Comments on: The First No Depression Fest at Marymoor Park

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:58:33 +0000

Thanks for the awesome writeup! Just one note: Jeff Fielder pulled together that all-star band, which was ND publisher Kyla Fairchild’s super awesome idea.

I would LOVE to see an Uncle Tupelo reunion next year but I don’t think even ND has that kind of power. Calexico, though, maaaaaaybe.

I’m sorry you missed Gillian, too! What an incredible closer to that great day! I’m biased, of course, but seriously…

By: Ceciann

Ceciann — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:12:39 +0000

Thank you, Katelyn, for pointing out the unacceptable number of times that Sam Beam messed up during his performance. I am a very casual listener of Iron & Wine - LOVE the stuff he did with Calexico but I’m not a huge fan of him on his own. Saturday’s show only reinforced that. Sorry to whomever loves Iron & Wine, and I know there are a lot of you out there, but his set downright bored me. I simply do not get how or why he is so popular.

I do, however, appreciate why he was part of the No Depression Festival line up. He attracts young “indie-rockers” who may not otherwise be exposed to the kind of music that made up the majority of the festival. Helping to expose large audiences to new genres and new artists is a wonderful thing - and I thank No Depression AND Sam Beam for that!

Next year, I want to see Sam Beam play with CALEXICO… and an Uncle Tupelo reunion performance, and Liz Durrett. I know I know, I’m a dreamer.

By: Katelyn

Katelyn — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:02:55 +0000

I had a somewhat different experience at the same festival. I missed the All Star Revue and Jessica Lea Mayfield, but joined the crowd by the stage for Justin Townes Earle’s set; I love the description of him as a “no.2 pencil wrapped in a stone gray suit.” Perfect. My highlights from that set were JTE’s performances of “Mama’s Eyes” and “Lonesome Song.” That man is nothing short of a charmer, with those suspenders and that Cheshire grin!

Jesse Sykes didn’t strike me as melancholy. Rather, I heard gorgeous psychedelic alt country, complex, with enough wiggle room amidst the chords and Jesse’s vocals to allow your mind to calm and then take you in directions you never could have predicted. A fellow joined me during the set and as he sat down, he said, “The Grateful Dead is alive and well with this band.” Not a bad thing at all, we agreed.

Patterson Hood’s set was marred by sound system problems, and the band was unable to keep my attention. Ah, well.

I’m a Sam Beam fan and was especially anticipating his set; I appreciated the Fever Dreams ‘remix,’ but Beam was not at his best on Saturday. I can respect a casual set but this one felt a little like he wasn’t even trying to bring his best. He flubbed an unacceptable number of lines. I’m not sure what was up with him but I think the magic of the set was simply that his music is so familiar to so many people at this point that any time Beam performs his material, it casts a certain spell.

Gillian Welch was nothing short of phenomenal. I’m sorry you missed it! I knew her mostly from O Brother Where Art Thou (sad! I know). Her music was, just as I expected, warm, comforting, and healing. Highlights: “Time (the Revelator),” “Miss Ohio,” “I Want To Sing That Rock And Roll” and — oh, bliss — “I’ll Fly Away” as her final song in the encore. Absolutely beautiful, and the crowd sang along with no prompting.

I do want to point out that No Depression is not really a blog but rather a community site where members have profiles and interact with each others’ content. Semantics, but an important distinction.