Members Magpel Posted May 31, 2008 Members Share Posted May 31, 2008 Because of some fancy finagling by the front man/leader of my "side project" (a band that keeps me 5x busier than my "main project") I got to play at Mountain Jam yesterday at Hunter Mountain in NY's Catskills. In fact we opened the show to a sparsely populated mountainside that, today and tomorrow, will have about 100k people packed on it The lineup still favors "jam" and roots type stuff--Umphrys McGee; Scofield with Medeski Martin and Wood; Grace Potter; Gov't Mule, Levon Helm, Bob Weir, and host of other names not so familiar to me including some really cool more song-oriented bands that I liked a lot, one called Phonograph. Anyway, it was a hoot. We played well, though the other guitarist's volume dwarfed mine, I later found out, which really brought me down, 'cause like I am the "lead and tricky bits" player in the band...oh well. I played my tricky bits well even if da people could barely hear it. And the energy was good. It was an anomaly, an aberration that we were even on that stage, and we certainly didn't drop the ball. While I wouldn't say, "we acted as if we belonged there," 'cause that really woulda been some acting, I would say "we seized the moment and enjoyed every second of it." I don't think I've ever worn a shiny blue "All Access" Lanyard that says "Artist" on it before. It really is magic, the things that lanyard does. I am standing in from my front door today, still wearing it and saying, "open...damnit, open!" Back to the unwashed, baby. Back to the bars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kendrix Posted May 31, 2008 Members Share Posted May 31, 2008 Congrats on your bitchin achievement. Soaring. Thats what it is... soaring.And then you land and have to walk on the ground. Ying and yang make the world go round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted May 31, 2008 Members Share Posted May 31, 2008 Grace PotterGood stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted May 31, 2008 Members Share Posted May 31, 2008 Kewl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tusks Posted May 31, 2008 Members Share Posted May 31, 2008 Nice to hear that you are out there. You guys have a strange and lovely voice. Um, from a marketing perspective, aren't you supposed to let us know before the gig? I would have brought a gap-toothed 6 year old to sit on my shoulders. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boosh Posted May 31, 2008 Members Share Posted May 31, 2008 Man Congrats! I know what it feels like to play for a crowd of 100,000,...it takes a few weeks to come off that cloud again,....I thought I was Gawd himself for a while,... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted May 31, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 31, 2008 Heh, thx. It was fun, and the temporarily inflated head is actually not a bad thing for me as my natural inclination is quite in the other direction. This was with the band Ratboy, not "my" band, The Sweet Clementines. The Sweet Clementines were semi-finalists in the "Join the Jam" competition, through which one regional band would get a spot on the Mountain Jam roster (the winner in fact is taking the stage as I write). We didn't get enough votes to make the finals. Let me make it clear: we played to a field prepped for a crowd of 100,000. There were considerably fewer actual bodies there when we played, like maybe 99825 fewer. People were just starting to roll in. By Grace Potter, were were maybe 5 thousand people there, I would say. But the thing is this: you couldn't buy Friday-only tickets for the event. So the only people there yesterday were the 3-day passholders, and probably only a minority of those. By the time Umphrys McGee and Gov't Mule and Galactic played, I am sure the body count was much higher. Today and tomorrow are going to be sheer post-hippie, muddy madness. I am going back up tomorrow to see one of my most favoritist musical heroes of ever, John Scofield. I'm skipping today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkZ Posted June 2, 2008 Members Share Posted June 2, 2008 Today, a sparse Hunter Mountain field. Tomorrow, Bethel Woods! Congratulations, Mag. I'll bet your audience smelled much better and had cleaner feet than the 100K crowd. So, you have that going for you, which is nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rabid Posted June 2, 2008 Members Share Posted June 2, 2008 100,000 makes my head spin. That's 4 times my biggest audience. Congrats Magpel. Even if only 5K saw you, from that day on you can say "I played at Mountain Jam." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted June 2, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 2, 2008 Even if only 5K saw you, from that day on you can say "I played at Mountain Jam." Considerably fewer than 5k even, but the second part of what you say is indubitably and permanently true: we opened Mt. Jam. BTW, I returned on Sunday and feel the 100k estimate to be somewhat malarky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted June 2, 2008 Members Share Posted June 2, 2008 Hey, congrats, John! That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm sure you did us proud! Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 2, 2008 Members Share Posted June 2, 2008 Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like a very very great experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted June 2, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 2, 2008 The lean: my only rock move. The pictures report that I was less animated on stage than I remember being. Oh and btw if you look right at the end of my guitar's headstock, you will see a mohawked figure with shades on. That's our buddy Johnnie Wang, an excellent guitarist and writer who got in as our "guitar tech" but looks here to be functioning in more of a Colonel Parker capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I don't think I've ever worn a shiny blue "All Access" Lanyard that says "Artist" on it before. It really is magic, the things that lanyard does. Congrats, John!! Sounds so cool ! That reminds me when I played last year as Moenia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted June 2, 2008 Members Share Posted June 2, 2008 I have an old backstage pass from MANY years ago that says: "The Doobie Brothers, Farewell Tour". And, since I have no talent and am obviously not an "Artist", mine just says "Guest". I hated to see this band on their "final tour". Even though I have no talent and am not an artist, I bet you guys had a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted June 3, 2008 Moderators Share Posted June 3, 2008 The lean: my only rock move. The pictures report that I was less animated on stage than I remember being. Oh and btw if you look right at the end of my guitar's headstock, you will see a mohawked figure with shades on. That's our buddy Johnnie Wang, an excellent guitarist and writer who got in as our "guitar tech" but looks here to be functioning in more of a Colonel Parker capacity. That is an absolutely awesome "lean" by the way! Did you get chance to see Levon?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted June 3, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 3, 2008 Did you get chance to see Levon?!?! I saw his set. It was great. It was The Ramble (a regular musical event held at Levon's house about 30 minutes from me) thrown on a big stage. He opened on drums with Ophelia and some other classics, then Little Sammi Davis came out and they did a 3 or 4 song blues set, then everyone got all acoustic and they did a generous set of the Dirt Farmer material + some standards like Evangeline and Long Black Veil, back to electric and Rag Mama Rag, etc. Great band, featuring Larry Campbell and Jimmy Vivino on guitars, both of whom are absolutely lights out roots rock guitarists. I've seen Vivino in a number of bands (mostly notably The Fab Faux--the best Beatle tribute there is or ever will be) and he appears to be able to play anything, but Larry Campbell, man, if I've ever seen a more melodic roots guitarist or one who plays over changes better, I don't know who it might be. The guy is a really elegant and inventive player. Oh, Lee, BTW, the Fab Faux is playing San Diego very soon. If you don't go see them, I will have to kill you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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