The Festy Experience 10/7-10/9

I asked their sound-man, but he's being cagey as usual.

NCLockn has an extra ticket for Festy if anyone needs one...

How are things this morning at the site?  

60 degrees and light rain in Charlottesville.  

We decided to save a bunch of money and spend the weekend catching all the free music at the Richmond Folk Festival.  Definitely a little disappointed not to see Bela at Festy.

party on!

Wish any of us had seen this before the weekend was out! How dare you come to a fest and not get together with us? We had me, Sue, sneake, TOO, Lobster, flufhead, NClockn, StillLifeStillDead, LooseAnkles and even saw ol WildBill in passing.

I can't believe that we did not get a picture of all of us. Guess that's what happens when you are living in the moment...had such a good time with you guys.

Festy was dealt a really tough hand with the weather. And I think they handled it quite well. Folks who brought their wellies and rain ponchos had a great time. And many were grateful for the pavilion over the side stage and for the strategically place bonfires. After a while we all just accepted that red clay mud is how life is now. We figured out assorted ways to get in and out of the tents without turning our beds into red mud baths. Most of our gear has a hot date with a garden hose this weekend. I was grateful that I brought a lot of extra garbage bags for pack out.

The fire delayed things a bit, but the Festy crew handled it well and kept the masses informed by email and social media.

The weather took its toll on everyone. Even little things like a walk to the portas became a major ordeal because of the mud. And when the sun finally came out, the winds kicked up to ridiculous speeds, so while it wasn't rainy it still wasn't good weather.

All of that being said...a rainy day at the Festy beats a sunny day at work!

I dunno which I liked better, the Lovett/Keen set, or Sam Bush. Those sets alone were well worth the price of admission. And that's considering two of my favorite acts right now - Cabinet and Horseshoes & Hand Grenades - played hot sets prior. I didn't even catch any Stringdusters; they're very technically accomplished, but somehow fail to move me*. The only set I missed and regretted doing so was Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, but at least I got to see them at Peach.

I don't think the hay was ever for sale; I think that was an enterprising neighbor. Pro tip: if you're thinking of monetizing tragedy, don't.

No CID or MusicToday. Dave's property played the role that Oak Ridge plays at Lockn: leased space. The Festy promoters were the same as they always were. Dave has mentioned spinning off a country/grass fest before. I'm not certain if providing a venue for Festy was always a part of that plan, but I wouldn't go looking for any more country or grass at Lockn from here on out. 



*except with Phil. That was the best P&F set I've ever seen at Lockn. EVER. 

I forgot about that! AMAZING!!

I wish....

My recap (TL;DR - Fluff had fun, fair response to issues, great people, music overall better than even expected)

Yes, the weather was consistently annoying. The rain was light but constant, the clay was plentiful but manageable if you weren't smashed, and the fire on sunday pushed everything back a few hours. That being said, the weather was a non-issue for enjoying the music (in fact, better than the 97 degree BS of Lockn), there was a serious sense of pride from the crowd and the musicians about dealing with it, and the fans were still movin' and groovin'. They went more 'corporate' this year, and you couldn't start a set without hearing about how great Oskar Brewery was, but I found the beer selection in the field to be just fine.

My take on the music:
Old Salt Union/ River Whyles: Neither were bad, but nor did they get you all ramped up for the weekend.

Sara Watkins/Mary Chapin Carpenter: Couldn't honestly tell you as I passed 

Steep Canyon Rangers: To me, a good 'baseline' of bluegrass as they are excellent but don't necessarily propel you to the next level

Infamous Stringdusters (Ladies 'Guest' set): Much better than I expected, actually. I LOVE Nicki Bluhm w/ the Dusters and each guest was solid for an overall really enjoyable set. 

Lord Nelson: local county act, played a Rockn to Lockn set this summer. When they were good....they were ok. They still need to find their sound. 

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades: holy $h*t! I told Worf afterwards, they didn't play slamgrass, they attacked it. VERY upbeat and amazing....HIGHLY recommend. Surpassed expectation. 

Cabinet just rocks. For the late late set it was perfect. 

Gallitin Canyon/EmiSunshine/ and most of Lee Ann Womack...I couldn't tell you. Catching the last few of Womack seemed like a night at the 'Opry 

Jon Stickley Trio: Biggest upside surprise of the weekend. Those three create a deeper jam/gypsy rock/fusion-alternative-grassroot/rock than one can possible describe. If you listen to their studio stuff you really need to give it some time and a few tunes to just wrap your head around the unique sound they are creating. I'm very impressed and hope they do well.

North Mississippi Allstars with Anders Osborne: exactly what you'd expect. Solid, with a few southern jams but failed to rip the roof off like the talent there could have done. 

Fruition: At this point, the sets were getting cut down some due to time constraints. These guys are just technically beyond belief, and when they let it tear, you are moving despite yourself (if you're one of 'those'  that don't move in general)

Dusters (2 sets): Good solid 1st set (Terrapin tease which led me to hope for....) 2nd set: Amazing! They went deep and dark some, strung out some jams and really let it on fire...I had to conserve energy for later, but I thought it was their best set of the weekend)

Lil Smokies: They were good. I wanted to like them more, but they didn't bring anything to the table that makes me want to follow their shows. 

Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds: Let's go ahead and get this out of the way: she is HAWT! The fact that she worked the crowd (removing layers of clothing one song at a time, giving the crowd ample glances at her perfect posterior, swaying and winking to the crowd) does nothing to take away from the fact that this band was ON FIRE. They had horns, an amazing harmonica player and that woman can sing!! They got the crowd moving from the 1st song and didn't stop till the end of their cover of Led Zep.....I can't remember  Anyway, do yourself a favor and go see them. Exceeded expectations.

Sunday was FUBAR'D from the fire with the early acts cancelled and the remaining playing on different schedules:

Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen was just perfect: You know how sets build up, peak, and then move wherever? It was like that with these two except with how their conversations went, and the songs they played based on those conversations. It started with each just playing a song, but then a topic would come up and they would rift on each other and play something, but a theme just appeared and they went with it. It was truly magical and relaxing....not the type of music one jumps up and jams to but perfect sitting in the chair for a festival kind of thing (except that I was one layer short of comfortable so had to miss the last 1/4 to go get more clothes).

I'm the only one in our group who saw Nikki Lane, despite the fact that I begged everyone to go. It was much more aggressive country rock than I thought it would be. I have a man-crush on her, but despite that, the band was really much more upbeat and they can absolutely bring some of that outlaw country that I thought was going to be more image then anything. Definitely exceeded expectations. 

Sam Bush- Dude f'n ROCKED it! Came out the gate blazing and with the exception of a few middle set slower tunes, he was on fire all night. Ended with a killer Midnight Rambler but that whole set was the last booster of energy I was able to give the weekend. He's like the Trey Anastasio of bluegrass to me. 

Rubblebucket- They deserved more than I, or anyone else in the audience, had to give them. They brought the horns and a funk to the stage that under normal circumstances, I would have been happy to enjoy. To be fair, I need to give them another chance live before I say anything else, b/c I also thought there was a few songs that did nothing. But at that point, I was pretty much nothing, too.

I haven't seen any setlists or recordings posted yet, but if I do, I'd be glad to point you at the highlights (IMHO).