Langerado '07
Paul Murin
Written 3/24/07

It had been a while since I had gone to a good old-fashioned hippie-type festival. Truth is, festivals aren't always my cup of tea. For the record, the last non-bluegrass festival I had attended was Coventry, Phish's final concert. Most of us know how that one wound up. But special circumstances surrounded Langerado for me this year, and I just couldn't pass it up.

Langerado is in early March, a perfect time of year to get away from the snowy mountains of Colorado for a while and into some 80 degree and sunny Florida weather. I was priveliged to be hanging out at the festival with the Phunky Bitches, an amazing online community of women Phish fans and all-around music fans, many of whom traveled from all different parts of the country to be together. It was a breath of fresh air to be around so much feminine energy at this festival--there were as many as 8 or 10 hula hoops going at some points--and you could just feel the love these people had for one another. Plus, they were PRO festival-goers, and were well-prepared for maximum comfort and enjoyment. The perfect crew to be with at a festival.

An interesting aspect of Langerado is that there really isn't any on-site camping. Everyone has to leave the premises each night, and the shows were over by 10pm. There were lots of late-night shows around town, but we didn't partake because we wanted to save our energy for the festival. While not everybody enjoyed having to drive after the festival each day, it DID force everyone to find a place to stay, so the crowd was better-bathed than some festival crowds. Also, this gave the cleanup crews a chance to clean out the porta-pottys each day--a nice touch.

We noticed something interesting about the scheduling of the bands. There were 3 stages, and typically there was music on two of them at any given moment. It worked out well if you wanted to catch a few songs of one band and a few songs of another band. But much of the time, when one of the bigger acts was playing, there was an equally big act playing at the same time. For example, Trey and STS9 played at the same time, and P-Groove, Greyboy, and Mofro all overlapped too. At first we were kind of frustrated by this because it forced us to choose which show we would miss. But what we eventually realized is that it was actually kind of ingenious because it dispersed the crowd, and made it fairly easy to get close to the stage for whichever band you chose to watch.

DAY 1:

We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled up to the park and saw hardly any line at all. With visions of Coventry and Big Cypress in my head, I was delighted to see that the line was NOT spilling out onto the highway. They did an outstanding job of managing the traffic and there was PLENTY of parking, so everyone got in quickly. We were also quite happy to see that there was no effort whatsoever to search cars. It was only maybe a ten minute walk from the car to the festival gate, and there was minimal security there either. And once we were in the park, there was nobody around who gave a shit what we did; we were free to party in any way we chose.

One of the best things about this kind of festival is that it gives you a chance to catch a lot of bands that you may not have otherwise been able to see. Here's the music I saw that day...hope nobody minds me sharing my personal opinions of the sets:

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. I saw this band at Telluride Bluegrass, of all places, last year. They are amazing--Sharon Jones could be considered the "female James Brown." An incredible performer, kind of in the old-school style where the band opens up the show with a few jams, and then the star makes her grand entrance. If you're looking for a funk party, definitely catch this band.

Galactic. I've seen Galactic a few times, and while I can get into their grooves, and I definitely enjoy Stanton Moore's playing, it all starts to sound the same to me after a while.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. I've probably seen the Flecktones 25 times, and I think they are perhaps the best band on the scene right now. The level of musicianship on that stage is simply extraordinary, and they never disappoint. Unfortunately their music was perhaps a little bit too quiet and subtle to really capture the crowd's attention. But they had mine, as always.

moe. Caught some of moe's set between Bela and Trey. I like them, don't love them. This set didn't change my opinion.

Trey Anastasio. Not the best Trey show I've seen, and not the worst either. Nowhere near as good as the Fox show that I blogged about back in November '06. Jams were not very adventurous, and he didn't give much room to the other people in the band (I particularly would like to see Jen get more of the spotlight). Everyone was super-psyched, of course, when he played "First Tube," but frankly I didn't think it was much better than anything else he played. Still, Trey tore up a few solos, and as always it's just good to hear the guy play guitar no matter what the setting. Looked clean & squeaky sober too, by the way.

DAY 2:

Again, no line at all to get into the festival. Hell yeah...this ain't no Coventry.

Greyboy Allstars. I had actually kind of forgotten that Karl D was in Greyboy. These guys just kicked ass from the first note. Bringing the funk in a big way, without falling into the trap of monotony that many funk bands can fall into. Great guitar work, great keyboard work by Robert Walters, and of course Karl D just kicked ass. Good to see these guys getting out there again.

Perpetual Groove. Only caught the last 4-5 songs of their set, but was pleasantly surprised. Great sound, good songs, and even some decent psychedelic jams. Will have to catch some more of these guys in the future.

JJ Grey & Mofro. Only caught a bit of this one too, but really like JJ's songwriting. These guys have really tapped into the real deal of southern rock/blues/R&B. I'm ambivalent about their horn section--seems like they've polished their sound in recent days, and I kind of missed the dirtier, swampier stuff. Still, enjoyed what I heard.

Medeski, Martin, and Wood. It was GREAT to see these guys again--it had been quite a while for me. I'm a huge fan of Billy Martin in particular. Sometimes they take their jams a little too far out for some peoples' tastes, but I thought they sounded great. Deepest, stickiest funk grooves around.

Michael Franti and Spearhead. Again liked it, but didn't love it. Hadn't seen them before, and it was good to see Franti perform.

My Morning Jacket. I was pleasantly surprised by these guys. A little too "rockish" for my taste on the whole, but they did a great job of mixing up styles in their songs--lots of unique and interesting sounds. At times they had a "retro" rock sound, almost like the Black Crowes or something, but at other times they had a more modern, alternative sound. Would like to check out a studio album or two by these guys just to get to know their songs a little better.

Balloon city in the parking lot on the way out tonight. They wanted $10 each, 3 for $20. Goddam hippie crack mafia. I declined.

DAY 3:

Longest line of the weekend getting in today, maybe about 45 minutes. If that's the worst we have to deal with, I'm not complaining.

Taj Mahal. I absolutely LOVE Taj Mahal's mix of country, folk, blues, and even Afro-pop. Great story songs, very melodic and happy. He was playing with a little trio, and the bassist was Bill Rich, who used to live in Denver and was a regular figure in the local music scene--a great player. A perfect set to start off the day.

Toots and the Maytalls. I've never been a rabid reggae fan, and had never seen Toots before. It was a great set--I'd really describe it as being about 50% reggae and 50% R&B. High energy, had the crowd dancing in the afternoon sun. His rasta version of John Denver's "Country Roads" put a smile on my face.

Matisyahu. I had been reading a lot about this guy, and again I'm not a huge reggae listener, but I was interested to see what he was like. Stylistically, it wasn't really my cup of tea--I don't think I understood more than 6 words he sang all night. But he was something to watch as a performer--absolutely OWNED the crowd. And the band had incredible energy.

O.A.R. Only caught a little of these guys, but it seemed pretty good. Kind of a poppy, Dave Matthews sound to my ears, but in a totally good way. Interesting, melodic songs with good lyrics and plenty of stylistic variation.

Widespread Panic. Not much of a panic fan, but I'll go listen to Jimmy Herring play the guitar any time. Seems like the band is taking a funkier direction lately, getting a little further away from the southern rock sound of their earlier days.

I regretted missing Lotus and the Disco Biscuits, and I figure there were probably some other bands I'd never heard of and would have enjoyed if I had caught them.

Overall I'd give the Langerado Festival about an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. I personally would have liked to see a few more bluegrass bands, and also perhaps a few more "worldly" bands from places like Africa, Cuba, Brazil, etc. But that's just my own taste. And I also would have liked to see a little more spontaneous jamming--Bela Fleck jumping onstage with Trey, Karl D jumping onstage with MMW, that kind of thing. Hardly any of that happened all weekend. But the festival organizers get high marks for the logistics--it was very well run, and there were absolutely no hassles whatsoever from local law enforcement, all of whom were quite cooperative and helpful all weekend. I would recommend Langerado to anybody who is looking to get a good dose of music and an early taste of some summer weather.

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