For those of you who have been following my major festival posts...get ready for installment #3! Rothbury Music Festival kicked off today (Thursday) on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
This year is only the second year of the primarily jam band festival. It seems like Rothbury is the festival that took over Bonnaroo's vibe once Roo switched from the jam-band festival to the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink festival. If you don't think that Rothbury is the new true hipster fest you better check out the lineup. Here are 10 bands headlining this weekend's Rothbury Music Festival that true-ly make it the premiere jam band festival in America (sorry Roo, Coachella...these guys got ya beat):1. The Dead - The band that backed Jerry Garcia's brilliant mind for more than 3 decades. The Dead are playing their only summer performance after wrapping up a very long winter/early spring tour across America. Yeah it's not the same with Jerry gone, but the true spirit of the music is still there. Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann...they're all gonna be in the UP this weekend playing favorites like "Casey Jones", "Uncle John's Band", "Sugar Magnolia"...you name it, these guys will play it. After all...they're playing a 2-set headlining show on Saturday night. Sadly I've never seen them altogether. I've seen Phil Lesh & Friends twice and Bob Weir & Ratdog twice...both are great acts. Hopefully I'll get to see them some day.
2. Bob Dylan - The greatest folk singer/songwriter of all time. It's just simply amazing that at 68 years old the legend is still touring...for a new album that was just released a couple months ago. I bet they'll be a lot of guest stars that come out and jam with him...but that's still to be seen.
3. String Cheese Incident - Rothbury will be the only performance for SCI in 2009...which is a real treat for those attending the festival. I saw SCI back at Vegoose in 2005 and they were like nothing I had ever heard before. Little to no singing...just straight bluegrass/folk/rock/psychadelic jamming. These dudes know how to play their instruments...and for a long time at that (some of their songs will probably run 15-20 minutes long). What's surprising is to see them on the ticket at all since Billy Nershi left the band to pursue other projects a couple years ago. Hopefully this means the band is getting ready for another tour in 2010.
4. Willie Nelson - Come on...need I say more? The ultimate country/folk singer (and Texas Roadhouse co-owner) will be one of the top draws for geezers and youngins alike this weekend. Saw Willie last year at Bonnaroo...he still puts on a pretty good show for 76 years old. If there's anyone more accustomed to the road at this festival than Bob Dylan...it's Willie. After all...he coined the phrase "On the Road Again".
5. The Black Crowes - Finally a band for the younger generation. The first four acts above are all legends, but The Crowes are gonna bring some much needed energy to the weekend. They'll be plenty of hula-hooping (not as much as Phish at Roo), bongo playing, and glow sticks at the rest of the shows...but the true rock n' roll fans will come out to see Chris Robinson and the rest of the guys jam out some old favorites like "Hard to Handle", "Kickin My Heart Around", "Only a Fool" and my personal favorite..."She Talks to Angels". Still haven't gotten to see these guys...but it's on my list of priorities.
6. G Love & Special Sauce - Although I have never gotten to see these guys, I am a huge fan. G Love is a phenomenal guitarist and has a very smooth but up-tempo voice. G Love's lyrics are hilarious at times, serious at others, but always a great listen. He knows how to liven up a crowd with his laid back style of music and I'm sure his show will be one of the best of the weekend.
7. Gov't Mule - Mule kicks ass (get it?)! I've become a big fan of the band since first seeing them in '05 in Vegas. They're about the closest thing you can get to southern rock out there. Warren Haynes is the frontman of the band...which was originally just a side project on his time away from being the lead guitarist for the Allman Brothers. Haynes has become one of my favorite guitarists recently since finding out he plays a lot with Coheed and Cambria. Expect some great guitar solo's busting out in their set Sunday night.
8. Umphrey's McGee - Another great jam band of my generation. These guys play more prog rock than anything else...and they love to break out lengthy, wailing, guitar solos. I've seen these guys twice...and they put on a very up-beat show. What's cool about their Rothbury sets is that they're playing night shows on both Saturday and Sunday night...including closing out the festival on the latter. Couldn't think of a much better act to close out a weekend of jamming.
9. Ani DiFranco - The ultimate hipster feminist icon. Ani's ultra-leftist lyrics are a great fit for a jam fest. Her acoustic guitar skills are unmatched by any other female strummer I've ever heard. She's got a great voice too. I caught her down at Bonnaroo in between some other acts. She'll be a huge draw for the ladies down there, but she'll also draw a fair amount of dudes to her show. If you can get past her lyrics she's wonderful...I however am not THAT liberal. Still a great jammer that is big among the hipster scene.
10. The Disco Biscuits - The champions of electronic jam band music! The Biscuits are one hell of a good time. Their shows are very upbeat and loaded with barrages of glow sticks shooting everywhere. I've heard their style of music called "trance fusion"...if that doesn't sound like a defining genre of jam music, I don't know what is. They'll definitely be the big draw on Thursday night...as they're headlining the smallest drawing night of the fest.
So there are the 10 defining bands that make Rothbury the NEW Jam Band Fest Champs! Here are some other bands of note rockin this weekend in Michigan:
- Keller Williams
- Cold War Kids
- Damian Marley & Nas
- Les Claypool
- MSTRKRFT
- Girl Talk
- Guster
- Matisyahu
- Flogging Molly
- Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
- Zappa Plays Zappa
So to all of friends who are at the festival...by the time you read this I hope you have some good input for me. Enjoy! I will be watching the webcasts when I can...and all of you should tune in and see how things are going. If I get a chance I'd love to do some live blogging this weekend. Stay tuned on that one.
Check out the streaming webcast here.
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