The 2019 Lockn' Music Festival

Discussed in this post: Jam bands, Jason Isbell and the 400-Unit, high winds, red mud, the evolution of live music presentation, cultural exchange, survival.

Word count: 2300

At around 2:15 pm on Thursday, August 22, 2019 we drove onto the grounds of Infinity Downs and Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, Virginia.  Coming off a previous 5 weeks of joyful reunions with family and friends in central and southern Maine, the Boston area, areas surrounding Washington DC, and North Carolina, Carol and I were in fine shape and ready for MUSIC!  As great as our trip had been up to that point, our excitement about experiencing a new and different music festival was high.  This one would be a total immersion experience, since once we got our Airstream leveled and unhitched, there would be no driving allowed for the 4 day run of the festival.  

Our turn-off from the highway was a bit dubious, but happily we began seeing signs for “EVENT” and arrows pointing the way.  Curious, we thought, that a generic term was used rather than the actual name of the event, the Lockn’ Music Festival .  After our experiences at the festival, we adopted the theory that local authorities wanted nothing to do with promoting the festival by using its proper name, but I am not sure about this.  I refer you to my previous post in this blog.

Several miles after the turnoff we saw Gate #6, which was the gate our information told us would be the correct one to enter if you were displaying a Momma Bear Camping sticker on your windshield (indicative of those bringing a “short” RV), but a yellow vested guide motioned for us to continue on.  Another several winding miles later, we saw the grounds and pulled up to the main gate.  We felt prepared for the inspection (no glass containers, according to the emails). Just in case, we’d poured our brown liquor and gin into plastic bottles, taking care not to use Rob’s “pee bottle”, but felt like the glass-jarred mustard and pickles might be considered exceptions for road dogs like us pulling into the festival, our house in tow.  Sure enough, we got in without loss of condiments, but were admonished to not let anyone know we possessed such contraband. 

We drove a few miles up into the hills and around to the other side of the farms, we were motioned into a gasp!, sloping field.  Leveling would be somewhat challenging.  We eschewed the nearest real estate and proceeded on, hoping that the field would level off somewhat, and sure enough, we spotted an RV locating on relatively level ground and next door to them was a spot that appeared reasonable.  We pulled into it, and found that just 3 leveling blocks did the trick.  We were close enough that we did not need the 25 foot extension cord to connect our 30 amp power, and the water connected up easily and with good pressure.  We were set and ready to join the “Jerry Dance Party” in front of the Main Stage that was scheduled for 3 pm. What is a Jerry Dance Party, you ask?  Read on.

Unlike Dorian, the storm that swept into the festival grounds at approximately 3:15 that day minutes after we completed our set-up came with very little warning.  If we hadn’t been so busy with turning on our propane, opening up our windows, disconnecting from the car and deploying our stabilizer feet, we might have noticed that pitch-black sky-obliterating cloud heading straight for us from the northwest.  As it happened, the wind was just suddenly upon us, soon followed by heavy rain, and we hunkered down.  Those less fortunate ones had no choice but to simply drop whatever they were doing and seek cover.  The gusts were reportedly peaking at 50 mph, and the whole thing ended I think less than an hour later.  I emerged afterward and wandered around the grounds.  There was nothing I could do; many piles of ruined canopy frames had already appeared, and a good number of the port-o-pottys were flat on the ground.  Our fellow Momma Bear campers who had arrived minutes too late now had to locate and level in the brick-red mud.  Happily we were able to assist one in lending her our extension cord (we had been advised to bring one).  Weather was great for the rest of the 4 days, but what a start! 

This was the 7^th year for Lockn’, a 4-day music festival created by 2 guys, Dave Frey and Peter Shapiro.  Just like the New Orleans Jazz Festival reflects the vision and values of its creators such as George Wein and Allison Minor, Lockn’ owes much to the creative collaboration and vision of Frey and Shapiro. Asked to explain his success in band management (Blues Traveler, Phish, Widespread Panic, Spin Doctors) and music promotion including Lockn’, Frey said that it all comes down to this: “identify talent and persevere until timing and luck arrive”.

These guys have been in the music business and specifically the live music show business for decades.  Frey is a former manager of the band Blues Traveler, a noted “ Jam Band, “and for 5 years Shapiro ran the Wetlands Preserve, an all-night nightclub in New York City that opened in 1989 and closed in 2001.  From my reading, it seems clear that both Frey and Shapiro value musicians and musical groups that are willing and able to improvise and present their music in a variety of forms, often in extended jams.  Having worked together when Frey was managing Blues Traveler, through “timing and luck”, the two decided to investigate finding a venue and starting a new festival that would present music in a way they themselves would want to experience it.  After a nationwide search, they landed on Oak Ridge Farm in Nelson County Virginia, just a short distance from Frey’s music business “Silent Partner Management” in Charlottesville.  This land consists of 2 farms (Infinity Downs and Oak Ridge Farm) and is 5000 acres.  It includes a horse-racing track (originally for steeplechase) that is as long as 6 football fields.  Thomas Ryan, the former owner of the property built it along with a private railway station!  It’s in Arrington, Virginia a very small town that has a stop sign, a post office, a general store and a recycling center.  Lots of close neighbors was definitely NOT what the two were looking for in a location, what with the music going until 3 am and all!

Originally they planned to name the festival Interlocken, the name reflecting the values the promoters bring to the festival:  in that they wanted a “locked-in” experience for the performers and audience, with a continuous music flow and artist collaboration often over the several days of the festival.  After the flyers were published using that name, they changed it to Lockn’ before the first festival in 2013.  Shapiro released a statement prompting speculation that legal factors were in play, perhaps regarding rights to the name. Bands were encouraged to stay and play for several days, which allowed the artists to experience each other’s sets to some extent, and to play together, often without any planning in advance.  The first year, Furthur played 4 sets over 4 nights, String Cheese Incident played 3 sets over 3 nights, and Widespread Panic 2 sets over 2 nights. Last year (2018) 5 bands played 30% of the music, including Tedeschi Trucks Band, Dead and Company, Lettuce, and Umphrey’s McGee.  This year, individual artists joined other performers during their sets (7 collaborations between bands were listed on the official line-up), but no single band played more than once. 

When the festival started out, there was one main stage area with side-by-side stages.  In 2019, that concept has evolved into the use of a turntable stage.  A second stage, Garcia’s Forest, is located a 10 minute walk away and is reserved for early morning and late night performances.  On the main stage,  I witnessed a range of seamlessness.  Sometimes each band would be playing at the same time as the stage rotated (one plays the other in or out), with the performers waving good-bye and hello simultaneously.  Pretty sweet.  At other times, there was just a bit of a delay. 

Many of the performers at Lockn' have been described as coming from the so-called Jam Band scene, although some prefer to say that these are not “Jam Bands”, but really are simply bands that jam.  Meaning that you can expect to get extended improvisations.  Some names that get thrown around as examples of jam bands and who have played previous years are String Cheese Incident, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and Dead and Company.  And artists from the past that you might not think of that way get sited as being “jam bands”, such as Santana, Cream, Jeffeson Airplane, and Joe Cocker’s band!  Original members of the Grateful Dead have played at Lockn’ in some band or another or perhaps just as individuals, every year so far.

Touring festivals such as Lillith, Warped, Lollapalooza, and Ozzfest are largely a thing of the past. In order to be a part of keeping the multi-day music immersion experience alive Dave and Peter are investing in a permanent event space and a set of values, and the hope is to keep it going and growing for years.  Attendance was reported down significantly this year (2019), although so far, the reports that I have seen indicate that this year was a good one and we can look forward to Lockn’ 2020.

Currently the lineup for the festival is on the web site, along with video links and descriptions of the performers.  A standout for us was Jason Isbell and the 400-Unit.  They played songs from many of their albums going back, see this set list .  They closed with a Peter Green tune called Oh Well from the early (1969) Fleetwood Mac album Then Play On.  Check out this sweet video of a very young Peter Green and an even younger (18 year old) Danny Kirwan performing the song.  Isbell and his band along with fellow guitarist Sadler Vaden set the stage on fire with an incendiary set-closing performance of Oh Well, complete with Pete Townshend-style windmill guitar string hits by Vaden. 

Bands we saw at the festival: Khruangbin, Gary Clark, Jr., Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Revivalists, Trey Anastasio Band featuring Derek Trucks, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Twiddle, Oteil and Friends featuring Bob Weir, Vulfpeck, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel, Deva Mahal, The Soul Rebels, Nahko and Medicine for the People, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.

Music canceled due to the storm:  Audacity Brass Band, Midnight North, Andy Frasco and the U.N.

Additionally, the kick-off Jerry Dance Party or JDP (Grateful Dead music played thru the PA system, with dancing encouraged) was canceled.  Another JDP was held the 3^rd night of the festival, but it started at 12:30 am.  As much as I wanted to go, my body refused to allow me to get out of bed and walk down to Garcia’s Forest for what no doubt would have been a reportable experience!  Maybe next year.

I really got a sense that we were immersed in a southern rock festival experience, with many of the bands hailing from the region.  Yet truly it was eclectic, as you can discern from the list of artists.  I guess growing up a Yankee, and living with an attitude toward “Southerners” that grew out of stereotype and prejudice, some of that is in me, part of my social hard wiring whether I “like it” or not.  To say otherwise would be akin to claiming that “there’s not a racist bone in my body”.  So being in this southern stew, hearing the drawls, slipping in the red clay, feeling a strange authoritarian vibe at the security gates, jawing with our Trump-supporting neighbors in the campground and passing that big RV with its tie-dye decorations and Make America Great Again bumper sticker, I felt I was unmistakably in  new territory.  Up north, this type of mixing is either not present or less noticed at a concert or festival.  Down south, it’s part of the deal. It’s a very big tent, with everyone in party mode.  What a great opportunity!  Right next to you, a camper full of folks not from your tribe who are there for the same reason you are: THE MUSIC! It’s a hopeful sign, it was good for us to be there.  We didn’t max out on politics, there was no bloodshed,  and we shared some of our perspectives.

 

When not on the road, for the last 2 years I have lived in New Orleans.  It's a very diverse city, with people from lots of cultures, ethnicities, and attitudes.  And yet, it can be challenging to find opportunities for learning about those other than you, who come from different worlds and bring a different voice.  At Lockn' just stroll around the campground in the morning before the music, and strike up a conversation.   I am naturally prone to seek out my "tribe".  I actually prefer in many ways to be out of the social scene altogether, being naturally inclined to solitary activities such as bicycling.  I think I chose my career as a pediatrician partly because the model is seeing patients and families individually, avoiding the need to collaborate closely with others on the job.

We are tribal creatures, probably because living that way enhanced our chances of survival.  Ironically, our tribal proclivities now threaten our survival.  How do we avoid getting so angry that we resort to violence?  Mixing and somehow communicating seems to be important, and we appreciate the opportunity offered at Lockn’.  Long term survival for Homo Sapiens?  Not without music.  

Lockn' Main Stage at night. The two video screens slide up and down

Derek Trucks, Trey Anastasio, Susan Tedeschi

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Volunteer for Headcount.  Festival organizer Peter Shapiro was named board Chair this year after being involved with the organization since 2004

The 2019 Lockn' main stage from a grassy overlook