Vegas Vegoose Buffet o’ Bands…Who Needs Sleep Anyway?!
June Caldwell
November 06, 2005
Rodger Caldwell contributed to this article.
The Strip? Fugeddaboutit! The sold out Vegoose Festival was the place to be in Las Vegas this Halloween weekend! The stellar mix of bands included the mega-stars Dave Matthews, with the best international alternative new music like The Arcade Fire, Beck, up-and-comings The Decembrists and Sleater-Kinney along with jam band Bonnaroo staples like Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio, Phil Lesh, and Michael Franti. Don’t forget to throw in hip hop giants Atmosphere, Blackalicious, Slightly Stoopid, Digable Planets and King Britt along with about 25 other luminary bands, and you have the basis for the powerful witches brew. Jam bands, hip-hop, indie rock, Brit pop, psychedelic bluegrass, southern rock, bayou funk: it was all there!
Some of the headline acts could easily have played all weekend to the crowd of music lovers, costumed party animals, and nomadic festival tribes... Wait a minute….! They DID play all weekend, or at least into the wee hours both nights at other venues on the Strip for those who felt like wandering off from the mother ship at Sam Boyd Stadium. Many did, if one festivalgoer who needed jumper cables due to coming home at 4 am and leaving his lights on is an indicator. In an awestruck tone he told of watching Trey Anastasio tearing it up at the Aladdin Theatre until the sun came up. “See ya at Bonnaroo!” I told him as the car started up and they took off for another evening of…who knows what? Who needs sleep anyway?
Saturday, October 29, 2005 DAY ONE
Blackalicious
Chief Xcel and The Gift of Gab, better known to the masses as Blackalicious packed the Clubs Tent for an hour + set of their inimitable tracks including their fifth album “ The Craft”. Blackalicious stretches the boundaries of hip-hop by drawing from wide ranging influences & collaborating with artists of all musical genres.
Phil Lesh and Friends
Shortly after sundown Phil Lesh and friends took the main stage and kicked off their two hour + set with Playing in the Band, Truckin’ and other Deadhead standards. The tunes sound still sound fresh though I’ve heard them a many, many times. Warren Haynes from Govt. Mule (and his “other band” the Allman Brothers) stepped in on a few tunes with his unmistakable guitar wizardry. It takes a great musician to step in with another band unrehearsed and add to their sound without stepping on toes. They ended their set with Casey Jones. When hearing the closing phrase a cappella, the harmonies were so perfect, it occurred to me that if they could just hold that note indefinitely it would resonate throughout the universe and instill harmony across the land. You may say I’m a dreamer…
Beck
Scoutmaster Beck and his troop wandered in from camping somewhere in the desert wilderness to take the stage and were loudly greeted to by a throng of new recruits. After opening the set with ‘Loser’ Scoutmaster Beck led us all in the Scout’s Pledge. What a great role model for all us ‘kids’! In the Halloween spirit, the stage was magically transformed into a Disneyesque forest scene complete with a deer, owl, and raccoon!
Blue Man Group
What is a Las Vegas spectacle without the famous Blue Man Group? They did a crisp break on stage between Dave Matthews and Beck. Painted blue from head to toe, they dance and play drums in Devoesque robotic formation, and nobody does it better…or bluer. Always in Halloween costumes, they fit right in!
Dave Matthews and Friends (including Trey Anastasio)
It was a great surprise at Dave Matthews and Friends time slot when the first person to take the stage was Trey Anastasio. Dave has some cool friends. Trey eased into a slow free form intro. When Dave Mathews came on stage you could just feel the energy level rising. The crowd was clearly made up of enthusiastic fans who traveled far to see their favorite modern day troubadour. Although Dave and company were apparently up all night playing gigs elsewhere, the big grins on all their faces revealed they were just as thrilled to be up on the stage before 15,000+ adoring fans as we were to see them.
Unlike many of our fellow festival-goers, we called it a night instead of hittin’ the Strip until 4 am-ish. We slept some to be fully recharged for:
Sunday, October, 30, 2005 DAY TWO
The Magic Numbers
Seeing The Magic Numbers was a perfect way to ease into day two. Reminded me of the Carpenters getting drunk in a honky-tonk and transmuting into the Mamas and the Papas. Sweet vocal harmonies, lyrics embellished with memorable hooks, tastefully arranged melodies and a steady rhythm section. In the Carpenters/White Stripes tradition, they are made up of two pairs of brother and sisters, including Romeo and Michele Stodart on guitar/vocals and bass/vocals and Sean and Angela Gannon on drums/vocal and percussion/harmonium/ vocals. We applaud them mainly because they aren’t screaming and hurting our ears, which at this point is a major plus!
Michael Franti and Spearhead
The energy really seemed to pick up when Michael Franti and Spearhead went on. Their roots reggae sound mixed with flaming guitars made it impossible to stand still. Like many bands from Australia a strong blues bent and party sound, determination to get the crowd up, dancing, singing along and clapping was irresistible.
Sleater-Kinney
Probably the most buzzed about all girl indie band right now, the energetic grunge/punk rock trio Sleater-Kinney is on next. The bass-less lineup has a strong bottom end due to the powerhouse on drums, Janet Weiss and appropriately distorted rhythm guitar of lead singer (screamer) Corin Tucker. Mesmerizing rhythm and lead guitarist, sometimes vocalist Carrie Brownstein’s playing is accented with high leaps and kicks into the desert air. They are Big Brother and the Holding Company reborn minus the power singer equivalent of Janis Joplin.
King Britt and The Sister Gertrude Morgan Experience
Next we are off to the Clubs Tent for DJ/Producer/mixmaster/poet/electric mystic King Britt with his “Sister Gertrude Morgan Experience”. Her artwork is prized and admired by collectors the world over and hangs in the Smithsonian. King Britt’s band, including guitarist Tim Motzer who collaborated on the album, filled the tent with rhythmic dance/funk grooves laid over bytes of songs recorded by Sister G in the 70’s. The music, the lighting and video all fit together to create a collage that filled the senses with rhythm and colors. In King Britt tradition, the lines between funk and rock, music and art were blurred and I was completely swept away in the pure ecstasy of the experience.
Flaming Lips
Wayne Coyne the flamboyant frontman for the Flaming Lips has a grand and surreal vision of what a great rock show should be. He seemingly descended from outer space and landed on the crowd in a giant plastic bubble. He proceeded to stroll about upon the heads and hands of the crowd and made his way to the stage amidst much fanfare and merrymaking by the band and a chosen few from the crowd who dressed up like furry animals of all kinds. The great spectacle included the world’s largest karaoke sing along to the tune of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Wayne periodically obscuring the view with his fog bazooka, whirling a string of lights overhead and dowsing the crowd with confetti and a generous portion of large bouncing balloons of all colors for the crowd to play with while singing along with the help of the scrolling lyrics on the video screen. He briefly encouraged the youth who were present to do something about this unfortunate war we find ourselves in, and with that intro the Lips dove into a stirring rendition of that Black Sabbath anti-war anthem War Pigs.
Arcade Fire
We shot over to the pit to shoot some pictures of Arcade Fire. After hearing them from across fields at festival after festival always to accolades of glittering praise, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. After all Canadian bands are like dancing bears. Like seeing a dancing bear, everyone’s so amazed that Canada can produce any decent band at all, that the bar is dragged down so low for a ‘great Canadian band’ it doesn’t even count, right? As soon as they hit the stage, the excitement level was so intense you could see each molecule bouncing. They burst onto the stage like angels. I found myself yelling laaa, la, la, laa, laa! along with their first song like my heart would burst with joy. OK, OK now I get the Arcade Fire thing, you gotta see them live!
Widespread Panic (with Trey Anastasio)
Widespread Panic closed out the festival with a 3-hour set of inspired near non-stop rock/jazz/blues/boogie and roll all wrapped up in their own unique and authentic arrangements. Lead singer John Bell’s vocals at times reminiscent of Joe Cocker and at other’s kinda channeling John Lee Hooker but still sounding original through and through. This band imitates no one and somehow emulates the best of many influences. Dave Schools makes playing a six string bass look easy as throwing the dice. Drummer Todd Nance and percussionist Sunny Ortiz took extended solos without repeating themselves and moved on before it got boring. Guitarist George McConnell shared duties with guest players Trey Anastasio ( in addition to Trey’s own blazing set) and Steve Lopez. I was hoping Warren Hayes from Govt. Mule would jump in too, but perhaps that would have been too much of a good thing.
Maybe next year we’ll stay on the Strip and see more of Vegas. Maybe next year we’ll see what the Flaming Lips can put together with Cirque du Soleil. Ashley Capps we are counting on you to put it all together again next year. See ya at Bonnaroo!
The Strip? Fugeddaboutit! The sold out Vegoose Festival was the place to be in Las Vegas this Halloween weekend! The stellar mix of bands included the mega-stars Dave Matthews, with the best international alternative new music like The Arcade Fire, Beck, up-and-comings The Decembrists and Sleater-Kinney along with jam band Bonnaroo staples like Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio, Phil Lesh, and Michael Franti. Don’t forget to throw in hip hop giants Atmosphere, Blackalicious, Slightly Stoopid, Digable Planets and King Britt along with about 25 other luminary bands, and you have the basis for the powerful witches brew. Jam bands, hip-hop, indie rock, Brit pop, psychedelic bluegrass, southern rock, bayou funk: it was all there!
Some of the headline acts could easily have played all weekend to the crowd of music lovers, costumed party animals, and nomadic festival tribes... Wait a minute….! They DID play all weekend, or at least into the wee hours both nights at other venues on the Strip for those who felt like wandering off from the mother ship at Sam Boyd Stadium. Many did, if one festivalgoer who needed jumper cables due to coming home at 4 am and leaving his lights on is an indicator. In an awestruck tone he told of watching Trey Anastasio tearing it up at the Aladdin Theatre until the sun came up. “See ya at Bonnaroo!” I told him as the car started up and they took off for another evening of…who knows what? Who needs sleep anyway?
Saturday, October 29, 2005 DAY ONE
Blackalicious
Chief Xcel and The Gift of Gab, better known to the masses as Blackalicious packed the Clubs Tent for an hour + set of their inimitable tracks including their fifth album “ The Craft”. Blackalicious stretches the boundaries of hip-hop by drawing from wide ranging influences & collaborating with artists of all musical genres.
Phil Lesh and Friends
Shortly after sundown Phil Lesh and friends took the main stage and kicked off their two hour + set with Playing in the Band, Truckin’ and other Deadhead standards. The tunes sound still sound fresh though I’ve heard them a many, many times. Warren Haynes from Govt. Mule (and his “other band” the Allman Brothers) stepped in on a few tunes with his unmistakable guitar wizardry. It takes a great musician to step in with another band unrehearsed and add to their sound without stepping on toes. They ended their set with Casey Jones. When hearing the closing phrase a cappella, the harmonies were so perfect, it occurred to me that if they could just hold that note indefinitely it would resonate throughout the universe and instill harmony across the land. You may say I’m a dreamer…
Beck
Scoutmaster Beck and his troop wandered in from camping somewhere in the desert wilderness to take the stage and were loudly greeted to by a throng of new recruits. After opening the set with ‘Loser’ Scoutmaster Beck led us all in the Scout’s Pledge. What a great role model for all us ‘kids’! In the Halloween spirit, the stage was magically transformed into a Disneyesque forest scene complete with a deer, owl, and raccoon!
Blue Man Group
What is a Las Vegas spectacle without the famous Blue Man Group? They did a crisp break on stage between Dave Matthews and Beck. Painted blue from head to toe, they dance and play drums in Devoesque robotic formation, and nobody does it better…or bluer. Always in Halloween costumes, they fit right in!
Dave Matthews and Friends (including Trey Anastasio)
It was a great surprise at Dave Matthews and Friends time slot when the first person to take the stage was Trey Anastasio. Dave has some cool friends. Trey eased into a slow free form intro. When Dave Mathews came on stage you could just feel the energy level rising. The crowd was clearly made up of enthusiastic fans who traveled far to see their favorite modern day troubadour. Although Dave and company were apparently up all night playing gigs elsewhere, the big grins on all their faces revealed they were just as thrilled to be up on the stage before 15,000+ adoring fans as we were to see them.
Unlike many of our fellow festival-goers, we called it a night instead of hittin’ the Strip until 4 am-ish. We slept some to be fully recharged for:
Sunday, October, 30, 2005 DAY TWO
The Magic Numbers
Seeing The Magic Numbers was a perfect way to ease into day two. Reminded me of the Carpenters getting drunk in a honky-tonk and transmuting into the Mamas and the Papas. Sweet vocal harmonies, lyrics embellished with memorable hooks, tastefully arranged melodies and a steady rhythm section. In the Carpenters/White Stripes tradition, they are made up of two pairs of brother and sisters, including Romeo and Michele Stodart on guitar/vocals and bass/vocals and Sean and Angela Gannon on drums/vocal and percussion/harmonium/ vocals. We applaud them mainly because they aren’t screaming and hurting our ears, which at this point is a major plus!
Michael Franti and Spearhead
The energy really seemed to pick up when Michael Franti and Spearhead went on. Their roots reggae sound mixed with flaming guitars made it impossible to stand still. Like many bands from Australia a strong blues bent and party sound, determination to get the crowd up, dancing, singing along and clapping was irresistible.
Sleater-Kinney
Probably the most buzzed about all girl indie band right now, the energetic grunge/punk rock trio Sleater-Kinney is on next. The bass-less lineup has a strong bottom end due to the powerhouse on drums, Janet Weiss and appropriately distorted rhythm guitar of lead singer (screamer) Corin Tucker. Mesmerizing rhythm and lead guitarist, sometimes vocalist Carrie Brownstein’s playing is accented with high leaps and kicks into the desert air. They are Big Brother and the Holding Company reborn minus the power singer equivalent of Janis Joplin.
King Britt and The Sister Gertrude Morgan Experience
Next we are off to the Clubs Tent for DJ/Producer/mixmaster/poet/electric mystic King Britt with his “Sister Gertrude Morgan Experience”. Her artwork is prized and admired by collectors the world over and hangs in the Smithsonian. King Britt’s band, including guitarist Tim Motzer who collaborated on the album, filled the tent with rhythmic dance/funk grooves laid over bytes of songs recorded by Sister G in the 70’s. The music, the lighting and video all fit together to create a collage that filled the senses with rhythm and colors. In King Britt tradition, the lines between funk and rock, music and art were blurred and I was completely swept away in the pure ecstasy of the experience.
Flaming Lips
Wayne Coyne the flamboyant frontman for the Flaming Lips has a grand and surreal vision of what a great rock show should be. He seemingly descended from outer space and landed on the crowd in a giant plastic bubble. He proceeded to stroll about upon the heads and hands of the crowd and made his way to the stage amidst much fanfare and merrymaking by the band and a chosen few from the crowd who dressed up like furry animals of all kinds. The great spectacle included the world’s largest karaoke sing along to the tune of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Wayne periodically obscuring the view with his fog bazooka, whirling a string of lights overhead and dowsing the crowd with confetti and a generous portion of large bouncing balloons of all colors for the crowd to play with while singing along with the help of the scrolling lyrics on the video screen. He briefly encouraged the youth who were present to do something about this unfortunate war we find ourselves in, and with that intro the Lips dove into a stirring rendition of that Black Sabbath anti-war anthem War Pigs.
Arcade Fire
We shot over to the pit to shoot some pictures of Arcade Fire. After hearing them from across fields at festival after festival always to accolades of glittering praise, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. After all Canadian bands are like dancing bears. Like seeing a dancing bear, everyone’s so amazed that Canada can produce any decent band at all, that the bar is dragged down so low for a ‘great Canadian band’ it doesn’t even count, right? As soon as they hit the stage, the excitement level was so intense you could see each molecule bouncing. They burst onto the stage like angels. I found myself yelling laaa, la, la, laa, laa! along with their first song like my heart would burst with joy. OK, OK now I get the Arcade Fire thing, you gotta see them live!
Widespread Panic (with Trey Anastasio)
Widespread Panic closed out the festival with a 3-hour set of inspired near non-stop rock/jazz/blues/boogie and roll all wrapped up in their own unique and authentic arrangements. Lead singer John Bell’s vocals at times reminiscent of Joe Cocker and at other’s kinda channeling John Lee Hooker but still sounding original through and through. This band imitates no one and somehow emulates the best of many influences. Dave Schools makes playing a six string bass look easy as throwing the dice. Drummer Todd Nance and percussionist Sunny Ortiz took extended solos without repeating themselves and moved on before it got boring. Guitarist George McConnell shared duties with guest players Trey Anastasio ( in addition to Trey’s own blazing set) and Steve Lopez. I was hoping Warren Hayes from Govt. Mule would jump in too, but perhaps that would have been too much of a good thing.
Maybe next year we’ll stay on the Strip and see more of Vegas. Maybe next year we’ll see what the Flaming Lips can put together with Cirque du Soleil. Ashley Capps we are counting on you to put it all together again next year. See ya at Bonnaroo!
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