ALL GOOD! The Flaming Lips, G. Love, Yonder Mountain and More!
Words by Mike Mauger; Photos by Mike Mauger and Autumn Walden
Though not picturesque, Friday’s weather proved to be perfect for a long day outside. Though it was warm, the clouds helped keep the sun away most of the day, giving the audience a little extra stamina to last throughout the day. And they needed it with great music starting off at noon with Elephant Revival.
ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) played next and was a perfect way to start anyone’s Friday. A good times, fun loving band that has that mixture of melody and surf rock that every Friday afternoon just craves.
Roosevelt Collier even came out for a jam, after which, ALO frontman Zach Gill claimed, “If you weren’t awake before, you sure as hell are now.” The ALO boys weren’t done after their set, however. They came back out about an hour later to play with Matt Butler’s Everyone Orchestra.
The Everyone Orchestra, though only playing two 45 minute sets with different artists each time, was truly a highlight of the weekend. So rarely do we get to see artists in the act of learning and true improvisation, but that’s exactly what the Everyone Orchestra provided us. Putting up prompts on a white board and conducting in his flowery white conductor jacket, Matt Butler cued up the musicians on stage, consisting of members of ALO, Elephant Revival and more, for a fully improvised set.
Watching these artists perform together was a real treat as the smiles never faded from their faces and their concentration never broke for this once (or twice, as Matt Butler came out and did this thing again for the Rex Jam on Saturday, raising money for the local Lakewood High School music program) in a lifetime experience. The Wood Brothers followed, also with a visit from Roosevelt Collier.
SOJA appropriately kicked things off at 4:20 Friday, followed by a short set by Moon Hooch, who, in playing their first ever music festival, was brought back on stage by cheers of “One more song!” Quite the debut.
ALO’s Brushfire Records friends G. Love & Special Sauce kicked off the evening with a feel good set, followed by Rubblebucket and a little bluegrass pickin brought to us by the Yonder Mountain String Band. The Pimps of Joytime were next, but nothing could prepare us for the mind blowing experience of The Flaming Lips.
Between the musicianship, and the overall stage production, no one puts on a better All Good set than the Flaming Lips. After covering the audience with more confetti than Times Square on New Years, front man Wayne Coyne came out in his giant bubble to walk amongst the crowd before capping off their set with a rousing sing-a-long rendition of “Do You Realize?” Galactic brought the night to a close with a full energy funktronic 2-hour marathon set leaving everyone satisfied.
