Sunday was a lot hotter during the afternoon and the parking lot scene was as unremarkable as the day before, so it made sense to head inside early.
The Snake Eyes stage was devoted to bands that fit the festival’s jam-band roots. Santa Barbara’s Animal Liberation Orchestra took the stage in the spirit of the Halloween event, dressed as pirates. They got the small crowd on their feet, energized from the band’s feel-good funky vibes and the occasional cool breeze blowing across the field.
During ALO’s set, an amazing stunt airplane show filled with death-defying maneuvers was taking place off in the distance. The biplanes performed a number of impressive aerial acrobatics through the sky. The wildest being what appeared to be an engine-stall drop. Combined with the music, it was a perfect feast for the senses.
On the Double Down Stage, which was the main stage, Ghostface Killah & the Rhythm Roots Allstars had an interesting collection of folks on the stage. Three men manned the mics over a large band consisting of keyboards, bass, guitar, four men on percussion (two sets of drums with an occasional set of steel being used, congas, and bongos) and two saxophones.
Back at Snake Eyes, Robert Randolph and the Family Band tore it up right from the get-go with a long jam to start their set. You can hear Randolph’s gospel roots in his music. The crowd went crazy for am instrumental version of Bell Biv Davoe’s “Poison.” He closed out his set with “Purple Haze.” A daunting task for any musician, but Randolph has the skills to do it justice. If you have never seen him play before, do yourself a favor and see him when he comes to your town. He will blow your mind as he no doubt did the 40-something woman who wrote in my notepad, “I am too old for mushrooms anymore.” The band left the stage at 4pm, but was scheduled to go another 30 minutes.
Reggae artist Michael Franti & Spearhead was on the Double Down Stage and had a good vibe going. He played a Bob Marley medley as I ate dinner and the audience was enjoying him. The mood came to a screeching halt as he or someone from the stage dedicated a song to a friend suffering from fourth stage intestinal cancer. Best wishes go out to that person and his loved ones, but gadzooks, talk about a buzz killer. I hoped the woman on mushrooms didn’t hear it. Franti brought back the party atmosphere with a cover of Sublime’s “What I Got.” The crowd went wild for it, and then Franti went way back into everyone’s youth playing rollickin’ versions of “Sesame Street theme” and “C is for Cookie.”
Article comments
1 - Mat Brewster
Ah there's day two. I guess three weeks late isn't too bad, especially when there's shrooms involved.
Thanks to some loser, I forget who, I'm all over the ALO set, once it makes the archive.
2 - El Bicho
How can it be late when there's no due date? Plus, some of us don't have the luxury of working three hours a week teaching Chinese women how to count to ten in English. No shrooms for this show, especially not when I knew I was going to be in a huge crowd for Rage. I too await the emergence of the ALO set and also RRFB.
3 - Mat Brewster
Jealous much? Teaching numbers is very difficult...I'm just now up to #3.
Ah yes, I've got some Robert Randolf boots and that guy smokes live. I've yet to see him in person, but he's on my short list of folks I gotta see before I die.