Click here to see the photos.

The Wood Brothers played an intimate show in the NEW Gallery in the Abbey Bar which is inside of the Appalachian Brewing Company on 07-21-2010 in Harrisburg, PA.  A trio named Tristen (name after the songwriter, Tristen Gaspadarek) opened the show for the Wood Brothers and were well received by the audience.

Greenbelt Events show time and time again that they can and will evolve to make the best music production in the area.  This show was the first show in the Gallery the Abbey Bar.  A new stage had to be constructed in order to meet the demand of some artists to have a seated venue. And the and while Tristen was the first band to perform on the newly constructed stage, the Wood Brothers officially broke it in.

I always wonder what kind of stories some stages could tell if they could speak…. Could you imagine the tales from a small stage from a place like CBGBs or 40 Watt Club?  Every scratch from moving an amp, dent from hauling in a drum set, tape residue from holding setlists, and stain from spilled beer absorbed into the wood tells a tale of the stage’s history.  I am certainly not comparing the Abbey Bar to CBGBs or 40 Watt Club, but every stage has a story to tell and the Wood Brothers are only the beginning of this new stage’s tale. 

The Wood Brothers christened the stage with their brand of roots/folk/blues.  Laid back basslines and bluesy guitar and Van Morrison-like vocals filled the new venue.  They played a lot of songs from their incredible full-length album debut, “Ways Not To Lose”.   Lots of older material was also covered like “Pray Enough” and the title track to the album “Loaded”.   The Wood Brothers also played a Beck cover, “Sing it Again”, which they also recorded for their album of cover songs,”Up Above My Head”.

Click here to see the photos.

Gov’t Mule played a FREE show at the Wachovia Stage as part of their Artscape Festival on 07-17-2010 in Baltimore, MD.  A sweltering hot 95 degrees and high humidity could not keep the thwarts of fans away from the free festival which included Jackie Greene, Cold War Kids, and the headliners Gov’t Mule among others throughout the day.  Gov’t Mule is of course a blistering blues/rock band headed by the amazing Warren Haynes.

Gov’t Mule brought drew in a huge crowd and as such, the seating was very limited on the uncomfortably steep sloped grass hill facing the stage and the intense heat took its tool as a few fans had to be carted out for passing out from dehydration or other reasons.

The performance was unfortunately suffered because of some technical difficulties, Jorgen Carlsson’s bass amp was going haywire and was creating a bad static which caused several delays and marred the first few songs.  Brian Farmer was very busy trying to fix the amp until he ultimately ended up swapping the amp for another one. 

It was a pretty typical festival set for them but surprisingly there were a fair number of covers including Grateful Dead’s “Sugaree”, Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and two Led Zeppelin covers “D’yer Mak’er” and “Whole Lotta Love”.

I spotted Ron Holloway standing back stage during the third song so I knew we were in for a treat.  It seems I catch Ron playing at more Mule shows than not which is a great thing.  His sax playing is a great complement to Gov’t Mule’s music.

Even through the sound issues, the near 100 degree heat, and poor seating situation the night was a blast thanks to Warren Haynes and company.  You just can’t go wrong with a Gov’t Mule show.

The setlist for the night was as follows:
Bad Little Doggie
Steppin’ Lightly
Broke Down On The Brazos
Banks Of The Deep End
Frozen Fear >
D’yer Mak’er (Led Zeppelin Cover) >
Frozen Fear
Thorazine Shuffle
Railroad Boy >
When Doves Cry >
Beautifully Broken >
When Doves Cry (Prince Cover) >
Beautifully Broken
32/20 Blues  (with Ron Holloway)
Mule >
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin Cover) >
Mule (with Ron Holloway)
Soulshine (with Ron Holloway)

Encore
Sugaree (Grateful Dead Cover with Ron Holloway & Jackie Greene)

Click here to see the photos.

Cold War Kids played a FREE show at the Wachovia Stage as part of their Artscape Festival on 07-17-2010 in Baltimore, MD.  A sweltering hot 95 degrees and high humidity could not keep the thwarts of fans away from the free festival which included Jacie Greene, Cold War Kids, and the headliners Gov’t Mule among others throughout the day.  The seating was very limited on the uncomfortably steep sloped grass hill facing the stage and the intense heat took its tool as a few fans had to be carted out for passing out from dehydration or other reasons.

The Cold War Kids hit the scene with fury when their hit single “Hang Me Up to Dry” hit the alternative airways.  YRock in Philadelphia via WXPN pushed the single when it came out and the band had instant recognition.

They have never lost a life on their watch.

The selitst for the night was as follows:
I’ve Seen Enough
Mexican Dogs
Audience
Red Wine, Success!
Tell Me in the Morning
Coffee Spoon
Dreams Old Men Dream
Hang Me Up to Dry
Hospital Beds
We Used to Vacation

Click here to see the photos.

Cornmeal played the Abbey Bar inside of the Appalachian Brewing Company on 07-15-2010 in Harrisburg, PA.  Cornmeal is a great bluegrass band that is criminally under-rated and unknown that threw-down an amazing show on a Thursday night.  To cap off a perfect night, Cornmeal was the official “after show” for the nearby G. Love performance that night.  Greenbelt Events know how to throw parties and have great live music, these two shows are a fine example.

Cornmeal are a very skilled bluegrass band that has great instrumentation.   The band members consist of:
Wavy Dave Burlingame – Banjo,Vocals
Kris Nowak – Guitar,Vocals
Chris Gangi – String Bass, Vocals
JP Nowak – Drums, Vocals
Allie Kral – Fiddle, Vocals

The high point of the show, for me, was their cover of the Talking Heads song “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”.  Not only did they do a great interpretation of the song but the several minutes of jamming built into the song was one that kept building and building. Just when you thought the jam had peaked they raised the intensity even more.  By the end of the song, it felt like you were hit by a truck.  A nice cover of the Grateful Dead’s Sugaree rounded out the second setlist which set the audience in its second frenzy.

This is a very talented group of musicians and can jam with the best of them, I truly look forward to seeing them again in the future.

The setlist for the night was as follows:
Set 1:
Long Hard Road
It Ain’t Me
Stuck In The Mud
That’s That
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Troubled Land, Drunk and Horny

Set 2:
When The World’s Got You Down
This Old Town
Little Maggie
You Are Young
Oh Leah Lee
Sugaree
Sheep

Encore:
Jenny In The Middle

Click here to see the photos.

G. Love played a solo show at the Sunoco Performance Theater inside the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg, PA on 07-15-2010.  G. Love had no opening band for this show so the audience was treated to a nice long bluesy show.

G. Love always draws a large crowd in the area so I have always been surprised that he never played Harrisburg.  G. Love himself noted he was just as surprised that he had not been to Harrisburg all these years and that he’d like to come back.

G. Love is known for his cross-genre music that mixes the blues with rap/hip-hop.  His solo shows however are more centralized toward his blues side.  As a big fan of the blues, I was very pleased with this show and was also very happy to see G Love perform as a solo artist.

During snogs like Cold Beverage, Booty Call, Baby’s Got Sauce, and I-76 people were rocking out in their seats and often singing along with G. Love.  For me, it was great to see him bust out an old school blues tune by Blind Willie McTell, Statesboro Blues which the Allman Brothers band popularized over the years.

If you like G. Love And The Special Sauce, go see G. love solo and enjoy stripped down and funky blues arrangements of the songs.  You will be glad you went.

The setlist for the night was as follows:
Milk And Cereal
Sunshine
Loving Me
Statesboro Blues
Bullfrog
Still Hangin’ Around
SHB
Cold Beverage
Booty Call
Hard Time Killing Floor (Skip James Cover)
Mystery Train (Elvis Presley Cover)
Rainbow
Baby’s Got Sauce
Who’s got the weed
I-76

Click here to see general photos of the All Good Festival scene, crowd, and more.

Click on one of the bands below to see photos of some of the performances.

7/10/2010
Widespread Panic
Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band
George Clinton And Parliament Funkadelic
Dr. Dog
Everyone Orchestra
Big Nazo

7/11/2010
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Railroad Earth
The Travelin’ McCourys
The Heavy Pets

Click here to see the photos of Derek Trucks And Susan Tedeschi Band.

Derek Trucks And Susan Tedeschi Band played the 14th annual All Good Festival located on Marvin’s Mountaintop near Masontown, WV on 07-10-2010.  This year’s festival was the first time in 14 years that they ever sold out.  Even with that, the whole festival was organized very well and everything went very smoothly.

Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have both put their own bands on hold for at least one year to work on a new project together.  For now, it is called the Derek Trucks And Susan Tedeschi Band.  The members of the band are not yet set in stone and since it is festival season, there has been an open door policy for the band members until they find all the right components.  The line up at this festival was kind of an all-star cast.  It featured and impressive list of musicians.

For the most part, the line up consists of:
Derek Trucks – Guitar (Derek Trucks Band, Allman Brothers Band, Frogwings, Soul Stew Revival)
Susan Tedeschi – Guitar & Vocals (Susan Tedeschi, Soul Stew Revival)
Oteil Burbridge – Bass (Allman Brothers Band, Oteil and the Peacemakers, Aquarium Rescue Unit)
Kofi Burbridge – Keys & Flute (Derek Trucks Band)
Tyler Greenwell – Drums (Susan Tedeschi’s band, Codetalkers)
JJ Johnson – Drums (John Mayer)
Mike Mattison – Backing Vocals (Derek Trucks Band, Scrapomatic)
Nigel Hall – Backing Vocals

This was the first time I had the opportunity to see the new band live, so I was excited to see the band many weeks in advance of the show and of course I was not let down.

One big surprise for me was their cover of Bob Marley’s “Trenchtown Rock”.  I know that Derek Trucks is a Bob Marley fan from interviews I have read and also that the Derek Trucks Band often covered “Rastaman Chant” but this is the first time I have head them play this particular Marley song.  Since this was a festival and the band is still new, not many people were familiar with the Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band material, this song brought everyone back together mid-set.

Before Blind Crippled and Crazy, Jimmy Herring was brought on stage.  Seeing Derek Trucks play with Jimmy Herring always brings a smile to my face.  Jimmy is one of a very limited few that can go toes to toes with Derek on guitar.  They complement each other so well because Jimmy often utilizes a variety of complex jazz scales which are also in Derek’s wheelhouse of playing.  Needless to say this song was the highlight of the set for me.

Once this band gets some more miles on the bus and playing time together, this line up could be an unstoppable force.

The setlist was as follows:
I’ve Got a Feeling
Standing on the Edge of Love
Coming Home
Don’t Drift Away
Butterfly (Susan Tedeschi Song)
Trenchtown Rock (Bob Marley Cover)
Midnight in Harlem
Find Your Way Home
Blind Crippled and Crazy (Derek Trucks Band Song) **Performed with Jimmy Herring**
Too Late
Space Captain

Click here to see the full All Good Festival post.

Click here to see the photos of Widespread Panic.

Widespread Panic played the 14th annual All Good Festival located on Marvin’s Mountaintop near Masontown, WV on 07-10-2010.  This year’s festival was the first time in 14 years that they ever sold out.  Even with that, the whole festival was organized very well and everything went very smoothly.

Widespread Panic had the headlining set on Saturday night which is not an easy task considering he was following a cast of bands with the likes of Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Dr. Dog, George Clinton, etc.  They had no problems proving why they were in that slot however.

Widespread Panic is one of the fullest sounding bands out there on the jamband circuit.  The Dual percussionists, Dave Schools dropping bombs on his bass, and John “JoJo” Hermann on keyboards give Jimmy Herring plenty of freedom to fly on the guitar yet also allows just enough space for John Bell’s raspy southern whiskey drenched vocals.  This is a truly great band and a great lineup as well.

The peak of the first set for me, without a doubt, was when Derek Trucks stepped on stage to guest on the song “Second Skin”  off their Earth to America album.

At the end of the first set, what appeared to be hundreds of Japanese lanterns that float, similarly to how hot air balloons float, were set off all at once sending the lanterns upward into the night what appeared to be hundreds of feet.  This image will forever be how I remember All Good 2010 by me and probably the other 25,000 people that attended as well.

The fireworks after the final Widespread Panic set was the ultimate bookend to one of All Good Festival’s best chapters in their 14 years.

The setlist was as follows:
SET ONE
Heroes
Tall Boy
C. Brown
True To My Nature
Sleeping Man
Gradle
Dyin’ Man
Second Skin (With Derek Trucks)
Gimme
Henry Parsons Died

SET TWO
Imitation Leather Shoes
Bust It Big
Saint Ex
Driving Song
Tie Your Shoes
May Your Glass Be Filled
Drums
Tie Your Shoe
Driving Song
Travelin’ Man
You Should Be Glad

ENCORE
Protein Drink/Sewing Machine

Click here to see the full All Good Festival post.

Click here to see the photos of Grace Potter And The Nocturnals.

Grace Potter And The Nocturnals played the 14th annual All Good Festival located on Marvin’s Mountaintop near Masontown, WV on 07-11-2010.  This year’s festival was the first time in 14 years that they ever sold out.  Even with that, the whole festival was organized very well and everything went very smoothly.

Grace Potter And The Nocturnals have been becoming more and more popular with each passing year.  This year, they had joined a subsidiary of Disney entertainment and have a new album that has a much more slick produced sound and arrangements than their previous offerings.

While their CD is a little too polished at times for me, their live performances are very good.  The addition of the second guitarist keeps the music souding full where they had a tendencey to sound a little thin when the guitarist would solo with only the keyboards as the backdrop in the past.

Go see this band live on this tour, they are playing some great shows and Grace always proves to be a great entertainer and demands attention on stage.

The setlist for the night was as follows:
Sweet Hands >
Joey
Tiny Light >
Only Love
Goodbye Kiss >
Oasis >
Apologies
One Short Night
Stop the Bus
That Phone
If I Was From Paris
White Rabbit >
Medicine
Nothing But the Water

To download or stream this set, click on here: http://www.archive.org/details/gpn2010-07-11.mk5mk6_24bit

Click here to see the full All Good Festival post.

Click here to see the photos of George Clinton And Parliament Funkadelic.

George Clinton And Parliament Funkadelic played the 14th annual All Good Festival located on Marvin’s Mountaintop near Masontown, WV on 07-10-2010.  This year’s festival was the first time in 14 years that they ever sold out.  Even with that, the whole festival was organized very well and everything went very smoothly.

Everybody’s favorite party funk band, George Clinton And Parliament Funkadelic, hit the main stage after Dr. Dog’s stunning set of music.

I did not recognize George Clinton on stage at first, looking for the iconic colorful dreads and gray beard, I was astounded to find out that George had abandoned his legendary look for what appears to be a very mundane and normal looking short hair style.  Not only that he looks twenty years younger!  He looks like he could bring the funk for another 20 years!

The rest of the band had their normal freaky costumes and were ready to party.  The All Good fans were very appreciative of George Clinton And Parliament Psychedelic’s set.

Click here to see the full All Good Festival post.