June 7, 2007

Mountain Jam Review & Photos - Day 2 - 06/02/07

Day 2 starts out with drizzling rain as we head down to Hunter but were stopped part of the way due to a live electric wire across the road, which seemed to be a bit of excitement for this otherwise sleepy little town. After a quick detour, we head into the resort and were met with the music from Assembly of Dust on the Main Stage toward the end of their set.

Assembly of dust.jpg

Assembly of Dust MusicRoadMan.com

Ozomatli from Los Angeles were up next on the Main Stage, an great group with members from different nationalities that shows up well in their musical style. After jamming out with "City of Angels", hit a bit of salsa to get the hips moving with "Dos Cosas", Caribbean sound with "Gallina" and more of a rap with "Street Signs". They did a dedication to my home area of New Orleans with "Let The Good Times Roll" that was heavy on the brass section, as it should be. These guys certainly got the energy flowing throughout their set and were one of my favorite bands that I saw this weekend and look forward to seeing them again at Wakarusa.

Ozomatli MusicRoadMan.com

Umphrey’s McGee was cut short by hard rain and lighning but performed a couple of instrumental songs before packing it up for the day. From South Bend, known more for Notre Dame football than music, I saw these guys last year at Langerado and was more than a bit bummed out they got cut short, but what can you do about the weather….. Damn, it…..

Umphrey’s McGee MusicRoadMan.com

G-Love & The Special Sauce graced the Main Stage much to the delight of the screaming young girls in the audience. I was angling for a better sight line for taking a picture and was risking a concussion as I tried to step in front of a gaggle of young ladies. I saw G-Love back at Jazzfest in 2005 and was impressed, but he has seemed to go more toward the hip hop side the last two times I saw him but maybe he is just playing to the age of the crowd. The horn section from Ozomatli came out for "Take A Walk On The Wildside" and Steve Molitz from Particle joined in on keyboards for "Holla". Warren Haynes also made an appearance with the band for "You Don’t Love Me".

G-Love MusicRoadMan.com

I was determined to make it through both sets of Gov’t Mule tonight and was successful as intermittent rain came down but the crowd at this point did not care, nor did I. "Play With Fire" started out the night and "Wild Horses" later on in the set. I never realized the talent of these guys before and kicking myself for not discovering them earlier as my focus in the last 10 years has been more toward Jazz and Blues. But no more, the chemisty of all the guys on stage is somewhat magical, a product I am sure as Warren wants to make this special since he is putting together this festival and so far has done a great job. If only he had a bit more control of the weather as the rain comes tumbling down, as the band ends the 1st set with "Mr. High and Mighty".

The 2nd set starts off with "Endless Parade", appropriate as the people were streaming in for a better view. "Man’s World" got the testosterone flowing on the male side before Matt Abts did a fantastic solo on the drums. The rest of the guys came out for "Freeworld" as I started heading out for the day through the mud and people. Great day!!!!!!!

Warren#2.jpg