“Modest in stature when compared with behemoths such as Coachella or Bonnaroo, the inaugural Nateva Music and Camping Festival, held over the July 4th weekend in Oxford, Maine, was a magnificent success…”

Festival Family

“Let me tell you a story about the first time I went to Maine. My good fortune provided me with the time to take my family to another music festival, Nateva Music Festival…”

Boston Globe

Boston Globe Slide Show

Boston Herald Inside Track

Portland Press Herald

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Nateva-Music–Camping-Festival-drawing-crowd.html

http://www.pressherald.com/news/traffics-flowing-smoothly-the-atmospheres-mellow-and-the-bands-play-on_2010-07-04.html

Sun Journal

Kennebec Journal

WLBZ2.com

WCSH (NBC)

WGME (CBS)

WMTW (ABC)

Photo by Nick Fitanides

Photos by Britt Nemeth

Photos by LimboJim

Day Three: “Bobby and Phil revisit Oxford Plains.”

Oxford Plains, ME – In the twenty-two years (and one day) since the Grateful Dead performed at the Oxford Plains Speedway on July 3, 1988 (the second of two dates that the band performed that month in the Pine Street State), much has changed.  Dead figurehead, Jerry Garcia, has passed on.  The Red Sox have won two world championships.  There is a legitimate festival in the state of Maine.  

It might be that the festival in Maine is the most surprising of the group.  Garcia’s passing seemed a sad inevitability and the Sox were on course to reverse some curses. Few might have envisioned that the Nateva Music and Camping Festival would welcome back two Dead alums playing the songs that imprinted the band’s unique sensibilities into the musical subconscious of so many, yet here they were.

Perhaps that sensibility is not buried too deeply.  A near capacity crowd was anxiously awaiting Phil Lesh and Bob Weir’s “Furthur,” which with the wonderfully adept guitar stylings of former Dark Star Orchestra member, John Kadlecik, provided a worthy tour through one of the most impressive existing catalogs of American music.

The first sign of their dexterity with the songs of the Dead was a reworked take on “Mississippi Half-Step (Uptown Toodeloo).”  The first set rang with such classics as “Ramble on Rose,” a strong segue from Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” into “Cumberland Blues,” and the set concluding, “Casey Jones.”

A generous break between sets allowed for most of the Nateva crowd to mingle and say their farewells to friends both new and familiar.  The beaming glows on the faces of each of the weekend warriors spoke volumes to Nateva’s success, as did the response to the Furthur second set opener, “St. Stephen.”

As the second set built to a slow boil, fueled by the Spencer Davis Group classic, “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” melting into, “Eyes Of The World,” and the timeless traditional, “And We Bid You Goodnight,” the 4th of July vibe just begged for some “U.S. Blues.”  A sturdy fireworks show followed the anticipated encore and was unlikely in that it managed to meet the set’s intensity.  It also sent the crowd home with smiling faces.

George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic had hips shaking, as well as heads scratching, as the big man met his assembled audience sans his trademark dreads.  In a tan suit best described as safari wear, Clinton allowed P-Funk to power a jumping set before taking the helm for the likes of, “We Want The Funk.”  Backstage, the gorgeous Chris Russell commented that he had personally kissed each member of the seemingly infinite Clinton entourage, as well as the sizable Zappa Plays Zappa party.  Between both acts that’s a lot of jamming licks, and a lot of kisses.

Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi delivered a cover of Delaney and Bonnie’s,  “Comin’ Home,” that not only fit perfectly within their set of southern fried sensibilities but also seemed to encompass the mind-set of so many who felt that they’d found home, if only for the weekend.

And therein lies the beauty of the first Nateva Music and Camping Festival.  As an observer who has heard so much music during the last three days that the sound of two revving Harleys sounded like a bass being sound checked on stage this morning, there was truly a sound at Nateva for everyone. 

From the inside out, the first Nateva Music and Camping Festival was the sort of dream that only the boldest visionary might see.  For those who came and enjoyed, it is a dream that you both idealized and enjoyed.  Good for you… and good for us.  Let’s do it all together again next year.

Please travel safe and be in touch.  We can’t wait to see you again!

-Tom Kielty

Photos by Nick Fitanides

Photos by Britt Nemeth

She and Him 

Ryan Montbleau Band

Roots of Creation

John Brown’s Body

Photos by Britt Nemeth

Photos by Britt Nemeth

Photos by LimboJim

Day Two: “Sun-Screen and Flaming Lips”

-Oxford Plains, ME – On the second day of the inaugural offering of the Nateva Music and Camping Festival the powers-that-be blessed the sight with an absolutely gorgeous summer day.  Weather is hard to call in this neck of the woods.  Perhaps an easier prediction would have been that the Nateva line-up of music would blow around with an eagerness to brush against so many genres.

This ideal could not have been more beautifully illustrated than by the Flaming Lips.  From the bombastic opening of confetti cannons and an ad-hoc dance squad of guys and girls in fantastically orange ensembles, one could be forgiven for thinking that they’d lapsed into a time of easy air travel and readily recognizable rhythms.  

Frontman, Wayne Coyne (who was spotted on the side of the Maine Stage checking out the likes of Grizzly Bear, She & Him, and Drive-By Truckers throughout the day), was forthcoming in his Nateva love.  He called out the volunteers and the workers who made the port-a-potties, “clean enough that I’d put my ass on them.”

Working from a set that drew from the band’s eclectic catalog, the Flaming Lips proved, once again, that they might be America’s most durable band.  If the instantly recognizable, “Jelly,” was not sufficient proof of the band’s wonders with a hook, then the plaintive cries of “Yoshimi” worked to remind listeners of an ever evolving act. 

The Lips were preceded by the throbbing beats of STS9 (who also got a Flaming Lips shout-out).  With an anxious crowd waiting for the headliner, STS9 delivered a beat and synth heavy set that called at points on three keyboards, and the loops that go with each, to dance with guitar.  It’s not easy to serve salad when the masses are screaming for steak but STS9 put enough meat into their set to warm up the masses wonderfully for the Flaming Lips.

Earlier in the day, Grizzly Bear turned out to be the wildcard on the Maine Stage as tuned in hipsters stood transfixed by their “Elephant Six Collective” approach to avant rock, while far too many others hurried to the dinner bell.  Those who weathered their stomach’s callings caught a smart, and at times surprisingly aggressive, set.  Many who didn’t see this set will one day claim that they did.

Of course, She & Him didn’t come as an easy act to follow.  With their sound fleshed out by two backing singers/instrumentalists, a rhythm section of bass and drums, and an additional guitarist, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel had plenty of room to stretch out.  While Ward’s work as a solo artist, and in such collaborations as Monsters of Folk, has cemented his credibility, Deschanel is a newly discovered treasure of a performer.  

Whether behind a Wurlitzer organ that Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers described as the “Spooner Oldham Special,” strumming a ukulele, or simply belting out a killer like, “Sentimental Heart,” Deschanel can flat out sing.  The cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” showed that they know their roots but She & Him can confidently move in the current day in style.

Hood should, and does, know a thing or two about performing and his Drive-By Truckers blew doors in a set slated to start at 4:20.  Fresh off a support gig for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, they delivered solid hooks via ringing guitars in a manner perhaps best mastered by Neil Young and Crazy Horse.  They even dedicated, “Girls That Smoke,” to She & Him and “anyone who tours in England when it’s cold.”

The Crash Kings may have been the nicest surprise of the big stage performers with their catchy, “Saving Grace,” mining solid guitar hooks and vocals that reached the same neighborhood that Hot, Hot, Heat and Wolf Mother have occupied.

With two nights down it seems that a true personality is emerging in this fledgling event that we now collectively call, “Nateva.”  Friendliness emerges at virtually every turn here, and with one more night, it’s your call to go make a new friend.  There’s only one day left.  This is the spot.

Go make a new friend.

-Tom Kielty

Keller Williams

Umphrey’s McGee

The Felice Brothers

moe.

Ghostland Observatory

Grizzly Bear

Ryan Montbleau Band

Big Gigantic

Photos by Britt Nemeth

Photo by Nick Fitanides

Photos by LimboJim

Photos by Britt Nemeth