Post by DPK on Jul 24, 2004 7:04:01 GMT -5
The Feat, The Moon and The Really Big Mullet
When I first opened the Little Feat tour schedule back in May (?) I nearly dropped my teeth as my eyes rolled over the words... Walker, MN - Moondance Jam. Hot damn! And there’s more! Shows in relatively close Des Moines and Sioux Falls. Looks like road trip to me.
I started to mull over the Moondance gig a bit and began to wonder… “Just what kind of crowd will the band face? and... After the end of the Euro tour, what will the set list be like?” As a 19 year resident of Minnesota… I’m still not considered a native… I’d had a passing knowledge of this Moondance Jam thang and I was a little skeptical about how the Feat would be received. Traditionally the Jam is a shameless homage to classic Rock and Roll bands and it’s fans, with a smattering of artists who have had stronger legs over time added in. The Jam is a 4 day camping and music event started by a couple who owned a riding stable and wanted to throw a big party. www.moondancejam.com/
Today you pay a low of $120 for 4 days of camping and music and go up in price and comfort from there. The past 12 years at MDJ has seen the likes of Bad Finger, Head East, Survivor, The Grass Roots, Kansas, Steve Miller, Steppenwolf, Foghat, REO, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, Gary Puckett, Grand Funk, and this year's ZZ Top, Lynard Skynard, Pat Bennetar, Rick Springfield, The Fixx, Edgar Winter and Huey Lewis and the News… you get the picture. Many of these bands are in my LP collection, but call me narrow minded, in the past, as now, I had not considered seeing these bands so long after their hay days. Besids, my musical taste and focus had long since been wrested from the confines of top 40 air waves... permanently shaped by decades of salin' shoe music.
In my imagination, these MDJ lineups could only draw crowds of hardcore ROCK fans who’s primary association with each other might rightly be large quantities of beer/whisky, a hard partyin' attitude and a love of hot weather and bare flesh. I envisioned throngs of mullet headed kids and their elders who, once in their cups, would be engaged in all manner of uncontrolled dance and behavior… I was close…<br>
This year seemed a bit different in that the likes of Chris Robinson’s New Earth Mud, The Allman Brothers and our Little Feat were on the bills for Wednesday and Thursday. Something was going on here that I needed to check out. I wanted only one day so I swallowed the $80 single day tix and went up on Thursday afternoon. The schedule for Thursday was Little Feat @ 7pm, Lynard Skynyrd @9 and the Allmans @ 11pm. Fine, I have plenty of time.
I arrive at 5:30 in the large pay lot at the faaaarrrrr south end of the grounds and start to hoof in… Not knowing what the venue’s recording policy was I was prepared to capture Little Feat and ABB “in my hat” and walk on with only a waist bag and a smile. I run into Don Kehoe and Charlie Hicks, trader acquaintances from the Cities and it’s like old home week. They inform me that they just got the thumbs up to bring in some gear so I returned with them to out cars and got the bags. Off again on the 1/4mile treck to the main gates.
The north woods of Minnesota are truly beautiful and this venue is situated around what started out to be a large clearing in the pines, well off to the north of route 200 just East of Walker. Over the years they’ve established many permanent buildings to accommodate the Jam and overall I’d give them high marks for the layout and the efficient use of space. (Visit their web site if your interest is piqued at all.) As we clear customs at the gate, our gaze falls on rows and rows of RVs and large camper trailers. This is only one of two/three huge lots for vehicle and tent camping each with attendant price ranges. Local security was ever present but not oppressive. Every one seemed to have a fire pit and a nice group of folks just hanging and enjoying the day… no mullets yet…<br>
Eventually we make the main concert area, which is impressive. I’d estimate that it could hold 10 to 15,000 in lawn chairs, many more as SRO. The main stage was quite large and the sound system, to my ears, was excellent. With the addition of a large closed circuit TV screen on the left side of the stage, many of the folks who found themselves parked behind the two level sound and light tower could see a pretty good show. The area immediately in front of the stage was well covered in pea rock, making the dancing easy on the feat and the likelihood of a bottle getting dropped and broken unlikely. A wide variety of food was vended in the same general area so no one had far to go for re-fueling.
Well, I wasn’t there to dance as such, and after briefly making Jim Drew’s aquaintance, I moved to an area half way between SBD and stage and began to set up my gear: 13’ mic stand, cables, gear bag, folding stool. It was by then 6:15. Lots of time yet.
On our arrival into the bowl area I sensed that the crowd for the previous act, blues artist Ronnie Baker Brooks, might have been a little thin. I was hoping for a better Feat turnout as people slowly came down to the front from the lawn seating back up the hill and in from the campgrounds. As 6:30 rolled around I was still leisurely setting up and generally gawking about, when DJs from a radio station came on stage to shill and to toss Frisbees to the crowd… Oh, goodie. Just what I need. A Frisbee into my mics… They soon had dispensed the discs and some t-shirts and I returned my attention to my gear. Then to my surprise they rolled right into an introduction…”Lets welcome to Moondance Jam, just back to the US off a two week tour in Europe, one of the great bands from the early ‘70s… Little Feat!”… or something to that effect.
Holly shit, they’re starting now! Long story short… the recording of this show is incomplete. We live and learn. Here’s the setlist:
(I think Cajun rage kicked it off... I could be wrong...)
/ honsest man (incomplete but mostly there)
spanish moon>skin it back
It takes a lot to laugh...
dixieland style trumpet intro> dixie chicken>
bass>keys>tennessee jed> D.C.> I.D.W.T. Telephone T.M.T.D.>
D.C.
fat man>get up stand up> bass/percussion> drums> fat man
Let It Roll
(65min+/-)
By the time Shaun had started up the slow build into It Takes a Lot to Laugh…, the crowd had grown to a respectable 300 or 400 in the pit. With the sun full on the band and at our backs, many people were listening as they stood or sat in back on the periphery. Still others were stuck in their comfort zones on the lawn well up the hill. All in all I’d say maybe 3500 were on hand at the start of the show. Many in the pit were obvious fans and the whole group was very happy to have seen the 60min performance they got. As the Skynyrd folks continued to come in, there was perhaps 1000 in the pit and another 3-5k in the back. There would have been no complaints from anyone had an encore broken out, but due to the tight (accelerated!) schedule we got no such pleasure.
Listening back to the show I’d say folks were most pleased and surprised by Shaun’s pipes and they appreciated the work Billy did/does on the keys as well. These folks really love their drum solos, too, as Richie got a great and well-deserved ovation for the Fat Man drum break. This crowd was left wanting more and let the band know it.
As I knocked down to move further back for Skynyrd and the Allmans, I realized how seasoned the audience here really was. These people were midleaged folks for the most part, ages ranging from early 30's to early 50’s as an average. Most all were fully able to control their drink and all had a genuinely great time, although you did see both types of concert fool; the youngster who can't get enough beer and the oldster who's well past it... I saw far fewer mullets than I expected, although there were a couple classic examples to be seen. For my part I owe MDJ an apology for stereo typing the event as I did. Regardless of your taste in music, I’d recommend it to anyone looking to escape for a few days of easy fun. As the banner above the main stage says, it’s “Where Grown Ups Come to Play!”<br>
DPK
P.S. As for the Moon itself, I found it ironic that this year's Moondance Jam 13 was held under new moon conditions. Is that unlucky? E-me if you'd like to BnP or trade for the shows.
I'll be posting in the "Tape Trading" forum soon.
When I first opened the Little Feat tour schedule back in May (?) I nearly dropped my teeth as my eyes rolled over the words... Walker, MN - Moondance Jam. Hot damn! And there’s more! Shows in relatively close Des Moines and Sioux Falls. Looks like road trip to me.
I started to mull over the Moondance gig a bit and began to wonder… “Just what kind of crowd will the band face? and... After the end of the Euro tour, what will the set list be like?” As a 19 year resident of Minnesota… I’m still not considered a native… I’d had a passing knowledge of this Moondance Jam thang and I was a little skeptical about how the Feat would be received. Traditionally the Jam is a shameless homage to classic Rock and Roll bands and it’s fans, with a smattering of artists who have had stronger legs over time added in. The Jam is a 4 day camping and music event started by a couple who owned a riding stable and wanted to throw a big party. www.moondancejam.com/
Today you pay a low of $120 for 4 days of camping and music and go up in price and comfort from there. The past 12 years at MDJ has seen the likes of Bad Finger, Head East, Survivor, The Grass Roots, Kansas, Steve Miller, Steppenwolf, Foghat, REO, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, Gary Puckett, Grand Funk, and this year's ZZ Top, Lynard Skynard, Pat Bennetar, Rick Springfield, The Fixx, Edgar Winter and Huey Lewis and the News… you get the picture. Many of these bands are in my LP collection, but call me narrow minded, in the past, as now, I had not considered seeing these bands so long after their hay days. Besids, my musical taste and focus had long since been wrested from the confines of top 40 air waves... permanently shaped by decades of salin' shoe music.
In my imagination, these MDJ lineups could only draw crowds of hardcore ROCK fans who’s primary association with each other might rightly be large quantities of beer/whisky, a hard partyin' attitude and a love of hot weather and bare flesh. I envisioned throngs of mullet headed kids and their elders who, once in their cups, would be engaged in all manner of uncontrolled dance and behavior… I was close…<br>
This year seemed a bit different in that the likes of Chris Robinson’s New Earth Mud, The Allman Brothers and our Little Feat were on the bills for Wednesday and Thursday. Something was going on here that I needed to check out. I wanted only one day so I swallowed the $80 single day tix and went up on Thursday afternoon. The schedule for Thursday was Little Feat @ 7pm, Lynard Skynyrd @9 and the Allmans @ 11pm. Fine, I have plenty of time.
I arrive at 5:30 in the large pay lot at the faaaarrrrr south end of the grounds and start to hoof in… Not knowing what the venue’s recording policy was I was prepared to capture Little Feat and ABB “in my hat” and walk on with only a waist bag and a smile. I run into Don Kehoe and Charlie Hicks, trader acquaintances from the Cities and it’s like old home week. They inform me that they just got the thumbs up to bring in some gear so I returned with them to out cars and got the bags. Off again on the 1/4mile treck to the main gates.
The north woods of Minnesota are truly beautiful and this venue is situated around what started out to be a large clearing in the pines, well off to the north of route 200 just East of Walker. Over the years they’ve established many permanent buildings to accommodate the Jam and overall I’d give them high marks for the layout and the efficient use of space. (Visit their web site if your interest is piqued at all.) As we clear customs at the gate, our gaze falls on rows and rows of RVs and large camper trailers. This is only one of two/three huge lots for vehicle and tent camping each with attendant price ranges. Local security was ever present but not oppressive. Every one seemed to have a fire pit and a nice group of folks just hanging and enjoying the day… no mullets yet…<br>
Eventually we make the main concert area, which is impressive. I’d estimate that it could hold 10 to 15,000 in lawn chairs, many more as SRO. The main stage was quite large and the sound system, to my ears, was excellent. With the addition of a large closed circuit TV screen on the left side of the stage, many of the folks who found themselves parked behind the two level sound and light tower could see a pretty good show. The area immediately in front of the stage was well covered in pea rock, making the dancing easy on the feat and the likelihood of a bottle getting dropped and broken unlikely. A wide variety of food was vended in the same general area so no one had far to go for re-fueling.
Well, I wasn’t there to dance as such, and after briefly making Jim Drew’s aquaintance, I moved to an area half way between SBD and stage and began to set up my gear: 13’ mic stand, cables, gear bag, folding stool. It was by then 6:15. Lots of time yet.
On our arrival into the bowl area I sensed that the crowd for the previous act, blues artist Ronnie Baker Brooks, might have been a little thin. I was hoping for a better Feat turnout as people slowly came down to the front from the lawn seating back up the hill and in from the campgrounds. As 6:30 rolled around I was still leisurely setting up and generally gawking about, when DJs from a radio station came on stage to shill and to toss Frisbees to the crowd… Oh, goodie. Just what I need. A Frisbee into my mics… They soon had dispensed the discs and some t-shirts and I returned my attention to my gear. Then to my surprise they rolled right into an introduction…”Lets welcome to Moondance Jam, just back to the US off a two week tour in Europe, one of the great bands from the early ‘70s… Little Feat!”… or something to that effect.
Holly shit, they’re starting now! Long story short… the recording of this show is incomplete. We live and learn. Here’s the setlist:
(I think Cajun rage kicked it off... I could be wrong...)
/ honsest man (incomplete but mostly there)
spanish moon>skin it back
It takes a lot to laugh...
dixieland style trumpet intro> dixie chicken>
bass>keys>tennessee jed> D.C.> I.D.W.T. Telephone T.M.T.D.>
D.C.
fat man>get up stand up> bass/percussion> drums> fat man
Let It Roll
(65min+/-)
By the time Shaun had started up the slow build into It Takes a Lot to Laugh…, the crowd had grown to a respectable 300 or 400 in the pit. With the sun full on the band and at our backs, many people were listening as they stood or sat in back on the periphery. Still others were stuck in their comfort zones on the lawn well up the hill. All in all I’d say maybe 3500 were on hand at the start of the show. Many in the pit were obvious fans and the whole group was very happy to have seen the 60min performance they got. As the Skynyrd folks continued to come in, there was perhaps 1000 in the pit and another 3-5k in the back. There would have been no complaints from anyone had an encore broken out, but due to the tight (accelerated!) schedule we got no such pleasure.
Listening back to the show I’d say folks were most pleased and surprised by Shaun’s pipes and they appreciated the work Billy did/does on the keys as well. These folks really love their drum solos, too, as Richie got a great and well-deserved ovation for the Fat Man drum break. This crowd was left wanting more and let the band know it.
As I knocked down to move further back for Skynyrd and the Allmans, I realized how seasoned the audience here really was. These people were midleaged folks for the most part, ages ranging from early 30's to early 50’s as an average. Most all were fully able to control their drink and all had a genuinely great time, although you did see both types of concert fool; the youngster who can't get enough beer and the oldster who's well past it... I saw far fewer mullets than I expected, although there were a couple classic examples to be seen. For my part I owe MDJ an apology for stereo typing the event as I did. Regardless of your taste in music, I’d recommend it to anyone looking to escape for a few days of easy fun. As the banner above the main stage says, it’s “Where Grown Ups Come to Play!”<br>
DPK
P.S. As for the Moon itself, I found it ironic that this year's Moondance Jam 13 was held under new moon conditions. Is that unlucky? E-me if you'd like to BnP or trade for the shows.
I'll be posting in the "Tape Trading" forum soon.