The Peach Festival is officially in the full swing of things, with Friday’s festivities solidifying the start to a magical weekend. The festival in Scranton, Pennsylvania, tapped My Morning Jacket, Lettuce featuring Chaka Khan, Greensky Bluegrass, Dark Star Orchestra, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, The Magpie Salute, and many others to perform for its extensive Friday lineup.

Topping the bill was psychedelic-rock act My Morning Jacket, who put on an immaculate headlining set at the Peach Stage. Considering that The Peach Festival was adopted by the Allman Brothers Band as an extended family gathering since the event’s inception in 2012, My Morning Jacket paid an appropriate tribute to the historic Southern rock band that suffered the loss of Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman earlier in the year. While My Morning Jacket’s set all around showed the band in truly proper form, one of the most touching moments of their set and of the day at large was the group’s performance of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Melissa.” Coming out of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind,” My Morning Jacket commanded their cover of “Melissa” before segueing it into George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass.” You can listen to the full audio of My Morning Jacket Friday set below, courtesy ofTed Gakidis.

 

Following My Morning Jacket’s set, the funk gurus of Lettuce took the stage to close out Friday night on the main stage with their full line-up including guitarist Eric Krasno in addition to Adam Smirnoff. Lettuce’s performance was particularly special considering that the Brooklyn-born group was joined by a very special guest—none other than the prolific singer and funk icon, Chaka Khan. You can check out videos of Lettuce’s unreal set and collaboration with Chaka Khan below, courtesy of Sean Roche.

“Tell Me Something Good”

 

 

Lettuce was not the only band on hand on Friday to sport some special collaborations. To kick off the evening, Greensky Bluegrass took to the Peach Stage around 5 pm, inviting the Turkuaz Horns to join them for part of their performance. Despite the rain, spirits were high as the bluegrass act moved through their high-octane performance, which saw an appropriate rendition of “Worried About The Weather” and a new arrangement of the well-loved number, “Old Barns.” The Turkuaz Horns joined the band for the end of their set, adding a vibrancy and power to the string band’s sound during “Bring Out Your Dead” and “Miss September.” You can check out some videos from Greensky’s performance and their collaboration with the Turkuaz Horns below, courtesy of Sean Roche.

“Bring Out Your Dead” with Turkuaz Horns

“Demons”

“Windshield”

While My Morning Jacket and Lettuce kept the night locked down, Friday was jam packed (literally), with glorious performances by a whole host of acts across the festival’s three stages from noon onward. The relatively new act, The Magpie Salute—which was formed in 2016 by Black Crowes’ guitarist Rich Robinson—put on a stellar performance as well ahead of Greensky Bluegrass’s performance on the Peach Stage. Featuring renditions of The Rolling Stones’ “Tumbling Dice,” guitarist Marc Ford’s original “Shalimar Dreams,” and the group’s latest single, “Omission,” the band showcased why fans should hope to continue to see The Magpie Salute in years to come.

These performances mark just a sampling of the expansive musical going-ons that The Peach Festival hosted yesterday. The day also sported performances of Pink Talking Fish performing Allman Brothers Band’s Eat A Peach, in addition to sets by Keller Williams’ Kwahtro, The New Mastersounds, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, Steve Kimock & Friends, and The Werks featuring the Turkuaz Horns. Today, The Peach Festival continues on with its all-star tribute to Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman in addition to sets by Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule & Friends featuring John Scofield, and much, much more.

Check out this gallery from Phierce Photos below to see some more of the action that went down yesterday at The Peach!