|
THE RADIATORS: BIG MEADOW
Dave Malone
By Susan J. Weiand |
New Orleans's homeboys the Radiators
have played the High Sierra Music Fest more than any other band. Besides Leftover
Salmon, when you go to HSMF you gotta see the Rads! Celebrating their 25th year
together, their late afternoon performance on the Big Meadow stage on Friday,
July 2 was, as usual, a rollicking good time. Their shows are always solid start
to finish. Opening with Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" the festival
veterans ran through many of their upbeat tunes including the closer "Little
Sadie" and had the crowd on their feet dancing. The guest appearances by
Fareed Haque on "City of Refuge" and Anders Osborne
and George Porter Jr. on "Chevrolet" really brought the energy
level up to a fevered pitch; Anders in particular smoked on his solo here. They
also played an awesome late night set on Thursday night.
- Susan J. Weiand
Johnny Vidacovich by Susan J. Weiand
ANDERS OSBORNE, GEORGE PORTER JR., JOHNNY VIDACOVICH
Funky, funky, funky! This set at the Big Meadow stage was the sleeper hit for
me. High Sierra 2004 was chock-full o' Nawlins music this year. Johnny Vidacovich
is an absolute genius and he's so fun to watch--he brings everyone into his
world when he plays and sings (or raps). George kept booties shakin' with the
heavy low end as Anders Osborne played his warped rock-blues-funk guitar.
Skerik came aboard halfway through the set and it became one of the hottest
things I'd seen all weekend.
- SuperDee
Anders Osborne by Jeffrey Smith |
Anders Osborne & George Porter Jr.
By Jeffrey Smith |
KERMIT RUFFINS & THE BARBECUE SWINGERS
Kermit Ruffins by SuperDee |
Kermit Ruffins brought
some New Orleans Soul and energy to High Sierra. His set in the Vaudeville tent
was pure Cajun excitement, catching the ears of everyone near the tent and drawing
them in with joyous horns and party-starting rhythms that seized control of
your body and didn't stop until "all the females" were invited on
stage for the finale. Finishing up things with a call and repeat chant of "shake
it like a Polaroid picture," Ruffins and his band represented New Orleans
and brought Jazzfest out west.
- Forrest Reda
Hunter Brown by Casey Flanigan
SOUND TRIBE SECTOR 9: LATE NIGHT AND GRANDSTAND
Sound Tribe Sector
9 at High Sierra has become somewhat of an institution. Their late night
set on Thursday evening was the first chance to really get loose up in the mountains,
and the peeps were letting it fly as usual when hanging with the Tribe. It seems
that STS9 has taken great strides in what appears to be their goal of making
everything "sound" exactly as they desire. In focusing on the overall production
and quality of the end result one is forced to let some of the experimental
and improvisational aspects slide to the side. This isn't to say that STS9 are
not still way out there, it's just that their vision has grown in massive leaps
since their inception and they are pushing things in a different manner than
perhaps back in 2001. Equipped with two encores and heaps of dance heavy-beats,
the late night set touched on "Mischief of a Sleepwalker" and "Water Song" in
the first set and blew things open with "Frequency 2" > "Frequency 3" > "Kabuki"
and "Dance" to close Set II. After a somewhat predictable but strong "Moonsockets"
to close the entire evening a satiated crowd slid out into the cool evening
touching down on earth once again.
Dave Phipps by Casey Flanigan
STS9's main stage performance sounded great, perhaps even better in terms
of overall achievement when compared to the late night set, but a bit less edgy
or experimental, as a main stage show should be. Just as they did last year,
the band brought a crew of immensely talented fire dancers on stage as the centerpiece
of the evening. While it was very similar to last years main stage gig (mostly
due to the fire dancers) it was executed far better with the music maintaining
its integrity throughout the fire show. It was a wonderful set; one would simply
hope that they will switch it up next year. As the HSMF emcee said, the Sound
Tribe truly unites all in attendance and it was a joy to be a part of it all
once again.
- The Kayceman
Dave Murphy by Casey Flanigan
|
