I have to say that the award for the
first day of the festival goes to Roanoke. This band brought great
musicianship, lead vocals and harmony. Their songs fit squarely into
the Americana category evoked visions of their storytelling. Well,
except for their cover of Chains by Fleetwood Mac which they
performed very well. I don't think the song lost anything in the
translation.
I was floored to hear the first band,
Frontier, do an amazing job. Usually the first act is one that is
perhaps not yet ready for prime time but Frontier, doing their own
songs, definitely are ready for prime time.
They were followed by The Wooks who
sounded somewhat like The Seldom Scene or Yonder Mountain String Band
except not as good. Some may disagree with me on this one but, to
me, the vocals sounded a bit flat. Colter Wall came next and I felt
about like I did after The Avett Brothers were here. I thought “who
is this guy and why does everyone know about him except me?” He
drew a big crowd of avid listeners plus he had a cute fiddle player
who put on quite a show.
Leaving the Old 97's and, while they
were competent, sounded like their name. A bunch of Old 97s. What I
mean by that is that the music seemed dated. Maybe it's because most
of the people there wouldn't have been old enough to listen to music
in '97 and missed it first time around.
But, all in all a satisfyingly
successful opening to the festival. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
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