Hangout Fest’s First Saturday on the Beach
May 16th, 2010A Photo Essay: Grace Potter, Gov’t Mule, Kick Kennedy
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals sort of stole the show on Saturday at The Hangout Beach, Music and Art Festival, especially since Jacob Dylan supposedly had travel problems and failed to appear for the headlining, main event Saturday night.
A Vermont-based band that gained national attention in 2007 with the album “This Is Somewhere,” Grace Potter and The Nocturnals blend of funky blues, soul and rock from the sixties and early ’70s fit in perfectly with the laidback crowd along the Redneck Riviera.
Of course Gov’t Mule is always a hit in the South, if not so pretty as Grace Potter. With Warren Haynes on lead vocals and guitar, Gov’t Mule is one of the hardest working bands in rock ‘n’ roll. With 2 million paid song downloads through their site MuleTracks, seven critically acclaimed studio records already released, a handful of DVDs and live albums, plus an ever-expanding fanbase and sold-out coast-to-coast tours, this is a band to catch, especially at the beach.
On the other hand, Grace Potter is easier to look at.
Warren Haynes apparently has a vision, though. Unlike Lynyrd Skynyrd, with their Confederate Battle Flag for a backdrop, Haynes associates himself with former President Jimmy Carter and Habitat for Humanity, and says history will remember Carter “as a great president,” yet not look too kindly on BP and the Republicans who authorized the Deepwater Horizon oil well, still spurting perhaps 70,000 barrels of oil a day in the Gulf of Mexico.
Grace Potter, on the other hand, could make the average man forget about an oil slick out of sight from the beach, and even get little old ladies in wheel chairs dancing (I’m not making this up).
Multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis steals the crowd’s attention now and then, while drummer Matt Abts and bassist Jorgen Carlsson lay down the solid backbeat groove…
Did I mention that Gracy Potter is, well, hot?
Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy also put in an appearance at a 10-minute afternoon press conference, where the press was not allowed to ask questions. No one mentioned BP’s oil slick hovering just out of sight over the horizon, or the fact that nothing seems to be working to get the leak fixed.
Of course what music fest in these times would be complete with the Hula-Hoop girls…
The crowd topped 15,000 visitors a day, and still no oil in sight…
Later into the night, Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule and Grace Potter sat in with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band inside The Hangout bar.
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Tags: Gov't Mule, Grace Potter, Kick Kennedy, The Hangout
May 16th, 2010 at 6:53 am
Oh Gracy! I knew I should have made the trip. Wow! Send more Gracy, Glynn.
May 16th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Olivia Judson has been benched.
May 16th, 2010 at 11:58 am
I heard that…
Olivia needs to get down here and write about the science of this oil spill.
May 21st, 2010 at 11:52 pm
“Of course what music fest in these times would be complete with the Hula-Hoop girls…”
Um, a music fest where I didn’t nearly lose an eye every time one of them decided to create a 20 foot radius of a-spinning-injury-waiting-to-happen. That girl in particular made me want to burn a hula hoop or two. (God, I sound like a cranky old woman but seriously, if I laid out a 15 foot radius of “personal space” you think people would be pissed? Especially if my “personal space” involved unpredictable twirling objects?) Ok, I’m done.
Did I mention that I wish I had Grace Potters voice (and legs)?