Summer Camp Festival 2010 (5.29.2010)

Saturday, May 29th

Where The Wild Things Are (Continued...)

We arrived at the entranceway to our tent. Another trap. A group of delinquents sat in a half circle with chairs and coolers not even 3 feet from our doorway, ignoring the hammock we had set up in attempt to claim a small plot of land. “What’s going on?” I asked them. Some mumbled responses. Their leader spoke out, “We were thinking we would set up a chill spot in this area right here…” They had already engulfed the areas on all sides of our tent, barely leaving us enough room to walk around. Having these prima donna teenagers set up their “chill spot” DIRECTLY outside the door of our tent wasn’t exactly what Karrin and I had in mind. It was, after all, our three-year anniversary. “You guys don’t have any room over where you’re at?” I asked them, “We are trying to enjoy the same festival you are.” The braces kid could sense a confrontation. “I know, this is stupid…” he said “let’s just go back over where we were”. The leader wasn’t having it. “Shut up!” he said with a hush, “Just let me handle this.” Glancing around the perimeter, I spotted countless areas where the clan could have set up their “chill spot”. The braces kid didn’t appreciate being spoken to this way. “Haven’t you eaten a bunch of mushrooms tonight?” As if to warn me I was dealing with a man on psychedelics. But it was obvious: these youngsters were confused and uncomfortable, most likely due to the fact that they hadn’t left those dreary woods for over 24 hours. Karrin had to push one of them aside to climb into our tent. For the next four hours, we laid half-awake and listened to them snarl, moan, and scratch away at the outside of their tents. Needless to say, we barely slept. Karrin and I were here to see music. We might spend 10% of our time at camp, grabbing something to eat or re-stocking on beers. But when the music is done for the night, we are looking for some rest. A shaky relationship with your neighbors is probably the last thing you want at a music festival. So as the sun came peeking through the trees, we tried our best to be polite, grabbed our things, and headed out for another day of music.

Rebelution

It was noon. I think the only thing that could have lifted me out of my tired funk at that point was a rinse up at the water station and a little bit of reggae. Ask and you shall receive. Although I’m no reggae connoisseur, this band, Rebelution, has become one of my favorite post-Marley groups to date. Their 2007 release “Courage to Grow” is one that I often turn to when the mood seems right. Vocalist Eric Rachmany has a unique and powerful voice. But the true authority lies in the hands of bassist Marley Williams. He pounds you in the chest with a thunderous, Rastafarian bass. Its prominence is impossible to ignore. I guess when you name your kid “Marley” you have to assume that he or she is going to grow up to become a reggae musician. Fortunately for Mr. Williams, things seem to be working out.

The Macpodz

After missing the Ragbirds the day before, I couldn’t wait to get over to the Starshine Stage for a date with Michigan rockstars, The Macpodz. These guys have been making waves on the national festival circuit the last couple of years and I couldn’t be happier for them. Straight out of Ann Arbor, The Macpodz throw down on some of the funkiest, most far-out jazz rock that you will ever hear. This is party music, fit for a late night slot to be sure. When I first heard the sounds of Brennan Andes’ bass at my very first Harvest Gathering in Lake City, MI, I was absolutely hooked. In my eyes, he offers the concrete foundation for which the rest of the band builds off of. Percussionist Nick Ayers is the definition of confidence. Often times, in front-man fashion, Nick will grab the microphone and start taunting the crowd as he moves swiftly around stage, hip-jiving and crowd-pointing; a true character indeed. To his left stands Ross Huff, the talented trumpeter that gives The Macpodz their true identity. With Griffin Bastian on drums and Jesse Clayton controlling the keys, these guys are a genuine jam powerhouse. All they needed now was a badass guitarist to round out their sound and give them the complete package… ask and you shall receive! When Jake Cinninger from Umphrey’s McGee came out, I knew things were about to get really heavy. Jake was slingin’ axe, Brennan was bouncing heads, and Ross was blowing the roof off with some crazy jazz trumpet as the entire band stood beaming with happiness. The vibes were infectious and it put a smile on my face to see such a good turnout for The Macpodz set. Festival goers, DO NOT miss this set.


Keller Williams

Keller Williams came out in his usual fashion: barefoot, bobbing his head form side to side, and jamming his acoustic guitar. A strange opening song called “India” meandered into a playful cover of “Stayin’ Alive” where Keller did a few disco circles around the stage. I had seen K-Whopper a handful of times by now but had only recently begun to fall in love with his music due in part to the exposure to his “Grateful Grass” and “Keller and the Keel’s” material. These bluegrass oriented projects really expose his versatility as a guitarist and although seeing Keller solo is a completely different beast, it gave me a newfound appreciation for his talent as a musician. Without question, KW is one of the more innovatively skillful guitarists on the jam scene today. Seemingly chaotic at times, Keller applies more hammer-on’s and pull-off’s per minute than almost anybody I’ve heard. When you transcribe that aggressive style to an acoustic guitar, you get an unbelievably unique brand of music that only a self-taught musician could have developed. After a tune or two, Keller brought out Danny Barnes and played a couple of his original songs including “Get It While You Can”, a song that can be found on Keller and the Keels’ latest release, “Thief”. With a fairly subdued “Freeker by the Speaker” and a couple more cover songs towards the end of his set, I was somewhat disappointed with how this show had turned out. It just didn’t seem to have as much spunk as some of the other performances I have witnessed. I will say, however, that KW’s rendition of Erykah Badu’s “Call Tyrone” was one of the more entertaining and humorous covers that I have heard him play.

The Clash of the Jam Titans

As I’ve said before, these two bands, moe. and Umphrey’s McGee, have been with Summer Camp since the beginning. They are undoubtedly the heart, soul, and spirit of this festival. This being my first year at SC, I was able to experience the friendly sense of competition that exists between these two jam titans first hand. Even the scheduling lends itself to a sort of “battle of the bands” type of weekend. With co-headliner slots the evening of the 29th, I thought it would be a good time to compare and contrast these two legends and determine which clan reigns supreme.

After re-fueling, and checking out the Pretty Lights party on the Starshine Stage, Karrin and I made it over to Sunshine for the start of UM’s second set. We had already missed the first sets of both these bands, but what can you do, you can’t win em’ all. Things got off to a solid start, moving into the music box intro “Preamble” and then “Mantis” early on. Without stopping, the band segued into “Hangover”, another one of my favorites. About halfway through this jam, the boys brought out Mike "Mad Dog" Mavridoglou to orchestrate some serious, serious madness. This guy was jumping around the stage, pointing and hollering, slamming his fist down into his open hand to keep time. This was absolute improvisation… music in its purest form. Even the band members stood grinning, wondering what the conductor was going to have them do next. With the addition of Mad Dog’s “Filthy Little Secret” horn section towards the end of the set, an unbelievable rendition of MJ’s “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough”, and a ridiculously shreddy “Nothing Too Fancy”, we had certainly witnessed a continuation of last night’s throw-down. UM quite literally went out with a bang, fireworks and all.

When we made it over to Moonshine for moe., they were already jamming full fledged. As I said in my Friday coverage, Rob Derhak is the first noticeable difference that I find between these two bands. Rob is a monster on the bass and offers a true prominence that is seemingly absent amidst Umphrey’s McGee and Ryan Stasik. In the special weapons category, moe. wins again. Jim Loughlin is an absolute beast on the xylophone. His talent with this instrument is staple to the sound of moe. Some of my favorite songs by this band feature prominent xylophone segments. But is it enough to de-throne king Umphrey’s? In terms of vocals, Umphrey’s comes out on top by a long shot. Not that moe. is ever “bad” sounding or even out of tune. After all, these guys are 80% instrumental. But Brendan Bayliss has a singing voice that is better than all 5 moe.’s combined. Hearing him belt MJ earlier that night sent chills down my spine. Furthermore, in my Friday coverage I spoke of UM’s incredible ability to create and resolve tension. If you were to look at a line graph representing show duration vs. level of emotion at an Umphrey’s performance, it would be a series of peaks and valleys moving at a steady increase, ultimately concluding with a sky-high mountain that towers above all others. Umphrey’s is in complete control of all emotional elements and knows exactly when and where they need to be distributed and in what proportions. When I listen to moe., they put me up on a peak and never let me down. The first 5 songs of this set were clocking in at almost 20 minutes apiece. 20 minutes of pure, head-spinning, psychedelic shredding. Now, don’t get me wrong, Al and Chuck are off the charts. These guys can absolutely rip. They play with a level of psychedelia that even Jake Cinninger has trouble attaining. But when these guys start jamming (often times for over 30 minutes at a time), I just can’t help but sometimes wonder: “when’s it going to end?”

In the end, I give the advantage to Umphrey’s. Their music is rife with flexibility and engages the listener on all levels, offering an all-encompassing musical experience that lies beyond the capabilities of moe. But don’t take my word for it. See these bands for yourself. For each of them are true jam titans, well on their way to achieving the status of immortality in the realm of modern day jam music.