Alabama Shakes performed at the 2013 Bottlerock Festival in Napa Claifornia and gave one if not the strongest performances of the 4 day festival, Brittany Howard is an amazing talent both as a guitarist and powerhouse vocalist. Alambama Shakes is an American rock band formed in Athens, Alabama in 2009. The group consists of lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, keyboard player Ben Tanner, and drummer Steve Johnson.The group received three nominations for the 2013 Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance for "Hold On", and Best Recording Package for their debut album, Boys & Girls.
I recently had the pleasure of witnessing a stunningly beautiful performance by Craig Minowa and his band, Cloud Cult. This is one of those extremely rare life events that fills your soul so completely, that it both stills your mind and energizes you for days. In this energized state of stillness, I relived the performance, song by song, over and over, the wise and loving lyrics, the sweet and poignant anecdotes, the stellar musicianship, the soaring crescendos and the pin drop silence of the dynamic interludes all combined to create a state of musical nirvana.
For a complete set of photos from this show click here, to watch a photostory of this show click the video below.
As if the performance wasn’t enough, being engulfed from all sides by a hushed sonic wave created by 500+ fans whisper singing the words to EVERY song at the top of their lungs, heads bobbing in bliss, like so many leaves in a tree, being blown away with the the breeze that is Cloud Cult is both amazing and humbling. This is not your normal rowdy rock and roll mass sing a long, it is respectful, almost as if you were in a sacred space, this is the head space Cloud Cult puts you in, and it is a most lovely place to be. Live performances by this philosophical chamber rock ensemble are spiritual experiences for both the band and the audience.
The Flaming Lips performed at the 2013 Bottle Rock Festival in Napa, for me this set was one of the highlights of the weekend, Wayne coddling a baby doll during the entire first song was just too damn weird and funny, I could hardly stop laughing long enough to take photos. Their cover of David Bowie’s Hero was sublime. Wayne commented on how last week in Hashville when the annouced they were going to play “She Likes To Het High” over 4,000 fans immediately lit up, adding “Unfortunately the breeze was going the wrong direction”. Below is a nice videop shot by Roman Gokhman during this performance.
I had the true pleasure of watching an honest to God legend play this past Sunday, Charlie Musselwhite performed on the Miner Family Stage in Napa California at the 2013 Bottlerock Festival. If you’re not familiar with this legend he is in the Blues Hall of Fame and has collaborated with Collaborations with B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Willie Dixon, Eddie Vedder, Tom Waits, Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Gov’t Mule, INXS, Mickey Hart, George Thorogood and personal friend and best man at his wedding John Lee Hooker.
Alex Ebert performing with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the 2013 Bottlerock Festival in Napa California, this was on of the highlights of the festival for me. It was reported that Alex had the flu but it didn’t show, he moved ceaselessly during his nearly two hour set and made multiple trips out into the audience.
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HST Quote of The Week
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
Bottlerock Festival
The Black Keys
The Shins
Alabama Shakes
Vintage Trouble
Flagship
The Flaming Lips
Andrew Bird
Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Allen Stone
Donavon Frankenreiter
Carolina Chocolate Drops
8-17-13 Rocky Mountain Folks Fest
8-30-13 Aspen JAzz
8-30-13 Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
8-30-13 Jason Mraz
8-31-13 Little Big Town
8-31-13 Train
8-31-13 Keith Urban
9-1-13 Churchill
9-1-13 Journey
