All photos by Sammy Braxton-Haney – @sammyeventphotos
“We’ve come to make you dance” was the message from Bay-Area band, Combo Tezeta, and the audience took that message to heart. Within minutes of their opening slot at the Arrow Stage on the third day of the festival, this Cumbia meets psychedelia seven-piece had the crowd moving. Interweaving surf guitar licks with jazz-inflected chords and Latin percussion, Combo Tezeta seemed at once to sound classic and brand new. This was the find of the day!
AJ Lee and Blue Summit entertained the audience at the Tower Stage with a great assortment of homegrown bluegrass and country tunes. This Bay-Area five-piece band, led by AJ Lee, was supremely tight even when violinist Jan Purat took off on one of his brilliant and flashing solos. Lee has a gorgeous country lilt to her voice and was adept at also harmonizing with the rest of this talented band.
Big Star Quintet is a combination super group/cover band that features original Big Star drummer, Jody Stephens. On Sunday they came together to perform Big Star’s second release, Radio City. Mike Mills from REM, Jon Auer of The Posies, Chris Stamey of The dB’s and Pat Sansone of Wilco brought their vocal and instrumental talents to the Swan Stage and for almost an hour it was pure pop heaven. Opening with “In the Street” from the debut record, they proceeded to play Big Star’s second record from beginning to end. Standouts were many including “Back of a Car”, “She’s a Mover” and “Life is White”.
Yo La Tengo brought the noise and the pop to the Swan stage in the peak heat of the day. These indie rock stalwarts have had the same lineup of Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew since 1992. The lovely melodic sensibilities of opener “Tom Courtenay” were quickly forgotten in the discordant guitar freak out of “Sinatra Drive Breakdown” which in turn was left behind by the Neil Young-inspired, “Stockholm Syndrome”. It’s always a treat to see this perennial favorite, and Sunday was no exception.
Patti Smith brought a close to the festival with passion, humor and spirituality. Opening with “Dancing Barefoot”, Smith basked in the late afternoon sun on the Towers of Gold stage. “Ghost Dance” from the album Easter followed and saw Smith caught up in the rapture of the words “We shall live again”. She ably handled Bob Dylan‘s “Man in the Long Black Coat”, which led into a song about the man in black himself, “Cash”. “People Have the Power” closed out her set and brought a defiant end to a deeply felt performance.
