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If you like jam bands and somewhere proximate to Atlanta, you probably found your way to the annual Candler Park Music Festival. The two day festival was loaded with action, in a perfect setting blessed by perfect weather.
Friday began with Georgia’s The Orange Constant, but due to Friday traffic, my Candler experience began with Andy Frasco & the U.N. I love it when a quasi-opener has the stage presence of a closer. Enthusiasm, audience interaction, a non-static performance… heck, the band even changed instruments, three times, and didn’t miss a beat. Frasco is maybe a little less a jam band more of a party band, their versatility shining in soul, blues, rock, pop and maybe a little jazz. They’re really about a mood, what they’re in the mood and what the audience is in the mood to hear. They’re flexible. Check out their live album Live on the Rocks.
Yonder Mountain String Band followed up with a taste of Appalachia. The band has frequented Atlanta in their 20+ years and their fans were ready. While skillfully playing some of their bluegrass favorites, the band also played a bit from their 2022 release, Get Yourself Outside, and for those whose first preference may not be bluegrass, or even “jamgrass,” they took on a little Pink Floyd. Relative newcomer Nick Piccininni added extra layers with mandolin, dobro, vocals and whatever else was needed. Maybe it’s the release after Covid, but the band seemed “fresh” and ready to tour.
And then Grace Potter happened, first with an estimating gaze as the band laid down the riff, then exploding into action with the rockin’ “Medicine.” Potter played many fan favorites including “Paris (Ooh La La),” “The Lion The Beast The Beat,” and the closer “Stars.” In between were some treats, such as the perhaps underappreciated “Ah, Mary,” and bluesy turns with “Nothing But the Water” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.”
