It's a big hippie jam band fest this year. Of course, it's always been that way, but it looked like they were starting to trend in a different direction last year. Not so much this year.

 

My cousin is in Los Lobos so if he can swing me some kind of free access I would consider going.

 

http://www.langerado.com/

I can't even begin to describe how dissapointed I am in the lineup this year. Last year's was amazing, and this year's looks flat out terrible. I wouldn't even consider paying to go to this show now, whereas last year I would've been willing to pay double the price.

 

Ugh, what a shame. This looked like it would start to show itself as one of the major festivals around the country, and instead it's going to be terrible.

This is NOT a terrible lineup. Quite the contrary, actually. It's an UNBELIEVABLE lineup. I don't know what the stigma surrounding "hippie jam bands" are but have you actually listened to any of them? They are without question the most talented, intriguing, technical musicians that exist today, but you'd never know it because they are just dismissed as hippie jam bands and aren't given a chance. They are the closest to resembling the '60s and '70s era of music when it was all about the music, not catchy choruses or moneymaking schemes. If you like MUSIC, you will love this festival. These bands mix mulitple genres of music seamlessly and build up instrumental jams that can last 10-15 minutes and reach an intensity that will just blow your mind.

 

I'm not saying everyone will like this music (but it's hard for me to imagine how if you like rock, jazz, bluegrass, funk, soul, electronica, fusion, etc how you wouldn't). But to dismiss it without even giving it a chance just because they are associated with hippies is ridiculous. Give them a chance.

 

The following bands will all BLOW YOU AWAY:

 

Widespread Panic

Trey

Moe

Bela Fleck and the Fleckstones

Michael Franti

Medeski Martin & Wood

Explosions In The Sky

Mofro

Perpetual Groove

Tea Leaf Green

New Monsoon

Assembly of Dust

 

I'm not kidding. Most of these bands allow taping and trading of their shows. Do yourself a favor and check out archive.org or bt.etree.org and download a show. You will not be disappointed.

None of those bands can even touch Wilco, The Flaming Lips, The Black Crowes, Ben Harper, G. Love and Special Sauce, The Secret Machines, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Drive By Truckers, or Robert Randolph and the Family band. Last year's lineup was one of the best I've ever seen for a SoFla festival, and this year's looks mediocre at best.

 

You can have your bands that focus on 15 minute jams instead of actual songs, but I'll take Wilco (whose performance of "Spiders(Kidsmoke)" at last years festival absolutely blew everything else away) and the Flaming Lips (who are bar none the most entertaining live band around) and their "Money making schemes" (did you even look at the line up from last year before spouting out this nonsense?)

It's just a matter of philosophy. I appreciate the effort that goes into songcraft above all else when it comes to music. I'm sure these bands are very technically proficient, and great if they're your thing. They've probably written some good songs, too. I tend to get really bored, though, when bands break into a jam. My mind starts to wander, and I start checking my watch and looking toward the exits. From my viewpoint, you're not going to accidentally stumble into something during a jam that sounds better than a song that a musician spent a lot of his time and effort crafting.

 

My dislike of jam bands has nothing to do with their image or hippies. I like hippies. I just don't like being bored.

It's just a matter of philosophy. I appreciate the effort that goes into songcraft above all else when it comes to music. I'm sure these bands are very technically proficient, and great if they're your thing. They've probably written some good songs, too. I tend to get really bored, though, when bands break into a jam. My mind starts to wander, and I start checking my watch and looking toward the exits. From my viewpoint, you're not going to accidentally stumble into something during a jam that sounds better than a song that a musician spent a lot of his time and effort crafting.

 

My dislike of jam bands has nothing to do with their image or hippies. I like hippies. I just don't like being bored.

 

Exactly. Last year, I thought the best bands were Wilco, The Flaming Lips, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and the Drive By Truckers, and it's because they focused on making the song sound better live instead of just making it sound longer, or more technically impressive. The songs come before anything.

Like I said, if that's not your thing then that's fine. But to call this a terrible lineup is absurd, because it's far from it. I like Wilco and The Flaming Lips also, but to say that none of these bands can touch them is ridiculous unless you've actually seen these bands perform, which I'm guessing you haven't.

 

Bob, do you really believe that jam bands don't focus on making the song better live? There's no comparing a jam band's studio work and its live work, the live work is infinitely better. What do you mean "the song comes before anything"? What is the song? To you I guess it's the lyrics and the verses, well to me it's the music. I enjoy listening to music that starts as one thing and through improvisation builds up and eventually explodes into something completely crazy and unexpected. That's what makes these bands enjoyable every time you see them: each show is completely different from the last. I could go watch Wilco and watch them perform Spiders or At Least That's What You Said, but each time it's pretty much the same thing. Sounds great, sure, but gets boring after a while. I could listen to Perpetual Groove play Sundog or Green Tea and each time it will be a new experience. That, to me, is amazing. Did I even look at last year's lineup before spouting this nonsense? I was at last year's festival, as well as the one in '05 (where String Cheese Incident blew the place apart). I saw Wilco and The Flaming Lips last year. But did you bother to see Umphrey's McGee? I bet not.

 

I also don't see why you think that just because these bands jam, they don't write songs. Widespread Panic and Tea Leaf Green specifically pride themselves on their songwriting. The only band I could see maybe that didn't put much effort into songwriting is early Phish, but early Phish is over 20 years old. And it's not as if a jam is something that didn't have time and effort put into crafting it. To me, when 4, 5, or even 6 musicians can improvise together and then suddenly change tempo, style, etc simultaneously, that is extremely impressive. That does not come without practice. It's not like they're sitting there noodling around with no focus. I forgot to mention North Mississippi Allstars, who I've seen twice and put on a brilliant show that makes it impossible for you to not dance. I guess people don't like this music much because it's too complex and free-flowing, I mean like you said Mabdul, you get bored during a jam. It's not for everyone. All rock music stems from jazz, but this sort of music is exactly like jazz. Jazz isn't for everyone.

 

But don't say it's mediocre if you haven't seen any of the bands live. How can you criticize something you've never seen?

I just don't like jam bands. Whether my reason for liking them or not is justified, it doesn't change the fact that in terms of the quality of the music in my eyes, the festival has failed. I expected a lineup like last years that was diverse and interesting, with some alternative bands, dance artists, and jam artists. Instead they've decided to take a step back to 05 and simply made it a jam band festival.

 

Unless they add some different bands in a hurry, they'll have lost at least 1 ticket, and I can see the festival actually getting smaller this year.

 

 

For the record, I caught part of Umphrey McGee last year, but since I didn't really have any interest in their music, I left to catch a band that I wanted to see. If that makes me a bad person, or whatever, so be it. I love Miles Davis and Coltrane, but that doesn't mean I like to hear random guitar noodling for 20 minutes at a time (which is what many, many jam bands do).

I went to the festival on Friday and it was easily the best day of music I've experienced in a long while. I got there around 1pm and left when it ended at 10.

 

Bands I saw:

Assembly of Dust: AWESOME

Tea Leaf Green: AWESOME

New Monsoon: Pretty good

North Mississippi Allstars: AWESOME

Galactic: AWESOME

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: AWESOME

Moe: AWESOME

Trey Anastasio Dectet: BRILLIANT!!!!

 

A day jampacked with quality musicianship. There was no downtime. As soon as one band ended, another great one began. Also I was on acid for North Mississippi thru the Flecktones. That stuff takes music from "amazing" to "INSANE!" I didn't realize how big this festival had gotten. It was the biggest of the three I've attended (others being Wanee Festival and Down on the Farm Festival), though obviously not nearly as big as Bonnaroo, 10k Lakes, etc. Pretty good layout. Way too expensive if you want to experience the whole festival, including camping and late nites. It was a mess with everyone trying to leave at once. I wish they could find a place where they can play music late into the night instead of having to stop at 10pm and transfer audiences to local venues. I wanted to see other bands throughout the weekend, like Perpetual Groove, Disco Biscuits, My Morning Jacket (stupidly scheduled at the same time as TDB), Explosions In The Sky, and Widespread Panic... couldn't afford that. Overall though, a blast.

I kinda wanted to go today, but I was deterred by the ticket prices. $75 is just too much to ask for that venue.

Yeah if I didn't already like all of the bands I mentioned in my post there's no way I would've paid $70 for Friday. I don't think either Saturday or Sunday was worth that much.

How did you go on Friday and not see The Hold Steady. Pretty much the only band I really wanted to see that day.

Because I like different music than you do, as we established in November.

Because I like different music than you do, as we established in November.

 

That question was bout 98% rhetorical (the rest is mostly water).

 

Glad you had a good time, I'm not trying to hate, I had a great time last year.

 

Can't wait for Bonnaroo. Definetly making the treck up to Manchester for that one.