Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Hangout Festival Review



















here are some pictures while I get my thoughts together. One thing is for sure, this was one of the most interesting and best festival experiences I have had yet. Being directly on the beach had a lot to do with it, as did the good people of Alabama, and quaintness of Gulf Shores. The lineup that went into the festival was very well thought out as to bring different group of people together creating a very interesting dynamic. Friday did not seem like a regular festival at all Zach Brown brought in a large amount of the local population and country fans Kathleen Kennedy to make a speech about the environment. She ended up getting booed of the stage and having her mic cut... On the other hand as the festival went on, it was a perfect opportunity to spread green thinking as it became clear that, though people in the south want the big city amenities and luxuries.They're enviornment is a valueable treasure as well and not to be taken for granted. Town gown relations where A+ I did not see one altercation with another person or a police officer for that matter. hanging in Golf Shores was amazing and the after party at a pirate complex/bar called Flora-Bama was unreal. Fireworks at Trey, riding 8 foot waves etc.


reviews of the music will be up on my JamBase article. here is a preview of it

Best new Jam: Nashville natives Moon Taxi played the JamBase stage before it closed on Sunday due to weather, The high energy and virtuosity of this band is not to be missed.


Best dose of culture shock. Kathleen Kennedy was brought on to introduce the Zach Brown Band. Dressed in the height of hipster fashion, she began talking about preserving the environment, an issue difficult to oppose. Somehow Kennedy managed to ruin a very clear and beautiful message with the pompous attitude of an MTV VJ crossed with a royal bloodline. As she got booed and subsequently escorted off the stage, there were actually two sides of the coin that became apparent. It was appalling and shocking to see Americans so ignorant and uncaring about an issue as vital as clean beachs, yet here was this famous, twenty something, jetting down to Flora-Bama and lecturing with no bit of humility in her voice.


Best dose of psychedlia: Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB opened with a solid version of “Gotta Jibboo" and the set set hit its climax early with “Devil Went Down to Georgia.” The Phish tune , “Alaska,” was subdued but featured the horn section creatively. The set was mostly slow and steady carried by bass player Tony Markelli's groove. Trey announced that when he and Tom Marshal found out about the festival, they wrote a song just for the occasion. The fruit of this was a reggae tune called “Sailboat Man." The song was written in the most common rock arrangement of 1-4-5 (think “Stir It Up” or “Chalk Dust Torture”) and it sounded like it was written in five minutes, but nevertheless, was a thrill.



These few photo's are courtesy of Rich Kujawa who shot for me this weekend and was a blast to chill with. Big up to Sammy Martin and the ultimate blogger convention.


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