Jambands/Relix takes first pick at my review of The Royal Family Ball. Let me know what you think!
Jambands.com – Need We Say More? The Royal Family Ball, Terminal 5, NYC – 10/15
Below are more pics, by yours truly. I finally got a new camera!! :) – M
This weekend is the Royal Family Ball starring Soulive and Lettuce, with special guests. Last year, John Scofield showed up, with special surprise guest, Warren Haynes. Wonder who this year’s Ball will bring out of the woodwork?
Last year, I covered the show for View Skewed, and, well, it blew my musical head apart. Here’s the coverage of last year’s Ball: http://wp.me/ppvLC-D0 Hopefully, people will dress like it’s a ball this year! :) And I hope to see you there.
-M
In memory to Steve Jobs, I post this link for donations to PANCAN, the resource that helped my family during my mother’s battle with Pancreatic Cancer. I have seen the ravages of this disease, and don’t wish it on my worst enemy… especially to a visionary such as Steve. I personally will miss him, and be thankful for the innovation he has spurned….
http://pancan.org/section_donate/donate_now.php
Picture by: Brooklyn Vegan
Primus at Roseland Ballroom
SETLIST:
Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver
The Pressman
Groundhog’s Day
Over The Falls
Southbound Pachyderm
Mrs. Blaileen
Jerry Was A Race Car Driver
Over the Electric Grapevine
Picture from: Brooklyn Vegan
Set 2: Green Naugahyde
Prelude to a Crawl
Hennepin Crawler
Last Salmon Man
Eternal Consumption Engine
Tragedy’s a’ Comin’
Eyes of the Squirrel
Jilly’s on Smack
Lee Van Cleef
Moron TV
Green Ranger
HOINFODAMAN
Extinction Burst
Salmon Men
Encore:
Mr. Knowitall
Harold of the Rocks
Photo by: Katie Feinstein
I slept like a baby the night before. Missed the late night Wyllis show with the fantastic Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet, vocals) and I was bummed, thinking, “I just had to rest my ankles, not pass out for the night.” Darn it…
Luckily there was a small crew from my cabin, virtual strangers before the Chill Festival, who were up and chatting on the porch. To my ultimate surprise, I was treated to a coffee machine, hooked up and coffee being spooned in to be brewed. There is nothing like a weekend at a festival, with a coffee maker. Thank the sweet heavens, I am becoming re-born again.
This morning was a real treat for me, meeting strangers and becoming close friends with them in the early morning over coffee and bloody Mary’s. Laughing so hard with each other, recounting the adventures of the day before, and truly making bonds. I was so grateful I was amongst such wonderful people, and feeling the bliss from music wash over me. My mind drifts, and I apologize for this is a festival review, so… on to the music….
The line up:
Particle
Dopapod
John Brown’s Body
7 Walkers
Big Sam’s Funky Nation
Photo by: Phrazz
I interviewed Steve Molitz from Particle before the Catskill Chill Festival (click here for the review), and I was excited to see him play again. These guys are like electronica/trance/groovy dance music. The crowd was still light at this time (3:30pm)… perhaps we all needed more coffee? But I got my groove on, danced a while and flitted through the crowd, seeing friends and friendlies everywhere I turned.
Photo by: Phrazz
Dopapod I have to say, I personally wasn’t into these guys. My friends and posse seemed to be, so I wandered back to the cabin to get ready to leave. The plan was we’d leave after John Brown’s Body, to take the 2 hour drive back to Manhattan, so I figured this was a good a time as any. Little did I know that I wouldn’t be leaving for many, many hours.
Photo by: Phrazz
John Brown’s Body – raging RAGING reggae. These guys were so much fun, the venue was pretty well packed, it was kinda muggy, rainy, sweaty, but no one seemed to mind. This was an amazing 2 hour set, people dancing, swaying – artists painting in the crowd, soccer balls being kicked around, balls bouncing, hoola hoops hooping… yes. Yes, yes, yes! The Catskill Chill’s website says it best, ” JBB’s live show has the kind of organic, body-rocking sound that’s only possible with an 8-piece band where air tight drum and bass, a three piece horn section, and “the most gorgeous melodies in all of modern reggae music” [All Music Guide] meet a dubbed-out sound engineer.” This was a highlight, indeed.
In between these shows, we took the time to pack the car – as originally planned. Then, I believe it started to rain, so we took cover with…
Photo by: Joshua Raskin
7 Walkers: I couldn’t leave. Who, me? Leave during Billy Kreutzmann (drummer, Grateful Dead), George Porter, Jr., (bass, The Meters), Papa Mali and Matt Hubbard. I had all great intentions, but what do they say? The best laid plans…. yeah, that’s what happened. This band is a mix of Grateful Dead hippy bounce with some creole soul from New Orleans. It is fresh and upbeat, they play new original songs (some written by Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter), and they look like they are having the greatest time. I have seen them quite a few times now, and I just have a blast every time I see them. They never disappoint, I always feel like I’m amongst family, and my heart shines bright when they end the show. Thank you.
Photo by: Phrazz
Big Sam’s Funky Nation / Jets Game / We gotta go!
Yes, we had to go, but I was very excited to just linger aimlessly amongst the vendors while Big Sam was crushing it at the other stage. I needed some food, I needed some coffee and I was planning on not rushing before jumping in the car. My friend was enamored with the Jets Game, which made me feel no pressure to start driving. I have to admit, this was a great way to end the evening. Watching the Jets with my friends, hearing Big Sam’s Funky Nation in the background, quietly eating, patiently waiting, and enjoying my last few breaths of the Chillest festival I believe I’ve ever been to.
I wonder what the numbers were from their first year, to this year (their second). I will poke around and be sure to report back.
Please leave comments on your favorite memories. And I hope to see everyone again next year!
The Scene: Talk about a Chill Festival. This small little festival was tucked away far into the Catskill Mountains, at a summer camp called Camp Minglewood. It had all the makings of a lovely summer camp; cabins for campers to sleep, docks and a lake for swimming, halls for eating and gathering. This weekend, Camp Minglewood was transformed into a vendor filled, camping, music loving extravaganza. Tents were mixed with the cabins, electricity was available for coffee percolators in the morning, hot showers (yes, I said HOT showers in the cabins) and the people were friendly. So friendly. Did I mention friendly? Hugs and good mornings from strangers and friends alike. It felt like one large big happy family, who were all floating on air from music overload, shared experiences and dancing hard.
Friday: So, after a long day at work, and a longer ride up to the Catskills, getting our wristbands, parking the car, finding the cabin, and unloading, we were able to catch the evening’s last set. My friend and I found our friends and I was jonesing for some music already. We bolted from our posse and went to find the music. We made the last set of the night, Break Science. I remember there were about 300-400 people, and some very heavy beats from Mr. Adam Deitch. After I got my fill from head nodding, and some hip shaking, we went to check out the fire drum circle. Jumping through mud puddles, we checked it out, and was treated to a fire dancer twirl right next to us. I put my toes near the fire, got warmer (thankfully!) and wandered around. We went back to the cabins to chill out with my posse, check out the vendors, understand the lay of the land, and think I passed out at 3. Oh – we had bunkbeds, typical for a summer camp. It’s been a very long time since I’ve slept in bunkbeds. (side note: bring padding for bunkbeds).
Photo by: Josh Raskin/Tiny Rager
Saturday: Ok, so I was hurting this morning. Between the crazy long week, the dancing and wandering till 3am, the bunk beds and waking up to the sound of the drum circle still going on, I have to admit… I was kind of hurting. If you know me, you know I am not the most lively, cordial, talkative person in the morning, and my new cabin mates learned that quickly. I found the coffee truck, bought three cups, gave one to my friend and drank the other two quickly. It helped… It was beginning to help.
The day was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky, the sun was out, the weather was a perfect 80 degrees. It was spectacular. And perfect. And very Catskill Chilling.
The Heavy Pets: I gathered myself together, took a shower, ate a bit of food (don’t remember what it was), and got myself down to the stage for The Heavy Pets. It was a really nice way to start the day. The Main Stage wasn’t packed at all – probably under 400 people. The Pets jammed, crazy guitar licks, heavy groovy bass drum, bouncy, trippy kind of music. There was room to bounce. There was room to jam. I was relaxing into the vibe of the festival – the Chill.
Photo by: Josh Raskin/tinyrager
There was a surprise birthday party for me and a few other Virgo babies, that was completely a surprise for me. The coordination to get at least 20 people together, at a certain time at a festival is a feat in itself, but to have candles and goodie bags for the birthday boys and girls, well… all I can say is I am grateful. (And thank you, Karen.)
Photo by: Phrazz
Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds: Wow. Hello there. I’d never seen these guys before and… wow. Rage-o-rama. Horns galore, incredible harp player, and the chick that sings – WOW. I was impressed. We had trombone, trumpet, sax, bass sax, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, drums, singer. The horns do a great dance in sync, Sister Sparrow sings it hard – full Aretha/Whitney/Janis in your face (the chick is about 5 feet nothing and maybe weighs 25 pounds. How does that work?!?) This band is on my highlights list. They are fun. They are funky. And I danced my butt off.
Photo by: Robyn Gould
Catskill Chill Music Festival, Hancock NYMy buddies are putting on this great festival and it will be my first year attending. Travelling north a few hours into the woods of Upstate NY, near the town of Bethel, NY close to the infamous Woodstock of ’69, the lineup touts such great acts as:
I was lucky to get an interview with the keyboardist from Particle, Steve Molitz, and Jambands.com picked it up before I could get it on View Skewed.
Check it out here: http://www.jambands.com/the-loop/2011/09/06/steve-molitz-talks-catskill-chill/
I’ll be covering the Chill for View Skewed, so stay tuned. This should be a great end of the summer festival!
Once again, a heartfelt thanks to Rob Clarke and Scott Bernstein for taping the festival, and being so prompt in putting the out there for us to all relive again. Mucho gracias!
Thursday:
The Infamous Stringdusters: http://www.archive.org/details/stringdusters2011-07-21
Roots of Creation: http://www.archive.org/details/roc2011-07-21.jz-bt201.flac16
New Mastersounds: http://www.archive.org/details/nms2011-07-21.v2KM184
Dumpstaphunk: http://www.archive.org/details/dumpstaphunk2011-07-21
The Mother Hips (torrent): http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=547058
Friday:
Ryan Montbleau: http://www.archive.org/details/montbleau2011-07-22
God Street Wine (Lo Faber, Aaron Maxwell, Jon Bevo, Dan Pifer) with special guests Jason Crosby and Joe Russo: http://www.archive.org/details/gsw2011-07-22
Kung Fu: http://www.archive.org/details/kungfu2011-07-22
Big Sam’s Funky Nation (torrent): http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=547156
Furthur: http://www.archive.org/detail/furthur2011-07-22.v2km184.clarke.115050.flac16
The Bridge: http://www.archive.org/details/bridge2011-07-22
Tedeschi Trucks Band (torrent): http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=547111
Taj Mahal (torrent): http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=547047
Official Press Release, and donation link: http://www.liverfoundation.org/about/news/399/
photo by: Dino Perrucci
photo by: Allison Murphy
Wednesday July 27, 2011, Beacon Theater
I got in late, close to the end of the first set and I missed Natalie Cole and Ron Holloway, (darn it.) I did, however, hear an incredible Liz Reed with Bill Evans on sax – making it a spacy, raging, beautiful jazz/guitar mashup jam before setbreak. Warren tells us they are going to take a short break, a really short one and to stay tuned for more really special guests. Time to hit the restrooms, wrestle the crowd for a drink, and get back for more.
photo by: Allison Murphy
Second set, David Crosby and Graham Nash were already on stage with Derek Trucks when I walked in (I was dealing with a large unmovable crowd), and the three of them are on stage, Derek strumming his guitar while Crosby and Nash sing Teach Your Children. My eyes at this point are bugging out of my head, I don’t think I have ever seen Crosby and Nash live before, and I’m frozen in watching these three men on the stage.
The whole theater was on their feet, I was in awe seeing Crosby and Nash only 10 rows away from me. Couldn’t get the grin off my face, but did not sing along because I wanted to hear these two sing, play acoustic guitar, with Derek. It was so beautiful and special, I had goosebumps. I doubt I was the only one.
Crosby and Nash alone sing Guinnevere . Guinnevere. Yes, really. If I didn’t have goosebumps by then, I really had them now. Liftoff to my blissful music high, this is when I began to swoon. Warren Haynes comes out and the three sing Find the Cost of Freedom a capella. David Crosby then tells us “…how he hasn’t played the next song for a while because, well, he couldn’t remember all the words. Since he wasn’t stoned tonight,” he continued, “he wanted to play it.” Chuckles from the stage and audience started Cowboy Movie song.
photo by: Allison Murphy
Afterwards, Phil Lesh comes out to join for a plethora of Dead tunes including Continue reading
