When you’re onsite at a festival as delectably lively as the Gathering of the Vibes, inevitably a few cool trees get lost in the broad expanse of the forest. With that in mind, a few extra dollops of Gathering of the Vibes coolness that, going over my posts again, I forgot to mention:

Ryan Montbleau @ The Kids Tent - Franklin’s Tower

• The good Scott Murawski already corrected me in the comments for my earlier post, but that wasn’t Jen Durkin sitting in with Murawski, Burbridge and Kreutzmann during Rhymes—it was the most excellent Boston-area songstress Emily Grogan. Em, if you’re reading, my bad! I rarely get to see you outside of the Plough & Stars and all those cavernous Boston clubs—a paltry excuse, I know. You rocked it.

• Speaking of sit-ins, I completely forgot to mention two of the coolest—and underheralded—of the entire weekend. During Deep Banana Blackout’s Friday earthshaker of a set, Santana percussionist Karl Perazzo slid in to add even more texture to the funky, funky proceedings (as did members of the Organically Grown Gospel Choir, with whom Durkin reciprocated on Sunday morning). And later on Sunday, Sam Bush welcomed no less than Bill Evans—his foil in the mellifluous Soulgrass project—to blow sax on a few tasty breakdowns.

• Durkin was everywhere, but Donna Jean was really everywhere—that sit-ins MVP is undoubtedly hers and shame on me for suggesting otherwise. In addition to the previous sit-ins I’ve mentioned, I was also advised she sat in with Assembly of Dust on Friday, too—I missed a large portion of that set dealing with a few business matters, and dangit, something extra cool happened.

• Last, Yuto Miyazawa—the Japanese guitar prodigy last seen being exhibited around New York during the Jammys—jammed on both Sabbath’s Crazy Train and solo Ozzy’s Mr. Crowley during that Deep Banana set. Yuto’s already fallen in with that Guinness Book of World Records crowd—much like Grandpa Simpson’s old flame—but it’s safe to call him a “known quantity” at this point. Shred on, grasshopper, shred on.

Will take time to let it all sink in, but overall one of the strongest Vibes in recent memory—a really strong mix of young and old, classic and new, Dead and Deader. As I exited the grounds, the Neville Brothers were cooking up a tasty gumbo—as has been their wont for longer than I’ve been alive—and the sun was setting on a steamy hot day.

Soul Stew Revival were as advertised: the Derek Trucks Band bolstered by the always-welcome Mrs. Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, and a three-piece horn section, keying in on various standards of funk, soul and funky, soulful rock ‘n’ roll. It was nice to hear the DTB so focused—by itself, the band moves so intensely through so many different musical idioms it’s tough to get your arms, not to mention head, around a full set. And that Hey Jude closer, wow—a slow-cooking arrangement close to the one Wilson Pickett cut with Duane Allman at Muscle Shoals and a complete crowd-slayer, provoking the loudest cheers of the afternoon.

Soul Stew Revival setlist:

Tell the Truth, People, I Wants to Be Loved, Anyday, Pack Up Our Things, Hercules, Sugar, Get Out Of My Life Woman > Glad You’re Gone, Hey Jude

Next, no one will ever accuse Umphrey’s McGee of playing an easy, no frills “festival” set—the band went for the jugular in its first-ever (I know, right?) Vibes appearance. Some of the Umphreaks in my neck of the crowd were chattering about how Bayliss and Cinniger looked to be playing new or different guitars—I confess I don’t know the Umphrey’s gear situation well enough to confirm anything—but either way, they were their to shred, driving the bus on long swaths of fierce, proggy jamming. Some of it was tough to get into—one onlooker I saw was trying his best to groove to Plunger and got frustrated with the slippery rhythms—but most of it was deeply involving, and the sextet crammed a lot into an hour and a half that went by like five minutes.

Umphrey’s setlist:

Walletsworth > Wife Soup > “Jimmy Stewart” > Plunger, Words, Bridgeless, Miss Tinkle’s Overture > Ja Junk

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We’ve reached the last-day-of-the-festival haze: that sense of overwhelming exhaustion that comes after a lot of good music’s come and gone, a lot of beer’s gone down the gullet, and people are starting to realize not only the scope of their sunburns but figuring out how to come back to reality after three days of being checked out from quotidian challenges like, y’know, work. Stoned kids litter whatever stray seats or patches of grass aren’t mud-spattered, asleep with their mouths agape. The tents are winding down, the buses are starting to pack up, and the security team is regrouping to facilitate the big departure.

There’s only so much Wavy can do, doncha know, to keep spirits lifted, so leave it to Sam Bush to jumpstart a sweaty, leaden afternoon on the concert field by peeling off a string of hot-skillet picking parties with his band and dialing up no false note of enthusiasm. Same Ol’ River is always welcome—a modern-day classic, for sure—but Bush really turned a few heads with a Celtic-sounding fiddle solo that weaved into Whole Lotta Love and then interpolated some of the Allmans’ Les Brers in A Minor to its outro. Nice touch, Sam.

The Soul Stew Revival is up next, followed by the Umph, and finally, the Neville Brothers. And as for your faithful correspondent, he’s about ready to put down his pen after a delightful three days by the seashore.

We’ll check in once more to tie everything up, and thanks for reading!

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There are musicians who can carry a tune, musicians who can sing, musicians who can stoke a whole room with their vocals, and musicians who have such rich and powerful voices they draw everything else happening around them into their orbit. Mike Mattison belongs in the last category; that smoky croon and face-melting howl that helps turn every vintage blues and soul selection proffered by the Derek Trucks Band into some kind of magic. All told, however, the full scope of Mattison’s talent is better consumed in the context of Scrapomatic, the alternately intense and laid back soul group he fronts with Paul Olsen.

Mattison’s vocal contributions are only one part of DTB, which has always been long on technical ability and virtuosity but sometimes short on strong pacing—a DTB performance can feel like eating a box of Belgian chocolates for dinner: rich and tasty and amazingly flavorful, and then too rich and too tasty and catalyzing a stomach ache. But in Scrapomatic, Mattison’s in kick-back mode, playing ace soul and blues tunes (both urban- and rural-sounding) with a cozy guitar accompaniment and alternate bass and tuba parts to hold the bottom end. A brief set on the Solar Stage—some of the little side platform’s best attendance of the weekend—drew a few sharp guests into play (saxophonist Mace Hibbard, trombonist Kevin Hyde, and Yonrico Scott, whom Mattison introduced as Yonrico “Pretty Ricky” Scott), and closed with a laid-back run-through of the Rev. Gary Davis’ I Belong to the Band.

Giving Up the Ghost is Jackie Greene’s best album to date—the fullest expression of his folksy songwriting and country blues dexterity. But his songs have never been over-reliant on heavy metaphor or confusing wordplay. Ball and Chain, Gone Wonderin’, When You’re Walkin’ Away, Rusty Nail—these are songs to enjoy, shake your ass and drink to as much as they’re poetic.

His band is similarly unfettered: a collection of seasoned musicians with a few good guitar licks and a great bar band’s sense of pacing and slow one/fast one balance. The band kicked up a nice little fuss on the main stage just now, using charm to overcome a shaky sound mix—too much bass, too little lead guitar—and giving up requisite Dead (New Speedway Boogie, briefly, and Sugaree, fully) throughout. Donna Jean sang harmony on Sugaree—I might have been a little too hasty proclaiming Jen Durkin the most ubiquitous performer of the weekend—and we got Jackie’s Ryan Adams-ish Gone Wandering again, a less groovy, more boogie-hewing version than the one Phil & Friends played last night.

Speaking of Phil & Friends, John Molo’s been making the rounds, saying hello to friends and strangers alike near the main stage and in the tents, extolling Jackie’s virtues and pressing the flesh. It’s always nice to see artists who don’t scurry off into the backstage area or jump in their cars the second their sets are over.

If she keeps up this pace, the peppery and charming Ms. Durkin will run away with another festival MVP (following her raft of sit-ins at 10,000 Lakes last weekend). She’s been all over the place, not least with Deep Banana, and also recording segments for Lotus Soundworks, which has the tent next door to ours (it’s a music program where Jen interviews musicians and generally gets down with her bad self in an casual talk setting). Now, Durkin’s onstage slaying the yawning and bleary-eyed early-comers with the Organically Grown Gospel Choir. It’s a sun-baked day, quite hot, and there’s soul-nourishing gospel on Sunday morning. This, folks, would be “agreeable.”

Apropos of nothing, coming into the Vibes today I saw a number of folks who didn’t appear to have tickets or be working for the fest sprawled out on blankets on the University of Bridgeport campus, which surrounds one side of Seaside Park. The stage is so far away it’s impossible to see anything from this distance, but the sound is relatively crisp—you can make out most every vocal inflection, really feel the rhythm section, and leads from the organ and guitar are only slightly watery and a smidge muffled. Honestly, you can hear better out here than on some places within the festival grounds.

Packed afternoon ahead, so I’m about to trade Dunkins for water and sunscreen and get ready for Jackie Greene’s band. Scrapomatic is also going to be holding down the Solar Stage just before Derek and Susan come on with Soul Stew Revival. Soul! Everywhere you look. If you’re not a the Vibes, check out the webcast.

Just ran into the lovely and ridiculously talented Samantha Stollenwerck hanging around the press tent and resplendent as usual. Stollenwerck already played yesterday on the Solar Stage, but she’s here to soak up what’s turning out to be a beaut of a day…

And speaking of which, there’s gospel. Oh, how there’s gospel.

Phil Set 2: Scarlet Begonias > All Along the Watchtower > Jam > He’s Gone > Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad > And We Bid You Goodnight Jam, **Phil piss break**, Wharf Rat > spacey jam > The Elevator > jam > The Eleven > I Know You Rider, Not Fade Away

E: Donor rap, Box of Rain

A really ambitious second set that almost came off the rails—that Elevator just couldn’t lock itself in enough to achieve liftoff despite gunning for epic, late-second-set status. People are yakking about the second half of the set, especially that angsty Wharf Rat and a fizzy Eleven, but I’ll remember this PLF set as the best Scarlet Begonias I’ve ever heard from this lineup, and maybe Phil & Friends period. Funky as hell and nailing every tension-and-release build-up, Phil dragged the groove to within an inch of its life before the bottom-drops-out “Wind in the willows…” verse, and the crowd was electrified. Strong transitions, too—the jam out of Scarlet took a number of turns and suggested any number of directions before finally dropping into the sinister progressions that would become Watchtower.

SET 1: Here Comes Sunshine > Good Lovin’, Gone Wanderin’, Cumberland Blues, Dire Wolf, Loser, Cold Rain and Snow

It was a jam-packed first half, with a rollicking Good Lovin’ to get the crowd riled up, a scorching Loser and plenty of exploration (and teases and red herrings) in Cold Rain and Snow. But the story is Cumberland, which veered off in different directions after every verse, from fleet-fingered bluegrass style breakdown, to boogie groove, to blues shuffle. I’ve fluffed this amazing Phil & Friends lineup a lot, but it bears repeating: Cumberland is its signature tune. The rain’s picked up again, but Phil’s announced his intention to get good n’ crazy, and nobody’s leaving now…

Well, yes, Kreutzmann was aboard for a few songs, and overall Cactus gave us a really groovy set, focused on much of The Green Sparrow, which drops this week. Murawski was lauded as the force of nature he is—Gordon joked that he’d be playing in 100 bands this weekend—and there was also a strong showing from keyboardist Tom Cleary, who wears even the more languid Gordon selections well enough to claim his section of the limelight.

And how much fun is Taj Mahal? The veteran bluesman always surprises me with how much energy he still brings to the stage—stomping and bopping along up there while serving up piquant guitar fills and wiry solos. Toward the end of the set, following a rippling Checkin’ Up On My Baby, he switched to the island and African fusion he’s been working on in more recent years, including such upbeat, good natured jams as Hanapepe Dream. His trio is Swiss-Watch tight—both the bassist and drummer hold so close to such a deep pocket that adding even one more instrument might spoil the streamlined balance. We’ll be back later with more from the Vibes at Bridgeport.