Inaugural Catbird Festival Delivers At 1969 Woodstock Site With Tyler Childers, Margo Price, The Lumineers, Johnnyswim & More (FESTIVAL REVIEW/PHOTOS)

Expectations are high for first-year music festivals, especially those run by a large festival production company like C3 Presents/LiveNation. But combine that expertise with the seasoned staff and infrastructure of the Bethel Woods Arts Center, the mystique of holding a festival at the original Woodstock site, and perfect weather, and you get a beautifully-run festival that went off almost without a hitch.

The festival took place over the weekend of August 19-20, 54 years to the weekend after the original Woodstock, and consisted of music on two stages without any musical overlap. The gates opened at 11 am and the last note was at 11 pm each day – with each stage (mostly) running like clockwork. The main stage utilized the Bethel Woods Art Center’s main pavilion, with seats under an open-air enclosure and additional space on an expansive grassy hill in the sun. It is a space built for concerts and had all the amenities one could ask for (sound system, lighting rigs, padded seats, concession stands with trained staff, full-service bathrooms, etc.). Two-thirds of the bottom section of seats were reserved for VIP/Platinum ticket holders while the stage right third plus the entire second tier of seats were available for GA attendees. The Gala Music stage hosted the smaller acts during the day that were limited to 30 minutes while the main stage changed over.

Lastly, it must be said that the location was spectacularly picturesque and well-equipped. It is hard to imagine a more beautiful, turn-key facility for a music festival. The compound had enough pristine bathrooms (with full plumbing) that there was never a wait, plenty of concession stands and cocktail bars with professionally trained staff and beautifully maintained grounds complete with shade, a brook that many attendees dipped into, and winding trails and out-of-the-way places to enjoy nature if one needed a break. There was also a Maker’s Market and The Museum at Bethel Woods, aka The Woodstock Museum, stayed open during the festival and was a delight. The site was big enough that it never felt crowded, yet intimate enough to feel that both the artists and the audience could feel a connection. They could have used a few more external food vendors for variety, but all-in-all it was an exceedingly pleasant and sophisticated festival full of courteous and friendly staff and attendees.

Now for the music. To start, let me just say that there was not a single bad set of music all weekend – which is a first for this reviewer. Like Woodstock, the lineup was a little all over the place. Generally, the music was a mix of roots-inspired music with some country influences interwoven with some straight-up country acts. Saturday’s bill was: The Lumineers, The War On Drugs, Band Of Horses, Adia Victoria, Trampled By Turtles, 49 Winchester, Margo Price, Briscoe, James Bay, John R. Miller, and Johnnyswim.

The best set of the day was turned in by Adia Victoria who played on the Gala Stage from 5-5:30 PM.  She played an emotional set that highlighted the struggles that an African-American woman who is devoted to her home in South Carolina faces – particularly in the country/blues music business. Her vocals were overflowing with passion, talent, and urgency. Her four-piece band brought some much-needed fire to the pristine setting, reminding us all that there is still a lot of work to do to deliver on the premises of the original Woodstock festival. The three songs that stood out most were “Magnolia Blues” from her 2021 release A Southern Gothic, “South Gotta Change”, a song she wrote in 2020 during COVID; and her most recent single, “Ain’t Killed Me Yet”. She is on tour in September and is working on a new album – go see her!

The Lumineers might be the most consistent band on tour, and don’t look now, but they have gotten really big. They closed out Saturday on the main stage in the 9:30 – 11 slot and did not disappoint. Their crew used the entire 45-minute set-up time to transform the stage into a series of platforms and synchronized lights that filled the entire stage which made the previous acts melt away and transformed the experience to a Lumineers concert.

The band has managed to walk the fine line between folk and rock; precision and passion; and extravagance and intimacy. The six-piece band all sing and each adds their own flavor to the performance. The band is fronted by Wesley Schultz, who holds down the majority of the lead vocal and guitar duties, and founding drummer, Jeremiah Fraites who wears his signature white tee-shirt, suspenders, and black top hat to every gig. Even that pairing provides a counterpoint of solemnity and whimsy. Throw in the unbridled childlike energy of pianist Stelth Ulvang (who can be seen leaping from every possible platform – pianos, railings, risers, etc); the pure joy and vocal talent of bassist, Byron Isaacs; the elegance of Lauren Jacobson on violin and piano; and the professionalism of utility-man (mandolin, guitar & percussion), Brandon Miller; and you have an outfit that truly looks like they love every minute of playing together.

They squeezed 15 songs into their 90-minute set drawing from old and new material by playing: “Brightside”, “AM Radio” and “Where We Are” from their 2022 release Brightside; “Gloria” and “Leader Of The Landside” from their 2019 release III; “Sleep On The Floor”, “Angela”, “Ophelia” and “Cleopatra” from 2016’s Cleopatra; “Dead Sea”, “Ho Hey”, “Slow It Down”, “Big Parade”, and “Charlie Boy” from their 2012 debut The Lumineers; and an inspired version of The Band’s “The Weight” with Margo Price and Simone Felice sitting in as guest vocalists. They played each song with gusto and precision and sent their fans happily into the night with their closing number, “Big Parade”.

Margo Price also put on an inspired set on the Main Stage from 2:30 – 3:30. She came out of the gate at full speed with the hard rocking number “Been To The Mountain” from her 2023 album Strays and went almost directly into the mellower tune “Time Machine” from the same record. Her country roots and strong vocals came through during “That’s How Rumors Get Started” and later during “Change of Heart” which had a bit of an outlaw feel. Most people think of her as a country act from Nashville, but she showed the Catbird crowd that she is so much more. Sure, her set consisted of some straight-up-ish country tunes, but there were even more hard-rocking numbers that had four swirling guitars crashing notes around each other that felt like Neil Young’sharder songs. She was full of positive, uncontrollable energy that sent her sprinting barefoot around the stage urging each of her six band members on in their solos. Twice during the set, she sprinted back to an auxiliary drum kit to bump the rhythm section’s ferocity meter up a level.

Up-and-coming band, Briscoe, also turned in a strong 30-minute set on the Gala Stage from 2-2:30. They are fronted by a pair of harmonizing redhead musicians, Truett Heintzelman and Philip Luton, who recently graduated from the University of Texas. Their sound is what you would get if you took straight Americana and lightly battered it in pop breadcrumbs and fried it in Texas oil with a bit of funk dripped on for flavor. You can hear this most clearly in their song, “Hooped Earrings” off their 2020 EP, Briscoe. Their 2023 single “The Well” sounds more like straight Americana that might come from a much more seasoned outfit.

Fortunately for Johnnyswim, their fans made it up the hill and through the gates in time for the first set of the day that started promptly at 12 noon. The husband-and-wife partners, Amanda Sudano and Abner Ramirez have been playing songs together since the band formed in 2005 in Nashville. Every song they perform shows how strong the romantic connection is between them. They also have a great connection with the audience. In fact, at one point, Abner looked into the crowd, was comforted by the number of Johnnyswim tee-shirts he saw in the crowd, and exclaimed, “Band merch is a great way to know you have family in the wild.” Later, the band took a song request from a young fan who after requesting a song, replied that her name was Taylor. Amanda went backstage to get a sharpie, updated the setlist, and gave it to Taylor. The band showed a good deal of their range from the upbeat, “Ring The Bells” to the more solemn, “Annie”.

Trampled By Turtles gave everything they had with their harmonic blend of voices and acoustic instruments. They stood in a line in order of instrument length – mandolin, fiddle, banjo, guitar, acoustic bass, and cello – and alternated between slower ballads like “All The Good Times Are Gone” and “It’s So Hard To Hold On” to numbers like, “Feet And Bones” that were so frenetic it seemed like the friction across their strings were contributing to global warming.

The War On Drugs also performed the penultimate set on the main stage. Their brand of guitar-based indie rock, played well to the crowd and showcased Adam Granduciel’s guitar and bandleading skills. The six-person outfit of mostly guitars and keyboards kept the crowd attentive for their 90-minute, 11-song set which focused on their 2022 release I Don’t Live Here Anymore, playing “Harmonia’s Dream”, “I Don’t Wanna Wait”, “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”, and closing with “Occasional Rain” from that album.

Sunday brought another walk up the hill, more beautiful weather, and a new slate of bands to Catbird. There was a more straight-ahead country aspect to Sunday’s lineup which featured: Tyler Childers, Trey Anastasio Band, Dispatch, Allison Russell, Charley Crockett, The Soul Rebels, Amos Lee, Eggy, Morgan Wade, Madeline Edwards, Celisse, and a showcase consisting of Nick Rains, Just Shockey and Love Crumbs which all impressed and brought a devoted following.

Allison Russell proved to be the strongest vocalist over the two-day festival in her 30-minute set that closed the Gala stage from 5 – 5:30. There were points during her short set when her vocals made audience members’ arm hair stand on end. In addition to her vocal talent, she is equally skilled on the clarinet and the banjo. She fronted her all-woman band in such a deferential way that she sang the praises of each of her three “chosen sisters” with complete descriptions of all their other projects even though it took away precious minutes from her set. She eloquently touched upon issues of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sexual assault in a way that built community among the 200 or so fortunate concertgoers who had made their way to the Gala Stage.

Russell played a few songs from her soon-to-be-released album, The Returner — “The Returner” and “Snakelife” whose lyrics promised to fight for a world where “every child is safe and loved and black is beautiful, and queer is beautiful and trans is beautiful”. She finished the set with a crowd request, “Nightflyer” from her 2021 release Outside Child. Tyler Childers was so impressed with her performance that he invited her to sit in with his band for the closing set of the festival.

Love Crumbs, is a young band from the Massachusetts area fronted by Ali McTavish on vocals with energy and talent to spare. They played a few songs by themselves “Ellipses” and “Calvalcades” which might be the perfect song to showcase the band’s talents. Midway they were joined by Just Shockey to perform a song they collaboratively wrote two days ago which hasn’t been named yet, but which left the crowd in awe. They were a band that should just have been happy to be there (they were voted in as fan favorite on the Gala platform), but they wowed the audience with their enthusiasm, talent, and musicianship. McTavish was helped out by another female vocalist whose voice was just as impressive. They don’t play much yet, and they only have three and a half songs to their name but keep a lookout for Love Crumbs in the near future.

Dispatch is a hard band to figure out, but one thing was for sure, they rocked the Main Stage for a full 60 minutes. Most bands sound harder live than they do on record, and this was particularly true for Dispatch. Even the laid-back tunes, “The General” and “Bang Bang” had way more teeth than this reviewer was expecting. The quintet switched instruments and lead vocalists a lot and the second drum kit added some extra punch that drove the band and the crowd to rock harder. Their lyrics were political and were backed by an animated video that played behind them depicting what will happen if the world continues to be driven by profit, violence and exploitation of the environment. No one knows if the recently re-assembled band will stay together, but they are playing five more festivals through the end of the year, so see them while you can and hope that they have as much fun as they seemed to have in Bethel Woods so they keep touring and putting out music.

Amos Lee played the 2:30-3:30 slot on the Main Stage and captivated the audience with his soulful voice. Although he has maintained a steady touring diet for years, he still seemed to get immense pleasure from listening to his six band members. In fact, there were times when he got so into listening to his bandmates play, that it seemed like he was going to forget to sing. At one poignant moment he and his bass player, Elliott Skinner, sang a beautiful version of “Violin” as a duet backed only by Lee’s guitar. He was so taken with Skinner’s voice, that everyone in the building could feel the admiration flowing from Lee. Later in the set, he brought out Solomon Dorsey from Celisse’s band to sing with him as well.

Speaking of Celisse, although she had some initial technical difficulties, she finished with a wonderful rendition of the Bill Withers classic “Use Me”. She might have had the line of the festival when she earnestly thanked the crowd for coming early to see her show, “I have been working my whole life to play on stages like this, so when you come early and support the early acts, you are participating directly in that dream, so thank you all.”

Trey Anastasio Band had some real bright spots but probably suffered from being confined to a single 90-minute set in which they managed to squeeze in eight songs. Cognizant of the band’s propensity for longer songs, the rules in the photography pit were changed from the customary “three songs and out” to “15 minutes and out”. Even though they were rushed, you could still see the genius of Trey’s guitar solos which are full of diverse licks and leave what seems like just the right amount of space between notes. In addition, Jennifer Hartswick’s trumpet and vocals stood out as did just about everything percussion mad scientist Cyro Baptista pulled out of his bag of tricks –from a giant sheet of metal, to a yellow hose, to a pair of ordinary swim fins.

Morgan Wade and Charley Crockett both played their versions of country music with Wade falling more on the rock side and Crockett falling on the more old-school side of the genre. They both had solid voices and although Crocket had the larger and more seasoned band, complete with a fantastic trumpet player, it was Wade who seemed to enjoy herself more. 

After Trey’s set, the Main Stage underwent a complete transformation. As the risers and pedal boards were wheeled out, the stage crew began carrying all sorts of props for Tyler Childer’s set. First came some furniture straight out of Little House on the Prarie: a TV cabinet (which was showing some Andy Williams TV show), a hat rack, a dresser, and a china cabinet. Next, the befuddled stage crew brought out an entire nature scene piece by piece: moss-covered logs, grass tufts, and even a few taxidermized critters – a possum, an armadillo & a pair of squirrels. While the roadies were trying to figure out the correct sequence of the logs and grasses, the audience was undergoing a similar transformation.

Dozens of fans who had squatted in their seats for most of the day in Phish garb danced off into the night and were instantly replaced by the denim and cowboy hat-wearing set that was there for Childers. As the clock struck 9:30 the band got into position and launched straight into the 18-song, 90-minute set. He was all business with no significant song introductions or banter of any kind. The band was tight and stuck religiously to the setlist. The only cracks in the routine seemed to be when Allison Russell joined them on clarinet for the instrumental number, “Squirrel Hunter”, and the band spread their musical wings a little bit; and when the keyboardist realized that the stuffed squirrels on his piano were facing the wrong way and turned them around early in the set. The setlist was focused on his 2022 release, Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?” as he played over half of that album in the first half of his set. He finished the night off with two of his heartfelt ballads from 2017 “Nose On The Grindstone” and the love song “Lady May” which showed off his “perfect for country” voice and delighted his loyal and whooping fans.

All in all, the weekend was a rousing success, virtually guaranteeing that there will be a Catbird 2024. In addition, the Bethel Woods Arts Center shined brilliantly, including its wonderfully entertaining Woodstock Museum, so even if you can’t make it to Catbird, make a point of visiting soon, and leave plenty of time for walking around.