Saturday morning brought both promising weather filled with sunny skies and hours of great bluegrass music. I took an early trip down to see some action at the Bluegrass Band Competition taking place at the Potomac Stage. Here Delfest showcases some young up and coming bands by giving them a chance to grace the grandstand Sunday morning and an automatic invite to next year’s festival. One of the bands that caught my eye was the David Thom Band which had a more original sound especially during bass player Jeff King's lead on “My Old Kentucky Home.” Ultimately the Unseen Strangers took home this year’s title and I’ll be looking forward to seeing them next year.
After lunch I took residence for the afternoon in the main music meadow for the next several hours. Taking the stage first was somewhat of an all-star band led by Punch Brothers founding member, banjoist, Noam Pikelny. Pikelny joined onstage by flatpicker Bryan Sutton, Luke Bulla (fiddle), Barry Bales (bass), and Del McCoury Bands own Ronnie McCoury on mandolin captivated the crowd with their flawless pickin'. The set was filled with predominantly slower paced instrumental tunes which flowed gracefully as a perfect backdrop to a beautiful day as festival goers lounged in the grass. Next up, returning to Delfest for a 3rd straight year was Greensky Bluegrass. The boys from Kalamazoo keep getting better with each passing set. Blending both originals and covers, Greensky is a young group bound to take bluegrass to the next level and should be a staple for years to come. Unfortunately, I had to skip the end of their set but did hear several songs off their upcoming album plus a great rendition of “Can’t stop.”
I scurried over to the Potomac stage to catch an act that had caught my ears in passing, Red Baraat. Red Baraat is another band that really doesn’t fit the bill for a bluegrass festival but this is what makes Delfest truly special. Delfest seems to invite a few bands each year that push the threshold and brings a welcoming different sound to the party. Red Baraat is an eight-piece band that blends big band jazz with a middle-eastern flair. I’m a sucker for brass and they were one of the eye opening bands of the weekend for me. A perfect blend of both drums and horns were on showcase during one of the last songs I had a chance to catch, Bobby McFerrin’s classic “Don’t Worry Be Happy”. I was trapped in their tractor deem and almost lost track of time for Keller Williams and his new project was about to start back at the grandstand.
If there was one disadvantage of Delfest I would have to say it was the placement of their stages. Not having two stages next to each other like other big festivals is both a blessing and a curse. It allows for continuous nonstop action though it takes a lot of running back and forth and some sacrifice with choosing who to see and for how long. This dilemma would rear its ugly head especially on Sunday, but for now I hurried over to see Keller Williams breaking out of his norm with his funky band More Than A Little. Keller is a true shape shifter in the musical world, whether it’s a solo looping set, playing traditional grass with the Keels and the Traveling McCourys, or rocking out Grateful Dead covers with the WMDs he is always a crowd favorite. Hitting the stage all dressed up in a suit and tie with a full band behind him and flanked by two sultry backup singers, Keller was business as usual. Williams always brings the best rendition of classic songs and this afternoon would be no different highlighted by Talking Heads hit “Once In a Lifetime.”
I decided to pass on Del McCourys Saturday evening set so I could head back to camp for some dinner and to change into some warmer clothing. Even though it had been a warmer day, MC Joe Craven reminded us all that once the sun went down the cold would reappear. Fully charged and sporting sweats I preceded back to the grandstand to see the evening’s headliner Old Crow Medicine Show. Old Crow knows how to send bluegrass in overdrive with their storytelling songs of drugs and alcohol. The cold was no match for OCMS after a heart racing foot stomper “Alabama High-Test” the adrenaline kept bodies moving during a slew of hits including “Methamphetamine”, “Humdinger” and ending their set with a band introduction version of “Cocaine Habit” and the ever so popular “Wagon wheel” which was echoed by most of the crowd. If one full set wasn’t enough, OCMS ended an evening of amazing music with Tom Petty’s classic “American Girl” which cemented a smile on the face of every Delfester. Saturday was an amazing day at Delfest and as long as the weather would hold up Sunday should be even better.
Words by Greg Molitor ( ReMIND Photography ) Ozric Tentacles This British group has proven innovative throughout the years offering a space-rock meets psytrance sound that remains alive to this day. Though never having a major record label, Ozric Tentacles has produced 28 albums of diverse psychedelia throughout its career. The band met at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and truly fathered livetronica music with its use of sequencers and synthesizers. Simply put, there would be no livetronica without Ozric Tentacles. www.ozrics.com Octopus Nebula Colorado’s Octopus Nebula has certainly hit its stride as of late with its constant touring and increased festival interest. The group expands on the deep sounds of highly regarded acts such as STS9 and Shpongle but also carves a path of its own with its fresh takes on synthesizer tones and sampling in the live setting. Octopus Nebula Live at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on March 26, 2010. <--- Direct Archive Link www.octopus
Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock ( phatphlogblog.blogspot.com ) At what point does the gimmick overshadow the performance? The obvious answer is Buckethead. The man is an amazing guitarist but something is not right in this world. The idea a performer who dons a KFC chicken bucket on his head for a concert has always intrigued me, and some of his side projects such as Colonel Claypool’s Bernie Bucket of Brains have been huge successes. However his performance last weekend in Fort Collins simply left me perplexed. From his robotic dancing, to his nunchuck display, to the fact the he performed with an iPod rather than a band all added to my confusion. Going into the show I was ready to be blown away, despite rumblings of disgruntled fans from the previous night’s show at The Gothic. Buckethead had had some sound issues and some missed cues in Denver but I was still trying to be positive for the show in Fort Collins. It did go off without a hitch technically but that was the least
Salvage Station Asheville, NC Words by Jason Mebane Photos by J. Scott Shrader Photography When asked to write a review of last week's Billy Strings show at Asheville, North Carolina's Salvage Station I almost passed on it. I just wrote a review of his last Asheville show a few months ago and I thought it may be hard to come up with another set of words to describe to the readers exactly what a Billy Strings show is all about. I am sure there are a plethora of other reviews that other people have written focusing on how well he has mastered his instrument. I suppose I could recycle those thoughts and just sit here typing out a few adjectives describing each note Billy and his superb backing band played this past Thursday night, but that wouldn't be fun for me. Additionally I'd imagine a review like that wouldn't keep your attention either. Instead I have decided to focus on a few random parts of the Billy Strings show that seemed interesting to me. One: B
Cervantes Other Side Denver, CO Words & Photos by Pavel Gábor Kaplan Two weeks ago, Denver locals Shwarma graced the stage at Cervantes’ Other Side for the second time as headliners, with support from other Denver locals Cloud Catcher (stoner metal/power metal) and Kaepora (metal/funk/fusion). Coincidentally, both this year’s Summer Solstice and the Strawberry Full Moon transpired around Shwarma’s Album Release show, with the full moon falling on the night of the show. Certainly strong energy to power up the night of dancing and raging - from appropriately cosmic occurrences for a cosmically cool bill. It’s rare to have a full moon actually fall on the same day as a solstice. However, something not very rare is an unforgettable performance from Shwarma at Cervantes! I totally enjoyed photographing their Otherside shows last February when they opened for Lespecial to perform to a sold-out Ballroom-side, as well as their performance last Halloween at ‘Oogie Boogie’ alongside Dopapod,
Rancho Del Rio Bond, CO Words by J. Picard Photos by Scott Seifert Gratitude and appreciation have been the foundation of our time at Yarmony Music Festival (formerly, YarmonyGrass). Gratitude for the beauty of the space, Rancho Del Rio, and the mighty Colorado River that flows through it. Appreciation for the experiences, friendships and memories created. Over the span of the fourteen years that we've attended, we have seen firsthand a bonding of a core group of people who have become great friends, characters in each others' stories and in some cases, life partners. Following the incredible energy of the 2019 festival it was announced that Yarmony would be put to rest, to the dismay of many pirates. Though times got strange and folks were pushed apart, there was still a low, slow, pulse beating in the background. We did what we could to keep the spirit of the memory alive until one unsuspecting day, a long five years later, promoter Andrew McConathy announced that from its re
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