Tucked away in the rolling, oak-scattered foothills of the Sierra Nevada
mountains, you’ll find the Calaveras County Fairgrounds. This area, made
famous by Mark Twain’s tale about a jumping frog, is also the home of
the annual 2-day Mountain Aire Music Festival. There is scorching sun
already in May, yet a lushness of surrounding landscape created perfect
conditions to kick off the first of several California music festivals.
Aside from the main stage area, there were 2 other small stages, as well
as an indoor venue, the Mark Twain Hall. Music flowed each day and night,
and well into the wee morning hours, with bands such as Galactic, complete
with walls dancing with a psychedelic oil gel light show. Add to this a
large food vending area, craft booths and late night bonfire by the bullfrog
pond, and it's one hell of a party!
[Pictured below: Les Claypool.]
But ahhh, the music! Saturday's main stage brought us Clan Dyken, a direct
action world rock rebel band, and Zigaboo Modeleste, former Meters
drummer and a wellspring of funk influence and rhythmic innovation. The
Derek Trucks Band took the stage next, showcasing the immense talent of
this young slide guitarist through a progressive approach to roots music.
The Les Claypool Frog Brigade Band was put together by Les, (Primus' main
man) specially for Mt Aire 2000, with members from bands such as Pearl
Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Primus. They covered several tunes , including
Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In the Wall," and ended with The Beatles'
psychedelic classic, "Tomorrow Never Knows.
[Pictured below: Phil Lesh.]
Headlining Saturdays music was Phil Lesh and Friends, featuring some of
the Grateful Dead bassists pals from the recent spring tour, including guitarist’s
Jeff Pevar (David Crosby, CPR Band) and Jimmy Herring (Jazz is Dead, Aquarium Rescue
Unit), keyboardist Rob Barraco(Zen Tricksters) and drummer John Molo (Bruce Hornsby,
The Other Ones). The band, primarily covering Dead tunes, played from dusk well into
the night and jammed their way through a multi-layered palette of improvisation,
mesmerizing and delighting their audience. The band was joined by special guest
Derek Trucks for the second set.
[Pictured below: Ozomatli.]
Sunday once again brought sunshine and great music. Speakeasy, fronted
by Joachim Cooder, opened the main stage. The band's sound has changed
direction since Joachim’s visit to Cuba with his father, Ry, where he
participated in the the recording of the Buena Vista Social Club project.
Vinyl performed a lively set, blending Latin percussion and electric
funk. The North Mississippi All-Stars took the stage next, performing some
fine traditional Delta blues. The fast rising LA band Ozomatli literally
marched and weaved through the crowd onto the stage, with drums and horns
fueling the crowds anticipatory energy. The multi-cultural makeup of
the members and their musical influences were broad-ranged. Combining
Latin and funk rhythm, rock and roots guitar, punchy horns and rap,
(complete with scratcher), the energy was extremely dynamic.
Songwriter/activist Spearhead performed some powerfully charged, funked
up hip-hop and old school R&B with a strong social political message.
Ani DiFranco joined Spearhead onstage at one point and the dynamics were
playfully intense. Ani then closed the show with her own set of poetic,
politically charged and socially challenging tunes, including many from her
third album of 1999, To The Teeth.
Mountain Aire 2000 was well worth the drive from Eugene, Oregon, and by the
end of the weekend there were definitely some innovative bass lines coming from
that bullfrog pond.
(C) 2000 - Tim & Ananda Owen