MHMF Day 2 Recap

Most surprising performance: This is a tough one for me. There were a lot of great performances, but I expected them to be good: Grace Potter, the Roots, Rose Hill Drive, DMB. In the end it came down to OneRepublic or Ingrid Michelson, and in the end I have to say I was most surprised by OneRepublic, even though I was getting cooked under the Main Stage sun.

Lowest moment: being asked to tear off the labels from water bottles by Security upon entry. Security overall the whole festival was weak, and to use them to do some corporate sponsor bidding rather than focus on keeping undesirable stuff out of the park was beyond belief.

Most Magical Moment: Dave Matthews Band with a warm, summer night breeze.

MHMF DMB

Hey, Dave and his band are great. Always. Not a disappointment. What’s this? A Peter Gabriel song? Nice.

MHMF The Black Crowes

Huge crowd. A lot of people just sittin’ enjoying the tunes. They jam quite a bit. Better than I thought it would be.

MHMF Colbie Caillat

Saw her. She sang. Warm crowd. Hot me.

MHMF The Pinbacks

For some reason I was expecting something different than this eclectic, fun little show. They deserved a bigger crowd. This was one of the smallest crowds of the day, and I thought they were quite good.

MHMF The Roots

The tent was pumpin’.They’re great. Huuuge crowd. Organizers blew it with this one – wrong venue. Too small. They’re awesome live and aren’t bashful about their politics. Got to catch them the next time they’re here.

MHMF John Mayer

John was his usual bluesy live self. Always a lot of guitar fireworks. I think a few in the crowd were surprised how much of a rock man he is. Loved the set, hated the heat.

MHMF Grace Potter

As expected, this took the roof off. Loved the drum solo at the end.

MHMF Rodrigo y Gabriela

Did he just do Smoke on the Water? Even I can play that lick. I’m glad to see so much attention to this genre, but I don’t see anything exceptional here. I’ve spent my life growing up around spanish, flaminco, and mariachi guitar so not seeing it. I like it, but seen it before.

MHMF Tea Leaf Green

Today is definitely hippy band day here at the ol’ festivale. But we knew that coming in. It’s great to see jamb bands and instrumental groups being so popular. A good fun expose of their hippy soul stew.