Wakarusa 2011 Highlight: Vagabond Swing

Amongst 130+ other bands, 30,000 crazy, fun-loving festival-freaks and enough sun and sweat to kill lesser beings, a hidden Wakarusa gem of 2011 by the name of Vagabond Swing pushed its ugly face up to the surface to say, Hi, I'm freaky too. Let's get down.

Vagabond Swing at the Backwoods Stage (photo by Ben Papps)

Complex rhythms and jazzy leads aplenty, Vagabond Swing rocked out the backwoods stage, an intimate, shady grove with a small dirt patch in front of the stage to dance and hammocks strung between trees in the back. They're a six-man, off-the-wall, hodgepodge collection of a mandolin, a singing drummer, a melodica, guitars, an upright bass and trumpets out of Lafayette, Louisiana. Their crazy, eclectic sound comes from band members' musical backgrounds in jazz, afro-beat, ragtime, gypsy swing, folk, latin rhythms and ska, and with influences from all over the spectrum, its no wonder the finished product is so infectiously eccentric. Playful leads on trumpet, melodica and guitar wind and unwind again like the last loose strands of in unravelling mind while untraditional, syncopated drumbeats and rhythms drive each jam home. Some songs toy with lyrics, but the band truly excels when given the opportunity to collectively show their improvisational chops on the instrumentals. Think: the jazzy side of Tom Waits meets afro-beat, and you've got Vagabond Swing.

The group finds themselves touring locally and out to Colorado and Nebraska recently, and they hit Ruta Maya here in Austin on Friday, July 1^st with Black Irish Texas and Sideshow Tramps. Doors are at 9:00pm and tickets are only $7. More info on Vagabond Swing's site. Don't miss it.

Blues on the Green Tonight Wed. 6/22/11 Zilker Park ATX

Two of Austin's own, The Bright Lights Social Hour with Suzanna Choffel play tonight at Zilker park. This is the second installment of this year's Blues on the Green, KGSR's free (that's right FREE) summer concert series. More info here

The Bright Lights Social Hour brings their brand of soulful, classic rock jams to Zilker Park tonight. Assertive drum beats, screeching guitar solos, grass between your toes, enjoying another gorgeous Texas night with thousands of other fun-loving fans; what else could you want? Maybe some sweet serenades from Suzanna Choffel. She combines sweet acoustic guitar rhythms with heartfelt, raspy vocals. Sounds perfect for a breezy summer night under the stars. Come join us!

Bright Lights Social Hour:


Suzanna Choffel:

Wakarusa 2011 - When Music Festivals Get Things Right

June 2^nd, the blooming summer of 2011 marked the move-in day for the Wakarusa Camping and Music Festival in the rolling hill country outside Ozark, Arkansas at a hilltop venue by the name of Mulberry Mountain. The atmosphere on the first day of a camping festival is something special. Everyone arrives and gets a feel for their new home, and Mulberry Mountain was a very special place for those four days. Everyone on stage brought their best, lesser-known artists and musicians set up everywhere inside the venue and out and peddled their wares or serenaded passers-by, and people bustled around the campsites, set up, decorated, introduced themselves to neighbors, explored their new town of 30,000. The humid Arkansas air was laden with a palpable, light, playful anticipation of what was to come.

Wakarusa 2011 started off with a bang. Thursday night slapped us across the face with a jam-packed opening night schedule that was probably the best of the festival and included performances by:

• 

  Dirtfoot - 1:30pm
• Grace Potter & the Nocturnals -  6:15pm
• Papadosio - 6:30pm
• Buckethead - 7:30pm
• Cornmeal - 9:30pm
• Umphrey's McGee - 10:15pm
• Beats Antique - 10:30pm
• Lotus - 12:30am
• Shpongletron - 1:00am
• Ott - 2:00am
• EOTO - 2:30am

How would we last? Gates opened at midnight Wednesday night, and security and the festival staff did a great job with that first rush. By sunup, the flow of newcomers slowed to a trickle and at least 15-20,000 were already situated. Most of the sleep deprived, glaze-eyed festival goers were too anxious and it was too hot to sleep in the humid, high-90s heat of the first day. Lucky, the schedule for Waka was made with the heat in mind. While plenty of bands played during the day, the majority of the best-known names played between sundown and dawn. So, one could wait out the day in the shade and still see over twelve hours of stellar music daily.

Dirtfoot started Thursday's party off and opened the main stage with their six-man hootenanny straight out of Shreveport, LA. The self-described, “only front porch, whiskey swillin', foot stomping, gypsy, punk, country, grumble, boogie band in the land,” used a xylophone, a washboard, pots and pans, an upright bass, a sax, a guitar, a drum kit and some of the raspiest vocals I've heard in some time to start the festival off on the right foot. They threw down at this opening set and played two more over the weekend.

Dirtfoot on the Main Stage 6/2/2011 (photo by Ben Papps)

Later on in the day, as the sun went down over the hills around 6:30pm, Papadosio, a five-man electro-jam-band out of Athens, Ohio, wowed fans and innocent bystanders alike. Three members of the band play keys, among other instruments, and they are at heart a jam band, but their live sets weave across genres and borrow from electronic influences. As the sun went down and the glow-sticks, -poi, -hoops, -everything came out, the electro-shift seemed fitting as things turned for the weird.

No strangers to the weird, Beats Antique took the stage at the revival tent in front of a crowd that was about to burst with anticipation and put on the best show of theirs I've seen to date. With high energy and a raw, unpolished sound, they deconstructed every track with expertise, melding it all back together into a fresh incarnation of that eastern-influenced electro-jazz that put Beats on the lineup of so many festivals this summer. The well-known, older songs were remixed and chopped up so much that you could definitely couldn't stand still, but you weren't sure which song you were listening to, and the new material was full of crisp high-ends, heavy, womped-out lows and great juxtaposition. By the end, the crowd looked stunned, faces screaming, “How could anyone top that this weekend?”

Cue the corny introduction of Michael Travis, “We are EOTO, ladies and gentlemen: live and improvised electronic music for your ear-balls.” EOTO at Wakarusa were the headliners in my mind. Perhaps not the biggest name on the ticket, but they were one of the handful of bands who played more than one set over the weekend, they closed out the festival with a mysteriously booked “EOTO & Friends” set (who are your friends?!) and they embody the jam-band/folk sound meets the wave of electronica breaking over every genre that presided over Wakarusa 2011. They put on a show worthy of the headliner title. The different musical dynamic that comes from one long festival set, versus two shorter sets at a typical EOTO show, creates a constant, uninterrupted build throughout the entire set. 

Their hour and a half set Thursday night started off with an electro build that took off like a firecracker, exploding once the beat dropped with one of Hann's unrecognizable, perfectly placed vocals. “Boom!” or something similar. Hann seemed more active on the mic than usual and invoked lines from Back That Ass Up, Do Your Thing, (that's right, a little Isaac Hayes) Down On Me, Roll Out and Scrubs all the while backed up with his own masterful robo-drumming (sometimes using one hand to drum and one hand to mix/mod/loop) and Travis' heavy sub-bass lines and eeking, tuned-up electro licks. EOTO have come a long way since I last saw them about six months ago. Travis has a better grasp over the sounds he's adding to the build before he adds them, and he has a more confident control over the tracks he creates. Or maybe they were just on for Waka. Either way, expect great things from EOTO.

By the end of day one, (or about 6-7 hours into day two) minds had been blown, sleep-deprivation had reached unstable levels and the weekend had only just begun. With the sun starting to peak its way over the hills, it was time for the first rest in over 48 hours. The following days delivered the goods. The strongest sets by:

• ANA SIA Friday 9:30pm
• Dark Star Orchestra Friday night 12:30am
• Bassnectar Friday night 1:00am
• Skrillex Friday night 2:45am
• Ghostland Observatory Friday night 3:00am
• Ben Harper & Relentless7 Saturday 8:00pm
• Thievery Corporation Saturday 10:30pm
• Big Gigantic Saturday night 2:30am
• Vagabond Swing Sunday 5:30pm
• Peelander-Z Sunday 6:30pm
• Zoogma Sunday 8:30pm
• Beats Antique Sunday 10:30pm
• EOTO Sunday 10:30pm
• EOTO & Friends Sunday 11:00pm

ANA SIA at the Satellite Stage 6/3/2011 (photo by Ben Papps)

While Friday brought top-notch performances by Dark Star Orchestra, Bassnectar and Skrillex, and Saturday injected the festival with a healthy dose of soul from Ben Harper & Relentless7 and Big Gigantic late-night, Thursday night's supremacy was only truly challenged by Sunday, the closeout night.

Beats and EOTO were scheduled at the same time, so fans had a difficult choice to make, or so it seemed. As Beats Antique started their set, EOTO and their gear were nowhere to be found. A festival official announced over the PA that EOTO would be playing about two hours later than expected, after Beats. Perfect.

Beats put on a great set and pulled out the animal masks and guest appearances earlier than usual, making for a raucous good time of a stage show throughout the majority of the set. EOTO took the stage for their 30-minute set prior to the highly anticipated “EOTO & Friends” and put on good show, but it was obvious they were holding back in preparation for the party to come. One by one, Karsh Kale, (on tabla) David Satori, (from Beats Antique on a banjo-looking, sitar-sounding custom instrument) and Jamie Janover (from Zilla on hammered dulcimer) all came out to join Travis and Hann, with Tommy Cappel (from Beats Antique) sitting in on drums for Jason Hann for a quick spell.

The night raged on, as the three prior had, until sunup and beyond, but the official music was over, the vendors were packing up, the stages were coming down, the staff were all but off the hook, and the Wakarusa festival was a raging success once again.

EOTO at Freebird Live 12/4/2010 - Jacksonville Beach, FL

When you see Michael Travis and Jason Hann of EOTO take the stage, it’s tough to know what to think. The “100% live improvised Dubstep, House & Electro” duo doesn’t have a traditional setup, by any measure. Hann takes the throne of a full drum kit with all kinds of electronic gadgets and goodies tucked wherever there’s space, usually with a djembe close by, while Travis, guitar or bass in hand, steps up to a wall of keyboards, MIDI controllers and touch pads with effects peddles and mixers all around. Both have MIDI synched MacBooks within reach and have the ability to loop and manipulate every organic sound they create. The music that flows through this setup from the minds of this duo shows how far the modern concert and live beat production have come and screams a challenge to the electronic music genre to step up its game and remember the beauty of organic sounds played in the moment.

                  While most current electronic acts spend hours prerecording loops and setting up MIDI controllers, EOTO approaches each concert with a clean slate. This duo uses nothing prerecorded, no set list and no designated songs to speak of. They use a plethora of instrumental and technological options to create and alter loops on the spot. This keeps their live performances fresh and creates entire live tours where no two songs are ever the same. Some mainstream vocal tracks are reused. For example: Jason Hann seems to like to break into the Michael Jackson lyrics from "Startin' Something," frequently at shows as heard in the clip below, but the beat and bass line he drops it onto are ever-changing. Some other popular hip-hop and dance hooks make their way into EOTO songs. You will never hear a straight cover song at an EOTO show, but don't be surprised to hear chopped up lines from songs like "I See You Baby (Shakin' That Ass)" or "Lean Back." These familiar refrains keep the crowd grounded, while every other musical layer of the song sets the fans soaring through the weirdness that is an EOTO set. The group’s improvisational pledge, coupled with the creative melding of the familiar and the alien truly set them apart from the rest of the genre and keep the fans coming back for more. Sure, purely improvised music is a scary prospect; it depends largely on the skill of the specific musician(s), but for these two members of EOTO and The String Cheese Incident who have over three decades combined experience, entirely improvised sets are a good look.

                  When EOTO took the stage in Jacksonville Beach, FL to finish up an impressive home stretch of 33 shows in 33 days, most of the fans in attendance were no strangers to the band. With tickets at $18 at the door, the intimate Freebird Live venue attracted many people new to EOTO, but the majority of the crowd knew what they were in for; Cheese Family was in attendance. As the show progressed, Michael and Jason maneuvered deftly between audio options and instruments, using guitar, bass, keyboards, a drum kit, hand drums and  vocals to create the fully organic sounds and using their electronics to chop the loops and breaks down with the precision one would expect from the two drummers of The String Cheese Incident.

Melody after melody, thick, thumping bass line after bass line, EOTO rocked the beachside venue with a stellar show to cap off their 2010 tour. At one point, Travis donned a cheeseburger hat one of the many happy freaks in attendance offered up. EOTO is serious about making good music, but they also bring an atmosphere of pure fun to the stage. They were having a great time on stage and it showed in the band themselves and in the music. The intimate venue allowed the band to feed off the crowd as much as the crowd was feeding off of the band, and the chemistry between the two on stage was on point.

At one point in the second set, Travis broke out a deep, muddy version of the bass line from the Dead Prez song, “Hip-Hop,” and Hann followed up with a beat and the hook, “It’s bigger than. . .” There was much WOMP, as always: thick, moving bass with endless manipulations to give it the weight and meaning fitting for the jam, but at this particular show, the synth, guitar and vocal melodies were in full effect, leading through the musical landscape of the show. The electro/house sound was what the crowd was looking for, and that’s what they got at The Freebird. Hopefully, in the band’s upcoming time off, they’ll get around to posting this show, as they have with many others, on www.LiveDownloads.com.

As of right now, the only two shows on the horizon for EOTO are a sure-to-be-epic New Year’s Eve bash in Denver, CO and a set at the Summer Camp festival in Illinois on May 27^th, 2011. But if EOTO’s work ethic this fall is any sign of things to come, expect the duo to make an appearance near you sometime in 2011 regardless of where you are; these guys are all over the place. If you’re looking to get your fill of top notch, genre-morphing womp, follow on www.EOTOmusic.com, Facebook and Twitter for tour updates and don’t pass up any chances to catch these guys live.

Miami’s Bayside Rocks Festival 11/20/2010 - Bunny Wailer, Steel Pulse, Toots and the Maytals and many more...

It was another 80 degree, late November day in South Florida. Red-, gold-, black- and green-clad rastas, hipsters and hippies alike gathered in downtown Miami for the first annual Bayside Rocks Festival. The featured three-peat of legendary headliners, Bunny Wailer, Steel Pulse and Toots, had the crowd abuzz with anticipation, but as act after act took the stage, it became painfully obvious that the set breaks and sound checks were taking longer than the actual sets. With a strict midnight curfew at the Bayside Park venue, time constrains forced both Steel Pulse and Toots and the Maytals to cut their sets far too short. Luckily, a few of the earlier acts who did get full sets like Midnite, Cultura Profetica and Bunny Wailer, threw down impressive sets.

Midnite took the stage around 5:00pm and laid down one of their dubbed out, roots and culture beats only to find that the main mic didn't work. Fifteen minutes later, they started up again, in front of a slightly deflated crowd. Before long, their thick, wompy basslines and the wailing work of Vaughn Benjamin had the fans back on board. When they broke into the classic, "Live the Life You Love," off their debut album, Unpolished, the entire amphitheater was bobbing and jamming to their vibe. Unpolished is a good word to describe Midnite. Their bare-bones take on the roots reggae genre is a call back to the early years of reggae before over-production and the excessive use of effects hit the scene. Midnite is touring the west coast and Hawaii in early 2011. More info at www.midniteband.com.

Different festival, same solid groove.

Next to the stage at the Bayside Rocks Festival were the Puerto Rican phenoms, Cultura Profetica. These guys recorded their debut album in the Tuff Gong studio in Jamaica, earning them instant street cred with any avid reggae fan. With some straight roots reggae and some jazz and bosa nova fusion tracks, Cultura integrates a splash of improvisation so rarely found in the reggae genre, and the crowd at the festival loved them for it. Wandering guitar riffs and meandering keyboard fills made their creative chord progressions really pop throughout the entire set. With all Spanish lyrics, some may be turned off at first, but the instrumental music alone warrants a listen.

After another long set break and extended sound check, with the infamous Bayside Park midnight curfew looming, Marcia Griffiths roared onto the stage. Marcia, one of the original I Threes who toured for years with Bob Marley and the Wailers, hasn't lost a step. She won the crowd over with her sheer stage presence. At one point, she stopped and asked for a moment of silence for our brother in music Gregory Isaac, who died less than one month prior, before launching into "Satisfy My Soul" and "Could You Be Loved" with the entire crowd singing along. With midnight drawing closer and three huge headliners to come, Marcia played herself off with a ten minute "Electric Boogie" complete with fan participation on stage, perhaps a questionable move given the circumstances.

By the time Bunny Wailer's band took the stage, setting the beat for Bunny’s grand entrance, the feeling in the crowd that was once anticipation had turned to fear. Rumors about the infamous curfew darted around the crowd as the clock ticked on. Bunny took the stage, glowing in a classic white robe with a striped cane in hand, preaching the "Rastaman Chant" as drawn out and heartfelt as ever. Song after song, the legend preached and healed, ever the crowd-pleaser. "Who remembers The Wailin' Wailers?" He asked at one point before bouncing into the energetic, ska classic "Simmer Down." "How do you know these songs??” Bunny joked, “Your mothers and fathers taught you these songs!" After about a forty minute set, he said he would play himself out to "People Get Ready/One Love," with the whole park singing along, but once he finished, he changed his mind. Bunny called to his band to set the beat, “Set it! Set it!” and hijacked the stage for one last song, a bumping rendition of "Keep on Moving."

Just before 11pm, Steel Pulse introduced themselves in reggae great style, with intergalactic ambient background music and a three minute medley of intros to about ten classic Steel Pulse tunes any self-respecting reggae fan knows by heart. The audio techs still hadn't fixed the loose wires, but David Hinds sang and danced right through it. "Steppin’ Out," "Life Without Music," and a few other classics made it out. The few songs they were able to play were great, but the show was cut far too short at 11:30pm.

Half the crowd had left by the time Toots boomed onto the stage with "Pressure Drop" around 11:45pm with only fifteen minutes to play before the Bayside Park's strict curfew. After an abbreviated rendition of "Sweet and Dandy," the reggae great addressed the crowd, "You all know what happened here tonight, with the time. Now they tell me I can play only three songs, and I'm the headliner." He boomed through another classic, "54-46," taking time to joke around with the crowd and teach them their part in the call and response section of the song. When he attempted to start a fourth song, the powers that be cut the power to the stage. In true gentleman form, Toots stayed on stage to thank the fans and shake their hands.

They cut the power on the godfather of reggae at 12:03am November 21st, 2010 and left a bad taste in the mouth of every fan present. If there is a second annual Bayside Rocks Festival, hopefully the production team can schedule the acts better, and hopefully some of the reggae greats who were at this festival can give the city and the festival another chance to get things right.

UPDATE:

Producer of the festival, Alfonso Brooks, is currently working on making it up to the fans with another, free reggae show in Miami in the spring. More info to come via: http://baysiderocksfestival.com/

Toots and the Maytals promised via Twitter (@TootsMaytals) and Facebook to return to Miami to give the fans a full show soon.