we already know you'll be back...

...but we'd still like to see it in writing. the good folks who organized this year's All Good are always looking for ways to improve your festival experience. so take a few minutes and tell us about the music, the site, the port-a-potties...we really take this feedback seriously.

to add your input, just follow this link: http://fs19.formsite.com/Junipa/form424673768/index.html

and thanks for the overwhelming support that has already been thrown our way.
keep it coming!

-sam

hey ho here we go:

still looking to get the music from this year's festival? you can go to http://flink.livedownloads.com/collections_allgood.asp for all of the shows.

also, take a minute and check out festivalink.net. it's well worth your time.

cheers!

sam

...looking for the All Good shows?

hi all,

we've found some of the shows from the festival at various sites...here's what we have so far:

keller (bt.etree.org)
bob + rat dog (db.etree.org and bt.etree.org)
franti (bt.etee.org)
moe, moe all-star (www.archive.org)
PBS (bt.etree.org)
yonder (www.archive.org)
les claypool (bt.etree.org)
drive by truckers (www.archive.org)
grace potter (www.archive.org)
lee boys (www.archive.org)

with the db.etree.org and bt.etree.org you need a torrent program. if you havent used one before, go to www.utorrent.com and download the program and install it. then when you find the shows on etree, you download a torrent file and open it in utorrent. it will then download the file from other people who have it, and you will upload the file at the same time (what a wonderful world).

we're still looking for a lot of the shows- ESPECIALLY the lotus set and late night STS9. let me know if you know where we can find them !

my friend Matthew Wright of Jacksonville, Fla. just wrote in with some pics from Michael Franti's Main Stage set and one of Josh from Tea Leaf Green on Saturday. Check 'em out.

you can check out more of Matt's photos from the festival at:

www.myspace.com/MatthewWrightPhotography

from the crowd

...here are some of the people that made this festival All Good (i swear, that's the last time i use that)

...more to come.

day 3: soulive, bob schneider and leftover salmon

i was excited to see Soulive on stage on Sunday- i hadn't gotten a chance to see what they can do onstage yet... they lived up to every expectation i might have had. "don't you dare try to label us, man, cause we're just gonna break every one of them labels down," i heard them say. well said.





- all the shots i'm putting up here are from me- i sincerely apologize to the artists for my lack of photographic skills. more (professional) photos are to come -









after Soulive got off the main stage, Bob Schneider immediately walked onto the Magic Hat stage and opened with "Tarantula." the set also included "Paraplegic Blues" and an incredible tribute to James Brown during "Get On Up."

"there she goes/ there in the moonlight/ under the stars" Bob sang in the "Tarantula" reprise. it was actually sunshine and it completely erased the downpour earlier in the day. this may seem strange, but Schneider's apparel and demeanor reminded me of Robert Downey Jr. straight out of "Only You." weird? maybe.



After Schneider and his band got off the stage, it was time for the much anticipated Leftover Salmon reunion. The band walked onstage with a "Howdy West Virginia " before taking the crowd through an hour-and-a-half set of the bluegrass honky tonk we missed so much in their absence.



Sam Bush came out to fiddle with the band beginning with "In a House, In a Home."

"One of my favorite musical experience was in West Virginia," Vince Herman told us as in intro to "Whispering Waters." "It's a good thing to be back here on a Sunday."

It was ironic, really, that they chose to play a song that included the lyrics "And the West Virginia Waters went Down Down Down" because it was right around then that the ominous black clouds hovering overhead decided to make their presence known.

hi there friends,

so sorry for the delays in getting day 3 topics up...my computer got caught in the downpour as Salmon was finishing up their set. as soon as it's working again i will be updating like crazy. thanks for all the support that is coming my way... if you have pictures, video or anything else you would like to share with the rest of the All Good population please send it along to samspec@gmail.com and i'll put it on the site (btw, does anyone out there know how to put music up using blogger ?).

thank you for all the wonderful support coming this way !

stay tuned,

--s

it really was All Good.

just watched leftover salmon get back together after a hiatus that lasted too long. it was pouring earlier, but luckily it slowed up enough for us to come out and pound our heels in the mud to Soulive and Bob Schneider (unfortunately i missed most of Sam Bush). i will have updates as soon as i get to a new location- right now i'm going to get down this mountain before it starts to monsoon again.

don't go away. don't forget to listen. and play on.

rain, rain...

...GO AWAY.

Sam Bush brought the rain, i'm convinced of it. the weather must have taken Bush's version of "Lively Up Ya Self" literally because we are expecting some lightning in the next couple minutes. West Indian Girls are onstage as i'm wrtiting this- i hope they don't call the show because Soulive is about to hit the stage and things are only going to get muddier- rain or not.

"i have been traveling this country all summer now and this is the most beautiful venue in America."
-michael franti, 7-14

day 2: all the freaky people make the beauty of the world: michael franti pt. 2

the entire mountainside was filled with all goodians yesterday around 9- they were waiting for Spearhead to take the stage and fill the clear skies with music. by the way, did you catch the "coexist" sticker on the back of his guitar?


anyway, before anyone walked onstage, there was a video montage of various clips of G.W. on the screens. their tech guys somehow found a way to dub in Bush saying "Don't take our boys to war." very clever.

Franti's hold on the audience fascinates me: when he says jump, we jump. ever seen a throbbing, singing mountain side? i have.

i don't have an "official" set-list yet, but here is what i do know:
"Sometimes"
"Hey Now Now"
"To the East, To the West"
Carl Young's always amazing bass solo
a carribean-laced "Toxic Radio"
"To the East, To the West" reprise
(on acoustic)
"Home"
"Sweet Little Lies"
(back to electric)
"Stay Human"
"In the Middle" <-- "if i don't have enemies than i'm not doing my job"
"Red, Red Wine"
"Get Up, Stand Up"
"Stir It Up"
"Ganja Babe" over "Stir It Up" beats
"Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong"
"Rock the Nation"
"What I Got"
Sesame Street/Rainbow Connection Medley
"Light Up Ya Lighter"
"I Know I'm Not Alone"
"Yell Fire!"
"One Step Closer"
"Everybody On'a Move"

highlights: i had never seen Mr. Carl come up and take over vocals, so seeing him do it on "Red, Red Wine" was really cool. he just oozes smooth, even from the perspective of a person standing in a crowd of thousands.
-the Sesame Street/Rainbow Connection has become a standard in the Spearhead set- it never fails to bring the entire crowd together. the person standing next to you is your best friend, strangers hug strangers- i call it the "Franti Effect."
-"Sweet Little Lies" never fails to get me. i could explain it further, but i'd rather you find out for yourself.

...i'll have pictures soon. i promise.

day 2: need we say moe.?

...sorry, i punned. to make up for it, check these out- they're shots of moe. from about an hour ago. it's about 2 a.m., almost time for the all-star jam (thanks again to Rob Massie).

moe. wins for the best graphics of this weekend- did any of you catch the camera inside of the drums?

(i love Rob's face in this image)

oh, hey al...

day 2: peace, love and michael franti pt. 1

all apologies for the delay on this one- i wanted to wait until i had some pics to throw up...

anyway, i woke up yesterday and thought to myself: two sets of Franti? in one day? amazing.

and it was. After running into Michael during the Nocturnals, i was even more excited to see him get on the ropeadope stage and do a solo set before getting on the big stage later today. Les Claypool was on the main stage at the same time as the Franti solo which resulted in about fifty people in the crowd when he picked up his guitar.


Franti has that kind of energy, that element that some performers don't have and definitely cannot fake. it's charisma and it's genuine- Franti truly believes in everything he sings, talks, writes and films. the set included acoustic versions of "Yell Fire!" and "Yes I Will." all the guys from Spearhead were there- Dave gave us a preview of the guitar solos that were to come later in the night, Manas was there, holding down the beat and busting out the congos for "To the East, To the West," and, as per usual, Mr. Carl Young held his bass with authority and did what he does best- gave us the lines to dance to while looking as cool as Shaft himself.



Before ending the show with a heartwrenching "Everything's Changed But My Name," Franti lept into the crowd (as he often is wont to do) to dance and frolic on the mountain with my fellow worshippers and i.

i think all of us walked down that mountain with a secret smile on our faces and a little more of a spring in our steps.

(thanks to Robert Massie for the photos)

this just in...

Robert Massie, one of the photogs roaming around our humble site, just came in and gave me some amazing shots from last night's STS9 late night set and some shots with Keller and Weir together. check 'em out: (check out http://www.blogger.com/www.jampics.com for more of Rob's photos)

check out Weir- he looks like he was photoshopped into this image. it's from the Jay Lane Experience yesterday afternoon.

finally, here's one of the only images from STS9's insane late night set on Friday:

this shot is awesome, admit it. we're calling it "swimming in the light."

enjoy.

day 2: "gotta bring that funk"

i wandered up to the ropeadope stage to check out the Sherik Experience with Mike Dillon anticipating a Claypool appearance. it took me a good ten minutes to realize who the guy hitting the drums was. it's an easy mistake- i just didn't recognize Les without the mask. as soon as we realized who it was, we spread the word... it didn't take long for the entire area in front of the stage to fill up.

highlight: before Claypool magically disapeared and was replaced by Matt Dillon midway through the set, i picked up on "We Brought the Funk" and "Amazing Grace" in the key of Claypool: fast, loud, precise.

back to ropeadope for solo Franti. have fun, campers.

day 2: nocturnal mid-day heat

it's perfect weather here right now- about 80 with nothing but blue skies and cool breeze. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals just got off the stage- her voice is incredible. the underlying soul in Grace's voice always give me goosebumps, even during the hottest part of the day.

Matt Burr did an incredible solo on drums- he hit the lamb skins so hard i thought they would break at any moment. the whole crew ended the set with new material, including "If I Lived In Paris," which made everyone smile as Potter told us of the plans she hopes to happen in her reality.

sighting: Michael Franti was also out to support The Nocturnals, graciously giving out hugs, smiles and photo ops to the all goodians near him. he'll be on the Rope-A-Dope stage at 7 p.m. for a solo acoustic set and then will had over to the main stage at 9 for a show with Spearhead.

heading out to catch Drive-By Truckers and Tea Leaf Green (who blew the roof off the Barn during the late night set at Mountain Jam about three weeks ago- should be a great show).

play on.

early day 2

Soja were on the main stage at noon and played an hour set of their own blend of reggaed-out jam. here's the set-list:

"You Don't Know"
"Can't Tell"
"Faith"
"Sorry"
"Open"
"Be Aware"
"Stars"
"To Whom"
"All"
"Rev"

pics from the PBS set

sorry this is taking so long- we have to deal with the technology up here. pics from the shows are going up as soon as i get them...

end of day 1: Yonder, Keller, Lotus and a whole lotta Weir.

hey all !

it's early on day 2- as i'm writing this AOD are rocking out onstage- kind of wish i was out in the crowd, but i'm going to save my energy for the unbelievable day of music starting at 3 p.m. and not ending until they kick the late night All-Star jam off the stage.

yesterday, we got a little wet and did a whole lot of dancing: the evening had us moving from the Magic Hat Stage to the main stage and back until around 4:45 in the morning. the was Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams and the Keels, Lotus, Bob Weir and Ratdog, Benevento/Russo Duo and STS9 to round things out with the late night set.

yonder came on just as it began to downpour- i think it could hurricane and we'd still have a great time in the mud. they promised to try to "melt down the mountain." here's pics:

i've been a fan of Keller for a while now but this was my first chance to see him live. he was characteristically Keller and filled his set with covers, including a Tom Petty mini-medley consisting of "Breakdown," "Last Dance With Mary Jane," kicked back into "Breakdown" and continued back with "Jane." The crowd went nuts when it was time to scream "well i don't know what i've been told/you never slow down, you never grow old/i'm tired of screwing up, tired of goin' down/tired of myself, tired of this town."

i was waiting for someone to dig into John Denver's "Country Road"; i've had it in my head ever since hitting West Virginia. Keller's sped up, picked out version was great. he also gave us renditions of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" and, oddly, Eve 6's "Inside out"- during which everyone around me made sure to comment on how much they hated the original version... before singing along to every word. including me.anyway, things escalated even more when Bob Weir walked onstage to join in on Beck's "Loser."

this was our second dose of Weir that day and we still had him for the Ratdog set later on. i'll admit i tried to leave the Keller set to see Benevento on the Rope-A-Dope stage but couldn't get away. glad i didn't because i would have missed the openers to Lotus. the guys were definitely on and jammed out the Magic Hat staged for a little over an hour with their acoustic jammed out beats. Ratdog hit the stage almost immediately after Lotus's last night disappeared into the the now clear, now full of stars, sky. the day was momentarily forgotten- all that was there was Weir and the band, teaching us the blues. the band opened with crowd favorite "Casey Jones.”

Larry Keel and his "Rock Slid in the pocket" wife Jenny Keel, sat in with Keller's band:

...from what i've heard, Ratdog's set wasn't supposed to go on for the nearly two hours it did. apparently the band refused to get off the stage- the set didn't end until nearly 5 this morning. thanks guys (i'll have the set-list for you very soon).

day 1

this message brought to you by:

here's what it's about: bob weir just made a surprise appearance on the Rope-A-Dope stage alongside Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Kenny Brooks and Robin Sylvester as Ratdog gears up for their set tonight. Brian Stoltz was also there to help stop the rain and bring us back our sunshine. i hardly noticed that i was in a downpour, to be perfectly honest.

then someone's light bulb clicked on- take weir's line, mesh it with Lane's beat... hey, let's bring out a rapper. why not? so they did. (nobody seems to know his name, however. i'll have it for you shortly.)

...obviously Jay Lane's Ratdog Experiment was a surprise. word on the mountain is that it was only yesterday (thursday) that the guys decided to get together onstage; great decision if i've ever heard one. i think i speak for everyone when i say thanks to Bob for that rainbow that just appeared over the entire festival.

(my camera just died- any chance someone has pics of the rainbow?)

day 1: bring on the madness...

the bridge got onstage and got the crowd amped- here's the list:

"Good Rhythm"
"Further to Room"
"Dirtball Blues"
"Drop the Bear"
"Easy Jane"
"Heavy Water"
"When I'm Kissing My Love" (cover of the original by Bill Withers)
"Clear Rock"
"Brother Don't"

...like Batiste Jr. of PBS just said as the band got off the stage "it's all good in the hood, y'all. ya dig?" the band did the meters proud, bringing their funky N'awlins sound and getting the crowd up and dancing.

also, i just ran into the people from http://www.iclips.net/ - definitely check out the site. they're doing some interesting things over there, including streaming all the shows as they go down live from their website.

--s

just in case you have an iPhone...

...are you at the festival? have you visited the Relix tent yet? no? what are you waiting for? the good folks at festivalink.net are sponsoring a contest to win a new iPod- the winner will be announced after the festival and will get to choose six full sets to upload.

you can check it out here: http://flink.livedownloads.com/collections_allgood.asp

--s

day 0: off to the races...

hey all !

...coming to you from the top of marvin's mountain. the early birds arrived in droves from early yesterday to well into the night. the camp site is already fully alive...and its only noon on friday. the view is unbelievable, the sun is still shining and we're keeping our fingers crossed that the rain gear hidden in the tents won't have to be used. here's hoping...

the music kicked off around 8:30 last night with the Sonic Bids contest winners, American Dumpster. I don't know too much about these guys other than the fact that their lead singer reminded me of iggy pop after he's had a few too many jack and cokes with a splash of morrissey (anthony kiedis, this is a warning). anyway, the band played a tight 45 minute set, ending with bob dylan's "how does it feel?" and johnny cash's "ring of fire," complete with flaming baton twirlers.

...english jammers Ozric Tentacles were up just as the sun was going down. unbeknownst to the crowd, the band nearly missed their all good appearance due to some trouble getting overseas (damn work visas). the trip hoppers showed their exhaustion and played a little less than usual, but what they did play sounded incredible.

...the crowd swelled in anticipation for Dark Star Orchestra. this band never fails to get things going full throttle. they did Jerry proud with a set list from a show on June 29, 1977. things really came to a peak around 2:30 am when the band cut into "el paso." maybe it's the moutnaintop, maybe it's the frenzied crowd- but this time, i felt it.

"many thoughts ran through my mind as i stood there;/ i had but one chance and that was to run."

that's all for now. play on.

"if music be the food of love...

...play on;

Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting;

The appetite may sicken and die."

-from Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night "

We're mere hours away from the opening of the gates for the Early Bird sets featuring psychedelic trip-hoppers Ozric Tentacles (9 p.m.) and the best incarnation of the Dead yet to hit any stage, tribute band Dark Star Orchestra.

There could not be a better day to kick off this year's festivities:

the skies are blue and there's a hint of breeze in the air as the Appalachian Mountains welcome us by showing off every leaf, hillside and rolling plain.

As of right now, the roads are clear and traffic is light.

We urge you to be careful and follow all speed limits and seat-belt regulations as there seem to be a lot of cops out today (and that is sure to pick up as the weekend continues).

If you are camping, be sure to visit All Good's home site to view a check list of everything you might need:http://allgoodfestival.com/generalinfo.htm#CAMP

get ready to get down!

Hey there Party People,

The 11th All Good Music Festival is less than a week away and I just wanted to extend a hand, a wave and a digital welcome. I'll be onsite all week, bringing you real-time updates, photos and anything else I can think of to bring the music- and the spirit of All Good- to you. After the festival, keep checking back for more updates, set-lists, onsite interviews and much more.

On behalf of the entire staff, I wish you safe travels, blue skies and sun-shiny days. See you on the mountain!

-sam