I just got home from an amazing week on the West Coast. I was blessed by beautiful weather, beautiful people, delicious beer, great food, and, of course, good music.
String Cheese Incident - Horning's Hideout 2010
Unfortunately, I had to miss SCIde project Thursday and arrived Friday afternoon just in time to catch Bill Nershi and Scott Law's set on the side stage. The side stage had been decorated by a bunch of balloons and stuff that looked to me like they were straight out of Beetlejuice. After a short Lester poem, it was a nice acoustic way to get the week started, with Billy and Scott doing what they do best. Among others, they played Texas Town, Long Journey Home, and Song in My Head. The newer tune - Song in My Head has got to go imo - just terrible. It sounds like it belongs at a Hot Buttered Rum show (though this is String Cheese we're talking about...).
Onward and upward to Friday night - the return of SCI to Horning's started out as most of us remember it usually starting out - with Smile. 'I count the days while we're apart. I count the days, and I count the miles.' Indeed. Beautiful smiles and blissful vibes were all around the rest of the first set that night. Born on the Wrong Planet had a nice jam in it, and Miss Brown's Teahouse saw the Soul Rebel Brass Band come on stage to add a horn section. Once they got the horns microphones working (finally...), it sounded great and really brought a New Orleans flavor to Oregon.
The second set on Friday was also decent, with the highlight coming in the Water jam. Billy just ripping some beautiful notes as the music dripped over the crowd. Bend Down Low was also good. My gripes came with the Jungle Boogie in place of the usual Dirk porno-funk jam (snooze), and the new tune Song in My Head - good Lord is it bad. Nice Bumpin' Reel and Restless Wind closed the set, and the Hey Pocky Way encore with the horns may have been the highlight of the show. Man, I love me some New Orleans horns and am going to make it a point to make it to Jazz Fest this year.
The campgrounds were fun Friday night, and everyone was happy to be back together again. I checked out the late night on one of the side stages (Motet guys?), which was pretty good, but very quiet due to Bob's noise issues. This particular venue was decorated with day-glo grass and other glow-y things, including a glow in the dark type screen that would retain the light (for a few seconds) from a laser being projected on it in different patterns. The glow in the dark laser screen was no cube-a-tron, but was still pretty cool. The other side stage had fire dancers, which I didn't watch for very long.
Ah, Saturday at Hornings. Can you ask for a better feeling? I started the day off with some Pliny the Elder before making my way to Col. Bruce's workshop, which was more like a mellow show. He said they didn't know what to talk about, so they'd just play music instead. Alright with me. After checking out the Colonel, I wandered over to Everyone Orchestra where Matt Butler was leading the ensemble. It was funky from what I remember, but I didn't stay for long as I wanted to see Toubab Krewe. Toubab Krewe put on a mellow show during the middle of the day, which I thought was great. It was not as energetic as they can be, but it was also mid-day in the sun. Before seeing Bill Frisell, I stumbled into Toubab playing an acoustic unamplified set by the Furthur bus - gotta love the renegade sets.
Bill Frisell has been one of my favorite guitarists since I first heard his music in 2003. This is the second time I've seen him at Horning's (first being Strummit in 2008), and I was beyond stoked that SCI booked him for the show. His show was mellow and beautiful. I recognized the drummer from past Frisell shows, but the keyboards rounding out the trio were not familiar to me, though I thought he was very very good. Frisell has amazing energy and the smile seems to burst from his face. It is so good to see musicians love what they are doing.
String Cheese Incident Saturday night Hornings is always an incredible time (though sometimes not the most incredible music). This year was no different, though I think it might be the first year they only did two sets. The show started out very strong with Black Clouds->Rhum N Zouc, and SCI brought out Bill Frisell (dream come true) for County Road Blues and Freedom Jazz Dance. He added some nice licks, but didn't really get down with a duel or anything (jazz guitarist vs. bluegrass guitarist doesn't always work I guess). Kyle's new offering - Way That It Goes is funky and not too long, and the set closed with the boys going back into Black Clouds, complete with everyone taking their turn on the traditional Black Clouds jam.
Set break was long, but the anticipation was building for the first dream dance without Peak Experience (to my knowledge). They opened up with Rivertrance to some choreographed dancing and fire dancers. I was a little bummed because Rivertrance is the get-down, and we were trapped on the hill - oh well - you can't win them all. The fire dancers gave way to lasers, a UFO hovering above the stage, and a female ribbon dancer suspended above the crowd by giant balloons. Sorry I didn't get any pictures, but you can check out Deadesq Dave's always fabulous shots at his website. They let the crowd down, and it was fun dancing under the UFO, lasers, and ribbon dancer. Joyful Sound was awesome and really seemed to be a combination of the original version and the new version with Kyle on the bass line played at Rothbury last year. I also thought the EOTO jam was pretty dirty (though a little too dub-steppy for my String Cheese). The rest of the set seemed like one long pee break song for me - just couldn't really get into it. It reminded me of the third set in 2005 and 2007. Oh, how I long for the adventurous super-jam third set days of 2003 and 2004... Throw away encore for icing on the cake with the re-worked version of Sirens (certainly better, but still bad imo), and a short unexploratory Texas. Again, fun in the campgrounds was had on Saturday night, of course.
Sunday Hornings is always special as everyone tries to reflect on the weekend (and maybe
longer) of being together. I am always reminded how lucky I am to be able to have any of these experiences with people that I love. What better way to start the weekend than with the Colonel. Bruce is a living legend, and I was glad he came all the way out from Georgia to play at Hornings. He sounded and looked great, both on vocals and guitar when he played it. Next up were the Travelin McCourys to give us our bluegrass fix. I've seen these guys so many times over the years, and they never disappoint.SCI Sunday started out strong with Lester Had a Coconut and some bluegrass with the Travelin McCourys. Col Bruce came out for Fixin to Die (awesome), and the set finished strong with Will It Go Round in Circles and San Jose. The second set may have been the most well played set of the weekend, but it, like the rest of the weekend, was short on any deep jams. The Howard came closest, and it was great to hear Emma's Dream and Don't Say,
two of my favorites. Eyes of the World was well played and the Outside Inside set closer was rocking. Familiar territory with the Best Feeling and Good Times Around the Bend encore sent us off into the night to see what we could find one last night at Hornings...This weekend went by as fast as any weekend I can remember, but I guess all Hornings weekends do. I saw so many people that have been such an integral part of my life, and I feel like I could only spend about 5 minutes with everyone. I seriously felt like I was at the Hideout for 10 hours, and did not want to leave. The music was good, but not great. It is what has brought us together for years and it is what brought us together this weekend, and for that I am grateful. Billy was quiet all weekend, Kyle was great as always, Kang was rocking. Keith was Keith, and Travis was Travis. Jason has started some skat like vocals - da diggy da diggy da. Jason, please stop...
I hope we can come back again, but I wonder what the place will be like if Bob wins the State Senate seat. Upon reflecting back on the past Hornings, the place has definitely changed. Maybe not for the better, but change is the only constant, right? This being my 5th time up there for SCI, I've watched it grow from an intimate family affair to one of the most hyped weekends of the summer. This year saw the removal of the beer garden, and in its place, about a dozen other places set up to hawk beer. This year also saw the installation of additional fences to delineate the campground stages (where, of course, they also sold beer). More food vendors (loved the local options) and more people there for the party. More space needed for parking, less space available for camping, and no Peak Experience added to the different feeling. The production seemed less elaborate and a little cheaper. I guess you could say that our little Horning's is growing up. It kind of felt like a mini-Bonnaroo in the Oregon woods. I still had a blast, and will always return as long as Bob has us, but I am a little sad to see such a pure, pristine place turned into Rothbury 2010.
Bigger isn't better, and money isn't everything...
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