The High Sierra Music Festival was a special four days of music that showed why it might be one of the best music festivals on the west coast. Tucked into the tiny mountain town of Quincy, California, who has embraced the festival and all of its shenanigans for the past 26 years, High Sierra emanates this ego-less spirit of inclusion and self-expression that seeks to bring passionate musicians and provide a sanctuary for people to come and enjoy soulful, life affirming music.
The stages are intimate, the artists are exceptional, the campgrounds host its own party culture that rivals the music and you are allowed to bring your own alcohol to the stages to enjoy; what is not to love about this festival? The fact this is hosted on Fourth of July weekend makes High Sierra feel even more special and has become a tradition for many families and groups who want to forgo hot dogs, parades and in-laws for late-night concerts, impromptu camp jam sessions and mimosas at Sunday church service.
Below is a list of the bands that took High Sierra to new levels this past weekend.
Industrial Revelation
Industrial Revelation’s set Friday at the Vaudeville Tent was something anyone who is inspired by musical artistry loves to experience. More than any other show over the week,end the band members played like the music was being exorcised out of them, pulled from their souls, into their veins and out of their fingers. Trumpeter Ahamefule J. Oluo plays with his eyes peering towards the heavens, and watching him you couldn’t help but feel like he was channeling something otherworldly into his instrument, not of his own body or volition. Industrial Revelation plays in this unique space it has created for itself that filters jazz through hip-hop, classical and soul filters with a knack for avant-garde compositions. If hip-hop producer Madlib were to take a band on the road to bring his scuzzy, velveteen beats to life, Industrial Revelation would have to be in on the decision process. They balanced its rhythmic power with melodic grace and let the music take them where it needed to go, inviting guitarist Jimmy James on for a greasy final take on “Bottoms Up” to close its set.
Papa Mali Gospel Set
The Sunday morning gospel set at the Big Meadows stage has grown to be almost a High Sierra tradition. Artists used to informally congregate to the stage and sit in a circle taking turns leading old folk, gospel and blues songs and now the festival has begun to book specific bands and artists to bring down the glory. This year paired Luther Dickinson and John Medeski with Papa Mali and his Rhythm Council and the collaboration proved to be very spiritual. With people imbibing in vices through the Sunday service, they ran through old standards like “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” with grace and happiness and were getting as much enrichment of the soul as the crowd. The guys playing were legends and they didn’t need to be up at 10 a.m. playing music to get another paycheck from High Sierra. They did it because they love the music and and they love the connection with the fans, which is really what it is all about.
Lettuce
Lettuce has been on the warpath since the release of their latest album, Crush in November, to melt as many faces as it can across the country. Crush elevated the band’s sound above merely funk, to encompass all aspects of dancing music from electronica to hip-hop to psychedelic. To watch them play their set Saturday night was to feel a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds coming at you and to fall under its spell. What is so expansive about Lettuce’s sound is that it is always tinkering and modifying the songs to go someplace new and exciting on stage instead of just playing its albums out of bigger speakers. Hell, the songs feel like totally different entities once the band has its grip on them in front of an audience. Adam Smirnoff’s rippling guitar on “Phyllis” plunged into a rabbit hole jam and “Slippin’ Into Darkness” grooved through a surreal haze of sparkling horns and day-glo guitar solos. A sense of complacency can grown in you when you see a band as solid and consistent as Lettuce perform in a number of settings. You think you know the flow, the feeling, the experience. Lettuce blew that out of the water Saturday and reaffirmed their status as one of the most dominant live bands playing now.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood
The cosmic boogie of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood is the perfect fit for a festival like High Sierra. The high temperatures on Friday had the Grandstand stage field feeling more like a desert than a musical oasis as bands cycled through. A late afternoon set from the CRB as the sun began to drop behind the mountains was definitely the perfect relief, and the crowd felt like it began to go through a rejuvenation process once the band kicked things off with a rollicking “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” The band runs in the same vein of the Grateful Dead and its sound is built on a psychedelic mixing of blues, folk and country that saunters into your hips and keeps fans swaying for hours on end. In addition to favorites like “Forever As The Moon” and “Rosealee” the band stretched out its legs with tracks from its upcoming new album Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel. The easy riffage of “California Hymn” was enriching and “Narcissus Soaking Wet” felt like a Parliament song created in the shade of a lemon grove. It has potential to be a great summertime record from a great summertime band.
Thievery Corporation
2016 marks the 20th anniversary of D.C. based collective Thievery Corporation, and the group brought an invigorating night of music as the Friday night headliners to celebrate. The Grand Stage race track transformed into fluorescent a sea of lights in anticipation for the dance party and the band did not disappoint. What started as a project for producers Eric Hilton and Rob Garza to explore their bossa nova interests has become a luminary for incorporating elements of house, techno, and electronica into cultural rhythms like bossa nova, salsa and reggae that have been around for centuries. It was a dance party through and through that didn’t stop for an hour and a half, with “Lebanese Blonde” laying down a deep, full-bodied beat that was contrasted nicely by the atmospheric rise of “Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes.” Friday night felt like a communal celebration of the world and its people, everyone sharing the same groove and cycling the love around in dance, smiles and hugs.
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Tedeschi Trucks Band closed out the main stage at High Sierra Sunday night with an exclamation point that reiterated the fact this is one of the most talented and accomplished bands to come around in the last ten years. Born as a one-off touring project for guitar couple Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, the band is now the main focus of the musicians. Their dedication has grown the band into a 12-piece behemoth of blues, funk and soul. The stage could barely contain the band as it ripped through feel-good blues anthems like “Bound for Glory” and an endearing “Don’t Know What It Means” from this year’s album release, Let Me Get By. Kofi Burbidge paired Tedeschi’s brassy vocals with calming flute that floated along to the rousing “Idle Wind,” where it then became a textured drum composition by drummers J.J. Johnson and Tyler Greenwell. Trucks rode the gentle tide of “Laugh About It” with a stirring solo that highlighted his ability to change the course of a song with just his fingers. The pedigree in this band is unrivaled and it compelled many to just stand there and admire the musicianship laid bare in front of them.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
There are few bands, if any, with a more hallowed musical legacy than the Grateful Dead. Its dedication to unique concert experiences bred a whole legion of fans that would follow them wherever they went and fawned over the set lists like ancient artifacts. Besides the multiple projects of the surviving members and the ongoing tour of Dead & Company with John Mayer, no band is really able to embody that legacy as convincingly and truthfully as Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. After a stellar set at last year’s festival it would have been almost a crime for the promoters not to invite Russo back for another year of Grateful goodness. The band wheeled through The Grateful Dead’s catalog with golden aplomb, creating its own magic out of the fairy dust strewn through the melodies, especially a magnificent “Eyes of the World.” While the band was essentially functioning as an accomplished all-star cover band for The Grateful Dead, it felt fresh and exciting and Russo was dazzlingly impressive as he zipped all over his toms and cymbals with beautiful power, creating the spirit and sound of two drummers on his own. Another one for the record books.
The Dip
Seattle soul band The Dip took full advantage of its Sunday evening set at the Vaudeville Tent to bring some love and tenderness to the festival just as it was coming to a close. The band’s old school flavor is steeped in doo-wop melodies and soul grooves and released its first album last April, as well as an EP full of instrumentals this May. Frontman and guitarist Tom Eddy was downright dreamy on stage as he crooned the hell out of the audience with his honeyed voice on “Ain’t Necessary (The Prince)” and the sensuous “Don’t Make Me Wait,” while also laying down smooth licks on his six-string. The band really took off as it ran through its Daptone-inspired instrumentals, the best being on the flirty “Chantrelle.” Listening to them you could feel yourself getting swept up into the feelings of summer love and delight and it just warmed you up from the inside out.
J.J. Grey and Mofro
J.J. Grey and Mofro led a tent revival Friday night that whipped everyone into a soulful frenzy. He played a coveted late-night set that stretched from 11:30 p.m. to close to 2 p.m, plenty of time to save both the audience and himself from damnation. Grey doesn’t feel like a throwback to the era of Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett and Muscle Shoals as much as he feels like a direct link. The Hercules horns are crunchy, the rhythm section is tight yet loose and the songs touch upon all the inevitable joy and sadness that passes through you like a river out to the ocean. He let his southern-fried pipes do all the preaching on the uplifting soul number “Brighter Days” as it stretched into a testimonial about love, loss and redemption. People tore up the dance floor on the backwoods burner “Country Ghetto” and swayed serendipitously on the nostalgic “Lochloosa.” Grey can touch on a myriad of emotions with his music and the emotional roller coaster left many people drained but fulfilled when they left in the early morning from Vaudeville for their next adventure.
Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals
Ben Harper has been touring and recording since the early nineties and has amassed a huge repertoire that mixes blues, folk and rock and can touch upon acoustic protest songs to psychedelic excursions into electric territory. This can lead his shows to veer too much in any one direction — either too heavy or too soft — but his set Friday night was a great blend of both his styles that left people feeling satisfied. “Better Man” turned from a percussive jam on record into a soaring, almost trance-like electric blues rocker that flooded the crowd in sound and the sugary funk of “Steal My Kisses” put a smile on most people’s faces. Listening to his classic campfire anthem “Burn One Down” from the back of the field as people flowed into the field, summer stars twinkled and groups of friends and family danced together in archipelagos of love, one got the sense it was all a part of a larger piece of Americana. Music festivals are a part of what makes the summer so important and special for many in America and Ben Harper tapped into that feeling Saturday night with a great respect for the experience.
Greensky Bluegrass
The hottest bluegrass band in the land is undoubtedly Greensky Bluegrass, as the group continues to fuse a number of styles into their Americana outfit. The band played two sets at the festival, hitting a late night on Saturday and returning for a full main stage set on Sunday. Is there no stopping this glorious band? Just watch the video of “Living Over” above, courtesy of Must Have Media, and find out for yourself!
With another fabulous festival in the books, organizers finally relaxed on the dawn of the Fourth Of July, exhausted but comforted to know they had helped celebrate the birth of our great nation with a celebration purely in the spirit of our great nation. For a full gallery of images from our own Rex Thomson, click the link below:
