Over the last weekend in June, Colorado’s own Magic Beans hosted their seventh-annual Beanstalk Music & Mountains Festival at Bond, Colorado’s picturesque Rancho Del Rio. Located on the banks of the Colorado river, the three-day event has surely solidified itself as one of Colorado’s premier music and camping festivals, with tubing and other water-related activities easily accessible throughout the weekend. The pristine nature, combined with an ever-evolving lineup of some of the live music scene’s hardest-hitting acts, makes for a festival that only gets better as the years roll on. With a 1,000-person capacity, Beanstalk is able to hold its integrity as an intimate summer gathering while offering fans an unforgettable musical experience.
A week prior to the festival, Magic Beans—comprised of guitarist Scott Hachey, keyboardist Casey Russell, bassist Chris Duffy, and drummer Cody Wales—released their latest studio album, Off Leash, marking an extra special occasion for the band to gather with all of their closest friends and family and throw the party of the summer.
On Thursday, Denver’s Kessel Run got the weekend started off proper with a high-energy set of rockin’ funk to get things going in the late afternoon. Part & Parcel‘s set was next, with the local quintet offering up a hearty helping of their folk/rock combined with various elements of bluegrass. Following an exploratory Exmag set, Cycles, the rising Colorado trio and friends and frequent collaborators of the Magic Beans, showed up strong, as guitarist Patrick Harvey displayed his wizardry and expertise with his pedals, looping devices, hip-hop samples, and roaring guitar work.
Cycles – Beanstalk Music Festival – 6/27/2019
[Audio: The Space Fish]
Per tradition, Magic Beans offered up the late-night headlining set and invited former member and percussionist Will Trask for the entirety of their one set performance. Along with newer Off Leash tunes including “Contraband” and “Frontier”, the band worked through a plethora of fan-favorites including “Give Me Something Real”, “Inventor”, “Mission”, and “Dr. Bubbleman”.
Setlist: Magic Beans | Beanstalk Music Festival | Bond, CO | 6/27/2019
Set: Contraband, The Table, Give Me Something Real > Frontier, Inventor, Wachu Wanna Do?, Mission > Dr. Bubbleman
Notes: Will Trask was featured on back-up percussion for the entire set
Magic Beans – Beanstalk Music Festival – 6/27/2019
[Audio: The Space Fish]
Magic Beans – “Give Me Something Real” / “Inventor” / “Contraband” – 6/27/2019
[Video: Magic Beans]
The Sweet Lillies helped kick-off the festivities on Friday, followed by a full-out dance party provided by Portland-based electro-funk trio Yak Attack. Buffalo rock outfit Aqueous was up next and offered up a favorite set of the weekend. The quartet worked through originals “Random Company”, “Realize Your Light”, “Aldehyde”, “Skyway”, and “Be The Same” along with well-executed covers of Blink 182‘s “Dammit” and Duran Duran‘s “Girls On Film”.
Aqueous – Beanstalk Music Festival – 6/28/2019
[Audio: The Space Fish]
Following Aqueous’ explosive set, Magic Beans offered up another monster show for night two. The quartet opened up their set with “Off Leash”, the title track off of their recent studio release. With Scott Hachey singing loud and proud, “This is the part where it feels good,” the packed main stage crowd got down to boogying right away. Leaving “Off Leash” unfinished, Magic Beans smoothly coasted into another newer tune, “Handshake or Hug”, which saw Casey Russell showcasing some brilliant work on his Nord and synths. Midway through “Evil Eye”, lespecial’s Rory Dolan joined the band on percussion and stayed on stage for “Lost & Found” and the reprised chorus and proper ending for “Off Leash”. The band moved forward with “Be Kind, Rewind” before invited Trask onstage and working into an unexpected cover of Radiohead‘s “Creep”, much to the crowd’s delight. Trask held down percussion duties beside Magic Beans drummer Cody Wales for the remainder of the set, as the band closed things out with “Casino Cabaret” and “No Reservations”.
Setlist: Magic Beans | Beanstalk Music Festival | Bond, CO | 6/28/2019
Set: Off Leash > Handshake or Hug > Evil Eye[1] > Lost & Found[1] > Off Leash[1], Be Kind, Rewind, Creep (Radiohead cover)[2], Casino Cabaret[2], No Reservations[2]
[1] “Evil Eye”, “Lost & Found” and “Off Leash” featured Rory Dolan (Lespecial) on percussion.
[2] “Creep”, “Casino Cabaret” and “No Reservations” featured Will Trask (Analog Son) on percussion.
Magic Beans – Beanstalk Music Festival – 6/28/2019
[Audio: The Space Fish]
Magic Beans – “Evil Eye” > “Lost & Found” > “Off Leash (reprise)” – 6/28/2019
[Video: Magic Beans]
Saturday still had lots of music in store, with locals Mountain Meadow Music opening things up, followed by Cycles’ second performance of the weekend. Percussion-centric funk fusion outfit Ghost-Note was up next, as the all-star cast of musicians dazzled the Colorado crowd with their quick-witted, funk-fueled tunes. Following a sunset DJ set by Com Truise, Adam Deitch & The Midnight Marauders, featuring Lettuce bandmate Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff, The Motet’s Joey Porter, Garrett Sayers, and trumpeter Gabriel Mervine, offered up a special hip-hop tribute to A Tribe Called Quest.
Magic Beans opened up their festival-closing, final set of the weekend with “Feed The Beast”, the lead single off of their Off Leash release. Honorary Magic Bean Will Trask once again joined the band on percussion for the entirety of the set. Backed by Chris Duffy’s massive bass bombs, Scott Hachey and Casey Russell took the “Feed The Beast” jam deep as they locked into some delicate interplay. Following a cover of Buford Abner‘s “Long White Line”, recently made popular by Sturgill Simpson, the quartet invited up Ghost-Note/ Snarky Puppy percussionist Nate Werth to lend a helping hand on “What In The World”. Trask and Werth put on a hell of a show behind the massive percussion setup on stage before Russell took matters into his own hands and fired off a series of spacey synth effects.
With Werth still in the mix, Magic Beans invited up Yak Attack keyboardist Dave Dernovsek to assist on “Here On Out”, which featured some eclectic solos between Dernovsek and Russell. Moving back into their five-piece configuration (Trask included), the band offered up a cover of the Grateful Dead‘s “Brown Eyed Women” before pairing up Off Leash‘s “Nude” into “Fortune’s Fool”, which both appear in that order on the album. A near 30-minute rendition of “Mr. Scientist” brought the red-hot set to a close, leaving the packed Beanstalk crowd begging for more. Magic Beans returned to offer up a two-song encore of “Do Your Thing” into “To Hell We Ride”, putting an exclamatory mark on a weekend that fans will talk about for years to come.
Setlist: Magic Beans | Beanstalk Music Festival | Bond, CO | 6/29/2019
Set: Feed The Beast, Long White Line (Buford Abner cover), What In The World[1] > Here On Out[2], Brown Eyed Women (Grateful Dead cover), Nude > Fortune’s Fool, Mr. Scientist
Encore: Do Your Thing > To Hell We Ride
[1] “What In The World” featured Nate Werth (Ghost-Note / Snarky Puppy) on back-up percussion.
[2] “Here On Out” featured Nate Werth (Ghost-Note / Snarky Puppy) on back-up percussion and Dave Dernovsek (Yak Attack) on keys.
Magic Beans – Beanstalk Music Festival – 6/28/2019
[Audio: The Space Fish]
Check out an extensive gallery of photos below from this year’s Beanstalk Music Festival courtesy of photographer Tara Gracer.
Special thanks to taper Space Tapes for providing audio recordings from throughout the weekend.
