The B List: Cherry Poppin’ at Langerado

2. Toubab Krewe: Toubab Krewe are the Arcade Fire of the jamband world: The level of buzz coming from the jamblogs about these guys is ginormous. Upon checking out the music on the band’s website and myspace page it is no wonder — they’ve truly got a unique sound, a quality that escapes most bands lumped in the genre. The best comparison I can come up with to describe them is Santana’s Soul Sacrifice band meets Fela Kuti. Now that’s a heady combo.

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Currently the band is on tour in West Africa — West FUCKING Africa. You don’t get many paying gigs in Africa as a band of white dudes from Asheville, North Carolina if you suck. Toubab Krewe will be playing the Swamp Tent at 1:15pm on Saturday afternoon. Bring your dancing shoes. –SB

3. The Hold Steady: I’ve heard so many superlatives about The Hold Steady that I can’t even separate fact from fiction any more. Are they so good that a dying cancer victim got a clean bill of health after listening to their Boys and Girls in America album? Is it true that the song Chips Ahoy! did my brother’s taxes last year and got him a huge refund? I just don’t know how good these guys are, because nobody will tell me straight. So now’s the time to find out for myself.

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I’ll tell you why I’m an automatic fan of these guys: Apparently part of the impetus behind the band getting together (guitarists Tad and Craig came from another group called Lifter Puller) surrounds my favorite film of all-time, The Last Waltz, and the band members’ desire to play music loose and easy, creating a timeless sound just like The Band. You had me at The Last Waltz.

I know these guys get a ton of play from the indie blogs and now the jam blogs, which has been one of the main reasons I’ve been so slow to react to them (you know, buzz = bad). But I’ll get my chance in two weeks — The Hold Steady plays on Friday in the Swamp Tent at 5 pm. Bring your myth decoders. –AC

4. Assembly of Dust: Reid Genauer’s AoD is the band I’m most excited to see for the first time. I’ve seen all the guys in this band play in different outfits: Moon Boot Lover, Strangefolk, and Percy Hill. When Reid left Strangefolk, my interest in that band waned. I’m not sure why I never got into Assembly of Dust until recently when I downloaded one of their shows off the Internet Archive.

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Upon listening to the band’s recent New Year’s show, I was extremely impressed and started getting really excited for the band’s Langerado slot. Reid is an amazing songwriter with a voice that suits his songs perfectly. All of the musicians in the band can hold their own, which is important considering the music isn’t completely dependant on Reid’s talents. Nate Wilson’s keyboard work stood out in particular. I would expect a ton of new songs from the outfit’s upcoming release, Recollection, during the band’s set on Friday at 1 pm on the Sunset Stage. –SB

5. JJ Grey and MOFRO: I recently posed a question to which I’ve never received an answer: Why did MOFRO become JJ Grey and MOFRO? When did that happen? Is this the first step towards a band breakup or the first step towards a re-launched effort to greatness? And how awesome is it gonna be when I get someone to agree with me that this band is much better since JJ Grey joined up with them? I say pretty awesome.

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Semantics aside, JJ & MOFRO just released their third album, Country Ghetto, and they’re currently on tour to promote the effort. In addition to the regular outfit, they have a small horn section in tow for the entire tour (including Langerado it seems), adding to the tremendous southern soul sound these guys have already mastered. the Jacksonville band takes the Sunset Stage at 5 pm on Saturday. –AC

6. Toots and the Maytals: When I was 10 or 11 years old, I went on a Caribbean cruise with my parents and was introduced to reggae by the house band on the ship, a band that introduced me to the music of Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, and Toots and the Maytals. I’ll never forget hearing that house band play Toots’ Pressure Drop for the first time. That song has such a great rhythm that really is more ska than reggae. When I got back home I bought a cassette with Toots and The Maytals’ Greatest Hits and wore that puppy out. Nearly 20 years later I will have my first opportunity to see them play at Langerado.

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I’m a little worried that at this point Toots is 61 years old, so it is nice he is playing in South Florida where he is considered young. The music on his most recent album, True Love, shows some real moments of brilliance such as the Funky Kingston that features Bootsy Collins and The Roots.

Toots goes on at 3:30 on Sunday afternoon. I can think of nothing better then to be in Florida with 12,000 like-minded people on a sunny (hopefully) Sunday enjoying one of the legends of reggae. –SB

7. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks: I have close friends that worship the former Pavement frontman and everything he’s ever done. He’s David Byrne, he’s Trey Anastasio, he’s Jim James, he’s That Guy. Simply, they’ll see him every time he comes to their towns. I was a bit late to the Malkmus party, but I swore to them that I’d catch him whenever it was most convenient for me. Thank you Langerado for bringing convenience to my life.

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The band comes to Florida fresh off its well-received performance at the 2007 PLUG Awards, aka the Indie Jammys. I’ve been boning up on my Jicks listening, and now I can’t wait to get my first glimpse of a man and a band I’ve heard so much about, especially the wildly underrated Joanna Bolme on bass. Chick bass players rock my world, and Friday at 6:45 pm in the Swamp Tent I’ll be ready to be rocked. So, uh, hate to be that guy here, but any chance we’re seeing Big Red in that tent or Stevie on Trey’s stage? –AC

8. The Greyboy Allstars: I’m ashamed to admit it: Sadly, I’ve never seen The Greyboy Allstars live. I’ve worn out my copies of West Coast Boogaloo and A Town Called Earth, yet I always seem to be out of town when they play NYC. After reading Ace’s glowing reviews of their reunion performance last year (although he did call them the “Trenton Thunder” after his last GBA show), my time has finally come.

I’ve seen Robert Walter’s 20th Congress and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe a few times in the past, and I think I’m really going to enjoy seeing the leaders of both bands play together (and throw in Elgin Park and a rhythm section…). I expect nothing but funk from the Allstars, and I think their 60-minute set on Saturday afternoon should be the perfect amount of time to get my groove on. –SB

9. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: By no real coincidence, Ms. Jones hails from the same hometown as James Brown, and she’s got all the right moves like he did. I recently posted a stream from a show she played last May, and listening to that performance solidified my opinion that she’s one of the most powerful female personas in the music business today.

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She’s funky, she’s bad-ass, and she’ll rip your lips off and kiss her ass with them shits. I don’t know what that means, but I heard Dave Chappelle say it in Blue Streak and I thought it applied here. Everyone I know who has ever seen this band play live raves about the start-to-finish show they put on, and we’d all be idiots to miss out on the GoodGod funk and soul to come. Sharon and her men of horns play at 3:15 in the Swamp Tent on Friday, and if you miss that set you might as well not go down there in the first place. –AC

10. Jake Shimabukuro: Instead of words, I’m gonna illustrate my point thusly about why I wanted to see this ukulele virtuoso up close:

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Tell me you don’t wanna see that live and 10 feet away from the magic. Jake plays Saturday at noon on the Sunset Stage, so get there early. –AC

Who are you most excited to see at Langerado or in general? Let us know…

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0 Responses

  1. > The Hold Steady lives up to the hype. Its 70s Springsteen for a new generation. Love that album! love it!

    > Mofro is the shit too for sure. But i have no idea why they had the name change either.

    > People will flame for this, but I’d be in the beer tent for Greyboy. I’m sooo over the glorified wedding band jam funk of the late 90s. Its so watered down sorority happy hour music it makes we puke in my white hat.

    > Maybe you’ve seen these before and thats why they arent on the list, but My must see for firt timers list for Langerado:

    1. New Pornographers…come on, Twin Cinema was top 10 albums of year status for sure. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Wm5ck9csj38

    2. Cat Power – Chan can smash a bottle of whiskey over my head any night!

    3. Explosions In The Sky – the next Bonnaroo jam/indie band for sure

    4. Band of Horses – agree on the MMJ

    5. Rodrigo y Gabriela – spanish-flamenco thrash metal. Its Santana with balls

    have a good time down there 🙂

  2. I’ve been digging the New Pornographers album–looking to check them out.

    I’ve also been hearing really good things about Apollo Sunshine.

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