Although watching your children grow up is a great feeling, it can also be a touch bittersweet. That is what it felt like at the 30th Green River Festival – I used to call it “the little festival that could”, but after this year I’ll need to amend that to “the little festival that did”. Overall, the changes were solid improvements: a stellar lineup –including Peter Wolf, Shovels and Rope, Shakey Graves, Dawes, Felice Brothers, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, North Mississippi Allstars, Los Lobos, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band; an extension of the food area into the parking lot – which adds a little, new filtered water filling stations sponsored by new sponsor, Klean Kanteen; as well as the addition of camping at the nearby Franklin Fairgrounds. And although it was a little sad to see the festival grow up, it still held its integrity as a small family festival: no overcrowding; dozens of earnest volunteers rolling red rolly carts from one compost bin to another; and the friendliest people you have ever encountered – it is almost impossible not to make at least one friend over the three day festival.
But a music festival is about the music and as Becky George, festival committee members said “You cannot go to the Green River Festival and not fall deeply, madly, in love with a band that you have never hear of.”
Friday
Even though Friday was an abbreviated schedule – only running in the evening and on 2 of 3 stages, it was chock full of great acts.
The band that most stood out the most was a band from Tucson called XIXA. They are a six piece band (drums, percussion, bass, 2 guitars and keys/synth/accordion) that made an imposing picture all dressed in black with red armbands tied on their left arms. If you had to describe them (and let’s face it; that is the whole point of writing this) one would say they have a Latin (mostly cumbia) base with layers of psychedelic rock, roots rock and the best parts of metal. There was a line of new fans waiting to buy their music.
Another standout was Dustbowl Revival, an eight piece band from Venice, Ca. A party band fronted by Liz Beebe and Zach Lupetin, their music bounces among bluegrass, old time swing, roots rock and folk. Although this combination has been done before by lots of bands, they stand out because of the strong vocals, the kicking horn section and the amount of fun they have on stage.
Mariachi Flor de la Toloache was another discovery that was seemingly traditional except they are all female. The more you watched the more you got used to the curves – the physical kind in the black, silver studded stretch pants and the musical kind in the contemporary musical touches (there was a bunch of old swing and at least one Led Zeppelin medley). They slid between musical genres like they did between languages.
For those not familiar with Friday night’s closer, Peter Wolf, he was the driving force behind the J Geils Band and has since had a pretty prolific solo career. From the moment he walked on to the stage in his rail thin black pants and sparkly sharkskin blazer he owned it. He pranced around the stage and delivered a heartfelt performance displaying strong vocal chops and the energy and passion of a 20 something year-old. All his songs resounded with the only exception being a version of “Dancing in the Dark” that seemed out of place. Many people in the crowd were comparing him to Mick Jagger and it was not far off. The one thing we all agreed on was that his physical moves seemed completely natural and not put on in any way.
Saturday
Saturday brought the promise of more – three stages, a full day of programming, and the specter of rain. Let me cut to the chase – it rained most of the afternoon – people got wet, got cold, but it barely mattered. The music went on, people danced, ate, drank, made friends, and had a fabulous time.
LuxDeluxe was the act that won most energetic stage show of the weekend. They came out in various renditions of beach outfits including lead singer Ned King who spent most of the set doing high knee calisthenics in his short red bathing suit printed with Maui Mo’ Bettah! that must have come right from the 80s (It is hard to believe how short shorts were back then), and finished by ripping off his tight, midriff baring shirt, jumping on a crowdmember’s shoulders and riding through the crowd like a campy teen demon until he was placed back on stage and slipped on a new “boys rule” tee. The band is a tiny too poppy for my tastes, but their energy and spirit more than compensated. In addition, King’s velvety deep voice juxtaposed with his 20 something year-old self is mesmerizing.
Peter Mulvey led a “songwriters in the round” session on the Parlor stage. Peter is a veteran singer/songwriter who tells great stories in and between his songs and is the most at ease on stage of any musician I can remember seeing. At one point during his turn in the round he charmed the audience with a comment that went something like, “who ever used this microphone before me was wearing a lot of raspberry lip gloss, and I must admit, I’m uncomfortable admitting how much I’m enjoying it.” On his last turn, he commented that it has been a rough month for us with all the gun violence, and although it felt like we might not survive it, seeing everyone at Green River dancing and loving each other gave him some faith that we might just get through ok. He then sang a clever song with the opening lines, “Jesus wants to take your guns away. Jesus wants to take your guns away. I was talking to him just the other day, yes Jesus wants to take your guns away.”
Leland Sundries also played on the Parlor stage. They are a trio lead by Nick Loss-Eaton who mixes rock, alt country and a bit of punk (the Green Day kind) into songs that tell slice-of life stories. Like “New York Wasn’t Supposed to Go Like This.” They were interesting enough that I scooped up his CDs and made plans to see him on Monday night at the Mercury Lounge in NYC.
The other band that made an impression was Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers. Helm always fit into the band, Ollabelle, but she was never completely the ideal front woman in that outfit. Her performance at Green River changed that as she stood out front and sang her heart out while seemingly clinging to the bass drum at her side. She was joined by her band which featured Daniel Littleton on acoustic guitar (who was able to get as deep sounds out of that acoustic guitar as one has ever heard). She finished the set with an acapella version of “Gloryland” for all the people who “have moved to the other side” that brought a significant portion of the crowd to tears.
The rest of the lineup was solid including Lula Wiles, Shovels and Rope, Shaky Graves, The Suffers, Dawes, Dustbowl Revival (se Friday’s review), Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, the Felice Brothers, Oh Pep!, Anthony D’Amato and Hannah & Maggie. The brunt of the rain fell just as The Suffers hit the stage but the fans just put on their ponchos, flipped up the umbrellas, or stripped down and danced through the deluge.
Sunday
If you had to pick one band from the three day Green River Music Festival that won critics over it would have to be Birds of Chicago. They are fronted by Allison Russell and JT Nero. Although they are backed by a solid band, it is their vocal chemistry that makes this band. They sing earnest and honest folky rock songs tinged with gospel. It is as though you took a great singer/songwriter and added another dimension by and filled out the sound with a full band and great opposing yet complementary voices. Their stage banter was also incredibly charming with Nero playing the role of the sarcastic Midwesterner joking about how they love the album so much it is the only music they listen to while driving from gig to gig, and Russell playing the role of the friendly and honest Canadian, making sure that the audience knows he’s not serious. They were truly special.
The closer for the night was the Tedeschi Trucks Band and as usual they were worth waiting around for. The band that boasts one of the best guitarists on the planet (Derek Trucks), a great blues singer (Susan Tedeschi), a cadre of back-up singers led by Mike Mattison (one of my top five vocalists playing today) and a complement of other fine musicians on drums, bass, keys, and horns; has often been touted as the best band on tour today. After watching their set, it was hard to argue that point. They are an extremely professional outfit who’s numbers vary from a simple trio to a force 12 or more musicians strong. What strikes me about this outfit is how well each member of the band shares the stage with each other and how much respect each seems to have for their colleagues’ talents. That generosity seems to extend to the guests that sat in with them, including Luther Dickinson from the North Mississippi Allstars and David Hildago from Los Lobos. There doesn’t appear to be a drop of inner turmoil or jealousy that is the eventual wedge that breaks up so many bands.
Big Sam’s Funky Nation played on the 4 Rivers stage, and as usual, was a force to be reckoned with. His energy is infectious and within two songs, he had the whole crowd dancing up a storm. He stuck to singing and playing that screaming trombone of his and dropped the annoying “crowd conducting” (“everybody put your hands up”, “somebody scream”, etc…) that he often relies on. Los Lobos played a set full of their heavier rock material and one of their last songs was a down and dirty version of “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” which featured heavy guitar solos which really brought out the song’s menacing lyrics.
Luther and Cody Dickinson’s band The North Mississippi Allstars also did their part to keep the crowd by the main stage moving. They were joined by bassist and vocalist Danielle Nicole who provided deep bass grooves, belting vocals and a “kick ass” attitude that help bring NMAS up a level.
In addition to those were inspiring performances from Mal Devisa (a one-woman bass act), Mikey Sweet (local singer/songwriter with strong Townes Van Zandt influence), Upstate Rubdown (acoustic country gospel group led by three female singers), Margo Price (a country balladeer), and Winterpills (local favorite). Weather issues aside, 2016 Green River was a New England gem of a festival that kept it real – something we need to see more today in the festival scene.
2 Responses
What’s the name of the tto singing into one mic on the top photograph? Forgive me if it’s there and I just missed it. Thanks!
Lula Wiles, They are an acoustic trio from New England. They have a traditional folk sound, but what sets them apart from other folk trios for me is the richness of sound (instrumentally and vocally) added by the bassist Mali Obomsawin. They are playing throughout New England and upstate NY this summer — catch them if you can, you won’t regret it