David Byrne with St. Vincent

David Byrne and St. Vincent are currently on tour in the United States and are making their way around the festival tour and intimate venues such as the Taft Theater. The band played most of their new album and several classic Talking Heads songs on this particular evening. This has been one of my favorite performances of a summer that has been filled with music and festivals.

Images by Doug Siegel

Looking Forward to the 2013 All Good Festival

Furthur at All Good Festival

All Good Music Festival and Campout 2013 returns to Legend Valley in Thornville, Ohio July 28-22 for another four days of love, harmony, and musicianship. This year’s festival follows in the tradition of honoring the Grateful Dead culture with the foremost headliner being Furthur featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. The rest of the lineup contains lots for anyone to enjoy no matter what kind of music they are into. Notable performances will include Pretty Lights, Primus, and Dark Star Orchestra. Bluegrass fans will take delight in seeing Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams with The Travelin’ McCourys, and The Infamous Stringdusters.

http://www.allgoodfestival.com

The Common Ground Music Festival

The Common Ground Music Festival
Adado Riverfront Park
Lansing, Michigan


The Common Ground Music Festival located at Adado Riverfront Park, Lansing Michigan was the perfect location for a festival.  The weather on July tenth was roughly eighty five degrees with a breeze blowing.  This seemed like a perfect summer day with no worries of rain.

As we worked our way into the festival you notice the fencing closing off Adado Riverfront Park.   The festival design was a well planned out for keeping people safe and for everyone to have a good time.  There was plenty of parking located nearby for easy and safe access.

The Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration, Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC 6/20/2013

By Joe Carney

An evening of Jerry’s music celebrated through a mixture of Warren Haynes magical guitar work and The North Carolina Symphony’s classical interpretation of some of America’s most Iconic music.  The evening started with a lovely pre equinox day of sunshine and cool breezes, the Red Hat Amphitheater filled steadily in anticipation of the evenings mysterious pairing, with a crowd that ran the gamut of Jerry Garcia followers, Warren Haynes fans and Symphony regulars, all mixed together in an evening gown, tie-dyed swirl of joy. Magic was in the air as the house music quieted down and led by Albert-George Schram, conductor for the North Carolina Symphony, the sounds of symphonic tunings poured into the excited crowd, paired with the all-star bands instrument adjustments.

Of Monsters and Men at Bonnaroo Music Festival

Of Monsters and Men

Lighting up the Which Stage on Friday afternoon for an hour was Of Monsters and Men, an Icelandic pop and folk band with their own very unique sound.  While their 2011 album launched them into stardom in Europe and Australia, this five piece group is in the midst of gaining popularity in the United States.  Of Monsters and Men is led by Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson on acoustic guitar and vocals.  They are backed by Brynjar Leifsson on lead guitar, Kristján Páll Kristjánsson on bass, and Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson on drums. 

Of Monsters and Men is one of those bands that is fits only a very specific niche at a large scale music festival such as Bonnaroo, but the crowd full of American youths signify the demand for such odd Nordic music. 

Bob Weir solo in Nashville

By Butch Worrell

 Bob Weir solo opened for the Bob Dylan’s “Americanarama” festival of music in Nashville June 30th.

Paul McCartney Raises Bar at Bonnaroo

Paul McCartney

Arguably the most epic headlining act in the history of Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was Sir Paul McCartney, playing Friday night at this year’s event.  Bonnaroo always has a way to go over the top in many aspects, especially in the magnitude of performances.  It seems like every year has a way of outdoing the year before, and this year was no different.  Sir Paul and his band came onstage to a cram packed crowd of seventy thousand or so screaming fans on the What Stage.  The performance from this 71 year old (70 at the time) was nothing short of magical.  Supporting McCartney was Rusty Anderson on lead guitar, Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, Paul Wickens on keys and Brian Ray on rhythm guitar and bass.  McCartney cycled through playing his Höfner 500/1 bass, acoustic guitar and piano.  Over the course of two and a half hours, this group of powerhouse legends played 38 songs, the majority of which came from The Beatles’ and Wings’ repertoires.  They played all of the best and biggest hits that Sir Paul has been a part of from the past five decades.  The fans in the crowd knew every single one.  There were so many highlights from the show, including Highlights from the main segment of the show included “Eleanor Rigby,” “Hey Jude,” and “Back in the U.S.S.R.” among numerous others. 

Paul McCartney at Bonnaroo Music Festival