Grassroots 2007: Weekend Highlights
Published by Natasha July 24th, 2007 in Local, Music, Guest Blogger.
Our GrassRoots Festival ramblings are still coming on strong (stayed tuned for more photo essays and posts tomorrow), and here’s writer James Sigman’s thoughts on his two favorite performances of the weekend — Slo Mo and The Avett Brothers. Be sure to check out his blog, Tinsel and Rot, as well. He took a few photos, too (including the one above of the Avett Brothers). Read on:
It seems natural that when a good band throws all its energy into a show, it should get that energy right back from the audience. And, in a perfect world, that scenario would play out nightly in clubs and concert halls around the world. But it doesn’t, so there are some nights where drummers thwack and guitarists slash and the reaction is little more than benign indifference. Some nights — maybe those nights when seven people greet you after an eight-hour drive in a busted old van — it probably gets a little hard to believe that you’re on the right path.
Then, there are events like GrassRoots, where even with the happiness parades, the Hacky Sack circles, and the shirtless guys trying to knock a beer bottle off a pole with a frisbee competing for attention, there are thousands of fans who stare in rapt attention or lose themselves in a frenzy of flailing limbs and gyrating hips as a band gives its all in the late-day heat. GrassRoots is many things to many people, but, above all, it is a festival where good musicians are rewarded and adored.
Two cases in point: Slo Mo’s set in the Cabaret Hall on Saturday afternoon/evening and the Avett Brothers’ turn on the Infield Stage on Sunday afternoon/evening. First, there was Slo Mo’s set, a constantly churning set that built to an explosive conclusion with the first encore of “Thank God She Cooks” (with a little “Hava Nagila” thrown in) from Slo Mo’s debut album, Novelty. That album was recorded before the current band had really come together, as MC Mic Wrecka and Stargazer Lily alums Steph Hayes and Sue Rosetti came aboard on the last two Slo Mo CDs (My Buzz Comes Back” and Smokey Mountain). Now with those three added to Mike “Slo Mo” Brenner’s lap steel/dobro and the groove laid down by bassist Steve Demarest, drummer Mark Schreiber, and percussionist Hoagy Wing, the band has grown into an irresistible force, as evidenced by the increasing number of music lovers coming into the Cabaret Hall as the set went on. Maybe they were drawn in by the interplay between Brenner’s soulful playing and Mic Wrecka’s steady flow. Or the sweet vocals of Hayes and Rosetti. Or maybe it was the sight of the perpetual motion machine that is Hoagy Wing. Whatever the case, by the time the band came out for a second encore (a cause of slight concern among some trying to keep everything on schedule), it had achieved that perfect energy-for-energy exchange that every band wants.
While Slo Mo and crew got that result with seven folks, the Avett Brothers somehow managed to get the same kind of reaction with just three — Scott Avett on banjo and kick drum, Seth Avett on guitar and high hat, and Bob Crawford on bass. Even though the heat and humidity wreaked a little more havoc than usual with their tuning (though Seth joked that it wasn’t the weather but the fact that they are “bad musicians”), the Avetts, as is often the case, triumphed through sheer energy and determination. They came out strong with the fan favorite “Please Pardon Yourself” and, through a trail of broken strings and a few bad notes, didn’t let up until the final encore of “Will You Return?” (from their new Emotionalism CD).
As I watched both bands this weekend, I remembered seeing them earlier in their careers. There was the first time I saw Mic Wrecka with Slo Mo, playing an opening set at Makor in Manhattan to the oxymoronic small crowd. And then there was that Avett Brothers show at the Goldhawk in Hoboken, NJ, where the audience member to band member ratio was about 2:1. But here on this sunny summer weekend in central New York, there was a hall full of people throwing their hands up to Slo Mo, and a euphoric crowd at the Infield Stage hanging on every Avett stomp, shake, and scream. It was enough to make you believe.
Terms of service: User agreement,
copyright and privacy policy
Copyright Notice
Ithacatimes.com, Ithaca.com, Fingerlakesnewpapers.com (the Service) is Copyright 2007 Newski Inc., all rights reserved.
The service is provided for your personal use only. Users of the service may not reproduce, republish or redistribute material from the web site in any form without written permission of Newski Inc. or the original copyright holder.
Accessing the Service, in any manner, constitutes use of the Service such that You agree to use the Service in accordance with these Terms of Service. The party accessing the Service is bound by these Terms of Service.
User-provided Content
Copyright on materials contributed to the service is held by the individual creators.
All postings, messages, text, files, images, graphics, photos, audio clips, sounds, video or other materials (the Content) posted on, transmitted through, or linked from the Site, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. You are entirely responsible for all Content that you post, email or otherwise make available through the Site. For all Content provided by you, you agree to indemnify Provider as provided below.
By uploading or otherwise posting any Content on the Site, you represent and warrant: (i) you own or otherwise have all necessary rights, including but not limited to copyrights, to the content you provide and the rights to use it as provided in this Terms of Service; (ii) all information you provide is true, accurate, current and complete, and does not violate these Terms of Service; and, (iii) the content will not cause injury to any person or entity.
License
For all such information and material, you grant the service its affiliates and related entities, and its affiliated newspapers, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, copy, modify, display, archive, store, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works from such information, in any form, media, software or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future.
No Pre-Screening or Editing
This is a community Site. As such, there are weblogs, forums, photo galleries and other interactive areas where users can express opinions and share ideas and information. The Service cannot and does not monitor all of the material posted or transmitted to the Site. Additionally, The Service does not control, and is not responsible for, Content made available through the Site by members.
By using the Site, you may be exposed to Content that you may find offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of the Site and any of its Content, including but not limited to whether you should rely on said Content.
You also agree that under no circumstances will the service or its affiliates be liable in any way for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed or otherwise made available via the Site. You acknowledge that Provider does not pre-screen or approve Content, but that ÔThe Service shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to refuse, delete or move any Content that is available via the Site, for violating the letter or spirit of the Terms or for any other reason. The service reserves the right to delete any posting, message or photograph at any time, for any reason or no reason.
Online behavior, posting rules
You agree not to post, email, or otherwise make available Content:
that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, pornographic, libelous, or invasive of another's privacy, or harms minors in any way;
that harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
that purports to be from any person or entity, including but not limited to a Provider employee, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent.
that is false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful, mis-informative, or constitutes bait and switch;
that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships.
that constitutes or contains affiliate marketing, link referral code, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or unsolicited commercial advertisement.
that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if (1) posted in areas which are not designated for such purposes; or (2) emailed to Ithacatimes.com , Ithaca.com , fingerlakesnewspapers.com users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests.
that advertises any illegal services or the sale of any items the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by applicable law, including without limitation items the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by New York State law;
that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Service, or that otherwise negatively affects other users' ability to use the Service; or
that employs misleading email addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of Content transmitted through the Service.
Additionally, you agree not to:
contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
stalk or otherwise harass anyone;
collect personal data about other users for commercial or unlawful purposes;
use automated means, including scripts, spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from or upload data to the Service;
post irrelevant Content, repeatedly post the same or similar Content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
attempt to gain unauthorized access to the serviceÕs computer systems or any other user's computer systems, or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the Service or the serviceÕs websites.
Membership and registration
By registering as a Member of The Service, you warrant that the information you provide to us, including the personally identifying information, is true and accurate. You accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password, and agree not to sell, transfer or assign your Membership or any Membership rights. We reserve the right to terminate your Membership at any time for any reason. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for restricting access to your computer so others outside your household may not access The service using your name in whole or in part without our permission. If you believe someone has accessed the service using your member name and password without your authorization, e-mail us immediately at webmaster@Ithacatimes.com.
Privacy Policy
The service is committed to protecting consumer privacy online. We believe that greater protection of personal privacy on the Web will not only protect consumers, but also increase consumer confidence and ultimately their participation in online activities. We intend to give you as much control as possible over your personal information.
The purpose of our policy is to inform you about the types of information we gather about you when you visit our site(s), how we may use that information, whether we disclose it to anyone, and the choices you have regarding our use of, and your ability to correct, the information.
Our Site(s) may contain links to other Web sites, including Web sites directed to children. We have no control over the privacy practices or the content of any of our business partners, advertisers, sponsors or other sites to which we provide links from our sites. You should check the applicable privacy policy of the Web site sponsor when linking to other Web sites.
The service strives to offer its visitors the many advantages of Internet technology and to provide an interactive and personalized experience. We may use Personally Identifiable Information (your name, e-mail address, street address, telephone number and other information) subject to the terms of this privacy policy. Please note this policy applies only to information collected by the service and does not impact information collected or used by the service or its affiliates through other means.
How we gather information from users
How we collect and store information depends on the page you are visiting, the activities in which you elect to participate and the services provided. You can visit many pages on our site without providing any information. Other pages may prompt you to provide information, such as when you register for access to portions of our site, sign up for membership, request certain features (e.g., newsletters, news updates and other products) or make a purchase. You may also provide information when you participate in sweepstakes and contests, voting and polling activities, photo galleries, message boards and other interactive areas of our site.
Like most Web sites, the service also collects information automatically and through the use of electronic tools that may be transparent to our visitors. For example, we may log the name of your Internet Service Provider or use cookie technology. Among other things, the cookie may store your user name and password, sparing you from having to re-enter that information each time you visit, or may control the number of times you encounter a particular advertisement while visiting our site. As we adopt additional technology, we may also gather information through other means. In certain cases, you can choose not to provide us with information, for example by setting your browser to refuse to accept cookies, but doing so may inhibit site functionality.
What we do with the information we collect
We will use your information only as permitted by law. Aggregated Information (information that does not personally identify you) may be used in many ways. As one example, we may combine information about your usage patterns with similar information obtained from other users to learn which pages are visited most or what features are most attractive. Aggregated Information may occasionally be shared with our advertisers and business partners, but cannot be used to contact you individually.
We also collect information to enhance your visit and deliver more individualized content and advertising.
We may use Personally Identifiable Information collected on the Service to communicate with you regarding something you have posted, our Terms of Service and privacy policy, products and services offered by the service and other Newski inc. affiliates and partners, administration of sweepstakes and contests, processing e-commerce transactions and other topics we think you might find of interest. We reserve the right to share this information with other Newski Inc. business units and affiliates, including for example our affiliated newspapers
Personally Identifiable Information collected by The service may also be used for other purposes including but not limited to site administration and troubleshooting. Certain third parties who provide technical support for the operation of our site (our Web hosting service and our newsletter provider, for example) may access such information.
As we continue to develop our business, we may sell, buy, merge or partner with other companies or businesses. In such transactions, user information may be among the transferred assets. We may also disclose your information in response to a court order, at other times when we believe we are reasonably required to do so by law, in connection with the collection of amounts you may owe to us, and/or whenever we deem it appropriate or necessary to give such information to law enforcement authorities. Please note we may not provide you with notice prior to disclosure in such cases.
Affiliated sites, linked sites and advertisements
The service expects its partners, advertisers and third-party affiliates to respect the privacy of our users. However, third parties, including our partners, advertisers, affiliates and other content providers accessible through our site, may have their own privacy and data collection policies and practices. For example, during your visit to our site you may link to, or view as part of a frame on a The service page, certain content that is actually created or hosted by a third party. Also, through The service you may be introduced to, or be able to access, information, Web sites, advertisements, features, contests or sweepstakes offered by other parties. The Service is not responsible for the actions or policies of such third parties. You should check the applicable privacy policies of those third parties when providing information on a feature or page operated by a third party.
While on our site, our advertisers, promotional partners or other third parties may use cookies or other technology to attempt to identify some of your preferences or retrieve information about you. For example, some of our advertising may be served by third parties and may include cookies that enable the advertiser to determine whether you have seen a particular advertisement before. Through features available on our site, third parties may use cookies or other technology to gather information. The service does not control the use of this technology or the resulting information and is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties.
Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online. Should you choose to voluntarily disclose Personally Identifiable Information in public areas on our site, such as in message boards, chat areas or in advertising or notices you post, that information can be viewed publicly and can be collected and used by third parties without our knowledge and may result in unsolicited messages from other individuals or third parties. Such activities are beyond the control of the Service and this policy.
Children
The service does not knowingly collect or solicit Personally Identifiable Information from or about children under the age of 13 except as permitted by law. If we discover we have received any information from a child under the age of 13 in violation of this policy, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe the Service has any information from or about anyone under the age of 13, please contact us at webmaster@ithacatimes.com. Children under the age of 13 are specifically prohibited from registering as Members of The Service.
By clicking Submit you are agreeing to our terms of service.
8 Responses to “Grassroots 2007: Weekend Highlights”
Please Wait
Leave a Reply