REVIEW: 10th Annual All Good Festival – Marvin’s Mountaintop, WV

By Rev. Zicka-Funk

Breath taking scenery, enchanted sprawling foothills, and nearly 20,000 smiling faces greeted us as we descended upon Marvin’s Mountaintop, WV, the site of the 10th Annual All Good Music Festival and Campout. The event has built a reputation over the past decade as the Mid-Atlantic’s premier camping and music festival. This year promised to be no exception with a star-studded lineup and plenty of sunshine in the forecast.

Early arrivals were treated to stacked sets by Brothers Past, Virginia Coalition and a special premiere of the Easy Star All Stars’ dub style interpretation of OK Computer, Radiodread, in its entirety. ESAS also played their immensely popular Dub Side of the Moon.

The Friday morning sunrise brought sweltering humidity, but the real heat was emanating from the PA monitors as Oteil and the Peacemakers warmed up the All Good Stage (main). Burbridge took the stage donning his patented dashiki with dark shades, packing a potent palette of funky jazz mash. Front man Paul Henson was in top form, spewing forth a heap of soul from his microphone. Jammers nodded in approval as the Peacemakers busted out a surprisingly fresh early set.

Later, the much anticipated John Medeski and the Itch were intent to feed the ferocious music fiends swarming the stage. While widespread speculation that Martin and Wood would be joining Medeski on stage proved false, Medeski and the Itch nonetheless delivered a finely polished, swinging sixty minutes of music, fusing furious jazz and funk swagger.

However, Friday’s highlight had to be the Les Claypool Band featuring Skerik on sax, the strangely alluring Gabby La La on sitar and butterfly guitar, Mike Dillon on percussion and Paulo Baldi on drums. Les split the silence with a One Better > The Jam > One Better combo, before being joined on stage mid-set by Trey Anastasio for a rather disappointing Mr. Oysterhead. Trey seemed a bit out of place amongst Claypool’s eclectic lot.

Les regained speed on Primus’ Groundhogs Day, playing the entire tune on a bass banjo, while donning an eerie, pig mask. The Frog Brigade wrapped up a well balanced set with Of Whales and Woe and D’s Diner.

Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon paired up with the Benevento/Russo Duo in what was the largest crowd draw of the day. They opened with a spirited version of The Who’s Who Are You > Mud City > Uncle Albert. The band performed for two hours and maintained a musical vibrancy that the sun baked masses appreciated.

The obvious upgrade in this year’s layout was the Magic Hat Second Stage, situated just to the right of the All Good Stage. The parallel positioning provided continuous back-to-back sets, as well as choice crowd exposure for up and coming acts. One band that capitalized from the lingering main stage crowd was The Bridge. The Baltimore based band lit up the stage with their distinct brand of mandolin-twanged folk rock prior to the Disco Biscuits’ late night extended jam-athon.

My Saturday morning began with a tasty breakfast sandwich, several chilly shots of Jagermeister and a handful of potent, petite mushrooms. Temperatures soared and the most sought after spots were in the shade, while others found refuge in the Magic Hat beer tent where Fat Angel and #9 were popular fixes for the heat. By the second half of Donovan Frankenreiter’s set at 3:30pm, the grounds were congested and the crowd sweaty but there was a distinct vibe of oneness flowing through the populous symbolized by joints of dank being passed about freely.

The scene at the campsite was in stark contrast due to the shortage of decent green available for purchase. It was a buyer’s market of designer psychedelics and chemical cocktails but the good herb was scant. Prices were also high with Beasters clocking in at $60 and Headies running at $70 per eighth.

Later that afternoon Galactic descended, laying down a hefty hunk of New Orleans style funk. Ben Ellman’s fat sax sounds seemed to taunt the transparent serpentine heat vapors, persuading a host of funksters to swoon in unison to Galactic’s sultry live sound.

Umphrey’s McGee also squeezed out a tight set, touching base on Uncle Wally > Jazz Odyssey and Women, Wine and Song, among others.

Perhaps the most anticipated (and arguably the most attended) act of the long weekend was the Black Crowes on Saturday night. Chris Robinson’s voice boomed over the screaming crowd, fireworks like electric sky flowers burst dramatically from the campground area as the Crowes tore into the bluesy (Only) Halfway to Everywhere. The Crowes followed up with Waiting Guilty but the momentum seemed to lag throughout the first half of the performance.

The Crowes song selection was slightly obscure for a festival but Chris and family eventually hit home with Thorn in My Pride. For the finale, Robinson brought out Jimmy Herring on guitar for a soulful seventeen-minute jam on the Allman Brothers’ classic Dreams and then encored with Space Captain.

Early Sunday morning saw many festies heading home and missing an exciting final day lineup including The Rebirth Brass Band, Xavier Rudd, Aquarium Rescue Unit featuring Col. Bruce Hampton among others, The Wailers and Mofro.

After sampling some flavorful festival fare, I too pulled stakes and embarked the trail home with bittersweet memories of a monumental weekend. The 10th annual All Good Festival was a certain success, providing a scenic, positive environment for great music and fellowship.

CHECK OUT THE ALL GOOD EVENT GALLERY