Edward Sharpe

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros at Shaky Knees, 2014

La Blogotheque captured Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros in a barn somewhere in rural Saskatchewan and playing one of their best shows.  

Shaky Knees, Day Three

Okay, with Day Three over and done with, I have to start off by revising my references from "Friday > Sunday > Saturday" to "Sunday > Friday > Saturday."  The best day of Shaky Knees, yet, 2014 or 2013.

More details to follow, but here are the performers I caught:

Benjamin Booker 

A new discovery, BB played a tight, smoking set of blues rock to kick off the day.

San Fermin

Shaky Knees was San Fermin's first appearance in Atlanta, and they gave us an insanely good performance of orchestral indie rock, complete with horns, strings, a pair of singers, great songs, and a dynamic, lively stage presence.  How good were they?  Not only did they chase the weekend's clouds away, ushering in a sunny, summery afternoon and breaking the Shaky Knees curse stretching back to last year, but they were the only non-headliner I've ever seen at a festival that were allowed an encore.  I can't wait to see these folks again.  

Langhorne Slim & The Law

No stranger to Atlanta, but Langhorne gave a high-energy performance of country-rock and rockabilly.

Deer Tick

The always unpredictable John McCauley led his band Deer Tick through their set wearing a skirt, striped socks, and a red "LSD" t-shirt.  Then things got crazy.  A fun set on the sunny day, and he even brought his wife out on stage for a touching duet.

Jason Isbell  

Things slowed down a bit during ex-Drive-By Truckers Jason Isbell's set of country tunes and heartbreak ballads.  If I had paid more attention, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more, but standing in the sun in the packed audience made his set feel like a bit of a chore, and probably the longest 60 minutes of the weekend.  But dude, it was me, not you, and I did truly enjoy the duets with singer Candi Staton (pictured).

Iron & Wine

Sam Beam didn't pick the pace up much for his set, but due to the sheer melodicism of his performance and the quality of his song-writing, Iron & Wine's 60 minutes passed in the twinkling of an eye, and another hour of his set would have gone down smooth and easy.

Trampled By Turtles

We saw TBT last year at Bumbershoot and enjoyed their finger-picking bluegrass passages, but were turned off by their frequent ballads and slower-paced material.  Yesterday at Shaky Knees, it was all the faster stuff to the enjoyment of the exuberant crowd, and your humble narrator.

Local Natives 

Our fourth time now seeing LA's Local Natives, and their relentless, constant touring have honed their stage show to perfection.  They paced their set perfectly, ending as they always do with their exhilarating Sun Hands and Taylor Rice stage diving into the audience.  Before that, they announced this was the last date of their current tour, and they'll be heading into the studio to record their third album.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Our third time now seeing LA's Edward Sharpe and company, this time without co-singer Jade.  As always, frontamn Alex Ebert kept the goings informal and interactive, blurring the lines between band and audience until the set felt liked a shared celebration on and off the stage.  At one point, a couple came up on stage and the guy proposed to his girl in front of the Shaky Knees audience.  I believe she accepted.

Alabama Shakes

This was my first time seeing festival headliner Britney Howard and her band, Alabama Shakes.  Their selection as headliner generated a lot of on-line controversy, with people saying they didn't have the chops to headline or couldn't live up to the bands playing before them.  All those people are wrong.  Alabama Shakes killed it, putting on a gut-wrenching set of soulful rock songs and an electrifying vocal performance by Ms. Howard.  I didn't know what I was in for, and her set literally knocked me out.

As before, here's your video recap, with music by Langhorne Slim:

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Candler Park, Atlanta, June 15, 2013

The 2013 Red Stripe Midsummer Music and Food Festival was held June 15 at lovely Candler Park in Atlanta, Georgia.  This was my third time at the event, which tries to appeal to the largest cross-section of Atlanta as possible by combining country, soul, and rocks acts.  As a result, past line-ups have included Dr. Dog, JJ Grey and Mofro, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band (2011), and Futurebirds, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and G Love & Special Sauce (2012).  The festival headliners this year were Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

Numerous photos are posted over at Flickr.  Below are some highlights to accompany the discussion of the sets that I heard.

When I arrived, raucous country band Connor Christian & Southern Gothic were already on stage and well into their set.

The band featured a rather interesting electric banjo.

According to the band's bio, Connor Christian was born in Los Angeles, but before he was a teenager, had lived in South Korea, Indonesia, and Belgium.  At the age of 14, he left home and continued his travel and musical growth in Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, South America, and even Africa. Their fiddle player is from Siberia. By the time I arrived, I didn't get to hear much of their set, but what I did hear sounded like it hadn't traveled much further than Austin and Nashville.  

Atlanta's The Whiskey Gentry also played in an Americana style, but reflected more diversity than their better-traveled predecessors, playing some country, some bluegrass, occasional honky-tonk, western swing, country rock, and even some Slavic numbers that would have made Beirut proud.

Bonus points for interesting instruments. In addition to the usual guitars, bass, drums, and pedal steel, they also played fiddle:

Mandolin:

And what I think is an electric ukulele:

New Orleans' The Soul Rebels brought some good old-fashioned Crescent City funk and jazz to the stage.

In addition to some tasty horn playing, they had lots of vocals and even some rapping, choreographed stage moves, two drummers, and a hip-hop dancer on stage at the end of their set.  Bonus points for leading an audience sing-along of the surprising selection of The Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, and for getting the entire audience to participate in a "get down low and then get back up" routine.

But the reason I went was to see Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.  We last saw the band at Variety Playhouse back in 2010, fresh off the release of their breakthrough Up From Below album.  The band has toured extensively since then, although they apparently found time to record a second album, Here, as well as a solo effort by singer Alex Ebert. 

Despite all the touring and recording, last night's set was still as fresh and invigorating as their 2010 concert, and the chemistry between Ebert and singer Jade Castrinos still lights up the stage.

Reviewing the 2010 set, I noted that the band tends to break down the barrier between performers and audience.  It is no different now.  Ebert wasted no time crossing the stage monitors and security barrier, high-fiving and embracing audience members, and even getting the front of the crowd to sit down with him as he sang a song, campfire-style, while the rest of the large (11-person) band sat on the end of the stage accompanying him. 

Ebert still has his shamanistic/messianic charm, exuding a neo-hippie peace-love-and-understanding vibe without even having to use those words.  Throughout the set, he indulged the requests of the audience, and even invited people up on stage to sing along with the songs they had requested ("You want to hear Mayla?  Do you want to come on stage and help sing the chorus with us?").

Jade Castrinos' family, including her Mom, were backstage, so naturally they got brought on stage too for one song, too.

The band even let one young man perform the whistling part of their signature song, Home.  

But the most adorable part of the whole evening, and the highlight of the set for me, was when a very young child, Avey, somehow found her way to the stage.  Jade immediately took her under her wing, sitting out one song as she taught Avey how to play the tambourine and fixing her up with some earplugs.  For the next song, Avey sat on the monitor next to Alex and stared, transfixed, at the audience as they chanted her name ("Ave-y, Ave-y, Ave-y") and cheered when she remembered to shake the tambourine like Jade had taught her.

Little Avey clearly liked being on stage, but barely moved a muscle.  When her face finally broke out into a smile, the audience cheered again, and she just sat there like a Cheshire Cat with her adorable grin.  I'm not sure if the reality of what was happening really sunk in to her, or if she thought she might be dreaming. It must have been a surreal moment.

If in about 10 or 15 years from now you hear about some performer who got her start after being on stage as a child at an Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros show, it will be little Avey to whom they're referring.

It's hard to top little Avey, at least in terms of charm, but the band still ended the set, post-Avey, with a triumphant finish, and bidding a "good night" to the enchanted audience. 

Mother's Day Preview

As a sort of Mother's Day preview, here's the video of a song by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros titled, appropriately enough, Mother.

In related news, E.S. & the M.Z.'s will be playing at the Red Stripe Midsummer Music & Food Festival (RSMM&FF) in Candler Park on June 15.