2008

On labor day weekend Jeremy Gordon and Carla Danca headed to the ninth annual moe.down and filed this report on the festival…

Is there a way to better sum up a beautiful weekend in upstate NY than Abigail Washburn’s proclamation to those gathered on the slope Saturday evening? “What a wonderful festival, where a band throws a party, invites all their friends, family, favorite musicians and the best fans to share the weekend.” Even after a summer of soaring gas prices and packed with festivals, the moe.rons didn’t hesitate to make the trek up to moe.down 9 at Snow Ridge Mountain in Turin, NY. The annual thank you party drew a wide assortment of sounds that brought fans young and old out to the main stage and beer tent set among the chair lifts and rolling slopes of the Tug Hill region of the Adirondacks that makes up moe.’s backyard.

One difference between moe.down and most other festival this summer was apparent at the side stage; this was truly a show for the fans by the fans. In the beer tent, hand-picked new generation acts were given multiple sets to allow them to truly show off more than just a quick taste of their skills. U-Melt started the festival off on Friday evening with three sets including a tribute to Michael Jackson on his 50th birthday that included Billie Jean, Wanna be Starting Something and ended with the entire tent entranced into their own version of the Thriller video.

READ ON for more thoughts and photos from moe.down 9…

There is a scene in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan where an American journalist asks a commanding officer, played by Tom Hanks, why he and his men are attempting to save the title character. Hanks as Captain Miller replies, “Anyone wanna answer that?” Ryan’s family had lost three of four sons in World War II, and the American government decided that a fourth and final death would not happen, so Hanks led a crack platoon into the heart of the war to extract the lone living Ryan son, played by Matt Damon. The film is based on a true story about eight brothers who died in the American Civil War.

I am reminded of films of the events that took place in the air on September 11, 2001, and on the ground as people waited for their loved ones to return home. Alas, unlike Ryan, this would not always occur as husbands, wives, children, relatives, friends, and co-workers were lost forever due to multiple terrorist acts of stone cold murder.

This week’s Hidden Flick is actually two films about World War II that happened from the perspective of those left at home while the horrors of battle raged on—women and children. However, the horrors of war are an equal opportunity employer; all creeds, religions, sexes, and age groups are involved. These films show what happens to the individual in society, and how life—a precious and unique gift—is torn apart, squandered, and thrown away when conflict cannot be solved by peaceful means.

READ ON for this week’s Hidden Flick double feature…

When I first saw the Dirty Dozen Brass Band a few years ago, I was struck by the gritty guitar playing of axeslinger Jamie McLean. I’ve been following McLean’s career

On September 25, “Phish frontman and guitar legend” Trey Anastasio will perform with the Orchestra Nashville Quartet before an intimate crowd at Ocean Way Studios just two days before the