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H.O.R.D.E. Festival
1998 Reviewed By: Trey Parks
August 20th, 1998, another typical Southern day, so hot and muggy that everyone here was looking over at Texas and saying "Quit your bitching." The festival was held in a venue called Oak Mountain Amphitheater, which is a lovely venue nestled in some foothills just outside Birmingham, AL. The foothills provided some protection from the heat, and the area of the main stage was nice and breezy. In fact, during most of the concert, it felt like a rather chilly 90 degrees. The HORDE festival itself is a celebration of music, and as it's promoters term it, of life. In recent years, cynics have argued that the festival has become more about launching new acts than about making good music, but even if that were the case here, they succeeded in making good music also. "Blues Traveler," the founders of the tour, were back in the fold after a two year hiatus, and that in itself hinted that things had changed for the better. This was truly a festival environment. There were three stages of music: the main stage, the festival stage (which featured a mixture of rising bands and bands that were famous locally), and also a stage called the Workshop stage, where a band called Mosaic spent the whole day playing, and invited artists from other bands to jam onstage with them. There were also a wide variety of food, beverage, and craft booths set up along the walks between stages. Artists on the festival stage included, among others, "Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Fiji Mariners," "Cowboy Mouth" and "Cherry Poppin' Daddies." Though my time was spent at the main stage, the people running the festival were thoughtful enough to broadcast performances from the Festival stage during set changes on the main stage. I arrived at the venue late, due to heavier than expected traffic, and therefore, to my disappointment, I missed the "Barenaked Ladies" set. However, my first experience of the day was catching the "Alana Davis" set, so I was hardly disappointed. "Alana Davis" is a folksinger/songwriter. Her songs, while not quite as heavy as "Ani DiFranco's" sound, have an edge to them not normally associated with traditional folksingers.
She maintained an easy, comfortable relationship with the crowd, stopping to chat and joke with them between songs. Her set included three or four original numbers, among them her most easily recognizable song, "Murder," and also two cover songs: a well-done cover of the "Ani DiFranco" song "32 Flavors," and a crowd-pleasing cover of the "Allman Brothers" classic "Ain't Wastin Time No More." Though she played mainly acoustic guitar, her band included an electric guitar player, whose riffs featured crystal clear playing, and notes that just seemed to hang in the air. The audience was very into the music, sensing that it signalled the treats they were in store for as the festival continued. (Unfortunately, due to the tight schedule the performers were on, Alana couldn't do an encore. I'm sure the fans wouldn't have minded if she had done one though.)
"Fastball," an Austin-based rock band, followed, and they totally blew me, and the rest of the crowd, away. They opened their set with two songs which I took to be new songs, and then kicked things up a bit with "Warm Fuzzy Feeling," a hit-em-before-they-see-what's-coming quick sort of rock song. Any part of the crowd that was still sitting beforehand, was up dancing and cheering after the band played "Nowhere Road" and "Out of My Head."
"Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals" were up next. Ben Harper is a guitarist/songwriter that plays seated with the guitar in his lap, reminiscent of Jeff Healey. His songs are a mix of Bob Marley style lyrics with a more rock expository guitar style. His set consisted of several songs that featured him and his band going on funky extended jams. This set included such songs as "Don't Take That Attitude To Your Grave," "Faded" and "Burn on Down," and also the aforementioned jams. One of the longer jams featured his bassist, Juan Nelson, laying down some bass riffs that maybe only ten bass players I'm familiar with could have managed. The audience was noticeably impressed and roared their approval. Ben Harper has a strong vocal style, and is a very competent guitar player. This was perhaps most apparent on the last song of their set, a cover of the Hendrix classic "Voodoo Chile." The cover lasted a good ten minutes and provided a perfect ending to their free-form musical pyrotechnic show. The show closed with the band that makes the HORDE Festival what it is - "Blues Traveler." They live for doing live shows, and it was apparent from the opening of their set. John Popper has an amazing ability to work a crowd, and can go from fiery harmonica player to ringleader of the circus atmosphere in no time flat.
They opened with "Hook," and that's the exact effect they had on the crowd. The audience was hooked from the outset. All four members of the band are excellent musicians, and they've been together long enough that there is a telling interplay between them during their jams. Their set was varied and interesting, providing a healthy mix of newer and older material. It wasn't a long set as far as number of songs (they only played 12) but when you consider that several songs ran over the 10 minute mark, the audience got their money's worth. Among songs from the new album, they did a funked up version of "Carolina Blues," and a really enjoyable version of "Felicia." They also treated the audience to a couple of their "hits," including the aforementioned "Hook," and "Runaround." Two covers graced the set. One, of the Beatles' "Come Together," and an inspired cover of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," by Charlie Daniels. John Popper is one of the best harmonica players I've ever seen, and few people could have managed to pull off some of the riffs he managed in "Devil." They closed with an extended, moving version of their ballad "Alone." During the song, the other band members left the stage briefly, leaving the lead singer truly alone, before joining him onstage again for a last jam and a farewell wave to the crowd. Band members thanked the opening acts and also thanked the fans for supporting the Festival.
All in all, it was an amazing experience, and I didn't hear a single disappointed fan as I left the venue. Although I didn't envy my three hour drive home, this was a show worth seeing, especially with "Blues Traveler" back in the fold, and I would have driven twice as far to see it.
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When the band felt they had the audience
hooked, they played their hit, "The Way," and let the
spirit of the show take over. They roared through a 15 song set,
finally closing with "Sooner or Later," which, although
it sounds kind of subdued on the album, done live it gives the
impression that the "Clash" has taken up residence
in Austin. During the set they also threw out a respectable cover
of "ZZ Top's" "Thunderbird," which thrilled
the predominantly Southern audience.
