Winter in New York City came late this year, but it came with sharp teeth and a score to settle. So on a painfully cold Thursday I was more than happy to be boarding a plane bound for Florida. It’s a good thing I’m the luckiest girl in New York, I don’t think I could have spent another long weekend in Brooklyn. So the next thing I knew, I was in a place called Sunrise eating pancakes with photographers Craig and Keith. How about that?
By Friday morning all the parts of the Langerado crew had arrived from points near and far and we made quick work of getting out to the concert field. Craig had obviously done a lot of people meeting and ground work before we got there, our entrance and set up was simple and seamless. After we strategically placed an ice cream filled Bessita under a shady tree, the only things left to do were to go hear music and make people happy. So we did. Thanks to Guitar Center and Rich Ice Cream for helping to make the adventure possible.
After catching the first set of the festival with the Heavy Pets, Jason and I decided to grab an opening day beer and head over to the Assembly of Dust stage. I am a fan of Reid Genaur. I liked his previous outfit Strangefolk and I’m into the folk rock amalgamation appeal of AOD even more. It’s a nice kick back to my more granola-y days. We were lucky enough to be met at the stage by my friend Aileen, who is a real fan and always enhances any show. The set bounced along nicely, feel-good morning music. Then we were all treated to the first step-in of the festival when Victor Wooten joined in for an awesome “Filter”. Can you believe it’s possible to be the best bassist in the universe? So this was part one of a four punch combination that was designed to put us all on our asses Friday morning. AOD, Lotus, Tea Leaf Green, Sharon Jones. What a line up. I think they were trying to kill me.
Next up we moved en masse over to the Swamp tent for some Lotus. Me love Lotus. Lots. Based on something my brother told me a long time ago, I’ve been telling everyone that Lotus used to be a Phish cover band. Makes sense – they are technical masters. But I thought it might be good to back it up before I wrote it up here. No evidence to be found and yet my brother insists that Luke Miller told him so. Myth? Dream? Boldfaced lie? Who knows for sure – but as is the little sister’s burden, I believe it. If you’ve never heard them before, Lotus takes a sparkly approach to playing electronic music with all your favorite rock band instruments. Their live shows are comprised of fully orchestrated jams that are performed flawlessly. I’m talking flawless. At times its sort of dark and spacey but it always clears out into a high energy climax that is as fast paced as it is body-moving. And I thought the New Deal was good at this. Stupid Kate! Lotus is like a dance music machine, only it’s made out of people. You like that? It’s called a simile.
I had to leave the get-down Lotus party to see how Tea Leaf Green was working it. For my money, Tea Leaf Green is the best show in town. Even when they’re not in town. Still the best. By the time I made it over to the stage I had already missed the majority of the set, which is becoming a theme for me. I did, however, make it in time to catch “Garden Suite III” and “One Reason” which both spiraled effortlessly into blazing jams. I know I talk a lot about ‘jams’ and that might be annoying – but what you should know about this band is that not only are they kings of the improvisation – they’re also phenomenal songwriters. Jam bands are awesome, but what separates the greats from the riff-raff in my book is a solid song to jump off. Tea Leaf Green has lots and lots of these songs. Go see them live if you haven’t.
Then came the highlight of the morning, if not festival. Wowee. Sharon Jones is called “the female James Brown” and not without cause. I heard some convincing arguments that Ms. Jones had the best act of the weekend. And now I will list the stronger points of these arguments:
Sharon Jones infused our bodies with soul.
Sharon Jones takes off her shoes to dance.
Sharon Jones has a full catalogue of “he did me wrong” songs.
Sharon Jones did a dance that showed us just how Native American and African traditions have collided in her body.
Sharon Jones struts.
Also the Dap Kings kicked ass
After spending the remainder of the afternoon back with Bessita and her adoring people, I hopped over to the Stephen Malkmus stage to hear the sounds before Trey closed out the night. Now, I’m not going to tell any lies here. I like some tracks off Face the Truth but mostly because they sound like Pavement songs. The Jicks are great and Stephen Malkmus has made the ‘solo career’ his bitch and all, but I had (have) a big thing for Pavement. So what am I saying? Am I saying that I was half-running to the Jicks stage hoping for a Milwaukee Show? Yeah I am. I’m a dreamer, come on. I could actually only stay for a few songs because of Trey and all, but they sounded great. Janet Weiss is awesome, very impressive. The crowd was totally there, which was great to see, they aren’t all fair weather friends like me. I feel good having gone to the show though, now I just have to get out to a Silver Jews show and my post-pavement therapy will be complete. Breakthrough!
And to end a marvelous day of music, I arrived at the main stage to see Trey Anastasio. I’m actually almost sick of talking about Trey Anastasio. Why must you pervade all we do Trey? Kidding. I have a set list of the nights show here in front of me, I’ll spare everyone and just fill in on the good stuff. For the most part it struck me as a really fan-friendly show. Lots of tracks off of his self-titled album like “Alive Again” and “Money, Love and Change”. I remember feeling as though he were playing a little heavier than usual. I loved hearing “Case of Ice and Snow”. I recently had the privilege of hearing him play this song acoustically at the 92nd St. Y. Thank you weird lecture series! Ivan Neville stepped in on keys during ‘Mud City’, which, I don’t have to tell you, was great. Then Trey ended out the set, gang-busters, with “First Tube” and the people went crazy. Crazy I tell you!
After closing up shop at the festival Keith and Craig and I decided to take our remaining stock of ice cream and brave the wilds of Fort Lauderdale Spring Break. Not really, but almost, we did have to drive by a lot of drunk college kids to get to the late night Disco Biscuits show. When we got to Revolution there was this empty spot right out front- just big enough for Bessita, it was fate. We ran around and put ice cream in the hands of every overheated child in that line. I like to think that they danced a little longer thanks to us. Once we were out of ice cream we made a quick exit and were relieved that we hadn’t received a parking violation.
I got sort of a late start out to the concert field on Saturday, but at least it was on the right foot. The slip played great as usual. They seem to do equally as well on festival stages as they do in small club settings. I’m happy to see they’ve found a place on the festival circuit. Actually, stupid anecdote, the first time I saw the Slip play outdoors was at a tiny one night festival on Tyrone Farm. There were like a hundred people there – but get this – it was called the Ice Cream Truck. No connection, but there was a guy with an ice cream truck. Don’t think for a second it was free though. Back to present day, at this show, the band fooled around a lot with sound experimentation and there was a lovely piece that led into “December’s Children”. The best part though, was when Brad Barr climbed the stage scaffolding and completed the set from on top of some really tall speakers. I liked it best when he jumped off and didn’t stop playing. I wish we had had a camera there to catch it.
After the slip show I hung out for the rest of the day at Bessita and let Jason take in the music stuff. It was only fair, I was allowed to run wild Friday and Sunday. It was good though, I had been wanting to give away ice cream, and I did, to lots and lots of nice people in pretty T-shirts, until it came time for the My Morning Jacket show.
The My Morning Jacket show was special. Sometimes when things happen, I misunderstand them. So naturally, when the guys from MMJ came over to Bessie and, I think, Patrick Hallahan began to intimate that they would like it if we would throw ice cream from the stage during their set, I assumed I was getting something wrong. This is where the rare thing occurred, I wasn’t getting anything wrong. So of course, liabilities got in the way, we couldn’t throw frozen ice cream at people’s faces from the stage but we did get to do it from the bench in the photo pit. You would be surprised how good your aim can be when the target is a hundred sets of hands in the air. I am unbelievably accurate. It’s hard to really pinpoint the name of the feeling that this activity elicits, it’s something like hyper benevolence, which I am a huge fan of. I highly recommend it. In fact – we liked it so much that we made the split second decision to run over to the Disco Biscuits show and do it again. It was like we had sledded down a really long, steep hill and upon finding ourselves breathless and enthused at the bottom we immediately screamed, Again! The Bisco audience loved it as much as the MMJ audience.
I hung around backstage at Bisco for about five minutes when I remembered where I was supposed to be. I hauled it back to the main stage to catch the last 45 of the MMJ set. They rock. Pure and simple. Rock. I mean like hard though. Jim James is nothing like I expected because I was all, ‘oh he sounds like Neil Young, he’ll be just like Neil Young.’ And Jim James was all, ‘I’m going to kick these jams so hard your brain will probably bleed.’ And I was all, ‘now I understand – Jim James is a rock star.’ Sorry – that was horrible – but you get what I mean. With songs like “One Big Holiday” and “Lay Low”, you can hear that it’s absolutely a live thing for this band, which is why I was surprised. I didn’t know they tread that middle ground between the kick-ass live world of the jam scene and the beautiful intelligent studio album world of the indie scene – so well. I mean they epitomize middle ground, the best of both worlds. My favorite moment of the show was probably when they played “Wordless Chorus” when we started handing out ice cream to the audience. Unfortunately there isn’t really a way to explain how that sounded.
So that’s how we closed out Saturday night at the festival, and the six of us went off into the night to find food at a diner where dirty disheveled people get sideways looks and old people eat dinner at 11pm. Florida!
In my experience there are two ways to wake up. The first way usually features coffee, toothpaste and public transportation. The second way has a lot to do with beer, a tent, and a bald beat box phenomenon. Sunday morning was method number two all the way. I haven’t seen a beat boxer live since the days of Rahzel so I’m no expert, but Kid Beyond was, well, beyond. I mean, vocal percussion is not really something I understand, I have trouble stringing words together – so I was pretty impressed. His live looping techniques are right on as well. Looping is so much fun, I always welcome it on stage. I stuck around long enough to hear an intricate and startlingly accurate “Wandering Star” but realized I might not be fully prepared for morning method number two (beer) so I went in search of some coffee before coming back for Band of Horses.
Coffee turned into coffee and ice cream and by the time I got back to the tent Band of Horses was walking on. Ben Bridwell looks really different than I thought he would look, but what’s funny is – when I try to think of what I thought he looked like, I don’t know what that is anymore. Band of Horses put on a very pretty show. For the most part the set was comprised of tunes off of Everything All the Time, “Part One” and “Our Swords” were especially interesting live and “Weed Party” was a big hit, predictable. Bridwell plays steel pedal which for some reason I didn’t know. It was a nice surprise. In between every song the band did this banter thing that was mostly self-deprecating humor, a lot of people hate it when bands talk but I enjoyed it. Also, while they played things changed and it felt as if it were very early in the morning. I guess its sort of early morning music. Fans will be pleased to hear that they played three new songs off of their forthcoming album, which I think has yet to be recorded, but they sounded good – true to the sound.
From Band of Horses I wandered around a little bit. I went back to where the Starr Hill brewery truck was and picked up some free beer and drank all that in the shade that Bessie was providing. From this resting place I went out to meet my brother and Aileen at Taj Mahal, who was killing it on the Sunset Stage. I stuck around till it was time for Toots and the Maytals to go on, at which point I hopped over to see what was going down.
The last time I saw Toots was at the Hot Tin Roof on Martha’s Vineyard right after the release of True Love, so as you can imagine, this was a very different show. I hate to say it, but I was actually surprised at how good the Maytals sounded, I mean, they sounded awesome. For the most part it was a set of crowd pleasers and classics which is pretty much unavoidable with a catalogue like Toot’s. We heard “54-46”, “Pressure Drop” and I’m pretty sure there was a “Reggae Got Soul”. I was sort of hoping for an Anastasio step in on “Sweet and Dandy” but Trey was long gone come Sunday. Wishful thinking I guess. The band was loud and awash with sweet-groove-with-your-closest-neighbor sounds. The backup singers were electrifying and Toots sounded as good as the roots of reggae ought to sound. In a word – satisfying.
The Toots and the Maytals show backed right up to Los Lobos, so with just one more happy little interlude at the Starr Hill truck I backtracked to the Sunset Stage. A couple of minutes before the show started Keith and I were sitting on a picnic bench side stage. This guy and his girlfriend sat down and joined us in watching Los Lobos in their pre-show ritual – which takes place in a sort of loose huddle of weathered men and their instruments. This guy lit up and was whispering in a super excited way to his girlfriend – a description of the men we were watching. It was all praise peppered with words like ‘legends’ and ‘greats’. He was in awe and clearly humbled at the opportunity to see the band in their pre-set moments. Perhaps it was this excitement that colored my perception of the set – but I was really impressed. I mean, no doubt about it, Lobos has definitely carved out a comfortable place in rock history with their natural old-school jamming blues and sweet Tex-Mex sound, but for some reason one of the heaviest grooves I got into the whole weekend was induced by the first song of Lobos’ set. It was a killer – and seemingly effortless. Old pros – that’s what they are. Unfortunately I was due back with the ice cream so I didn’t get to see the whole set, I’m sure the grooves just got heavier though. Much heavier.
In the time between Lobos and Explosions somehow the entire crew ended up back at Bessie. We took this time to see Jason off, who had evolved into the happiest guy at the festival. So happy in fact, we were scared they weren’t going to let him on the plane. I think it turned out okay though. We did some photo shoots with some musicians and masseuses and beer brewers. I left for a while to hear what Cat Power was up to, came back only to leave again for Explosions in the Sky.
As a preface – I had never seen Explosions in the Sky before, and not for a lack of effort. For two long years I’ve been trying. I actually missed out on an Explosions/ Wilderness show back in ’05 and the regret is still overwhelming. (I mean- when was the last time you saw a Wilderness show listed? I’m guessing ’05.) So understandably, this show was important to me. Explosions in the Sky is some loud emotional stuff and has everything to do with gravity. And I don’t just mean fancy poetic gravity where the music weighs on your soul and forces you to feel, I’m talking like Newton’s gravity. The band took turns slowly succumbing to the mass of the earth. It was something to see. Instead of being lame – like it might sound – it was fitting and moving. And three guitars!!! Unfortunately, as fate would have it, the Explosions show overlapped with the Panic show, which is where I had to be. See this band when they come to you. It’s worth it.
I’m not a Widespread Panic fan, and down south, it seems that I am the only one. People are seriously rabid for this band. I really hate it when the following is likened to that of Phish, but I can see how the fervor is comparable. For this reason I felt fortunate that the security guards let me watch the first four songs from the photo pit and then from side stage. Nice guys. So it would be ignorant of me to say that Panic is bad. They are actually exceptional musicians and every time I see them, I am reminded more of this. Dave Schools is one of the best rock bassists around and Jimmy Herring has obviously stepped into his role with all the strength you want in a lead guitar. The sound is just not for me, so when we decided to go out into the audience and pass out ice cream I was more than pleased. Craig and Pamela and I made several trips into the audience with a huge box of ice cream and just walked around making friends. The looks of gratitude and confusion were priceless and I had three different people tell me they loved me, so that was nice. We ran out, quickly, which is inevitable. From there I tagged along with Craig and Pam to the New Pornographers show and watched them shoot from the pit. Unfortunately I was a sponge that had absorbed too much music, so I sort of just sat there and let the music move over me. I don’t have any words for a review. And that’s how it all ended. I turned into a drippy sponge. Attractive.
So what did we learn? We learned that Langerado, the unofficial kick-off for the glorious amorphous being that is ‘the festival season’, is unmistakably a southern cousin. The dominating sound is that of the southern rock band, but there were also some southern bands you might not pin as such, like Perpetual Groove and Band of Horses. The south- how strange. We also learned that small festivals are better. I guess that’s really my opinion- but seriously – they’re so much better. I think the head count at Langerado came in at roughly fifteen thousand people, which is small, but apparently ideal. The stages were located close to each other without muddying up the sound space, lines were almost non-existent, and the crowds were totally manageable. Small festivals are where it’s at. And lastly, we learned that giving away free ice cream has not lost, nor will ever lose, its charm. And if you have a question or a problem that you can’t figure out, the answer is most likely free ice cream.
So now I’m back in New York, writing this, pouring over the details, weighing the experience on my word scale – and I have to say, Ill be very very hard pressed not to come back and do it all again next year. Also – very important – on behalf of the whole crew I would like to extend a very big thank you to Ethan Schwartz for putting on a great festival and his gracious hospitality. Also to Kelly Viau for making sure we were well taken care of at the festival. And Carrie at Madison House for giving us great access. Last but not least we would like to thank Ben and Nate at Starr Hill brewery for keeping us well hydrated for the duration of the festival. It was a good one.
Lotus
Holy Burning Man groove! Upon returning to the Swamp Tent after catching the first half of AOD’s show, I suddenly felt like I’d accidentally slipped through a wormhole that transported me from southern Florida to northwest Nevada. The intensifying heat combined with Lotus’ heavy electronic sound felt just like a grooving dance party at a Burning Man theme camp. The difference however, was that this was not one guy with a couple turntables, but a group of five musicians playing instruments-pure live techno, what a great concept!
Everyone in the tent was jamming and grooving-from rhythmic head bobbing to full body convulsive dancing and twirling, everybody was getting down. Electronic music usually gets people dancing, but live electronic really can’t be beat for inspiring a toe tapping, head bobbing, ass shaking get down. Heat, humidity and daylight be damned, Lotus transformed the grass floored Swamp Tent into a mesmerizing club party that would surely have gone on for hours if they’d been allowed to play longer. Techno is good dance music; live techno is great dance music; and Lotus is the life of the party.
New Monsoon
As my Lotus trance wore off I wandered over to the Sunset Stage to check out New Monsoon, a more traditional (bluegrass and rock based) jam band that plays interesting, multilayered long songs. The second song of the set, crowd favorite ‘Bridge of the Gods’, featured guitar and banjo picking that nearly made the instruments talk, while supported by funky rhythm and blues, and a happy piano solo that got me right back on my feet.,
New Monsoon delighted old and new fans alike by deftly mixing bluegrass, good old fashioned rock and roll, intricate guitar solos, and actual storytelling to create joyous, diggable, danceable jams. Special guest Jeff Carlton joined the band midway through its set to play sax on a song that very easily could have been a Widespread Panic tune (but wasn’t). Extended sax song over, the band brought the crowd home with a spirited cover of Zeppelin’s “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” that featured a breakdown into a riveting organ and acoustic guitar jam that sounded more like a ho-down than a jam band and drove the crowd wild.
The band ended the set with a more comprehensive song that began with a non-bluegrassy, non-country banjo and loud, proud, spacey electric guitar that eventually progressed into a groove that sounded like a sitar. Yeah! After a few minutes of alternating guitar and banjo driven wandering, the song built into a tasty jam that really took off to take us out to the next show.
North Mississippi All-Stars
The North Mississippi Allstars are equal parts blues, soul, funk, rock, and New Orleans music all rolled up into one; definitely a band that wears its influences on its sleeve. Their songs ranged from funky blues that grew hard and loud with powerful electric guitar riffs; to classic old school blues ditties ala Lightnin’ Hopkins; to 1970’s Curtis Mayfield or Isaac Hayes style numbers with wakka wakka guitar. The Lee Brothers were also brought on stage midway through the set to augment an already big blues sound with soulful steel pedal guitar. After going everywhere the blues has ever been and then some, the band launched into a song that sounded more jam band than blues with an extra funky thick bass groove that eventually, and subtly, morphed into the crowd pleasing “G-L-O-R-I-A”.
After another blues cum rock and roll jam, the Allstars played a song that sounded a lot like a Grateful Dead tune that offered an instrumental guitar jam that broke for a sweet drum solo before diving right back into the tune and into the lyrics. Amazing; these guys can do it all.
Galactic
Galactic rocked, I mean ROCKED, the Sunset Stage with a lot of hard harmonica-driven jamming. Blues seemed to be the order of the afternoon after the North Mississippi Allstars. The super strong harmonica tipped Galactic’s characteristic funk and blues based sound more toward the blues side than usual-great rocking blues with a very full sound. The crowd was eating it up and the band was obviously having a blast-evinced by the fact that drummer Stanton Moore was jumping up and down (as most of the excited crowd was) as he played the drums! Galactic played solid as ever funky fusion with amazing energy throughout the set, keeping the crowd excited throughout the mid-day heat.
moe.
moe captivated the crowd with strong guitar jams that blended into mellow, spacey grooves. It was a typical and enjoyable evening of groovy, danceable, high and medium pitch guitar progressions with extended musical diversions. Highlights included an extended version of ‘Blue Jeans Pizza’ with Assembly of Dust keyboardist, Nate Wilson; the catchy ‘Good Trip; and a fitting encore of ‘Happy Hour Hero’.
STS9
I could feel the palpitating energy as I walked among the crowd thirty minutes before STS9’s (Sound Tribe Sector 9) show at the Swamp Tent. The entire audience shrieked in unison when the lights came up and the band took the stage, opening with groooooovy synth-based electronic.
They followed the opener with a guitar based number-spacey, trippy groovy late night music that would go extremely well with a buzz. Smokey effects fit the spacey rippling electronic elements of this trance groove. STS9 plays great electronic music with heavy pulsating rhythms that are impossible not to dance to. Another good example of Burning Man dance music.
The 3rd or 4th song opened with big cymbals and bright white lights. It sounded like a chaotic Cure song ala ‘Edge of the Deep Green Sea’. Wakka wakka 70’s guitar mixed with screaming Disco Biscuits-esque guitar. STS9’s music would make a great trip-lots of peaks and valleys, danceable grooves and beats that will keep you on your feet long after you should have passed out.
They mixed it up somewhere in the middle with a DJ-based song-electronic disco music with a heavy heavy beat. The show continued in this vein-delicious electronic grooves topped with blinding guitar crescendos. From a distance the pulsating white lights emanating from the tent looked like some kind of Tesla electrical experiment and in many ways it was. How did this music become possible? It took 50 years of advancements in electronic music to come to crazy live techno music that move and groove a horde of people into dancing oblivion.
Apollo Sunshine
Apollo Sunshine played a set of interesting songs to an early crowd at the Everglades Stage. Their set opened with hard wailing punkish guitars, but the song dramatically transformed as it continued with mellower emo-like singing, a la Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. After a few bars of lyrics, the uber chaotic thrash guitar opened back up. Apollo Sunshine plays interesting music that can sound abrasive at first but quickly grows on you. Their songs are definitely not formulaic-some are very reminiscent of Sonic Youth’s distortion, feedback, and meandering thrash guitar. Other tunes sound as if they could have been taken from the Flaming Lips’ songbook. These guys are all over the map as far as tempo and rhythm within each song, and it’s a blast!
Toubab Krewe
Taking the stage with a fleet of percussion and stringed instruments, Toubab Krewe captivated the audience with infectious instrumental dance music. The quintet plays electric guitar and bass, drums, percussion, and a few Malian stringed instruments (kora, kamelengoni, and soku) with astounding results. Toubab’s happy funky music has an instantly likeable sound comprised of a mix of New Orleans bass beats and West African rhythms that sometimes evolves into an electronic sounding trance jam (awesome music) until it gradually subsides into ethereal, mellower music. They take you up quickly and bring you back down gently. The Malian instruments also make an impressive, ethnic, and somewhat otherworldly sight onstage. Toubab Krewe is equally adept at playing concise and catchy album cuts as well as immensely enjoyable extended jams. Show highlights included the mesmerizing opening number and the second to last song-an extended jam that built to a frenetic crescendo but maintained a solid, danceable R&B beat the entire time. Toubab Krewe ended its impressive set with a lively and impressive five person percussion jam.
Soulive
Soulive served up their usual brand of super funky jazz fusion with heavy heavy Hammond B-3 organ at the Everglades Stage. Their sound is characterized by keyboard-based, deep, genital-tickling bass-the kind that will shake the loose change out of your pockets. It’s an intense groove that will blow any jazz-funk fan out of the water. Like soul funk legends The Meters, Soulive has a way of seeping into your muscles to compel you to stand up and shake your thing. Saturday’s set was no different, as most of the large crowd bobbed, shook, and danced the day away to the soulful funky set. Midway through the performance Ivan Neville, of the New Orleans Social Club, joined the band for a couple songs, further invigorating the crowd with his funky organ.
Kieren Hebden & Steve Reid
What do you get when you match legendary jazz drummer Steve Reid with purely electronic music maker Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet)? Answer: an interesting and challenging style of high energy music that weaves in and out of jazz, fusion, electronic and beyond.
This music is definitely not for everyone-at times dissonant, discordant and repetitive-but those with a taste for avant-garde jazz, fusion, electronic, and any experimental permutation thereof, might find it pretty damn cool. Reid and Hebden, two men from different generations, playing vastly different instruments, make-a surprisingly interesting and impressive duo, each seeming to feed off the other and very obviously enjoying every second. Hebden’s electronica ranges from pleasing electronic rhythms to whimsical cartoon-like sound effects to hard industrial noise, while Reid’s drumming alternates between lead melody and background chaotic cymbals. It’s curious music that is difficult to describe, at times difficult to endure, yet also difficult to ignore. There were plenty of people at the Swamp Tent who were totally into the afternoon performance, dancing or bobbing their heads to the experimental beats and grooves.
Yerba Buena
WOW! Talk about exciting dance rhythms; a performance by Latin jazz players Yerba Buena is nothing short of a musical celebration. The group features three percussion players-drum kit, percussionist (congas and other traditional noisemakers) and timbales-three string players, and a horn section. They brought infectious and ebullient energy to their performance that excited the crowd. If Yerba Buena played during the Apocalypse, the whole world would dance away the rapture. The day’s show included crazy percussion solos, big horn, meringue rhythms, a Fela Kuti cover, and nonstop fun.
Greyboy Allstars
Back at the Everglades Stage where Soulive had played just an hour earlier, the Greyboy Allstars’ reunion was in full swing. Hard jamming jazz funksters Karl Denson, Robert Walter, and company wowed the audience with a little more jazz-based funk than some of the other offerings of the weekend. The Greyboy Allstars wooed and inspired the crowd to dance and groove with funky saxophone (Denson) and heavy organ (Walter) driven jams. Denson exchanged his sax for a flute on a couple tunes-funky flute-which were followed up by bluesy guitar and sax songs. However, despite whatever style of music was being played, Walter’s organ was the driving force behind most songs.
JJ Grey and MOFRO
JJ Grey and Mofro played a more grown up and old school style of blues-soul-rock music than some of the funkier acts of the day. For Saturday’s performance the band was backed by a traditional horn section (which kicked out some slick Motown moves), to complement the strong organ and guitar that kicked out a sweet metallic sound that screamed into the afternoon. JJ Grey and Mofro played a diverse set of music including a bluesy number with whirling guitar, some harmonica based songs with a full rich sound, and a sad but pretty song (“Lochloosa”) about loss and homesickness that began with an awesome harmonica solo. The show was briefly interrupted by a blown fuse, which afforded an opportunity to introduce the players. Fuse replaced, the band came back with a slow ballad that gradually developed into a very loud and moving “Glory, Glory Halleluiah” They followed that song up with a more upbeat and less serious number that had a series of ups and downs before a wailing harmonica and horn inflected frenetic climax. Good times!
Medeski, Martin and Wood
Avant-garde jazzmen Medeski, Martin and Wood took us into the evening with a slightly funkified (more than usual) and very danceable set. Though they play plenty of solos to emphasize each type of instrument, while playing together MMW are able to produce such a diverse range and combination of sounds that it’s easy to forget it’s just three guys on stage. They played deep spacey jam music that ranged from groovy mellifluous keyboard melodies to chainsaw-like electronic rhythms. It was all funky and interesting as they took us on several little musical journeys throughout the afternoon.
Blackalicious
Blackalicious front man Gift of Gab (Gabby T) came onstage with two back up vocalists, turntables, and keyboard player to an absolutely energized and adoring crowd. They started the set rapping loud and fast, instantly whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Less than a minute into the first song everyone in the tent was jumping up and down and screaming while Gabby repeated, “Blackalicious in the house, we’re here to get you high!” which appeared to be true.
As seems to be required at most hip-hop shows, Gabby invited/ordered those in attendance to wave their hands in the air and say “ho-oh”, and the fervent crowd was all too happy to comply. Blackalicious mostly performed to samples and beats from their albums, but changed things up a bit by increasing the tempo, combining samples and songs, as well as adding impressively funky live keyboards. After rousing renditions of “Blazing Arrow”, “World of Vibration”, and “Rhythm Sticks”, Gabby went freestyle, rapping super fast about whatever came to mind-talking about the crowd, Florida, Langerado and how he makes it all up on the fly. Gift of Gab is an amazing rapper and the group’s live performance is a terribly good time.
Disco Biscuits
After passing out ice cream at My Morning Jacket’s show, I made it over to the Swamp Tent during the second song of the Disco Biscuits’ smoky, electronic, groovy, disco madness.
As the Biscuits drove the crowd wild, Lebo, the official Langerado Festival artist, stood onstage at a canvas set up next to the drummer painting and dancing along to the music. The crowd was locked in a hypnotic groove the entire performance and would periodically erupt in euphoric cheers as songs rose to climactic crescendos. Near the end of the show Matisyahu guest rapped in the middle of a song while the crowd cheered its loving approval.
The performance progressed as the Biscuits blended one trancey, dancey, groovy number into another under the smoky disco lights, or was it just one 40-minute jam? Whatever it was, the crowd couldn’t stop shaking its thing as the Swamp Tent was transformed into one big, hazy, electronic dance party.
The Spam Allstars
Introduced as “the best local band at the festival”, The Spam Allstars opened the last day of Langerado with a really fun set of music that mixed electronic dance rhythms and Latin jazz. The Miami-based band plays an inspired brand of Latin influenced dance music consisting of timbales, funky guitar, trombone, flute, and saxophone to electronic DJ beats. The big electronic bass sound literally vibrated my Adam’s apple as I stood in the front row enjoying my discovery. Most songs started with an electronic drum and bass beat, followed by 1970’s wakka wakka guitar rhythm, and then brass melodies that were innervated by high pitched bursts of flute melodies that often had a loose, improvised feel. The Spam Allstars set the tone for groovy fun in the sun on this last of Langerado with a full set of super catchy songs that were immediately engaging and easy to dance to.
New Orleans Social Club
The New Orleans Social Club, a recent formation of several hurricane-displaced New Orleans musicians, boasts an all star line up of founding Meters members George Porter Jr. and Leo Nocentelli playing with Ivan Neville, Raymond Weber, and legendary pianist Henry Butler. They started the set with what sounded like a sound check-beginning without introduction with a meandering funk-funk-funky guitar, but then Butler kicked in with the keyboards and the masses began to gather. It’s impossible not to love this funky New Orleans sound; it’s like a soul magnet that just pulls you in. Less than a minute into the first song the band was kicking loud and proud and every head in the crowd was bobbing up and down. After a couple minutes of instrumental jamming, “Look-ka Py Py” became recognizable and several in the know cheered the Social Club on.
The Meters classic, “Cabbage Alley”, was next, but every song was twice as fun and funky as normal since both Butler and Neville were playing keys. New Orleans may be down but the ridiculously funky and insuppressibly fun music is alive and well.
The next song was extra soulful electric version of the Professor Longhair classic “Tipitina” that began with an extended personalized piano and organ intro that actually gave me chills. They slowed it down a little for an R&B song, “Lovin’ You, is all I Need” mixing in a little “Take me back to New Orleans” which was emphasized by Porter’s (Re)New Orleans t-shirt. They also covered CCR’s “Fortunate Son”, funking it up with the organ to give it a proper New Orleans makeover. For anyone who has never been to New Orleans or is unfamiliar with its music, NOLA Social Club’s set was a perfect introduction, and hopefully a lesson of what a huge debt of gratitude the world owes the city of New Orleans. For those of us already in the know, thank you gentlemen, for the best performance of the festival.
Pepper
With Nirvana-esque guitar and Sublime-style lyrics, Pepper started their early-afternoon set with the catchy “Stormtrooper”. Pepper’s light-hearted reggae style was a welcome break from all the jam bands, and the crowd seemed to agree; bopping along to every song including an entertaining cover of Blur’s “Song 2”.
Taj Mahal
Legendary bluesman Taj Mahal started his set with a very classic blues riff (ala John Lee Hooker) singing “the blues ain’t gonna do you no harm”. After a while he launched into some sweet skat signing to a great driving bass and drum beat. With his seasoned voice and expert guitar work, Taj Mahal could sing the phone book with a little skat and impress the crowd.
Taj Mahal is the consummate blues man. He can play new and original blues compositions and make them sound like 50-year old standards. The accomplished trio stuck to a very classic setlist for the entire show, including “Fishin’ Blues”, and at one time invoking Muddy Waters in the lyrics of one song. There’s nothing like a good blues show on a hot sunny day. The blues are really a celebration of life, detailing hard times that make the good times better.
Heavy Pets
Local Florida quintet, The Heavy Pets, kicked off the three day funky-jam-band-smorgasbord known as Langerado. They greeted the early arrivals at noon with a fittingly fun set at The Swamp Tent near the festival’s entrance. THP earned the right to open the festival by winning the Sonicbids contest. Festival producers selected eight finalists for the slot and Langerado ticketholders voted for the band they wanted to see perform at Langerado.
Only about half the crowd that showed up for the festival opener seemed to be familiar with the band, but THP had no problems winning over new fans as the entire audience immediately took to these young Phish and Allman Brothers influenced musicians. Having been off the jam band circuit for a few years, I was sucked right back in with THP’s energetic set. “Pleasure Tent” was an especially fun tune that offered Phish-like guitar jams and tempo changes. Another song whose name I missed had a Queen-inspired guitar progression that the band jammed (and the crowed boogied) to for quite a while. The relative newcomers ended their impressive set with what at first appeared to be a Calypso tune, but ended up being a cover of the Bob Marley standard “People Get Ready.”
Langerado had begun, and it was good.
