Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth stoke jam-band, festival-friendly vibe at Meijer Gardens

Psychedelic at times and instrumentally bracing, Sunday’s double bill unleashed “extraordinary things” for 1,500-plus fans. (Review, photo gallery)

 

By John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com

Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth brought a slice of Bonnaroo and Rothbury to Grand Rapids on Sunday night.

The affable, bluegrass-rooted, music festival favorites descended on Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, flaunting their jam-band pants and psychedelic, swirling licks to stoke the flames of 1,500-plus hippie hearts on an overcast but pleasant evening to cap off the holiday weekend.

“It always surprises me when the most beautiful places are also the most psychedelic,” Yonder Mountain bassist Ben Kaufmann gushed early on. “There are some extraordinary things out here.”

Things never got more psychedelic than when the five-piece Yonder Mountain – Kaufmann, banjo player Dave Johnston, guitarist Adam Aijala and special guests mandolinist Jake Joliff (Joy Kills Sorrow) and fiddler Allie Kral (Cornmeal) – delved into Pink Floyd’s “Animals” about midway through the band’s set, unfurling a scary-impressive, bluegrass rendition of “Dogs,” complete with special effects and scintillating banjo, violin and guitar solos.

That was just a sliver of the evening’s instrumentally focused, jam-band aura, something Yonder Mountain delivered earlier this summer to thousands of fans at the much-celebrated Bonnaroo in Tennessee (the same festival where Railroad Earth made an appearance in a few years ago when it also regaled West Michigan fans at Rothbury, now known as Electric Forest).

RAPID-FIRE BLUEGRASS WITH A CONTEMPORARY TWIST

While older, more staid Meijer Gardens concertgoers kept their distance, a healthy helping of that festival vibe had younger fans standing, dancing and swaying pretty much from the moment Railroad Earth took the stage for a 90-minute opening set.

Laid-back as the New Jersey band might seem at times, there was a melancholy beauty and eclectically rhythmic milieu to their folk-driven, Grateful Dead-hued bluegrass, something perfectly suited to Sunday night’s audience. On songs such as “Hangtown Ball,” Railroad Earth integrated honky-tonk piano and electric guitar effects into its approach, which during the long set also included doses of Andy Goessling’s saxophone, flute and banjo.

But the six-piece band also churned out more traditional-sounding, rapid-fire bluegrass instrumentals – boasting a psychedelic twist on “Donkey for Sale” – that sparked hippie dance moves among the most avid of fans.

Ditto for Yonder Mountain, which captivated its die-hard mountain-goers from the get-go, paying tribute to bluegrass tradition by having band members trade solos on every song while exuding a contemporary fervor that propelled covers of Pure Prairie League’s “Amie,” the aforementioned “Dogs” and originals such as “Black Sheep” and “Casualty.”

And while light rain chased a few fans away after 9 p.m., devotees embraced the Meijer Gardens atmosphere as much as band members playing the lush amphitheater for the first time.

Kaufmann joked at one point that he didn’t recall ever playing “a gig before in a place that had a roomful of plants that could eat you.”

The gregarious bassist also later shared his unusual vision for the future. “At some time in humanity,” he insisted, “bluegrass is going to save all of our lives.”

For one night, at least, it made life a little better.

YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND/RAILROAD EARTH:
THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Anna Sink (Click on photo to enlarge gallery)

Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music