Live in Centennial Olympic Park
Sweetwater Brewing Company
April 18-20 | Atlanta, GA
Review by : Tyler Davis
On the weekend of Earth Day, Atlanta’s own Sweetwater Brewery hosts its annual Sweetwater 420 Festival. The local brewery’s event has become a favorite tradtion for live music fans in the Atlanta area and the greater Southeast as a whole. This 10th anniversary would mark a milestone year for the event, which has grown so much that it had to be relocated to Centennial Olympic park. I was hesitant at first because I always enjoyed the low-key, lush green settings of Candler Park, but I must say, this is a great venue for such an event. The music genres reach far and wide with a little something for everyone. As in the past, there were a lot of New Orleans based musicians, which can only be a good thing. With the exception of a little rain it would go on to make for a fantastic weekend in downtown Atlanta.
With any spring or summer festival, its always smart to bring rain gear and expect the unexpected. Long before my arrival an ominous rain cloud descended upon Atlanta. Centennial Olympic park is a great venue for a festival of this size. The stages were appropriately distanced from each other to avoid interference, while allowing an easy walk to take it all in. Conspirator had just begun their 7pm set when the sky just broke loose. Now, you may think to yourself, “Oh those poor souls out there in this weather, but the situations was quite the opposite, we were the lucky ones.
It’s similar to playing sports as a kid; if you can handle being soaked and muddy, it makes it all the more fun. Teenagers and parents, tour rats and young professionals alike all danced the evening away untroubled. Conspirator rocked through their blistering set, weaving together Chris Michetti driven solos and futuristic prog-rock melodies. I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan the first time I saw them, but this set prompted me to join the band at their late night show at Terminal West, a highlight of the weekend.
The second day of the festival arrived with similar weather, although thankfully it tapered off toward the end of the evening. Also, kudos to the Sweetwater folks for laying down plywood on top of the mud-pits fans had to stand in. On tap for Saturday was a spirited group of musicians coming from all different walks of life and styles and influences. I walked up on Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, the cool San Fran cats that burst onto the live music scene in 2012. Like a Fleetwood Mac for a new generation, Nicki and her Gramblers have begun to make a name for themselves including a self-titled album and making it on the bills of festivals such as Bonaroo, Hangout and Mountain Jam. The group plays an infectious blend of vintage American rock and California soul. Amidst a slightly rainy sky Nicki belted out her vocals to a moderately sized crowd draped in ponchos.
Completely flip the switch on the music genre spectrum and you have EOTO. The duo’s stage presence was so big it was clearly evident why they were performing on the Sweetwater stage. These 2 beat-scientists, Jason Hann and Michael Travis of String Cheese Incident clearly started EOTO as an outlet for what they were missing, or unable to get out of SCI. The multi-faceted musicians take electronic or dubstep music and break it down into its basic parts and package it back up and deliver it with a blast of energy to festival crowds across the country. Don’t let the synced MacBooks on stage fool you, there are no pre-looped tracks or auto-tuned synths here, just two musicians shaking beats and sounds from their foundation and spitting them out into danceable music. The younger crowd was all about some EOTO, who provided the soundtrack for a raging, muddy, beer soaked dance party.
The following set was the one I was chasing all weekend. Anders Osborne, the Stratocaster toting slide guru from New Orleans. Anders was joined by several friends on stage including longtime bassist Carl DuFresne and John ‘Papa’ Gros, of New Orleans funk titans Papa Grows Funk. A performance from Anders is a special thing to witness and Saturday evening at 420 Fest would be no different. You see, the man has a style all his own. Only recently becoming a fan of Anders’ music, I’ve just begun to explore the simple intricacies and soul stirring hooks of his signature style. He plays in open D tuning, uncommon for lead guitarists. It has opened up a plethora of musical avenues allowing for hard rock, slide blues and on occasion, the guy is just flat out entertaining with an acoustic guitar. Anders’ fierce, haunting solos and raspy, soulful voice are derived from deep in the muddy waters of New Orleans. His troubled vocals and more specifically, much of the music from his albums evoke the joys and sorrows, successes and failures, love and loss, addiction; all themes that have lead to brilliant songwriting one would expect from a hard working musician from Nola. Anders is now noticeably sober and has much to show for it. The guy has been killing it everywhere lately, playing with the likes of musicians such as Karl Denson, Warren Haynes and Phil Lesh.
The band powered through their set, touching on hits spanning all of his albums. Highlights included the demon-conquering themed ‘Black Tar’ and ‘Had My Reasons’ as well as my personal favorite, the towering, ‘Boxes, Bills and Pain.’ Anders has cut 13 albums since 1989, each showing signs of progression as a songwriter and growth as a session guitarist. He clearly loves sitting in. The crowd gave Anders and friends plenty of feedback. They were loving it. I will continue to spend my time and money to see Anders Osborne play, knowing it will always be worth it.
By the time the set ended, Sublime with Rome was tuning up. The 4 year old project of Sublime’s Eric Wilson and formerly, Bud Gaugh with new frontman Rome Ramirez. The group has had it’s share of doubters, with the suit filed by founder Bradley Knowell’s estate and Bud Gaugh’s recent departure but despite all that they continue to tour. The crowd was loving the Sublime sing-a-long. Everyone knows those songs. It took people back to the late 90’s and jogged memories of what life was like then and there. Or for me at least, it took me back to high school and back porches and my first car. When live music can be transcendent like that, even if only for a moment, that’s what keeps us coming back. “April 26, 1992, there was a riot on the streets tell me where were you??” Sublime with Rome played to a full festival crowd to close out a rainy Saturday. Good times were had.
Well, Sunday finally arrived and it was a beauty. This is what festivals are all about. Blue skies, cold beer, girls in sundresses and of course all the live music you can handle. What an awesome way to kick off Sunday afternoon, with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The NOLA brass legends were funking up a growing crowd on the main stage in the middle of beautiful Centennial Olympic Park. The final day of 420 Fest looked very promising. Another band I was looking forward to, Kung Fu took their slot on the Planet 420 stage, where I had my face torn off by Anders the previous evening. Kung Fu, a jazz-electro funk fusion group from New Haven, CT was warming up to blow the minds of festival goers. It seemed many of these music fans hadn’t heard of Kung Fu before today. That would all change very soon. Wherever and whenever Kung Fu lays down a set, they bring with them a spontaneous extraterrestrial funky dance party. Those I just mentioned, with not a clue who Kung Fu might be, were the ones getting down the hardest. They brought such a great energy to the festival. It’s awesome to walk back through the crowd and overhear multiple people say “Who are these guys? They’re really good!!” The people are right. These guys are good. If you like a solid beat, some funky keyboard action and a saxophone blasting you in the face, Kung Fu’s wild dance party is just for you.
As Kung Fu winded down the end of their set, I walked over to the main stage to what turned out to be a pleasant surprise for the weekend. I wouldn’t be typically drawn to see G. Love and the Special Sauce at a festival, but I walked up and heard the thumping rhythm of the stand up bass, and saw G. Love’s flashy sky blue leisure suit and matching {what I think was an} Eastwood Airline ’59 Custom Guitar, and loved it. I know G. Love plays a lot of acoustic and with most of his influences being old Delta Blues players, I was surprised and delighted to enjoy this high energy electric set. A large crowd was on hand to shake a leg with G and the Special Sauce.
A quick trot over to the Not So Silent Disco stage opened the curtains to the EDM world. The stage was anchored by a tiered concrete amphitheater, filled with dancers and spectators. Phutureprimitive was in the midst of a DJ set complete with a Shiva-like dancer on stage providing some visual sensations alongside the bass heavy electro beats.
To close out 2014’s festival, Chris Robinson Brotherhood topped the bill. All fans were on deck for the main stage finale. CRB is touring in support of their new album due out April 29th, Phosphorescent Harvest. This will be the third album cut by the band in 3 years. This yard party rock and roll is served piping hot with handcrafted musicianship. Chris Robinson’s bluesy Southern drawl and heart heavy vocals perfectly accent the dynamic band behind him. Admittedly, as a huge fan of the Black Crowes growing up, I was automatically on board when CRB joined forces. Although, the Brotherhood has a different way about them; a free spirited-ness that you could see on their faces and hear in their voices as they played to the vivacious Sunday crowd. Adam MacDougall’s keyboard plays a crucial role in CRB’s outer spaced undertones. Highlights of the set included ‘Lets Go, Lets Go, Let’s Go’, and the funky, almost Dead-like, ‘Rosalee.’ Mr. Neal Casal greased the wheels and laid down some impressive slide work. The boys had Centennial Olympic Park up and grooving. It was the perfect way to close out the celebration. The band left nothing on stage, rightly so. The final set of Sweetwater 420 Festival 2014 was delivered and accepted with smiling faces. The crowd was grateful. There was certainly no shortage of friends and fun, awesome music and plenty of Sweetwater IPA’s. I’ll gladly return to this festival year after year.
