10KLF Festival Review - Day 2 - 07/19/07

I was hoping to not wake up until late morning, but with people coming in at all hours of the night setting up campsites and laughing at the guy next to me trying to get into his tent after having a few too many brews( zippers are hard enough sober), sleep was not in my forecast. Oh, well that is what they make caffeine for…..

It is a beautiful day up here in Detroit Lakes, MN, with temp this morning in the high 50’s and wind clipping at about 5 MPH, so it made for a nippy ( and nippley) start for Day 2.  No problem, my thin blood from living in the South for so long will manage to survive.

I tried to show all the bands some love as the lineup was one of different genres with some reggae, funk and jam. I start off at the Barn Stage with Green Lemon from Fort Collins, CO. The best way I can describe them is techno-jazzy funk with a tinge of reggae. Originally formed in Oklahoma before bolting to the mountains in the west, they have a great keyboardist in Jon Cordero whose managing of the keys was helped out later in the set by a duo by Steve Molitz of Particle. They had a ton of energy and by the rocking of heads young and old alike they were a great way to start the day and will be looking forward to seeing them again when they wind their way through Dallas next month.

I wandered over to the Field Stage for a bit of reggae with Dubconscious who I saw at Wakarusa last month and showed up just in time for a bit of Afro-beat as Solomon Wright grabbed the trumpet and let loose with some soft notes and relaxed vocals that melded well with their laid back attitude.

I only stayed for a couple of songs as I wanted to head back to the Barn Stage to grab a good spot for Particle and to catch the end of Green Lemon and found Darren Pujalet sitting in on drums for the last song. Very nice… 

Particle finally arrived on stage and the crowd was shoulder to shoulder and steadily coming in through the gate. I have never seen Particle before but I did see Steve Molitz last month at the Mountain Jam as the keyboardist for Phil Lesh and Friends and sitting in with G-Love & The Special Sauce for a song. You can tell he loves being on stage and is not going through the motions that unfortunately I have come to see from so many performers in my travels to see music.

I hung out for an hour as I watched this quartet go through some awesome jams and improvs and showing great patience at the sound guy’s lack of experience.  They let it all hang out even though they just showed up about an hour before the performance and got stronger as the crowd showed their appreciation more and more.

From my bird’s eye view at the Barn Stage, I could see the Field Stage and the audience showing much love for Galactic so I decided to bail on the last half hour of Particle and go see my home boys from New Orleans. I arrived to see Ben Ellman doing his usual magic at sax and the flock dancing in front of the stage( it is true, most white people have no rhythm but get points for trying).

After getting some dinner and paying no attention to the time, I arrived at the Main Stage about an hour into Zappa Plays Zappa. I was not tuned into Frank Zappa in my younger years due to being a bit uneducated to his music but got a thorough understanding and I listened patiently and got some guidance from some of the older generation that sat next to me. According to them, this is Frank the way Frank would have played and realize I missed a lot in my early days due to not being clued in more to his music (ok, I am still clueless on occasion).

My first song to be exposed to was "Dupree’s Paradise" and Dweezil said he Dad used this song for what he called "body commercials", or another word for doing a solo. Sure enough, every guy in the band got a chance to do his own thing and every one of them deserved to be put in the spotlight for a few moments as Dweezil directed them like a traffic cop from center stage. Next up was "Joes Garage" with amusing lyrics about a guy who jams with his buddies, parents are mad at him and the neighbor lady calling the cops (sound familar??). I will certainly be downloading some Zappa tunes to the iPod on return to Texas and I am sure Frank would be proud of the way his son is carrying on his legacy.

For the finale on the Main Stage was Umphrey’s McGee and I was ready for some extended guitar riffs and jams as their set was cut short by lightning when I was at Mountain Jam last month. As the sun was setting and a quarter moon laying lazily over the stage, I opted for a seat about 60 yards from stage so I could enjoy the boys without any sight line interference.

I was rewarded with some great tunes such as "40’s Theme", "Jimmy Stewart", "Intentions Clear" and "Making Flippy Floppy". Two hours of ear candy was topped off with an encore of "Nemo" and "Wizard Burial Ground". Even though they are short on verse on most of their songs, it does not dull my experience at bit.

Next up was Umphrey’s partners in crime, Disco Biscuits, but I opted to hear them from the serenity of my sleeping bag since the temperture was dropping and the wind climbing.  It was great day nonetheless……..