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Monday, October 5, 2009

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2009

Posted by david_o at 4:59 PM

So there we were again a year later. The best free gig on the planet. In beautiful San Francisco’s Golden Gate park. Blue skys and chilly winds. While the lineup wasn’t as good as 2008 – and we didn’t have passes and had to hang with the common slop of humanity – it was still pretty darn good. So Saturday started with Buddy Miller. I’d never seen him but had heard a lot of him. He did a bunch of his own songs, brought out Emmylou for a couple, and then Robert Plant for a few more. It was a great set and a great way to start the day. It was also obviously a lot more crowded than last year. I noticed on the Chronicles site a number of comments complaining about the crowds, the smoke (there was a lot of pot around I will say) and all that may be true but where else can you see this amount of stuff for free. Next up was a toss-up and we decided to get in place for Boz Scaggs by going to see Jorma (Yawna?) doing his usual blues stuff. He can play it’s true but it’s probably  best for the pot smokers amongst us. Boz was up next – with a great, great band – James Cotton, Jimmy Vaughn, Buddy Miller (again – it really was his festival this year) and Nick Lowe on bass (he must have wondered what hit him – and he did a great job). They were OK. Pretty laid back. Pretty standard blues stuff. The best things they did were Cadillac Walk – in a tribute to Willy DeVille (nice touch), and a James Cotton instrumental – that was pretty mental. I will say it was on the Rooster Stage – which is a narrow canyon – and it was mobbed and probably should have been in one of the more field like stages. Next up was Nick The Knife who was his usual self. Nice set – although as my wife said it’s probably time to drop I knew the bride. She’s probably right. By now it was late afternoon and the wind was getting up and it was pretty darn chilly – we’ve lived in Hawaii and LA for the past five years and our blood has significantly thinned – but Marty Stuart was next up and what a show he put on. It was poorly attended – a few hundred people, compared to the thousands that were at Robert Earl Keen (saw him last year and, can’t say I was super impressed  - Jerry Jeff without the persona). Marty put on a tour de force. Starting with a Nashville West inspired Telecaster instrumental, into a bunch of straight country songs, followed up by some nice bluegrass and gospel, a fab solo guitar and a solo mandolin piece – he is a master on these three instruments. Unbelievable stuff. And a shame so many people missed it. He’s too country for this audience I think – and not country enough to get the Billy Joe Shaver crowd. I could have listened to him all night – and the band weren’t slouches. The other tele player was Don Rich. If you get the chance you have to go see this show.
By now it was freezing and even though I would have liked to have seen World Party we left (and later heard they were great). Oh well. We were hungry, tired and cold. Not a great way to enjoy music.

Next day it was just the boys and we started with Booker T and the Drive By Truckers (who look like a preppy version of Talking Heads except for the guy who looks like Dave Grohl on a bad day). It was pretty awful I thought. It was basically three DBT’s songs followed by a Booker T songs (time is tight, green onions). Too loud for first thing Sunday morning, the songs were too long and unstructured. It sounded like his new album – but wasn’t as concise. We skipped out early – and tried to help my friend recover from the after effects of eating a bad barbeques oyster the day before (where else but SF would you get Oysters at a festival?) – but came back for Rodney Crowell. Last time I saw Rodney was on the first Emmylou tour of the UK. Had heard some of his 80’s albums but wasn’t too impressed. Well he was pretty good. All the songs were new to me and covered the gamut in terms of topics (from a duo of songs about a rent boy with AIDS and his brother, who tried to talk care of him), to a beautiful song with the refrain “I’m as close to heaven as I’ve ever been’ I think. He brought out Rosie Flores (she was everywhere also, like Buddy) to do Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight. Nice stuff. He had a great fiddle player with him and it was the start to Sunday we really wanted. We then ran off to catch the tail end of Allen Toussaint. We caught his greatest hits medley. What a talent. Great show. Funky, and an upbeat way to move us into a pleasant Sunday afternoon. It was time again for the dreaded Rooster stage – that was not only a weird shape but also freezing due the many overhanging trees. My friend managed to wangle us into the friends and family section – which was very pleasant and reminded my of last year – in time for Mavis Staples. Who was great. Great band (all white). Great singing (all black). Fantastic version of the Weight. They started with Stephen Still’s For What It’s Worth. She’d done this show a thousand times before but it never sounded tired. Buddy Miller sat stageside and Booker T and Billy Bragg bopped around. Great show. The Knitters were next but we were freezing again and again had to leave. Next time I’m bringing a down jacket and hanging out.

Thanks to Warren Hellman for putting this on. It’s a really treat and a special occasion. Amazing music and memories. Now to see if I can find downloads of the Marty Stuart show on the web!


Pictures to follow...... 

 

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