Rock & Roll Resort 4.1.11 - 4.3.11
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Rock & Roll Resort Music Festival 2011 - April 1st-3rd, 2011
The Hudson Valley Resort and Spa – Kerhonkson, NY
Words By Karen Dugan (Tiny Rager)
Photos By Karen Dugan & Chris Monaghan (Chris Monaghan Photography)
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Billed on its website as “the ultimate, high-end music destination event,” the 3-day, 4-night Rock & Roll Resort took place within the lovely Hudson Valley Resort and Spa. For the music lovers who can’t wait ‘til the cold season ends, scowl at the hassle of packing and setting up camp, or wish to spend a music-filled
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As I gazed around the lobby, I immediately saw the gravity of change that having a competent production company provides. Last year, the lobby was overrun with Wooks passing out on couches, unscheduled bands set up at random times throughout the space and the vendors were located in a dark room unable to hear any music. This year, the vendors were scattered throughout the lobby with smiles on their faces. Popular scene wares such as Kind Suds and Last Fair Deal glassblowers were situated by artists such as Crazyredbeard. With inviting plush couches under large crystal chandeliers, guests could grab a drink at the lobby bar and either watch the game or enjoy an impromptu performance by an artist on the baby grand piano. The caliber of dog had even risen. Dogs? Yes, dogs are allowed! The threatening lot dogs of last year were now replaced by approachable, gentle dogs eager to play rather than defend.
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The Rock & Roll Resort had four music stages: The Manhattan Stage, Empire Lounge, Zildijian Rock Room and the Spin Spin Shakedown. Providing more stages was another positive change as previous music festivals held on site provided only two stages which caused major delays in the schedule and helped perpetuate the random lobby bands setting up. Scattered throughout the scheduled musical sets were activities such as mini-golf tournaments, tennis tournaments, a Rock N Roll Scavenger Hunt which was hilarious (find four pigs or porn), Dance Class by Dancin’ Greg and Yoga. There were open mic events, battle-of-the-band contests and even a texting program guests could access with their phones for event updates and voting for said events.
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The only weakness of the event was the food. Frustratingly, between the hours of 3 P.M. and 7 P.M. and another unreasonable time slot in the morning, the only hot food you could find was the hot dog from the rack behind the lobby snack counter. Unacceptable! What about the vegetarians? They got a fruit cup. During its open hours, the quality of food that could be found in the ballroom style dining room was less than satisfactory. Dried cafeteria burgers, oddly dense donuts, hard rice with “insert Asian cuisine here.” However, the portions were huge once you ordered as they piled plates high for hungry hippies. Wicked Cool Production saw that some changes needed to be made with the food service and could be seen asking festival goers ideas to make improvements for next year. On a more positive note, a particular stand out portion of the weekend was the brunch with The New Riders of The Purple Sage. Crisp bacon, fresh eggs, sausage, bagels, toast with a side of pedal steel guitar and other various goodies were served for a fixed price as we slowly woke, feeding our bellies with good food and our ears with even better music.
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Speaking of music, The Rock & Roll Resort had a substantial line-up comprised of some of the region’s most established jamming musicians and new up and coming artists! Pulling wonderfully talented musicians, DJs and bands from up and down the East Coast, guests could be sure to find something they all enjoyed at any given time over the weekend!
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The main acts of the weekend consisted of multiple musical groups from The Royal Family record label. The members of The Shady Horns, The Sam Kininger Band, The Nigel Hall Band, Break Science, Chapter 2 and Lettuce headlined each night over the three-day musical event. The different acts brought an amazing array of musical talent and diversity from the beautiful vocals of The Nigel Hall Band to the funky grooves of The Sam Kininger Band, Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 as well as Lettuce and the late night beats of Break Science. The Royal Family left their mark on Rock and Roll Resort 2011 in a deep way.
For an in-depth overview of each of these acts, please check out my article for The Royal Family Records website.
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Even though Lettuce or some might argue Chapter 2 had the sickest set of the weekend, Deep Banana Blackout had the largest turnout and absolutely brought down the house on Saturday night. Jen Durkin celebrated her birthday at the resort and the strength in her vocals made it party time for all in the house. Fuzz Fuzzman also stood out that evening playing funk leads reminiscent of the late great Diaperman Garry Shider.
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One of the beautiful things about these smaller, regional musical events is the ability for up-and-coming musical acts to be recognized, realized and, by music lovers like myself, dissected. There are a few new acts that need some special recognition.
Caravan of Thieves: Fuzz Fuzzman
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Copper Tonic: Looks like we have another female voice to start paying attention to ladies and gentlemen. For a jamming scene cluttered with male musicians and rough voices, this group of musicians fires on all cylinders and is led by vocalist Michelle Sarah, the owner/head choreographers of Oh My Goddess Entertainment. Her soulful range drew to mind Susan Tedeschi and Grace Potter but her dance moves and connection with the audience made her more accessible. The guitarist, Andy Mowatt, was on fire and was easily my favorite new guitarist who hooked many over the weekend with his talent.
Jeff Bujak: Having first experienced Jeff Bujak at last year’s resort, I have watched him closely over the year and grown fonder of him with every performance. This classically trained keyboardist/producer/composer has no boundaries for his act and
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Primate Fiasco: I was checking out
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Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds: The only thing about Arleigh Kincheloe that is small is her figure. Her powerful, seductive vocals that are backed by an even better band have placed this group in the forefront of soul/funk bands to be recognized. Housing a powerhouse horn section, rocking harmonica and shredding guitar, The Dirty Birds are a tight Brooklyn-based group that is plowing its way through our scene.
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Rock & Roll Resort’s potential is limitless and it appears that with this competent and eager production company it will grow to be a gem of an event. The line up, regardless of if you have heard of the bands or not, was stellar. There was always somewhere to run with music that was worth listening to and a smile around every corner. The resort staff was upbeat and always helpful. And, when you just needed to get away, you had a soft bed and hot shower to relax in. Thank you Hudson Valley Resort and Spa and Wicked Cool Productions for taking a broken music event streak and doing so much more than showing the rest of the scene how it’s done properly. Thank you for establishing a new kind of musical adventure for eager music fans to experience. Thank you for listening to your guests and taking the time to support their concerns and helping grow this musical event for us to enjoy.
Last year I left the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa calling Rock the Resort, Wook the Resort. This year I left, with the largest smile, calling this wonderful new musical event Rage the Resort! You will most certainly be seeing this eager music fan again next year!
www.rocknrollresort.com
This review sums up the weekend for me in many ways. It was such a fun weekend. I enjoyed reding your perspectives on the event as a whole. Great stuff.
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