THE ABC'S OF ALL GOOD

This years allgood was a blast - a few things that did'nt make the piece - Big shout out to Digger, Massie and his crew from Ohio and the SC - Tent city two!

Cheers,
Jake



Thursday evening, we found ourselves steeped in a lethargic return to camp after the Easy Star All Stars welcomed our souls. We followed All Good Avenue past the Spicy Pie Pizza tent and everyone’s favorite Pesto mozzadilla vendor, down the dusty road to the main stage area. The pond on our left reflected the memories of All Goods past as we trudged between the giant mascot canines chomping on guitars. The main stage was bathed in brilliant white spot lights. She glistened like a lady on her wedding day in a pure white dress. Seated next to her was her smaller, shyer little sister. Who knew that for the next few days these two gals would host such a plethora and paradigm of amazing and groundbreaking music?



The curse of bad weather touched down only once during the weekend for a short spell during The Bridge’s turn at bat. Much like any longtime All Good veteran would, they spat back at the rain and were determined to not let it affect their slot. The energy coming off these guys was positively contagious as they warmed up while G.R.A.B finished. The blend of their funky sax with Trey’s guitar during “Tuesday” was a special treat to all in earshot in the sweet spot. The Baltimore band warmed the “younger sister” stage nicely for the other breakouts of the festival. Saturday’s Grace Potter set, dubbed “Less Talk, More Rock”, was the buzz of the weekend. The young Vermonter continued to enthrall audiences as she grabbed a quick closed-eye breath before heaving her guitar and leaving the stage and audience in splendidly shredded shambles. Potter is truly a raging rock star and it would behoove any “totally great” festival to create a magic day in 2007 by giving us the pleasure of seeing her follow The Bridge in back to back sets (hint, hint).



Even those bands many lacked enthusiasm to see like Robert Randolph came through with huge showings. His new material, in particular the latest single “Deliver Me”, stirred up a raging “Sly storms the disco party” atmosphere in the crowd. Craziness ensued, as witnessed by on of our Jambase crew members who overheard one of the festival’s more cosmic attendees remark “This is Randolph’s way of paying homage to Two Live Crew with a seven Bizzo’s Jam” while Robert Randolph covered Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile “. At the same time this raucous scene was happening, DJ Logic and a mix of Umphrey’s McGee, Galactic, and, for a short time, Tea Leaf Green’s Josh Clark ripped the Ropeadope stage. This hidden gem, tucked on a hill by the camps, hosted some of the sickest and most intimate jams of the weekend. Stanton Moore with his “friends” and the almost perfect trisect to form the Duo Buggin' with Skerik/Dillon/Marco were some of the musical highlights of the weekend.



Saturday night’s moments flowed so perfectly together. We had just finished an ass-kicking Black Crowes set including special guest Jimmy Herring when the Hackensaw boys kicked up the bluegrass. No sooner had they began picking than fireworks started flying over the main stage. Seriously, is their anything more fun on a Saturday night then bluegrass and fireworks? Heck, we just had to get up and dance patriotic jigs while sporting shit-eating grins. Apparently, this was the consensus as feet started kicking across the Mountaintop.



In many ways, the Greyboy Allstars felt like a 2 hour tease. Just when everyone had warmed up to the groove, it was over and we were left screaming and demanding more. We felt like we had just attended prom with the loosest girl in school only to call it a night as soon as the dance ended. But many with inferior stamina blew their collective loads - some even twice or three times. Karl Denson led the screaming freight train known as Elgin Park all over the hills, blowing off enough steam to heat a small country. They had the crowd so hot and bothered before they kicked into the last tune of the night (the deceptive and tamely titled “Deck Shoes”), that something exceptional needed to happen to cut the tension. I looked around at the whole sweaty mass and noticed them doing a pseudo-electric slide in time with the music. The moment was not intentionally choreographed, but it was so on point with the music and was positively surreal. The rest of the Saturday evening was a party complete with events that require huge shout-outs to the Tent City Two, the Big Dipper, Free Paul, and wild adventures.



All Good has a way of capturing the spirit of all of the amazing times of the weekend, blending them up, and tossing them right into your lap to reflect on during the Sunday afternoon wind-down. This year, Sunday arrived with a raging, beating sun so bright that not only were sunglasses were a must to survive, but it almost seemed as if the extraordinary bands and crowd had finally broken the longtime curse of rain (and worse). If you were like the majority of attendees, you planned on staying in your chair and relaxing to the afternoon of music. That thought was a distant memory mid-way into Xavier Rudd’s set. This was the stage and set he was born to play, as he tore into covers of Toots and the Maytals “Famine” and a spectacular version of “Gift of the Trees.” Anyone who didn’t get out of their chair to dance barefoot and shirtless to his amazing set missed out.



Sunday’s heat didn’t let up, leading into an ARU throw down that we had waited to witness for 13+ years. By the end they were wailing so hard that an extra mini-set from the group was welcomed. This final push left no doubt that the seamless sets of music, beefed up organization, cast of freaky costumed characters, and amazing weather had created the perfect balance of enchantment and heat, making All Good 2006’s festival of the summer and the hottest spot in the USA. Traditionally, the 10th anniversary is marked with a gift of tin or aluminum, but this year’s festival was solid gold from start to finish. With the continued blessings of Masontown WV, Marvin, and Mother Earth herself, the All Good festival should stay strong for at least another 10 years.

All Good was excellent this year!! But no mention of the Ropadope stage which hosted some of the best music of the weekend (The Itch, Stanton Moore+friends, Dj Logic, etc.) other than that..great article!

Now that's a review!!!!!
Thank you Jake!!!!

now thats what I'm talking about. A well versed review that was also delivered in a timely fashion, despite being really long and with a lot of obvious effort placed. Jambase has a great developing concept going here with direct links to the free downloads for these events. Kudos and great job Jake, great words and images!!

amen for the Brother's Past sets! I've listened to the recordings from All Good and Ilya not only fills the big shoes that Rick left, but adds a powerful rock edge that the band is feeding on and loving!

Montra1 and others upset about the minimal mentions of the sick, sick ropeadope stage - I know - I know - unfortunetly there was only so much room on the base - Take a gander at the comment below Montra1's.

Cherrs,
Jake

Sick review. Big ups to the author.

Much Thanks for the kind words folks but credit is dueto Robert massie and myself.

Massie great work!

Viva La ALL GOOD!!!!!

how can allgood get such a great review (not dissing allgood or anything) and 10klf get shafted so badly with the lack of review..wtf good article.

Excellent Time. Great Review, I'll deffinately be back next year. Thanks All Good!!

heh heh, i have a correction- i made Gabby LaLa's hat, and it was actually a beaver (named Winona), not a gopher ;) there shoulda been a photo! :-D

I am now kicking myself in the ass for not going to this.

Damnit.......I knew this was going to kick ass.

Railroad Earth!!!!!!!!!!!
How could you forget to mention these guys when it comes to wonderful bluegrass on the side of a beuatiful mountain top? Just kidding, you couldn't mention every act. =)

These guys are amazing. I thought their strings were gonna catch fire. =)

GREAT ARTICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was my 1st All Good and man oh man, was it ALL GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Vince for joining RRE for a song.
Thanks GBA for blwoing my mind once again.
Thanks Xavier for making me cry for our trees. =)

This festival was exactly what I needed after going to Bonaroo.

Thank you Tapers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the awesome review. All good was awesome this year, I finally met Trey Anastasio backstage and the only words I could get out were "I Love You. Can I get a picture?" He's probably used to grown men acting like school girls when they meet him though. Xavier Rudd, G.R.A.B., and Les Claypool were my highlights. Hope the mayor of Masontown reads this article because I missed her speaking but I almost teared up when I read what she said. There should be a "small-town festival-welcoming mayor's association" so all the other ones like her can offer to house the festivals that have previously been negative vibe and authority ridden. Wish I could thank her, Walther Productions, and JamBase (Jake this time) personally.

Great review!! This was a great festival just like i said before this festival, this goes out to all those ppl hatin on allgood, we had a blast once again on the beautiful mountain top see ya again next year keep on truckin allgood

... oh yeah one more thing Grace Potter is hot!

Nice review, but the Greyboy Allstars are hardly the 'godfathers of jazz fusion.'

How can anyone not have really touched on the Itch's performance on the Ropeadope stage? That was the set that I was hoping for. They played a mind blowing set that was so intimate with the smaller crowd. Krasno threw me his guitar pick and I got to shake Medeski's hand! I love the allgood fest. This was definitely the best one that I have been to. G.R.A.B was fuckin killer. If anyone had good pictures please send them to me at phish0@hotmail.com and make the subject line Allgood 06. For those who missed this fest.....sorry, you missed out. Please stop bringing the N20 guys.

Man,
What a great festival. What a great article. The Itch is the sh!t. And that band that started off the festival, The Boogie Hustlers, goodgoddamn that was the funkiest and freshest band I've seen in years! They're like a male Floetry or The Ohio Players crossed with Common crossed with Marvin Gaye. Too bad they had a sh!tty set time, jamming while people were still setting up their tents. I can't wait to see them again. And Grace, Grace Grace Grace...... Good job All Good on putting the best of what's around in front of us.

The Crowes dropped the lightest most graceful bomb on my world on that Saturday night! The setlist was second to none, and was highlighted by the "Dreams" cover!! That took me away to a place I hadn't been in far too many days...or actually just a month prior when I saw the Allmans at White River at the Lawn downtown Indy! But for real it was reminescent of some of the best Allman shows I've ever seen, 98 Deer Creek, 2000 Deer Creek, and of course 06 at the Lawn. When Jimmy Herring strolled on stage, the waves came crashing in with their first note...My whole world was instantly shot into the sky with the firework show that was the field below! By far the most enchanting performance of the weekend! Chris brought us all together, asking us to think about all that was good going on in the world. This absolutely made my weekend! How lucky am I, they're playing tonight at the Lawn in downtown Indy! Hope to see you there!

DeLuce

ALLLL GOOOOOOD FESTIVALLLLLLL!!!!! wow thats all i can say is fuckin wow this was my first ALL GOOD and im gonna be at the next ten. and huge fuckin props for puttin up some of the shows for us to download (i couldn't find a few ahah) any ways great article and great festie. peace!

Bumming that I couldn't make this. Had numerous friends go that raved about Grace Potter & the Nocturnal's performance. And of course, my favorite band in the promised land, the Bridge, once again showed why they're one of the best in the country!!!! GO BRIDGE!!!!!!!!!!!

Hamish Hamish ALL GOOD FESTIVAL. this was my second all good and its was just a straight up amazing time, medeski rocked the keys, claypool was insane, G.R.A.B tore it up like no other, i saw them at their first show at bonnaroo and you could tell they get better each time the play. BISCOOOOOOO was the hightlight of the festival for me, great Astro>voices>King of the World but the Little Shimmy>Abyss>Cyclone>Munchkin was the best musical highlight for me for the entire festival,the biscuits are just plain sick. on saturday galactic>umphs>alo>robert randolph in absolute perfect weather was abosulty amazing and the greyboy allstars ended the evening in a perfect way. Left sunday morning and kinda regretted it but still had the most amazing time with the perfect weather, people, and music.

wow, all these comments about the festival and not a complaint about the cops. all good must've been bitchin! everybody should ckeck out aquariam rescue unti though. they are da shiznit.

skerik marco and mike dillon were a surprisingly killer set, ween always rocks

THE BLACK CROWES are awesome if you dont know about them check them out they had the best set going for sure and made for a good time for sure.

Yes, ciffy, we do love All Good for its immense chillness, as the mayor's comments to the crowd illustrated. I, myself missed the remarks and was grateful for this review for pointing them out. It makes me even more excited to return to what is quickly becoming my favorite festival of the year. I was slightly disappointed with the long ass hike and the giant hill I had to walk up whenever I wanted to get home; but that aside, no complaints here! As a Crowes fan, I would like to add that they didn't do any Elvis Costello covers and the song name is (Only) Halfway to Everywhere. However, these are only small details for a nitpicker like myself :o) Great review for a great festival. I can't wait to see everyone there next year!

Jake,
Thanks for the shout out! All is well in SC but we do miss our Tent City!!!

Umm, it's a shame more people were not at the Ropeadope stage. That stage was better at times than the main stage.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1 - Marco Benevento, Skerik and Mike D. Skerik (on sax) tore loose, with Marco and Mike D adding equal parts of mind-fuck.
2 - Medeski, Krasno and Deitch. This set was MUCH better than the one at the main stage. The main set was more jazzy, ala soulive, while the ropeadope set was pure nastiness.
3 - Stanton Moore and the rest of the galactic boys. I was front row for the small crowd and it was a mind blowing set.

Sad to say that if you were not at the ropeadope stage at some point of the weekend, you missed the best music there was at AllGood.

Really enjoyed this. That first photo of Todd from Railroad Earth sets the tone in a way words might not be able to. And this avoids the usual breathless "this happened and then this and then..." style of most festival reports. Planning & intelligence went into this piece. I, for one, really appreciated the care & time involved. Good read worth carving out time to fully explore.

i agree about the ropeadope stage it was the place to be. skerillon beniventik brought the place down. grace potter is super hot and super talented.THE BRIDGE,The BRidge!It's a chill place if you stay away from "lunchers". I saw a couple peeple get beat up but they could of had it coming. overall i think it ties 10klf music wise(10klf wins overall for the vibe)but i would like to see secound stage shows increased another half hour other than that keep up the good work guys!

Robert and Jake... THANK YOU for putting this together! I'm glad to see you joining forces to bring us such a comprehensive review of AllGood. Excellent job!

Excellent article and compilation of recordings.

Here are a few more to add to the list:

GRAB
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=27305

Galactic
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=27582

RAQ
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=27253

Jake it was awesome to meet you and Digger at ALL GOOD. I'll never forget the Grace/Harry Potter joke (in the voice of Sean Connery), so sorry it didn't make it into the review. (hee hee) You and Robert J Massie did a great job on this review. Big props to you guys :)

-Teri

Whoever has Xavier Rudd's set needs to get it up online!

The sound system suck, I'm surprised that the guy writing this article thought other wise. Claypool wasn't telling the sound guys that he thougth they were doing a good job. He was telling them that he's pissed. I've never been to a show with such shitty sound.

i need some help with the etree i download shows and then i can't listen or burn the show its like the file is blank any one with some answers? and on another note All GOOD sounded just fine.....langerado had the shity sound guys

Maaaan, this was my first festy, and will not be my last. Saturday was insane... Donavon was surprisingly really cool and fun, and then Galactic FUNK tore it down. Umphrey's is one of my favorite bands, and they were hot, maybe could have given a little more, but hotness none the less. Grace was blowing people away with her pipes. RR, Crowes, Greyboy... GRAB was insane on friday... I had a great time on the mountain this year, and look forward to spending many more weekends up there.

Was the most chill show/festival I've ever been to. Amazing people, amazing artists, the list goes on.

Whoever said something about no cops and all is right. There were cops asking you if you had anything before you drove in to get checked. That was about the only time I saw a cop the whole weekend.

The sound was really bad during Ween's performance, though still one of my favorites of the festvial. It was noticeable when Ween started playing Roses are Free.

No mention of RAQ? They band that is most deserving of an article. They barely made any festis this summer. Shame on you jambase!
Jambase is going down the drain! The Fakin' Jamaican Soldiers of Blah Kill Me got covered but not RAQ!
This was an otherwise great article because the festi line up was the best this summer(it put Bummeroo to shame). No cop harassment inside the festi this year because the NOs Mafia didn't go crazy as usual.

All Good blew my mind.

the GRAB show review hit the nail on the head!!!
best time ever!!! I love you DUO!!!