The Avett Brothers!

The fantastically talented and entertaining Avett Brothers are coming to The St. Augustine Ampitheatre Thursday evening, July 16. The show is $27.

Paste magazine did a cover story on The Avetts and their breakout popularity, their recording sessions with producer Rick Rubin (he produced Johnny Cash), their upcoming album, and their new grueling tour-all-the-time schedule.

I return to The Avetts recordings again and again to taste their fine musicianship and talented lyricism. Frankly, if anyone is talking while The Avetts are playing, I have to shut it off until I can listen intently. They are just that good.

Things to know about the venue (from the only other time I was there, to see Mofro):

The ampitheatre is covered, but outdoors
Only beer was Bud and Bud Light, and it was like, $6 or $7 a pop. So sad.
You can't leave the venue once you've gone in.
You can't bring anything in there with you (they even prohibit strollers?!WTF!)

There is cheap camping at nearby Anastasia State Park, and you can reserve a site online.

Festgrrl has a new ride!

After looking and looking, Craigslist offered up this gem of a groovy van, so very 80's. Uncle Rico drove one like this in Napoleon Dynamite. (His was orange)

I'm hoping to get many happy years of festing with this vehicle, which I have named Gladys, because the inside has so many floral patterns and bad faux paneling and fishing lure wallpaper (yes! The sportsman's package!) that it reminds me of a London flat. She is 22 years old, maybe she's got a little more life left for the likes of me. She was pretty cheap in any case. I will have my own functional bathroom and shower... YES!!!!!!!

First stop with Gladys: The Avett Brothers in St. Augustine. More on that later...

Springsteen at Bonnaroo

Here's an awesome review of the Boss' kick-ass show at Bonnaroo last night! I wish I could have seen it.

Here, courtesy of the New Jersey Star Ledger, is the setlist:

Show began at 9:28 p.m. local time.
Patti Scialfa and Max Weinberg were at the show.

Setlist:
1. Badlands
2. No Surrender
3. My Lucky Day
4. Outlaw Pete
5. Out In The Street
6. Working On A Dream
7. Seeds
8. Johnny 99
9. Youngstown
10. Raise Your Hand
11. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (sign request)
12. Growin' Up (sign request)
13. Thunder Road (sign request)
14. Waitin' On A Sunny Day
15. The Promised Land
16. The River
17. Kingdom of Days
18. Radio Nowhere (w/Jay Weinberg on drums)
19. Lonesome Day
20. The Rising
21. Born To Run

Encores:
22 Hard Times
23. 10th Ave Freeze Out
24. Land Of Hope & Dreams
25. American Land
26. Rosalita
27. Glory Days
28. Dancing In The Dark

Interesting to see Bruce play "Rosalita," "Glory Days" and "Dancing In the Dark" at the end. Most shows will get one of those songs to end, some shows get two, but it's very rare to get all three. I bet the huge crowd was into it.


Show over at 12:22 a.m.

CHECK OUT THIS REVIEW OF THE AL GREEN BONNAROO SHOW FROM ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY!!!!!!: Set of the Day&trade goes to the Reverend Al Green, who absolutely owned the mainstage, and only disappointed me by leaving before he could do "Take Me to the River" with David Byrne later. When we got to the photo pit, there was a pile of long-stemmed roses sitting on a road case next to Green's mic stand, and the first thing he did upon emerging, classily besuited despite the heat, was start flinging them out to the ladies. (Later, he would also toss his clip-on tie into the crowd.) "Y'all too far away!" he lamented, in what would become something of a refrain: Al Green really wanted to get off the stage and come hang out with us, he wanted the yellow-shirted security men to go away so we could be together, we ain't here to hurt nobody, God means we don't need security, etc. Everyone was pretty much wetting themselves from the word go here, shrieking through "Let's Get Married," humbly singing along during "Amazing Grace," popping an excitement gasket when he slowly slid into "Let's Stay Together." And the Reverend, too, was having a blast -- I especially loved watching him break it down alongside his two interpretive dancers during "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," then crack himself up. His voice, for the record, has not lost a note.

"I'm gonna do some songs that'll tell you where I come from," Green said to kick off a medley of hits from a time "when the music was good, the lovin' was good, and everything was good." Thus did we get to hear snippets of "I Can't Help Myself," "My Girl," "Bring It On Home to Me," "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," and "You Are Everything." (That last one was "for the ladies," said Al.) Each and every Motown hit was greeted by euphoria in the crowd, and by the time he closed with "Love and Happiness," if you weren't dancing, there was something wrong with you. "I love you I love you I love you I love you I gotta go!" Green apologized, then took one last lap around the stage while his backup singer informed us that "The man is a legend, and he has sold more than 150 million albums!" There aren't too many modern artists who could get away with being played both on and off the stage while someone recites extravagant stats."

Sigh. Love Bonnaroo's lineup, can't handle the crowd and conditions.

Wanee Review

So that picture above is Tara Nevins from Donna the Buffalo, playing with the Bill Kreutzmann Trio at 2009 Wanee festival in Live Oak, Fl. In a weekend of stellar performances, this one was a standout. Tara sang lead on Grateful Dead classic "He's Gone," and she did a kick-ass job of it, the trio also did one of my fave DTB songs, "...Walking, Talking, too Far from the Light, Living, Breathing, in Colorless Black and White..."

Wanee was a mudfest, but none of the shows were cancelled by weather, amazingly. The crowd was super-giant compared to other Spirit of the Suwannee fests. There was also an abundance of what I call "Bowlegged Whiskey Walkers," some of them fixin' to fight. Mostly peaceful, though, and a hell of a lot of fantastic music! Here's a few show reviews for ya:

The Doobie Brothers - They did some classic old tunes, my favorites were Black Water, Listen to the Music, and Takin' it to the Streets. What struck me was really how great their playing is (and was) beyond just being catchy. Their 70's hair --completely unchanged! -- was hysterical.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - This was my first time hearing Grace, and she ROCKED it! She's a super-sultry bad-ass with the attitude of Marcia Ball, and the sound of Bonnie Raitt and Nora Jones. Her band was impeccable.

The Wailers - Did the entire Exodus album at midnight on Saturday as the show closer.Their sound system was curiously low-fi, but it was awesome to hear those old tunes live.

The Allmans, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi -- This is what the crowd came for, and they delivered -- blistering guitar solos, soulful singing, nice long, fat sets.

Little Feat - Were a disappointment, and I'm a real fan. They seemed bored, and Lowell George's daughter, who had been wailing out lead vocals last year, wasn't with them. The set was predictable and forgettable.

The Radiators - LOVED that New Orleans sound! Ditto Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, I had to sit down after that funk-fest!

Col. Bruce Hampton and the Quark Alliance - Never disappoints! He laid it DOWN with fancy riffs and super soulful vocals. The thing about Bruce is, even though he's been performing for so long, he never seems stale to me. He's just got that funky thing going, deep inside. I had a HUGE smile on my face and a spring in my step!

Arc Angels - Lots of people were loving this band, I was not one of them. Sounded like boring Southern rock to me, I left.

Keller Williams - Was just precious and fascinating to watch his one-man band, plus his very ardent fans.

Umphrey's McGee - One of the best shows of the whole weekend. Their jazzy, jammy riffs were tighter than tight, and they just played the hell out of their afternoon set. Super standout in a weekend filled with Guitar Gods.

I've only got one real complaint -- there were very few sit-ins. With all that talent, I expected a little more cross-pollination among groups. Warren Haynes was stage-skippping for sure, but he was the rare one.

I'll be back next year!

Wanee and Full Moon Fest

BIG WEEKEND!!!!

First off is the amazing Wanee I can't say enough about the off-the-hook lineup for this festival. They've posted the schedule on the site. Thursday night kicks off with New Orleans' kick-ass band, The Radiators, along with a personal favorite of mine, Bobbie Lee Rodgers out of Georgia (of the Codetalkers). Then, my God, a parade of killer music ... Allman Brothers, Col. Bruce Hampton, Derek Trucks, Buddy Guy, Drive By Truckers, Gov't Mule, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Doobie Brothers, Little Feat, the Wailers, Jorma Kaukonen, Keller Williams, Bill Kruetzmann, the Wailers, Ivan Neville, Susan Tedeschi, Lord, that doesn't even tell HALF the story, so go to the link and get the rest of the info.

Wanee ends Saturday night, but there is a special benefit later that day at Spirit of the Suwannee for Zach Deputy, who is one hell of a nice guy and a great player. Somebody ripped off his equipment, so he's raising bucks to replace it. He's a looper like Keller Williams, though his music isn't like Keller's. I LOVED the Deputy show at Bear Creek last year, I couldn't believe how many things he was doing at once. He's funky, he's reggae, he's folky, he's really, really cool.

There are two Zach Deputy shows Sunday, one in late afternoon and another in the evening. The shows are brought to you by the folks at Bear Creek Music festival.

SO.....Get yer butt to Suwannee and rage it!

OK, so if you can't swing the ticket price at Wanee, the kind folks at Farm To Family are holding their Full Moon Fest outside Gainesville. Check the link for the lineup. See previous posts about this groovy little fest that costs $10 to $20, sliding scale.