did anyone make it out the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park this past weekend?
I was there all three days, enjoyed it immensely, as always.
Some highlights:
Friday night was devoted to Robert Plant and Allison Krauss' appearance, their second swing though the Bay Area. (The first leg o' the tour was back in late June, and I had scored second row tix [!] from KFOG's 9 o'clock pop quiz for their Greek Theater show, so I knew what to expect and didn't feel the need to get up close this time. The highlight had to be "The Battle Of Evermore" - great LZ song and so well done with that band. T. Bone Burnett really has a handle on their show's sound and feel, and comes up w some great arrangements, including a banjo-fueled twangy bluegrass-ed "Black Dog.")
Saturday, I bounced around from stage to stage, but managed to hear some (or most) of the sets by these folks:
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Carlene Carter
Guy Clark & Verlon Thompson
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
Bad Livers
Richard Thompson
The Desert Rose Band
Jerry Jeff Walker
Odetta
Asleep at the Wheel
Robert Earl Keen
the highlight on Saturday had to be Richard Thompson, whom I saw for about a half hour. I've never been a fan (I've known he was "good," but never really listened), but now I wish I had known earlier just how excellent he is. He has such a great picking style, keeping the rhythm w his thumb and playing runs up and down the neck. it's hard to believe we were hearing just one guitar. His song "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" brought me close to tears. If a song nearly makes you cry (for good reasons), it's a definite highlight. Something happened out there in the sun when listening to this simple song I'll never forget. Richard Thompson was in complete control and all the folks there were on the same page with him.
On Sunday, got to the Star Stage early (10 AM) and put out my tarp. I felt like a land hog since there only three of us for a while. But as the day went along, more friends started showing up and by peak hour we had 11 people there. yikes.. Bill Kirchen opened things off with his dieselbilly Bakersfield style telecaster-powered set. In case you don't know him, he's the guitar god who does the lead guitar in Commander Cody's "Hot Rod Lincoln" (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Rl1zNIpzg).
Then "Riders In The Sky" took the stage -- what fun these guys were! four part harmony cowboy songs, plenty of corny humor and big hats. What's not to like?
Caught some Hazel Dickens and then I saw a little of Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys ("clinch Mountain?" hmmm, just what goes on up there?). The two minutes he took to sing the a capella "O Death"
did bring me to tears. I looked around and I wasn't the only one crying -- what a moment: the entire meadow seemed to go still -- no one spoke during that song. That could not be topped.
Elvis Costello tried, though, esp when he sang "Love Hurts" w Emmylou Harris, and then brought out the 40 man Burlington Welsh Male Chorus to join in his set. very fun...
Then things got nuts w Gogol Bordello (my friend called the crowd for GB an "interesting mix of hippies and the tragically hip(sters). I don't think I've seen so many dreads next to so many ironic mustaches and porkpie hats before!") Frenetic performers, energy to spare. Bluegrass? hardly.. and who cares if I only understood maybe two sentences in their set??
But my buddies had their kids w them, and they were hitting the wall, so we had to get out of that crowd. I then saw some Pegi Young (Neil's wife, she was ... ok). Caught some Loudon Wainwright II and most of Iris Dement. Wrapped it up w a little Emmylou Harris, as is proper.
HSB is one of the highlights of the year for me. Every year this thing seems to get better and better, it's got world class acts, it's so well run, in beautiful GG Park at a great time of the year. .. and it's all paid for by Warren Hellman. All hail him!
