45 painted feather way
For the 17th year in a row, San Francisco’s Hardly Carefully Bluegrass Anniversary abounding an uncharacteristically brilliant Golden Gate Esplanade with throngs of aflame music admirers and the stylings of added than 90 performers over the three-day festival.
Though the absolutely chargeless festival’s roots are carefully bluegrass, the calendar has appear to accommodate an added assorted arrangement of music genres. Musicians ranged from anniversary admirers Gillian Welch, Conor Oberst and Emmylou Harris to jailbait icons Henry Rollins of Black Flag and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys. Other notable performers this year included British songwriter Billy Bragg, Seun Kuti (son of the backward Nigerian music brilliant and activist Fela Kuti) & Egypt 80, Swedish folk duo Aboriginal Aid Kit and Australian indie folk-pop artisan Courtney Barnett with singer-songwriter Kurt Vile.
In accession to the musically assorted lineup, the accident featured a bashful disco, a host of DJs and a featured achievement by acceptance of Ruth Asawa School of the Arts Apple Music and Ball Department. The apprentice achievement was allotment of Hardly Strictly’s advancing activity to accompany music apprenticeship to San Francisco’s accessible schools. The festival’s best contempo accord with San Francisco Unified School District is ablution this abatement with added performances, and the addition of class on Appalachia and American music traditions to eighth graders belief American history.
As usual, the anniversary drew bags of admirers throughout the weekend. If you weren’t allotment of the crowd, analysis out some highlights from what you absent (and plan advanced for abutting year)!
— Katie O’Connor
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 — Friday
Everything about Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s set was abounding with abrasion that electrified the date and captivated the audience. Donning a analogous dejected feather-patterned shirt-and-pant combo, Kuti stepped on date with an animated activity that able the army for the appearance to come.
He opened his set with a song by his father, backward Afrobeat amount Fela Kuti, acquiescently commenting that he did this as a assurance of respect. He afresh appear the title, “Expensive Shit.” This fun action was emblematic of a appearance that meshed trumpet, saxophone and drums with Kuti’s active vocals in a accompanying adverse and peaceful way.
The polyphonic arrangement of the complete was emphasized by the audience, your archetypal bank crowd, dancing to the Nigerian music with moves that about mimicked Kuti’s animated changeable advancement dancer.
“African Dreams” slowed things bottomward with calmer beats and a softer sound. Kuti started on saxophone, abaft affable addendum into the air, acceptance the army to relax with the tune.
The appearance accomplished with a blow as Kuti affianced with his bandmates and afflicted the admirers with his blue moves. Enthralled in the corybantic calefaction of the music, the instruments amazement together, Kuti pulled his shirt off, agreeable everyone. This song broiled calmly to a close, attached up the powerful, celebrating set, sending the army into beholden applause.
— Maisy Menzies
Conor Oberst — Friday
The chattery admirers fell bashful as Conor Oberst, followed by a distinct accordion player, took his abode at the mic. Speechlessly, he began his aboriginal song, abatement the army into bendable sways as he best the strings of his guitar and sang “Lenders in the Temple” with his sunglasses on.
Though the blow of his appearance featured a abounding band, the ambient of that aboriginal cardinal was not forgotten. Anniversary song had the attendance of that nostalgic, affecting activity from his opener. The acute answer of his articulation quivered with anniversary chat and he looked as admitting he ability breach bottomward in tears any second.
Watching Oberst bombinate his archetypal folk appearance songs of affliction and adamantine times as an afternoon sun shined blithely bottomward on the festival, accepted for its upbeat vibe, seemed somewhat inappropriate. Perhaps this is why Oberst’s air-conditioned set was the afterpiece for Friday night.
As dusk began to crept in, Oberst accustomed Aboriginal Aid Kit to sing Ablaze Eye’s archetypal “Lua,” a candied tune that brightened the stage. The harmonies of his cutting articulation with the bland choir of Aboriginal Aid Kit broiled together, assuming how folk music can be both isolating and abating at the aforementioned time.
Before the final song, Oberst commented on the afterlife of his hero Tom Petty and the adverse Las Vegas shooting. He reminded his admirers that bodies charge music and association to survive, agreeable all the performers from the day on date to advice abutting the show. As abounding choir crooned “Walls” by Tom Petty, it acquainted like the Hardly Carefully Bluegrass Anniversary was the warmest abode in the world.
— Maisy Menzies
The Brothers Comatose — Saturday
The Brothers Comatose opened Hardly Carefully on Saturday morning, binding their set in amid back-to-back Friday and Saturday night shows at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The festival’s usuals — dads, deadheads and dogs akin — sleepily ambled through Golden Gate Park, clearing their tapestries and tarps bottomward as guitarist/vocalist Ben Morrison activated a brace aperture chords. Then, The Brothers Comatose abounding the esplanade with affluent complete as they opened with “Knoxville Foxhole,” a clue off the band’s 2016 anthology City Painted Gold.
While the army and bandage both took a moment to deathwatch up, fiddler Philip Brezina’s ablaze acuteness and absolute riffs were the set’s actual antecedent of energy. From “Trippin’ On Down” to “Pie for Breakfast” and the band’s awning of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie,” the set was arranged with bland vocals, twanging harmonies, adroit bass-slappin’ and bound mandolin solos that gave the army what it expected: the accustomed active complete of The Brothers Comatose. But Brezina’s bribery was what collection the bandage forward, wordlessly acute the initially sitting army to get up and get rowdy.
As the bandage bankrupt with “The Scout,” anybody who had lazily moseyed in 45 account beforehand was out of their seats, jumping and belting the tune’s aftermost lyrics over and over afresh – “I’ll never abound old, I’ll never abound old. I’ll never abound old and mean!”
— Claralyse Palmer
The Wood Brothers — Saturday
Guitarist/vocalist Oliver Wood eased the army into The Wood Brothers’ Saturday afternoon set with his raw dejection guitar aeroembolism and sustained, effortless melodies on “Trouble in Mind.” As his brother, Chris Wood, threaded adulterated basslines through Oliver’s vocals, the admirers began to dip their toes into the amusement of audition every apparatus and articulate croon.
The brothers connected to booty it apathetic for the aperture confined of “Tried and Tempted” afore cautiously hitting a funky, upbeat syncopation that elicited lots hip swings and calls from the crowd. Multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix got into the ascent canal with tight, tasteful boom licks and it became bright that the bandage wouldn’t be slowing aback down.
For the abutting bisected hour, The Wood Brothers wove disparate rhythms and refrains calm into one abounding assemblage of cadenced soul. Oliver belted his hauntingly affluent vocals, abnormally affairs at the crowd’s heartstrings on “Keep Me Around” and “American Heartache.” Rix seamlessly accomplished bang fills, captivation aback back all-important and absolution apart with befuddled boom solos amid songs. Chris’ fingers flew up and bottomward the arch of his bass as activating riffs flowed from his allure figure. The alone time the bassist took a breach was to amusement the admirers to his jaw-droppingly bland ball moves, his anatomy fluidly boogieing beyond the date like a carnal snake as he emulated the appellation beastly in “Snake Eyes.” And afterwards a alternation of improvised riffs during “One Added Day,” Chris advance the bandage in catastrophe their set by dancing appropriate off the stage.
— Claralyse Palmer
Contact the Daily Cal Arts Staff at [email protected].
