Music Festival Review: 10th Utopiafest featured Lukas Nelson, Patty Griffin, STS9
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”23″ display=”basic_slideshow”]Last weekend’s 10th Annual Utopiafest held for the first time at Reveille Peak Ranch just outside of Burnet saw ideal weather conditions perhaps for the first time in the festival’s history as the event dates moved to their latest time of the year thus far. The limited-attendance festival featured performances by Sound Tribe Sector Nine (STS9), Patty Griffin, Lukas Nelson and John Medeski’s Mad Skillet among other acts that followed in the Americana / Jam band slant the festival bookers lean toward.
The grounds were situated on an incline that led down to a small lake with campsites situated on the far side of the body of water. It works out to a smaller footprint making is easy to get from one stage to the other. Panoramic views of the surroundings could be seen from the towering viewing platform above a large covered, outdoor pavilion which housed the VIP area. Later in the evening on Friday and Saturday, a silent disco took place in the space. Multimedia visual art pieces were positioned near the water next to the pavilion. Theatrical lighting lit trees and the art exhibits in the evening, lending a multi-colored, digital glow to the rustic, nighttime environment. A smattering of craft and food vendors were situated near the main stage along with more art installations, a hammock grove and games for families and kids.
Thursday Launch Party
The event kicked off Thursday with a launch party at the venue that included Grandmaster Flash and The Utopiafest Players, an all-star group of Austin musicians led by Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas, Brownout) that included Stephen Bidwell (drums) and Joe Sokolik (bass) who are also members of Black Pumas. The pair play with Hard Proof as well. It looked like Trevor Nealon (Band of Heathens) was behind the keyboard. The three-piece horn section contained two of Hard Proof’s members making it easy for the festival collective to pick up the parts to one of the band’s tracks, adapting it to the players on stage to lead off their set which was a good as you’d expect a killer lineup like that to be. Quesada invited singers Kelsey Wilson (Wild Child) and Eric Burton (Black Pumas) to sing lead on several songs. Basically it was an honest-to-god, hippie dance-party on the red-dirt of Burnet, Texas with some of Austin’s best musicians leading the way.
Legendary DJ, Grandmaster Flash‘s set preceding the jam out, was a bit disjointed if not entertaining. The booming sub-woofers on the ground in front of the stage made for an exceptionally loud set as the original wax-master ran through a medley of songs in chronological order from the 1970s when Grandmaster Flash first came into the public eye in New York City. The ground-breaking waxmaster had a video screen behind him that alternated between showing effects-enhanced video of GMF up-close with a DJ cam to loops of past hip-hop legends of New York and beyond. Perhaps not the most cohesive set we’ve covered, but damn, it was the man who started it all with two turntables and microphone so we felt the appropriate reverence a musical pioneer like that deserves.
Friday
The Cosmic Clash kicked off the first full day of Utopiafest with a bang by catching self-described slop-pop act Diet Cig. The garage-pop duo is now touring as a three-piece featuring the tireless Alex Luciano on vocals, vox and guitar while Noah Bowman holds down drum duties. They brought along a keyboard player this time too. The pair have gained a following on the strength of the Luciano’s high-energy live performances which often see the diminutive, young woman cavorting wildly across the stage. In fact, she related earlier this year she suffered a serious knee injury leaping off the bandmate’s drum kit during a performance.
Friday’s Utopiafest set was no different. Instead of leaping about as she usually does, Luciano settled for lots of high leg kicks, smiles and some great, upbeat power-pop music. Luciano doesn’t have a classically beautiful voice but makes up for that in spades with her enthusiasm, biting, humous lyrics and genuine joy she appears to get from performing live. She really looks like she’s having a better time than the audience. The charisma is real as is the quality music Diet Cig puts out.
We also caught esteemed Texas songstress, Patty Griffin whose set was swapped with Lukas Nelson’s. Griffin deliver an intimate set on the smaller stage. While the performance felt like a private show , Griffin commanded the largest crowd at the smaller stage all weekend. The stripped-down instrumentation served the singer well in that setting, creating an atmosphere that matched the tone of the festival while Nelson and his crew prepared to perform on the larger stage immediately following.
Lukas Nelson has come into his own this year, landing film gigs (both acting and consulting on soundtracks) on top of an ambitious tour schedule to support the Promise of Real’s latest album, his self-titled release that dropped late last year. The man is the spitting image of his famous father, Willie. He is short in stature, has the same reedy voice and he is an exceptional guitarist. Nelson has proven to be an all-around great performer. The band is no slouch either, having backed none other than Neil Young on a recent tour. The big production on the main stage with pro-style lighting and sound highlighted Nelson’s talent. He’s really a rocker disguised as an alt-country artist, seeming to get the most enjoyment out of the high-octane songs his outfit plays. Nelson will often leap about the stage during these tracks, keeping fans engaged while his band chugs through the set list. We’re big fans of the son of Willie Nelson.
Saturday
The final day of the festival saw the threat of rain become real late in the evening, spoiling the festival’s perfect weather weekend slightly. The delay only lasted about 30 minutes before the festival kicked back into gear, minimizing the interruption. Early evening, we caught Afrobeat funksters, Hard Proof play their usual tight, energetic set during with the sun setting on the park.
The 10-piece collective was missing keyboard player, Michael St. Clair but fans hardly noticed as the band worked through a thoroughly entertaining 45-minute set. The performance was one of the last shows of the year for the Austin act that has won Best World Music Band at the Austin Music Awards four years running.
The highlight of the final day of the festival (perhaps the entire fest) was John Medeski’s Mad Skillet performance later that evening on the small stage. The virtuoso keyboardist led his group of masterful players through a trippy, jazz-influenced set that seemed to take the smallish crowd on an musical journey around various keyboards. Medeski played organ, grand piano and even jammed on a harmonium (a handheld keyboard with a vocal tube) while his band; drums, guitar and souzaphone took turns leading meandering jams that turned into full-fledged funk get-downs.
Medeski is the principle member of legendary organ trio, Medeski, Martin and Wood who have performed at the larger-format, Austin City Limits Festival. The group is the type of acts musicians love which is why it was no surprise to look around the audience during the performance and see plenty of local musicians craning their necks to get a better look at Medeski’s technique. The man is a master. He endearingly mouths the notes he plays on his vintage organ like Robert Cray does when he’s playing a mean guitar solo. It is, apparently, the mark of a master musician.
Jamtronica act, Soundtribe Sector Nine (STS9) closed down the main stage with a startling light show we mostly watched from the incredibly high observation deck over the VIP pavilion. It was a great vantage point to watch the performance until about 12:20 a.m. when that storm we mentioned earlier came in. Fans took refuge under cover at the tail-end of STS9’s set which was cut short only slightly.
All Photos: Brandon Sandler and Felicia Graham/Utopiafest
