Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Final Two Days Of 10KLF 2008

Too busy to write, with so many amazing acts I have found it difficult to pull myself away from the stages! Friday started, for me, at 2pm on the Field Stage with the Everyone Orchestra creating beautiful jams from scratch giving everyone in the band a chance to start a song. Such a treat to see Steve Kimock two days in a row. Aside from the already solid cast, Michael Kang came out to do some double duty, two shows back-to-back. What energy! Next it was back and forth between the Field and Barn for Pangea and JJ Grey & Mofro, both shows to not be missed. First time seeing Mofro for me and I loved every minute of it. After a much needed rest, I caught the Slightly Stoopid show which was a great crowd primer for the dramatics that were to follow. If you have never seen The Flaming Lips, it is a must see at least once. Each song leaves you wondering how it can top the last. The sound quality was good and the stage show was off the hook, I have never seen so much confetti! We kind of bounced around eating and drinking after the Lips until we set course for Lake Salley for some late night debauchery. We arrived to the fire troupe and drum circle in fine spirits and continued partying till the wee hours of the morning, not quite sunrise, but damn near, (I'm too old to be staying up for the sunrise!)

Saturday morning started with a swim in Lake Sallie, so fresh, what a terrific way to rejuvenate after a long night. Again I started shooting photos at 2pm and had a very busy day. First off to The Bad Plus for some of the tightest jazz improv. I have ever seen. The guys were on today and played a great set. At the same time The Wood Brothers were on the Barn Stage so I wandered up the hill just in time for "Chocolate On My Tongue." I have to say that this show was probably my highlight of the whole festival. The way the Woods play together gives me the shivers down my spine. Everybody, go see the Wood Brothers if you haven't yet. Back to camp to chill for a bit and I met Brian from The Phix who was camping right next to us, then bumped into Javier Trejo from the New Primitives who sounded great on Wednesday. Up next came some more great action in the form of MMS&W?? Today they were especially funky, still having their moments of random licks and beats, but really keeping it on a solid beat for the crowd. The Phix was on at the same time in the Barn so I went to see if they lived up to my expectations, and they passed and exceeded them. Sometimes the vocals didn't sound exact beacause they're not the guys, but the musicianship was damn near to the t. If you closed your eyes during instrumental sections of songs, you may be hard-pressed to know if it's the real thing or not! Yea, Cajun Ethnic Poly Slamgrass, is that how it goes? Oh man it was nice to see Leftover Salmon again after not seeing them for nine years. They all seemed to be having a really good time performing and sounded great as well, everything was on. The spirits were running high and everyone was ready for the main event. Not to discount Michael Franti or the Lips, both of whom put on terrific shows, but the Phil Show is TWO sets, in my opinion the way it should be done. I can't to begin to describe how good Phil Lesh and Friends performed. It's nice to see some young bloods, in the form of Particle's Steve Molitz and Jackie Greene, bring new energy to an already all-star cast. There must be something in the water in Minnesota because everybody seems to enjoy performing at 10KLF. The highlight of the show for me was the second set Viola Lee Blues>Deal>VLB>Bertha>VLB. Best it's ever sounded. With that my night virtually ended, after four days of taking photos I was beat. I could hear Lotus from my site and it sounded wild. I also somehow could hear Cornmeal playing a cover of Elton John's Benny and the Jets. It sounded so cool to hear the whole campground collectively singing Elton John. After some friends popped by for a minute, it was lights out for me for 10KLF 2008. I hope to be shooting photos again next year and have better luck getting them onto the web fast, too many bands to shoot and post production is way less fun than shooting! See my photos soon at 10KLF.com or localhipster.com. Until next year, safe travels and peace,
Chris

Friday, July 25, 2008

Thursday at 10KLF 2008

Sorry, no pictures yet, my computer is not cooperating with me! But, Thursday was another great day of music. I started out the day at the Lake Sally Stage with Mel James playing a nice acoustic set. After that I hit Kelly Richey on the field stage for some blues rock. She did some nice covers of Hendrix which is always nice. Split from there and went to Dub Trio which was surprisingly, for me, very heavy, a mix of dub reggae and straight up metal. Next up on the field stage was Bonerama which are fronted by four trombones and a sousaphone. Great stuff, bebop to big band with a ska reggae feel sometimes. Then back to the barn for TR3 with Tim Reynolds, of course another great act, which some special quirkiness only found with Tim. For the night Mickey Hart ripped it up on a massive world drum set and Kimock sounded great. They mixed in some Dead tunes with some more funk and percussion tracks. Michael Franti put on a high energy set with the crowd bouncing the whole time. More info to come tomorrow, and hopefully pictures. peace

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Welcome To 10KLF 2008

Wow, so far it has been a good festival. The crowds are a little thin, but cars and bodies are still coming in to the campgrounds. Showed up a little late yesterday but got the camp set up and made some friends in the process. So far we've met people from Mississippi, Colorado, Montana, California, Michigan- people are coming from all over the country which means 10klf is a destination festival. The music has also been great so far. Our soundtrack for setting up camp was The New Primitives, what a great show, they ranged from Latin to Reggae even throwing down some reggaeton. They covered Buena Vista Social Club and Bob Marley. We had just a bit of rain while unpacking but shortly after the sun broke through and we were surrounded by beautiful blue skies and tall, green oak trees-so peaceful! After setting up we hit Papa Mali on the field stage for a guitar ripping good time, man he's hot and his band is great, too. At 11:00 Dark Star Orchestra hit the stage and jammed out a nice, long set starting with some classics such as Aiko, Aiko, Me & My Uncle, Big River and Deep Elem Blues, midset was a righteous Help>Slipknot>Franklins. Slipped up to the Saloon stage and hit New Mastersounds joined by Papa Mali. Another great show. Finished out the night with the second half of DSO ending with a funky Liberty. Hit the campgrounds with some friends and hit the sack. Pics and info from day two tonight! peace