Grateful Jazzfest

The Acura stage gets a bad rap and, granted, most of it is deserved. It’s like the Wild, Wild West over there quite often and conventional wisdom is to avoid it. However, if I followed conventional wisdom yesterday I would have missed some very unique and memorable Jazzfest moments.

Even though I was considering not going at all this year due to high ticket prices and a general state of being broke (this is an argument I’ll indulge in the comments if anyone wants to address it), I was given a set of tix at the last minute (thanks Chick w/ Sticks) and got into the spirit of things accordingly.

First things first, they have some of the best folk artists in the country this year. Of particular note were Bryan Cunningham, Woody Jones and Dolan Geiman. Some critique could be made that they should focus on local artists but, as a local, I prefer the out of towners because I see the locals all the time. Of course local artists stand to make a ton of money and get much more exposure through a booth at Jazzfest also. Either way, I enjoyed the artists they chose. They really folked it up. Amen.

We dawdled for a while then made our way to the Acura stage and put up with a fair share of bumping and pushing as Allison Krause, Robert Plant and T-Bone Burnett took the stage. They started slow and haunting and built throughout the set. Krause’s voice and skills on the fiddle were amazing. Robert Plant was gracious both to her and New Orleans. It was a tremendous show.

With heaping doses of respect to Robert Plant, Allison Krause’s voice was above and beyond the show’s crown jewel. Even though the Acura stage can be distracting, Krauss cut it like Ashley Morris in his college band. She also sung Robert Plant better than Robert Plant. What would have been truly transcendental would have been a cover of Immigrant song with Krauss playing the lead guitar part on the fiddle. However, I can see how that might have been a bit cliched as Immigrant is one of the most cliched songs in rock. It does rock like fuck though.

Great moments of this show were Krauss singing her version of “Down to the River” and the version of “Battle of Evermore” a short clip of which exists here.

After that show we made our way over to Congo Square and immersed ourselves in its mellow atmosphere. Much love to Congo Square. The people are always cool and its a great spot to just spread out a blanket and worship. Worship the sun. Worship the band. Worship the culture. Just worship.

After a an hour or so listening to Burning Spear, we made our way back to the Acura stage because, and here is my confession, I have always had a thing for Sheryl Crow. Yes, I know she can often delve into pop schmaltz. Yes, I know there is some controversy surround her breakout album Tuesday Night Music Club. But, she earned her chops singing back up for years. She seems like a helluva woman to drink a beer with. She plays the guitar and sings. And she’s got a great sound and even a nice ass. So, I had to catch her. My dad has a thing for Cher. I have a thing for Crow.

Since we arrived late, getting close was not an option. So we spread out a blanket and just sat in the back, checked her out through binoculars (yes, I bring them) and watched the screens. We caught a few songs and then she said goodnight. I never thought there were encores at the Jazzfest so I began to leave. Romy stopped me and suggested there might be an encore. So we moved up front and stopped pretty close to the stage after all the campers, exhausted from fighting for their spot all day, cleared out.

Sure thing, Crow came out for one more song, an awesome cover of “Rock ‘n’ Roll” that got the crowd really fired up. She said it was a tribute to Plant and, to be honest, his presence on stage the act before had the whole crowd in a general Zeppelin state of mind so they effin loved it. I loved it. It was a great Jazzfest moment. Everybody was hollerin’ “Oooooh yea! Oooo-oooo yea!” all the way out. Both Crow and Krauss really belted out the Zepplin vocals causing me to wonder if Plant’s vocals are generally fit to a woman’s voice.

Anyway, a couple great shows. I’m very glad it was not forsook. I am grateful and a better person for it. Praise Fess.

Pics here.