Review & Photos | Lockn’ Festival – Day Three | Virginia

Images by: Ian Rawn

Words by: Bill Clifford

Lockn’ Festival -Day Three :: 9.07.13 :: Oak Ridge Farm :: Arrington, VA

Full review below gallery, Day One review and photos here and Day Two review and photos here…

Saturday in Virginia at the Lockn’ Festival turned out to be another picture perfect day weather wise, the third in a row. Cerulean skies with barely a trace of clouds filled the sky and though the temperature was warm, there was just enough of a breeze to prevent the day from being a scorcher.

A music festival that draws nearly 50,000 patrons to the area certainly adds to the local economy. Lockn’ organizers have gone the extra mile to make sure to utilize the community surrounding the Arrington area, bringing in locally sourced food, craft breweries and merchants. The Blue Toad offered footlong dogs, produced right here on Oak Ridge Farm, while the Rockbarn Butchery provided mouth watering pulled pork platters and sandwiches. Starr Hill Brewery and Wild Wolf Brewing were just two of the many craft breweries offering locally produced brews, and there were hard cider distilleries and White Hall, Pollack and Ox-Eye vineyards that patrons could choose from. The festival certainly has made an impact on the Mid-Atlantic economy.

Saturday morning’s local opening band was Love Cannon, who played a treasure trove of classic ’80s rock, with a bluegrass style. The London Souls funked things up early, and then The Punch Brothers offered their more traditional bluegrass. On songs such as “Patchwork Girlfriend” and “Annabelle Marie,” The Punch Brothers bent the strings on mandolins and fiddles, and offered sweet vocal harmonies with just a touch of Blue Ridge twang.

Georgian music was well represented on Saturday. The Black Crowes took the stage mid-afternoon, with a huge crowd gathered for the band’s set, which kicked off with a gospel-drenched and hard-rocking “Soul Singing.” “It’s been a long hot day, have you got any goo?” singer Chris Robinson joked with the crowd, “we have a little, we’ll share,” he said in introducing the band’s cover of Traffic’s “Medicated Goo.” The Crowes have been on what is essentially a greatest hits tour, chock full of classics from the Southern Rock kings. Early hits such as “Jealous Again” and “Hard To Handle” were swanky and rocked hard, while “She Talks to Angels” received the acoustic treatment, with lovely mandolin courtesy of harmony guitarist Jackie Greene. The “Descending/Wiser Time” transition is one of the most beautiful segues in all of rock, and featured funky keys and a steady percussive back beat.

The Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) was announced as a replacement for Neil Young & Crazy Horse. TAB was given a full two-hour set time, and the band took full advantage, performing a invigorating set to a huge crowd. “Cayman Review” was an upbeat and jazzy opener that got the crowd moving, with funky horns and lovely vocal harmonies. The TAB band offers Anastasio the chance to play much of his catalog that he doesn’t perform with his full time band, Phish. He alternated tunes such as the cheesy, ebullient pop tune “Pigtail” and the schmaltzy ballad “Frost” with classic, Tab/Phish jams such as “Gotta Jibboo” and “Sand” which featured swells of keyboards mingling with Anastasio’s slithery guitar wail. TAB closed out the set with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog,” which featured vocals from trumpeter/vocalist Jennifer Hartswick, who proved to have a bellowing and powerful voice.

The jam rock continued with Georgia legends Widespread Panic taking the stage ten minutes after Anastasio. They were announced as playing with classic rock icon John Fogerty, but he didn’t emerge until the final half-hour of the two-hour set. So Panic fans got a full set of vintage Panic tunes. Opener “Henry Parsons Died” featured dense growling keyboards and guitars, while fan-favorite “Pilgrims” put the spotlight on bassist extraordinaire Dave Schools, who provided a rolling thunder bottom end.

When the former Creedence Clearwater Revival vocalist finally came out to perform with Panic, it was a battle of the flannels, as both he and Panic front man John Bell donned long-sleeved, checkered flannel shirts. The vocalists traded verses on Creedence tunes such “Born On The Bayou” and “Bad Moon Rising,” the latter also featuring guitarist Jimmy Herring tearing through a classic rock solo. Panic and their Southern bluesy sound is a perfect fit as a backing band for the music legend, and proved it on the swamp boogie of “Suzy Q,” and then the final rocker, “Fortunate Son,” with Fogerty hollering out the anti-war theme’s vocals.

Furthur’s Saturday night set featured a full run through the vintage Grateful Dead album Workingman’s Dead. Taking the stage, the band slowly picked their way into “Uncle John’s Band,” and the crowd sang along in unison. “Dire Wolf” got fans moving and shaking to New Orleans rhythms played on a Yamaha Grand Piano, and singing along as well. On “Easy Wind” guitarist John Kadlecik played sweet dulcet guitar tones that were reflective of Jerry Garcia without mimicking the legend’s style. Anastasio joined the band on the album’s last song, the fan favorite “Casey Jones,” adding lovely guitar harmonies. Furthur’s run through this classic album was certainly a highlight of the entire festival as they played to a huge crowd. Anastasio and Furthur played on through several other Grateful Dead classics to close out the evening. He sang lead vocals on “Bertha,” but didn’t get comfortable musically until the improv jam vehicle “The Other One,” which allowed both he and guitarist Bobby Weir ample room to trade off guitar licks (click here for audio and video of Trey’s Furthur debut).

Saturday was another beautiful and amazing day of music and sunshine here at Lockn’. Stay tuned to JamBase next week for a report on Sunday’s events and a festival wrap up as well.