Concert Wrap — Mulberry Mountain, Day 3

Music festivals are a convoluted thing by their very nature. Music is here, there and everywhere. Choices have to be made, even at a smaller festivala such as the Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival, where there are three official stages and two active at most times.

Some good music, naturally, is going to be missed.

I tried, probably like many did, to catch as much as I could on the final day of the festival (Sept. 13), but it came in snippets, 30-minute fragments of sound that aren’t likely a full representation of any band’s true sound or capability. But hey, what can you do when there is so much music happening?

So this review comes in snippets, too, fragments based on small blocks of what were often much longer performances.

Click the ‘more’ link below to continue reading about the Mulberry’s final day and to see more photos.

Mulberry’s final day, in chronological order:

3:15 p.m.: As I was walking from my car toward the main stage, Big Smith were playing the final few songs of their afternoon set. Although I didn’t catch much, I did hear “Don’t Call Me Trash ‘Til You’ve Slept In My Trailer,” which drew hollers from the audience that were audible several hundred yards away.

3:45 p.m., campground stage: Dirtfoot sounds a little the area they call home. The music they make seems like it could only come from Louisiana, a sweaty, Cajun-fueled jam flavored with a swaying saxophone. The crowd was wild about Dirtfoot, and they had people dancing, singing back the lyrics and shaking tins cans full of beans that the band distributed before the show. Good times.

4:30 p.m., main stage: Hot Buttered Rum were likely a few songs into its set when is busted into “Honky Tonk Tequila,” and followed the song by passing a bottle of Maker’s Mark between the bandmates. The band stumped for Obama onstage, which was amazing to me, not in that it happened, but that I’d heard at least 12 hours of music at Mulberry before that band and they were the first to mention politics. The band also alluded — prophetically — to the chance of rain before playing “Waiting For The Storm.” As it turns out, no one would have to wait too long.

5:30 p.m., campground stage: The first thing one notices about My-Tea Kind is the women, as in those actually in the band. Washboard-playing vocalist Bonnie Paine and bassist Anna Paine were the first two females I’d seen in a band at the festival. I know of at least one group that featured female members (Cornmeal), but I didn’t make that show. I guess I’d never thought about bluegrass being a male-dominated genre, but it certainly was this weekend.

My-Tea Kind has performed at all three Mulberry festivals, and it’s easy to understand why fans want them back. The rain started falling and the wind started rattling the trees surrounding the stage as the band played, but the crowd, several hundred strong, didn’t seem to notice. As it happens, My-Tea Kind is suited for such weather, it seems, with sad, folky tales played on washboard, fiddle, guitar, bass, and, on several songs, a wood saw. As the band played, I heard two old hippies discuss how long they’d gone since last shaving their beards.

6:30 p.m., my car: I took a little dinner break, but also had the goal of drying off my camera, which took a little water during the My-Tea Kind show. The main stage act, Perpetual Groove, was audible at my car a quarter-mile from the stage, but I didn’t listen intently because I was going to see them soon enough.

7:15 p.m., on the festival grounds: Or at least I thought I’d see them. My schedule showed that Perpetual Groove would play until 7:30 p.m. They didn’t. The band played its final song as I was walking toward the stage, which was 7:10 p.m. at the latest. Perhaps the rain bothered them, but I’m not sure. Without music coming from the main stage, one could pick up the sound of an unscheduled concert in the campgrounds. As it happened, Mountain Sprout, from Arkansas, were not included on the actual festival roster but decided to play anyway. A crowd of 100 strong gathered around an RV to hear, all hyperbole aside, one of the more entertaining sets of the entire festival. As a small but noticeable stream of cars began exiting the venue, Mountain Sprout got everyone dancing with an R-rated set of songs. In addition to its fun set, it should be noted that Mountain Sprout would win the festival’s best beard award, despite the effort of Seth Avett from the night before.

8 p.m., main stage: During the final moments of the sound check, it started to rain again, a theme that had been repeated throughout the day. However, there had yet to be the kind of extended, powerful rain shower that had the power to drive people to their tents or, worse, off the festival grounds competely.

This was that kind of shower. When the band did take the stage, the rain was coming down hard enough to make the blog put away its camera. The rain didn’t relent, either.

I had trouble hearing the vocals, but I’m not sure if it was a problem with the emcee’s style, an issue with sound mixing or the drum of rain on my poncho that caused it. Although the crowd wasn’t ready to quit, I had a hard time getting excited in those conditions. The songs sounded repetitive, not unlike the drum-drum-drum of the rain that was highlighted in the stage lights behind the band.

Eight songs in, the set was called off, most likely because the amount of water on the stage posed an electrocution risk. An announcement was given, but the crowd was informed that the set by the evening’s headliner, Umphrey’s McGee, would be moved to a tent with better protection from the rain.

9:20 p.m., Harvest Tent stage: As the equipment was being loaded into the tent, a sizeable crowd swelled with anticipation. An announcement by the festival staff confirmed the tent concert, but asked for patience as gear was moved from the main stage to the tent stage.

Standing in the rain, wet and still tired from the previous day of concerts, I was faced with two choices: Wait an hour or so for the new stage to be set up or find a way to get dry.

And with all due respect to Umphrey’s McGee, a pair of dry socks sounded much more appealing than standing around waiting for them in my soggy shoes.

I hope Umphrey’s McGee put on a great show for all those who had waited so patiently.

Me? I was probably home before they ever started.

See the Umphrey show and want to share? Be sure to comment here.

Filed under: Concert Wrap, Music Industry News, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: September 14, 2008 at 12:55 pm