I arrived a bit too late to bother with George Hrab & The Geologic Orchestra as I had intended, so I instead caught the second half of the Sarah Ayers Band’s set. Like last year, I enjoyed Sarah’s singing. She now has two guitarists to go with the bass / drums rhythm section. The first plays like the guitarist in a regionally successful electric blues band should – and clearly knows that he is good and enjoys himself. The second lazily strummed open-string chords and looked like he had never been more bored in his entire life. At the end of the set they were joined by saxophonist Joe Vitale (not that one, as far as I know) and a keyboard player, both of whom were fairly nondescript.
I stayed at Americaplatz for the the Craig Thatcher Band, whom I had only gotten to see partially last year. As usual, the band itself (guitar/vocals, keyboards/vocals, bass/vocals, drums) was joined by a rotating cast of guest musicians for their 20th year playing Musikfest, including Sarah Ayers as a background vocalist, Eric Steckel and another young man on guitars, a violinist, and some auxiliary percussion. The band itself was as tight as you would expect for a group that has been playing together for two decades, and the guests did not hurt much. I’ve found the band to be top-notch at faithfully reproducing other people’s songs, but their own compositions are not quite as interesting. In addition to the usual Clapton covers, they also played the music of Dylan, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, and a diverse group of other bands. Thatcher’s showmanship can be a bit over the top — just because you are playing a Hendrix tune does not mean you need to use your teeth — but the crowd eats it up. By the way, if you have seen My Name Is Earl, drummer Don Plowman looks an awful lot like character Randall Hickey.
Saturday I made it to Liederplatz in time to hear the Dan May Band, who were billed as roots music, but did not sound particularly rootsy to me. Mostly it was just slightly countrified original rock. Dan May (vocals) was joined by a background vocalist, keyboardist, bassist, drummer, and two guitarists who were constantly switching between electric and acoustic models. For the last two songs one of them instead played lap steel and then mandolin, which made the songs much more interesting. If he had done so throughout the concert, perhaps it would have been more than just a decent way to spend an early evening.
I stayed at Liederplatz for the next band, Webb Wilder & The Beatnecks. You can never tell how southern rock (as they were advertised) is going to sound; Skynyrd and 38 Special are at least as different as they are alike. In this case it meant high-octane rock and roll based on power chords and that root/fifth, root/sixth, root/fifth, root/sixth riff that underlies a particular style of blues guitar, with mediocre lead lines and quirky vocals. Webb reminds me of Rivers Cuomo, if Rivers had been born 10 years earlier and 1000 miles further south. They were fun to listen to live, but I am not sure I would enjoy their recorded output so much.
I then headed over to Volksplatz, where I saw funk band Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. “Trombone” Shorty also plays trumpet and sings, all quite well. He was backed by a terrific band of tenor and baritone saxophones, guitar, bass, drums, and percussion. They played in a more raw, energetic style than perennial Musikfesters Mingo Fishtrap, and this was most definitely a good thing. The set was mostly instrumental-heavy originals, but they also played a few unexpected and brilliantly re-arranged covers of Green Day and AC/DC in addition to those you might expect. Their arrangement of “Brain Stew” was the second time in as many days that someone’s interpretation of a song made me realize that it is basically “25 Or 6 To 4″. When a trumpeter from New Orleans says he wants to take it “really, really, *really* old-school” I am expecting Joe “King” Oliver rather than Marvin Gaye, but they did play a souped-up “When The Saints Go Marching In” toward the end of the set. For the encore the band members all swapped instruments, and sounded almost as good. I’ve been attending most of Musikfest for four or five years now and, while it is difficult to compare across years or genres, I think I would call this the best band I have seen.
It was attending Musikfest last year, hearing the great music by bands of this sort, and seeing people of all genders, races, and ages singing along and dancing together in a sea of humanity separated for a few hours from the troubles of the world that inspired me to push the ill-fated band that I started soon after in that direction. I love rock & roll, but it does not seem to have the same universal appeal. My musical mentor Norman David used to say that if we could just broadcast Ella Fitzgerald around the world every soldier would lay down his arms. I’m not sure about that, but the power of the groove should not be discounted. (And I am aware that the plentiful flow from the beer tents does not hurt either.)
On Sunday my parents and sister came to see the festival with me. We first caught the second half of Eric Steckel & Friends’ set. His “friends” this year were the regular members of the Craig Thatcher band other than Thatcher himself. He played a good set, but I have enjoyed him much more with a second guitarist. They then decided they would like to see Los Straightjackets based on my analysis that surf music would be like the Beach Boys. Although this was true to an extent, Los Straightjackets plays entirely instrumental music while they were expecting Wilson-esque rich vocal harmonies.
We wandered to Festplatz, where Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra were upholding the festival’s polka-based history for a few songs. It is not a genre for which I have much love, but I can agree that they executed it well. We stayed for about an hour of oldies band the Main Street Cruisers, who my parents certainly enjoyed. Finally, we returned to Americaplatz to listen to rockabilly lady Rosie Flores for a while. I found her and her simple rhythm section quite entertaining, but she clearly bored my sister and her friend.