FESTIVAL REVIEW: The Third Annual Mountain Jam - Hunter Mountain, NY - June 1-3

By David Bienenstock

Warren Haynes can’t stop playing guitar. At his third annual Mountain Jam, the hardest working man in the jamband business not only took the stage with his own outfit, Government Mule, for two long nights of headlining, he also joined Phil Lesh and his friends to close the three-day festival on Sunday night, occasionally sat in with the other bands in the official lineup for a song or two, and even got in a few rounds of “Guitar Hero 2” in the vending area. Okay, that might have been some other guy with long hair playing Guitar Hero, but still, Warren Haynes loves to jam and it shows.

Despite some stormy weather, a healthy, hearty crowd came out for not just Mountain Jam’s nightly headliners, but also solid sets from Umphrey’s McGee, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Michael Franti and Spearhead, North Mississippi All-stars, Tea Leaf Green, Raq, New Monsoon, and others.

By placing the second stage directly alongside the main stage, organizers moved the show from one band to the next without delay, keeping a slightly soggy crowd grooving from morning until well after midnight.

Highlights included Spearhead’s take on “Ganja Babe” spliced into the middle of a set that also included a Warren Haynes appearance, Raq’s late night session in the ski lodge, a second stage appearance by Earl Greyhound, and Umphrey’s Jake Cinninger joining the Mule for “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.”

And speaking of love, the crowd’s love for Phil Lesh and the Grateful Dead songbook has not faded away in the least. Phil and Friends treated those who stuck it out to the end on the muddy side of a ski hill to a smoking performance, featuring an encore of “Not Fade Away” that closed a set of dead on classics, including “Shakedown Street,” “Eyes of the World,” “Dark Star,” “Scarlet Begonias,” and “Friend of the Devil.”