Our gang of GRF friends had decided after the hotel travails of the last few years that we were going to make reservations at the expensive but really close Hampton Inn at the end of Colrain Road this year. And we did that and then got weekend passes (and parking passes) as soon as they went on sale. And then we were very let down when they rolled out a totally underwhelming roster of musicians.
I apologize for criticizing musicians; my criticism is meant for the Festival organizers, who took our money and then announced one of the least marquee-oriented lineups ever. It was only saved by featuring Eilen Jewell (though she'd been there several times before, both with her own band and with Sacred Shakers) and Rhiannon Giddens, and by having some interesting younger acts, such as Tyler Childers and Samantha Fish. And Thank Dog that when there was a cancellation they were able to fill in with a superstar, Lucinda Williams headlining Friday night.
But make no mistake, GRF organizers. We're used to churn: a great lineup every other year with some uninspired ones in between. But this is two years in a row with a *way* below average bill. We kicked ourselves many times over the Winter and Spring that we had opted for GRF instead of the Levitate Festival (which had a great lineup this year), and we will bail if you keep this up.
But anyway, back to happy. We packed up our chairs and beer and sunscreen and summer stuff, picked up Dave from a balky Red Line at Alewife, and then hit the road for the Pioneer Valley. You may be surprised to hear that we followed exactly the same pre-concert routine as we had the last few Julys. We parked in (I think) exactly the same spot as last year in beautiful downtown Greenfield after sneaking around into town by the back door of route 2A, and then walked the few blocks over to The People's Pint through the hot day and bright sunshine.
We were right at the height of lunch hour and so service was not snappy. But we were not looking for snappy. I'd decided and had announced to Sarah and Dave that my attitude all weekend was going to be mellow. I had had a great time at last year's Festival (and the year's before, and the year's before ... this was our tenth), but had often felt I had to put a lot of effort into it. Most times the efforts had paid off and I was at the right stage at the right time to see the musicians I love the most. But I had paid a price, particularly when the weather had been cruel (which for me is high humidity), such as in 2018. This year my approach would be different: I would wander around with no set schedule and I would enjoy each moment as I found it. And that's what I did, though you might be surprised to learn that this "mellow" approach led to seeing 23 bands over the course of the weekend!
After a Double IPA, a Soft Stuff IPA, an Artifact By Any Other Name cider, a Hope St. Amber ESB, and a Lawnchair Pale Ale (oh, and lunch, I got a bacon and mushroom quesadilla which was delicious), we pulled on out and moseyed down to the Hampton Inn, arriving a bit before 2. Got a room (the desk clerk was a robot), stowed all of our stuff, texted our friends who were still on the road or about to be, and then motivated for the concert.
No problem getting our normal parking spot in the shade when we got there around 3:30 and then claiming a space in the rapidly-expanding line to get in. We were back at GRF and the sun was shining through the emerald early-Summer trees!
Dave timed the no-bags line pretty well when the gates opened, and even though there was a mad dash for the in-front-of-soundboard spots on the lawn, we got some great ones to the right of the electrical conduit and set up our chairs. P&D were not far behind us with their chairs. Friend Steve was working the security, the vendors were cooking up a storm, the crowd was pouring in, and the Play It Again tent had used CDs at outrageous prices. I picked up 10 for $20 (several of us were gleefully poring over them in the shaded tent), though I was really considering upgrading to the 100 for $100 plan! I could have chosen 100 CDs I just had to have with no problem, but perhaps this wouldn't have been the best use of time. Whatever, the secret was to be mellow.
OK, wasting time here, got some food and beer and then it was time for the music to start. It was still brutally hot and bright on the main stage, but I stuck around for a few songs from Upstate, who feature some nice harmonies but didn't nail me to my seat firmly enough to put up with the heat, and so I started wandering.
Down at the Dean's Beans stage (whilom 3 Rivers Stage, etc.) I ran into Dave up front and we were both riveted by the Mtali Shaka Banda Oneness Project. Wow, they were good! This is a young and informal band, and Mali Shaka Banda took some time warming up. But soon his vocal pipes started glowing and they had just the right grooves to get the Festival going for us. Mtali had a guitarist, drummer, bassist, and keyboard player with him and they would start up a nice tune, and sooner or later Mtali would start growling some words or humming a lead, and then he'd sometimes add some riffs on his alto sax. This may not sound like a recipe for the kind of music Jon and Dave like, but this was very, very well done and we loved it. And his pants were on the verge of falling down, so that added a hint of danger to it.
Back up to the main stage (branded as The Tea Guys Stage) and caught a bit of Heather Maloney, whom we'd seen there before. She's got a very nice indie-folk sound and I loved her guitarist, even before I recognized that it was the great Anand Nayak, whom I've seen many times. Kept up the wandering as the lovely evening crept in and the temperature dropped just a little, a gentle breeze showed up at the least expected times, and the sun lowered slowly behind the Western hills. Saw a bit of Ladama back down at the far stage (they had a bajo sexto guitat), and later a bit of Parsonsfield back up on top.
But the real treat of my ramblings was that I timed it perfectly to catch the bulk of new Northampton band Dez Roy at the Parlor Room Stage. They're a traditional country band that I'd caught a bit of on YouTube and was really psyched to see. And even though my expectations were higher than they might have been, these guys just blew me away! OK, they weren't great, but they had their act down. Dez is the quintessential tall and skinny Western singer, does a bunch of twangy originals, and plays the heck out of his Telecaster when he gets the chance. And he had another great guitarist with him (also on Telecaster, like a great Bakersfield band), a bass, drums, and a woman playing some very tasty licks on pedal steel. I loved this stuff.
As mentioned in the last few years, GRFs have had "themes" to my ear over the last few years. And to my surprise this year continued that pattern. It was clear to me already that the theme of this Festival was "cavalcade of guitars." I'd already seen some great Telecaster work by the country band and Mtali Banda's guitarist, as well as listening to a bit of bajo sexto and a lot of the fantastic talent of Nayak. And then Lucinda came on with the incredible band, Buick 6 (Butch Norton on drums, David Sutton on bass, and Stuart Mathis on guitars).
I was totally swept up in Lucinda's set and was gushing about it all that late evening. But the others who saw her weren't that impressed. She was maybe a little toasted and wrestled with her words between songs. But it was during the songs that I cared about and she was spilling her emotions all over the stage, with the band filling out her excellent songs and making me shiver in the hot evening. Her setlist was incredible, anchored by two of her most pained songs, Those Three Days and Essence and featuring some other wailing Lucinda blues such as Changed the Locks and Pineola.
Well, that was it for Friday night and it was a very quick trip back to the car and back to the Hampton Inn. Quick trip up to the room to dump stuff and then down to the lobby, where a bunch of the crew had assembled. There was a guy trying to get some work done on his laptop in the lobby, but even though we were pretty noisy there were no complaints from him or the desk clerk. We had some beers and some chips and before we knew it, it had gotten late! Got to bed around 1:00 or so.
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