Following his performance, Dennen described his music, saying , “It’s very personal, it’s a personal narrative but done in a way so anyone can relate to it. I sing about issues everyone feels deep down at the core level.” It’s hard to tell whether his crowd was specifically relating to the philosophic messages in his music, but they were definitely digging his tunes. Plenty of young ladies found themselves in front of the stage, clad in sun dresses and sun glasses, while married couples did the picnic blanket thing with their young ones a bit further back.
When asked about the performance, Dennen said, “It was cool because when we started out people were chilling and sitting and people gradually gathered and stood up and by the end of it everyone was up and standing. There was a minute there where the clouds threatened us for a little bit but they ended up backing off.”
It seemed as though a great deal of the crowd were there to see Dennen, because as soon as his set wrapped, after some serious meet and great with his fans, the younger demographic that was getting down up front seemed to dissipate.
The Blind Boys of Alabama took the stage to an older crowd, more baby boomer than Bonnaroo-bound, but just as enthusiastic about the aged soul men and the increasingly rare opportunity to see the Blind Boys do their thang. After being led onto the stage, hand in hand, to chairs set up in front of their band, the Blind Boys went into Down By The Riverside, while an American Sign Language [ASL] interpreter kept deaf members of the audience in the loop.
Although Brett Dennen and the Blind Boys were the only performers booked for the festival, the ASL interpreter had a stage presence that could have been reviewed in its own right. Not only did she keep up on the actual linguistic aspect of their performance, but through her rhythm and body language, she conveyed the actual emotion of the music, whether it was amped up, mellowed out, soulful, or somber, the interpreter utilized ASL, as well as a straight-up rock star stage presence to let any of the deaf folks on the common know what the Blind Boys were singing, as well as how they were singing it.
Their version of Tom Waits’ Down In The Hole, known by many as the theme song to HBO’s The Wire, was a highlight, but the most spirit gripping moment of the entire event was a take on Amazing Grace, sung and arranged to the music of House Of The Rising Sun. The hybrid worked great, and has long been known as one of their finer set staples.
Although the previous year’s headliner, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, packed more energy than either of this year’s performers, the lineup this time around felt far more appropriate for the far-reaching demographic the event caters towards, and for the purposes of developing their brand, and foundation, the youthful rock of Brett Dennen, accompanied by the old blood gospel of the Blind Boys set a mood that could give anyone something to get down to. Having expanded the festival to multiple cities this year, including San Francisco and Toronto, it’s clear the folks at Life Is Good have high hopes. Judging by the progression of the event in just one year, it seems like they’re headed things in the right direction.
One Response
Yes! I agree about the ASL interpreter. She was magical and added a lot to the performance, especially for the hard of hearing. She is a Harvard University graduate in linguistics and currently a law student at Stanford University This summer she is an unpaid legal intern at the Massachusetts Advocates for Children and a respected ASL interpreter.