I made it through the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival this last weekend, and it was 5 of the most grueling, muddy, expensive, and totally badass days of my life. And now I'm here to try and recap it all for you here. At least I'll let you know who was there and what it was all about. There's gonna be a lot to swallow here, so maybe you should take it like I did, one day at a time. Spread it out, lest your knees become weak and your mind brittle.
Day 1:
Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars
Ben Kweller
John Mayer
Wolfmother
We were so excited for the first day of the festival, we got there at midday, not even realizing that the gates opened at 4. We had already braved the traffic to get into the parking lot, so there was no way we were leaving, so we went over the the golf course clubhouse next to the grounds to grab a couple drinks. Already feeling good when the doors opened, we got straight into it. We started by seeing the Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars, if only for the fact that we had just seen Blood Diamond and the band met while in one of the refugee camps there. They were really good and peppy, and got everyone going.
Ben Kweller and John Mayer both kicked ass by my standards even though a lot of other people there thought they're too poppy. John Mayer's blues guitar definitely stole the show, and some of his bigger hits got everyone ready for what was going to be the biggest act of the night: Wolfmother. Easily the biggest rock act to come out of Australia since Jet hit the scene a couple years back, Wolfmother set it off and had everyone moshing and headbanging well into the night. Don't ask me how or why, but I was dead in the middle of it all, and got out into the cold night drenched in sweat, my head pumping and my legs shaking. If you had looked closely, you could've seen a mix of horror and pure excitement in my eyes that I had 4 more days of this to go.
Day 2:
Rodriguez
Gomez
Joss Stone
Animal Liberation Orchestra
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
The Magic Numbers
Everyone was absolutely wrecked the next day. The gates opened earlier, but we still got there around 3:00 to see Rodriguez, who everyone kept saying was one of the best and most respected country and blues singers around. His set wasn't the most exciting, but he had some really good, solid music, and got a standing ovation for a good long time after he was done. Gomez had an excellent pop set, and I really got into them, even though I hadn't really heard their music before.
I was a little bit upset with Joss Stone going into the festival just because of the fact that she took the place of the Dave Matthews Band, who cancelled their spot for unknown reasons just a couple weeks before the festival. I've never been much into girl singers like that, but she ended up having one of the best sets of the day. What can I say? She's hot. But she had a really good voice and her band was excellent.
After that, everyone was gonna kinda chill out during the Animal Liberation Orchestra since no one had heard of them. We grabbed a seat under a tree and started to have a snack when we heard them announcing a special guest. We had heard a rumor spreading through the leaves, and once the words left their mouths, I was up and running. Jack Johnson comes out of the woodwork and grabs a guitar. He plays maybe 7 songs with the band, and the place erupts with cheers, and once he's gone, everyone leaves the band to it and goes back to their food.
I didn't really know what to expect from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, but they ended up being one of my biggest surprises of the festival. REad more about the next day for why. Then, to end off the night, there was another band that I didn't know too much about, The Magic Numbers, but they too far excedded my expectations. They came out fired up and played a kickass set full of searing solos, singalongs, and lots of standing on speakers whilst playing their guitar jutting from their pelvic region as if it was some sort of musical fallice. Good stuff. Straight up.
Day 3:
Amos Lee
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Fat Freddy's Drop
Fishbone
Ozomatli
The Roots
The third day is perhaps the hardest to get into. It's just like the week. You get into hump day, and you know that once it's over, you'll be clear, but getting there, you're a physical and emotional heap of crap. That's why I was glad that the day started off with Amos Lee, a simple folky artist with catchy, laid-back tunes. Before the set, I actually met a kid that went to the same high school as me, so we started chatting it up a bit, up until an older lady started talking to me about the past Blues and Roots festivals. She was nice though. So Amos Lee was a good start. I was a little bit hesitant about seeing Bela Fleck again just because I thought I might miss out on something really special, but as they got to the end of their set, I realized that this was the special thing I didn't want to miss. The bass player for them is touted to be one of the best, if not THE best in the world, and at the very end he started into this wicked slap solo and started getting really fast, then when you least expect it, he starts throwing it around his neck and playing it again exactly in time, then he does it again and again and again. The entire tent is in shock and disbelief, but then I find out that he does this all the time. It's like a freaking game for him. AND you should see the drum machine that they use. It looks like a guitar, but it's a couple drum pads duck taped together. Wicked.
I was really looking forward to Fat Freddy's Drop after randomly listening to one of their CDs in Sydney, but they were really a big disappointment for me. They have this really good dance/ska/hip hop fusion thing going on, but in their set they just threw a ton and I mean a TON of bass at everyone and wanted them to dance. When I say a lot of bass, I mean not only does it rattle your teeth, but you feel lucky to be alive after hearing it. So much that you felt that it was harnessed by an evil genius, he could build a weapon of mass destruction out of it, one that would bring buildings to the ground. But if it were harnessed by a good genius, he could build a weapon of massive dance potential, one that would bring buildings to the ground. So it was amazing to witness, but not exactly the best thing to be a part of.
So after that, Fishbone took the stage, and it started off with the lead singer coming out high on something other than life and he paced back and forth on stage for a while just talking about... I don't know. But the rest of the band came on and they tore the place up. They're a sort of punk band, so there was moshing aplenty, which means that there's always assholes abound. Three guys in particular, and one that tried diving off the front railing onto me in the crowd, so I moved out of the way and let him hit the ground. I kicked him in the side, and yelled to him that he was pathetic, and he kept rocking. God I hate that kid. But thumbs up for Fishbone.
Ozomatli. I'd heard the name but not the music, and they were easily my favorite new band of the festival. They play Latin, rock, hip hop... you name it. They can blend them all together, or play them seperately. They're funny, catchy, and they have an amazing sound.
Then the Roots took the stage, and even with all the big bands before them, they still managed to steal the show. Their live sound was really nothing like their CDs, and they threw in more of a rock sound, which drew in more of a crowd too. They played some of their great songs and tore through the night in a torrent, and left the audience begging for more until they almost had to chase us off the grounds. We're past the hump.
Day 4:
Kaki King
Jackson Jackson
Kev Carmody
Vanessa Amorosi
Paul Kelly
Kasey Chambers
Xavier Rudd
John Butler Trio
OK. So the fourth day is the hardest, but not for the normal reasons. I wake up to find that the ground is sopping wet and the rain is still crashing down. And I have a terrible cold. I'm coughing and sniffing and popping pills but I still get there at 1:00 for Kaki King. I might've written about her back right after Christmas when my friends and I went a coupld towns over to see her at a church, and she was still amazing, but since we'd already seen her, we ducked out a little bit early to see Jackson Jackson. I still don't know what to think of them. They had good music, but they also wore weird santo-style masks and eye patches. But they were energetic and it almost made me forget about my cold for a while.
After they were done, I threw down my backpack and rest my head upon it to get a little rest while Kev Carmody played the didgeridoo and told everyone stories about old Australia. I was feeling alright and my legs were getting some rest, when Vanessa Amorosi came on. I can not describe the anguish that this woman caused me. As I told my friends, it's unfortunate that my ear plugs didn't have a shit filter on them. But she really only played covers, and she ruined every single one of them. She had an absolutely horrendous, man-like voice, and every good vibe that I was getting from the day was washed away like the rain that was still coming and going as it pleased.
Then Paul Kelly hit the stage, and the tent was packed. I wouldn't have guessed it, but Paul Kelly is like the Bob Dylan of Australia, and he's loved by pretty much every person here. Yeah, he was great, but I still felt terrible, so I grabbed a seat in the back, and enjoyed the music while trying to avoid the couple of leaky spots in the tent. I wasn't going anywhere after that, but Kasey Chambers had a really good set, and I'm surprised at how much I liked her. She had a great voice, and she had a really good, fun country sound, that even people who don't like country music could get into.
Then Xavier Rudd and the John Butler Trio. They're REALLY popular in Australia, since they started out as buskers (people who play in the streets for money) and worked their way up onto the national stage. It's clear to see why they did become popular as they had the entire place bouncing for 3 straight hours. It was also good to see that the country has so much support for their small artists such as buskers (even though they're not much of buskers anymore). So only one more day to go.
Day 5:
GoGol Bordello
Ash Grunwald
Flogging Molly
The Waifs
The Sunshiners
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
Obviously, everyone was pumped for this day. I was still deathly sick, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I had found 2 drink tickets the day before, so I knew that I had to use those, even if it killed me. So we started with GoGol Bordello, who were supposed to be pretty good, and they were, but it was too slow and mellow for us at the time so we went to see Ash Grunwald, who everyone was talking about. He's another busker type, a dreadlocked surfer that starts shaking his hair all over when he really gets going. He had some really funny songs and got me in a good mood, which was good because one of my most anticipated bands was coming up. I went and got a rum and coke and drained it all too quickly, then went and grabbed the other one and took it with me to see Flogging Molly. Come on... you can't be sober when you see Flogging Molly. They were everything that I had hoped for. They played a killer set, full of some of their best songs, and I was really surprised at how great they sounded. It was almost like they had brought Ireland with them, along with some drunken brawlers since I saw one dude get dragged out by his throat by a bouncer. Sweet.
The Waifs were alright. They've won so many awards here, they have to be good, and they were, but my sinuses were screaming and punching my brain, so I got out of the crowd and went to get away from the music and people for a while. I grabbed some food and chilled out until I heard some good sounding reggae coming from the middle of the grounds. The Sunshiners were playing, and even if no one had heard of them, they were certainly going crazy over them now. Everyone was on their feet and dancing around. At least it was a hell of a lot better than Missy Higgins who was playing on the main stage.
They finished up, and then there was only one thing to look forward to: a two-hour marathon from Ben Harper. Alright, he came on 15 minutes late, but I'll allow it. He had probably the most impressive set out of anybody. It was diverse and moving and it had everyone in a wave of emotions as the festival came to a close. He even brought out his old friend Jack Johnson to sing Masters of War with him, and Bonnie Raitt to do a couple of songs together. Fantastic. Nobody wanted to leave the tent and they kept roaring, waiting for more, but that was it, the night was over, the festival was over and we had nowhere to go but home before our 10 o'clock class the next day. Not the best thing to look forward to, but I can tell you that my mind definitely wasn't on school when I got back into the classroom.
A quick recap:
Attendance: 14,000 (basically packed into a high school football stadium)
# of bands: 142
# of stages: 4
Hours of music I heard: 46.5
# of bands I saw: 30
Basic price I paid per band: $13
Most unexpected cover: Immigrant Song by The Roots
Second most unexpected cover: Back in Black - a reggae version by The Sunshiners
Best sing along: Woman by Wolfmother
Best band in an undeserving time slot: Flogging Molly - 3:30-4:30
Worst band in an undeserving time slot: Vanessa Amorosi - She just should'nt've been there
Best moment ruined by stupid people: Ben Harper trying to sing a capella without a microphone to 14,000 people with 4 or 5 people screaming "I love you Ben"
Most unexpected moment: A naked man running around on top of the main tent at the end of the first night
So there it is. One of the top three music festivals in the world in a nutshell. Trying to describe it is like trying to give witness to a quadruple murder; you can't really find the words to say what went on, but what you saw will stick with you forever.
