Music Update 3: GrassRoots 2010

I lucked into a free weekend pass to the GrassRoots Festival this year thanks to a friend, and spent a couple of days enjoying a pretty big variety of music and experiencing what was basically a five year high school reunion. Here's the more memorable acts I saw, not including ones I talked about last time.

Donna the Buffalo


These guys are pretty popular around here, and played multiple times during the festival. Pretty good folksy/country/whatever rock, although I can't say the sound stuck out terribly much from the default sound of the whole thing.

Merle Haggard


Here's a guy who took pretty much straight country and somehow made it tolerable. He seemed to be having fun with the crowd. His backup band seemed to be completely random and included what looked like either the most bored or hungriest drummer I've ever seen, but they did a good job of it. Enjoyable set.

Arrested Development


This was the show of the festival for me, easily. I guess this group used to be bigger, but they're still pretty awesome. Alternative hip hop mixing good rapping (especially by One Love) with strong rock instrumentation. They seemed to get the crowd involved with every song, doing a lot of call and return stuff and everyone was really into it. Just a really fun, feel-good show.

Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad


White guys doing reggae! But they actually handled it pretty well. This show was all about the bass, and the guy playing it knew what he was doing. The organist was also a huge part of it. I still think every reggae song is basically the same thing, but it can be a pretty enjoyable thing in the right hands, and they spent a lot of time developing the sound and building to some pretty great moments. Plus they showed appreciation for the acts that came before them (and would come after them at this very festival).

Ayurveda


I thought this band was pretty decent, but their progressive rock sound didn't really fit the general mood of the festival that well. They were kind of weird too, wrapping up with a twenty minute opus that was about man's evolution from homo sapiens into "homo luminous". They seemed to be pretty good at what they were doing, I just wasn't really into it.

The Black Seeds


Another mostly white reggae group, although these guys were from New Zealand (and the lead singer definitely sounded like it when he talked between songs. I didn't enjoy it as much as Giant Panda, although I was sitting much farther from the stage so that probably played into it. Another group that seemed confident but didn't blow me away.

Sim Redmond Band


Another rock band that used a ton of different influences from around America, and does a decent job with all of them. It featured both male and female vocals heavily, and the interplay between them and all of the different instruments produced a varied yet consistent sound. Pretty fun show.

Rusted Root


This is a fan favorite at GrassRoots. They've been coming since before they made it big, and they still generate a crowd whenever they play. They're sort of bluegrass with a really strong rhythm element, with drumming evocative of many different cultures from around the world. Another show I was pretty far away from, but a good one.

John Brown's Body


And the final group I saw was another reggae act, although with a stronger funk element than the others. Honestly I don't remember much about this one at this point, other than the crowd was into it and everyone seemed to have a good time. Which characterizes GrassRoots in general, one of the more enjoyable ways I've found to see people I haven't in a while. I hope my next visit is a bit sooner than another three years later.