ROCKTIME Magazine

Rocktime's latest Hangtown Halloween Ball photo reviews:

They say all good things must come to and end, and indeed, the party is over. What a grand party it was though, the sights and sounds leaving a plethora of memories from this year's Hangtown Halloween Ball.

Railroad Earth rolled out the best yet for this 4th edition of Placerville's greatest achievement since the gold rush. The brilliant minds that conceived this unique and definitively "old Hangtown" themed festival are deserving of the utmost praise for bringing such a vibrant music scene to Placerville. The community has embraced this yearly event; and I think the locals, and the attendees that come from far and wide hope that this tradition continues long after the initial ten year contract with the Placerville Fairgrounds.

We were so lucky to have such a stellar lineup for this year's HHB, including bluegrass heavyweight Leftover Salmon, who had the headlining time slot on Saturday night. They came to town riding the buzz of their soon to be released seventh studio album "High Country," which will be available for purchase on November 28th, 2014. Their energy was so contagious, the crowd was dressed to kill, and Vince Herman was dressed to give presents of joyous musical pleasure in his Santa suit. They all looked so good in their costumes as they opened their set with "Oh, Atlanta," and Vince just sung it so nice, just like Jerry used to when the Dead played it. They really knocked it out of the park, just like the SF Giants did on that same night.

The festival promoters did all of us Giants fans right by showing the world series on a big screen for those of us who couldn't live without it. More photos and reviews of this year's festival still to come.

written by Nick Running

Achilles Wheel

Oct. 25th, 2014

ROCKTIME PRESENTS
SLOW FOOD ROCKS 2008
AUGUST 30-31, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.

Sunshine, ocean breezes, organic food, an event with the intent to nourish the mind, body, and soul. What more could anybody ask for? Oh yeah, throw in divine little dancing skeleton Grateful Dead inspired chocolates with these and I'm there! Palm trees, live music, and San Francisco heads in a montage of regalia. A fearless Obama supporter sporting his Obama shirt in the front row, standing proudly, dead center on the rail. Freedom of expression ringing loudly from the stage via Medeski, Martin, and Wood. These guys took a hiatus for a few years, but we are sure glad that they are back together because they are so much fun to dance to. The Festival Network did a great job setting up this event in a prime location; with the brilliance to split the viewing area of the stage down the middle. Half being reserved seats for those who prefer to sit down, and the other half general admission, so you can still get right up front and dance close to the stage, first come, first serve, of course.

Are we having fun yet? The New Pornagraphers are on stage and half the people are grooving to the music, and the rest look to be having fun talking and hanging out. Everybody on stage is fully clothed, and none of them look like they are in the porn business; go figure. I have to admit I was expecting something a little more racy, you know, I envisioned something with a stripper pole, some scantily dressed leather clad musicians. So, don't be confused, the New pornographers are going to get your rocks off, but not in the way you're expecting! No, but seriously folks, what are you to expect with a name like that. Shock value will only get you so far in the music business, so it was a good thing this band brings it, and leaves it all out there when they go home at night, no regrets, right! Oh, that will get me up and dancing, they are playing "Don't Bring Me Down," a Cheap Trick cover, and the crowd is loving it! That was their encore, and now they are gone. A great response from the audience, big applause for the New Pornagraphers.

"Ozomatli," sounds like a pasta dish at an Italian buffet! I'll take sum' a spaghetti, a little rigatoni, a little frettucini, and dump a whole lot of that fantastic sounding Ozomatli on the rest of the plate. After years and years of hearing that these guys put on a great show, I finally got a chance to see for myself. I was impressed, an act worth catching anytime. Influences range across the board with Ozomatli, but If I had to make a bet, I'd wager they all aspire in some ways to the likes of Carlos Santana. Music with an overall latin feel to it; yet laced with some jazz, funk, and some New Orleans horns. Way too rocking to fit into any one of those categories, also edging into the fringe of hip hop. They all looked like they were having so much fun up there, and they really got the whole crowd up and dancing.

The afternoon is waning, the headliner is about to take the stage, the dinner course is about to be served in the VIP and backstage tents, I knew I was going to miss the dinner, so I grabbed some awesome organic salad and wolfed it down; it's slow food, but I had to eat it fast. Rocktime associate Keon Salstrand said the pesto pasta I missed was the "best he had ever tasted." I knew that Gnarls Barkley was going to come on stage right at the same time the dinner line went through, so I just headed for the stage. Sure enough, I got there and the band came out right quick, which was kind of perfect, because we only have three songs of each artist to get our shots. A slew of phographers showed up halfway through the first song and the pit got kind of crowded. I already had staked out the prime spot; the stage is on the tall side, so I wanted to be far enough back to get good shots,. The rest of the photographers were respectful about not shooting in front of me, so that was great! I only saw Gnarls Barkley on The Tonight Show, just for one song, but when they played at the Slow Food Festival it seemed like I had heard all the songs somewhere before. That was weird to me, because I don't know where I had heard them. I think that must point to the fact that Atlantic Records recording artist Gnarls Barkley has grabbed a major main stream audience. When something is so prevalent in society that one does not know where one has been subjected to it, it has taken on some form of omnipresence, a life of its own as it were. Who is Gnarls Barkley? Motown, gospel, swing, blues, geeks dressed to the hilt, and what fun it all is. The stand-up bass player is out of control, the whole band is such a laugh riot when you look at them, yet musically it works with an exuberant force. Without even noticing it, the music makes your head start to bob, and your shoulders start to sway, and pretty soon your arms are swinging and your feet are jumping, and you are dancing all around.

Rocktime's latest Hangtown Halloween Ball photo reviews:

The Meter Men

Railroad Earth

Achilles Wheel