a very brief 30 minute set. Since their smash debut three years ago, the Pets have toured constantly, playing an array of festivals and clubs. The Heavy Pets are first and foremost a rock band, although they eschew the jam band label. The irony is that although most jam bands seem to hold little mainstream appeal, it’s great musicianship and improvisational performances that really characterizes jam bands, regardless of the specific styles or genres of songs played. The All Good set was just too short, and I was left wanting more – which isn’t really so bad.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are another hard working band that has seen some mainstream success. I saw them performing on Good Morning America a few weeks ago, and you don’t get more mainstream than that. While playing up her sex appeal as a big asset helps, Grace Potter’s All Good performance of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit was outstanding. Her own songs included the closing duo of Medicine and Nothing But the Water – a tune that featured  some strong, spacey, psychedelic jams with the band. Following Potter was D.C. reggae band SOJA, as the penultimate act of the festival. SOJA was fun to dance to, not that I had much energy left by that point, but they certainly did. Trumpet and tenor sax brought a dancehall reggae vibe to SOJA’s hour-long set.

Keller Williams and Added Bonus featured Toby Fairchild on drums, Claude Arthur on bass and Jay Starling on keys, and proved again why Keller Williams name is known to the music scene as more than just a realtor. I stayed for the first half of the set and after snapping a few shots, rocked out by the stage with a kind crew of like-minded souls. And then, I was gone, back to the campground, back in the car, and making a much shorter trip back down the mountain to the highways and hours later back home by the wee hours of Monday morning; and again after just a few hours of rest I had to get on a plane to the left coast for work just hours later.

On the trip home and then out west, I had plenty of time to reflect on what a phenomenal festival the 2010 All Good team had put together. Wonderful people, the best vegetarian food I’ve had at any festival and one set of unbelievably good music after the next. If All Good reinforced one thing for me, it was in the importance of being open to experience, simply go with the flow and have no expectations.

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