Beach Road Weekend on Martha’s Vineyard in its second year has somehow managed to put on the ideal festival. Three days of great lineups. Two stages with music running continually. Decent food for a festival. Excellent and varied beverage choices. Good vendors. Friendly and low-key staff and security. And the right number of festival-goers with good attitudes and focused on the music. They even managed well through last-minute line-up cancellations. This year, they were blessed with almost perfect weather (more on that later) and handled other festival calamities as well as possible.
Friday under clear blue skies, the festival opened calmly with everyone through the gates by the time the opener, Brooklyn-based The National Reserve, kicked off. With only a half hour to play, they didn’t quite establish a sound and their seven or so songs ran the gamut between southern rock, bar band and Americana, but their set was solid, ending with “California” and their mellow version of “Lil Liza Jane”.
There was something for everyone on Friday from singer-songwriters early in the day – Clem Snide (aka Eef Barzelay) who somehow managed an ode to drunk girls “I Wasn’t Really Drinking” that was not based in rape culture and Massachusetts’ Aoife O’Donovan with a full band playing many songs off her new album “Age of Apathy” – to the punkish edge of Bully and the lush indie rock of Mt. Joy and Lord Huron. Houston trio Khruangbin added a groovy vibe to the late afternoon slump with their funky and trancey instrumentals that you could just close your eyes and chill to, except you just had to catch bassist Laura Lee and guitarist Mark Speer prowl the stage vamping through their songs.
A highlight was perennial festers, Shovels and Rope, out of Charleston, SC as husband and wife team Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst trade loving and knowing glances, instruments, and lyrics as they sing at each other and entertain the crowd with their rowdy musical storytelling. Hearst’s voice and whirling presence on the drum kit demand attention, but then you notice his craggy voice filling out the sound of his electric guitar kick in and one doesn’t know where to focus. With a backing track on some songs, it all comes together and then they switch instruments. Hearst picks up the acoustic and Trent provides a simpler percussion to the songs and then they switch again. As you catch a clever phrase, you realize that the stories in these songs and lyrics are worthy of closer attention: “I’m blackout drunk in a cotton field on a Friday night and I got nothing to do but tell you how I feel”.
Many songs kicked off with a story – like bringing their two young kids and dog on the road with them so as one kid knocked over the donut table backstage, the dog was there to clean it up. “It’s fuckin’ madness” quipped Hearst. Their set was great from beginning to end but especially strong mid-set with “The Devil Is All Around”, “Birmingham”, “C’mon Utah” and “Mississippi Nuthin’”.
For the Friday night closer The Avett Brothers, it was clear why they were the main attraction as the majority of the attendees could be spotted singing along to each lyric. The headliner’s energy level was high from the start, as the North Carolina band can be seen swapping instruments, and dancing around the stage, even Joe Kwon with a cello that he lugged around like it was a mere violin. When they went a bit mellow for “I Wish I Was” the crowd was with them, singing every word. Their 19-song-set was a solid performance covering various moods and genres.
As the show ended, the crowd could turn around and see a new show – a lightning storm playing over the ocean and adjacent marina. It built for the next 45 minutes allowing everyone to get out of the festival and then resolved to a good hour-long torrential downpour that was just not on anyone’s plan and made for a delayed or soggy trip home by bike, foot, or bus shuttle to various parts of the island and mainland.
But the storm’s real impact was felt on Saturday as festers returned to Veteran’s Memorial Park to find not only a delayed opening but the first five bands dropped from the lineup including The War and Treaty which was this reviewer’s draw to the festival. With their packed touring schedule, they were unable to figure out a way to play but at least three of the bands managed a bit – The Collection had played the night before at the After Show with Ripe, Sammy Rae and The Friends playing the Saturday After Show and Bahamas joined Dawes and Guster during their afternoon sets.
But after festival organizers sucked up the excess water and checked all the electricity, the crowds poured in, many running for prime rail space for Billy Strings later in the day. But first Lettuce hit with their mix of funk and R&B-fueled jams. They started funky and then grooved into “Shine” which set the mood for their show and for the rescued afternoon of music. With only an hour to play (instead of their usual three) they alternated funk and slow jams with tension-building musical exercises.
Billy Strings, who has been blowing up the live music circuit, put on a victorious show. With his superior guitar picking, he lives up to his name and his backing band is phenomenal. He extended most of his songs to over ten minutes taking his blue grass sound well into jam territory. And while it may have flummoxed some of his fans, his take on jazz standard “Summertime” was divine.
Beck was the closer and entering the stage alone in a cream, wide-legged suit, and his guitar, he greeted the crowd with “The Golden Age” courtesy of a guitar intro that hinted southern rock. He bantered, danced, and as he said “serenaded” the crowd through another three songs before his band joined him on a platform above the stage and ripped into “The Devil’s Haircut”. From there, Beck just didn’t let up. With limited production and lights, his show was mid-way between his acoustic sets and his hyper-produced shows and he was in fine form. Somehow, he packed more than two dozen songs and a clothing change to black into his 90-minute set.
Later that night, Sammy Rae & The Friends who had been canceled earlier that day got their chance to play at the After Show at The Loft in Oak Bluffs. It was clear the band was aching to play as they literally jumped up to the stage and their energy never let up. Sammy Rae frolicked the full stage with her guitarists and sax players in tow, hanging off the stage into the crowd, dancing with her keyboard player, and whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Sound issues pushed the start time close to midnight and they sure put the beach town curfew to a test as they played into the night. Neighbor, who then played the festival on Sunday, was the warm-up and piqued this reviewer’s interest in checking out their sound.
Sunday again necessitated some rearrangement due to Lucinda Williams being unable to play to due her band’s covid issues, a reality to concert-going today. But with a half-hour later start, a few extended sets, and some schedule swaps, all was well. Jeremie Albino had the opening slot and demonstrated why you should always get to festivals on time and check out new acts. This five-piece heavy blues band was rocking throughout their too-short set. The lyrics and songwriting immediately pull you in, as do the guitar-heavy sound of Albino augmented by his slide guitarist, and then you get four of the five guys singing to top it off.
The lineup for the rest of the day included standout sets from songwriter legend Emmylou Harris who defies her 75 years, Caamp who brought a youthful energy to the Americana realm, locals Neighbor, a delightful Livingston Taylor, and headliner Wilco, whose seventeen-song set included a guest spot from Jason Isbell on “California Stars.”
The show of the night, if not the festival, was Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. He jumped right in with “24 Frames” and “Hope The High Road” and the guitars and heaviness just kept building to a fantastic “Decoration Day” (he had written while with Drive-By Truckers). Covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” and Drivin N Cryin’s “Honeysuckle Blue” were exceptional. (Former Drivin N Cryin guitarist Sadler Vaden is now in the 400 Unit band.) The show closed with “Cover Me Up” and its booming drums that made a big statement on the small island.
Dear Reader: If you made it this far in the review, it’s ok to book your accommodations and transpo for next Beach Road Weekend. The Island is beautiful, fun, relaxed, and bike-friendly, and though seemingly remote, easy to get to and around. This festival has figured out how to get a bunch of musicians to Martha’s Vineyard who have never been there (along with this reviewer). And without getting too broad in the musical spectrum managed to attract both the seasoned festival-goer and the younger crowd of music fans. See you next August!
