Headstash

July 14-17 – Marvin's Mountaintop – Masontown, WV
15th year – Estimated attendance: 25,000

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One word: gorgeous. Hot enough in the afternoon to bring about beads of sweat and require some some sunscreen above SPF 15, but that's to be expected in the heart of July. Plus there was not a drop of rain all weekend. Perfect weather for a festival.

Brandon Chiat's Five Highlights

Beats Antique - Photo Credit: Brian Hockensmith

Galactic reprising Led Zeppelin’s “How Many More Times?” I first reviewed this stellar cover when I saw Galactic play it at The Hangout back in May. I have to say, covering Zep takes moxie. Covering them well takes skill. And better still, covering them uniquely takes musical self-awareness. Galactic possessed all three and then some to bang out one of the best single songs of the weekend.

Umphrey’s McGee’s cover of “Tom Sawyer.” Paying tribute to Rush was an unconventional and surprising way to close out their set with tremendous energy.

Umphrey’s McGee’s encore cover of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.” Brendan Bayliss’ vocals were stellar – absolutely pitch perfect. It was as if the King of Pop himself was singing from beyond the grave. Hey, stranger things have happened – All Good gets weird sometimes. It was made even more special with the addition of a horn section made up of Dom Lalli and Jennifer Hartswick.

Yonder Mountain String Band’s afternoon set. Yonder brought tremendous enthusiasm and energy to a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon. Their classic “Two Hits and the Joint Turned Brown” was a treat.

John Butler’s solo performance of “Ocean.” John Butler is a deeply talented guitarist, one who balances raw ability with lush emotions. Despite performing “Ocean” alone, his playing came across as sincere and honest.

Hannah Epstein's Five Highlights

The fireworks. After Furthur’s show on Friday night and Primus’ on Saturday, the beautiful West Virginia sky lit up with grand fireworks that brought the crowd to their feet with applause. All Good certainly prides themselves on a visual as well as auditory experience, and the fireworks combined with the exceptional stage lighting created a magical atmosphere.  Fireworks inspire childhood wonder in all of us, and as the 20,000 plus music fans looked up to the night sky, All Good truly came together.

Marco Benevento. While some bands use the organ as a color to the sound of the band, keyboardist Marco Benevento makes it the centerpiece of his compositions and performances. Sitting perpendicular to the stage, Benevento truly rocked out in the style of Little Richard – pulsing and rocking to the music he was playing. Not only is he an amazing pianist, Benevento writes creative and unique songs that stood out amongst lesser groups that played on the Crane Stage.

The Shade Tent. With the temperature in the high 80s and the sun beating down on the hill all day, The Shade Tent provided an amazing respite for the audience.

Furthur. It sounds clichéd, but hearing the band that started it all at a festival inspired by the Grateful Dead themselves was such a magical moment. Despite starting their set 45 minutes late, Furthur played with such passion and love of the music. With Phil Lesh and Bob Weir leading the ensemble, we were once again reminded what brings us all together and the sheer beauty of jam band music.

Camping. Fans from all over America, with different political and social beliefs, come together to celebrate the music that we all love at All Good. This is most evident not during the performances, but in the morning at the campsites. Everyone lines up politely for coffee, offers neighbors pancakes and a light and regales their friends with tales of their wild nights, all while sharing in the communal festival atmosphere.

Nick Rhodes' Five Highlights

Primus - Photo Credit: Brian Hockensmith

STS9 “Circus” opener. Evoking memories of Rothbury 2009, STS9 opened with one of the most beautiful songs in their catalog. It starts off slow and ethereal and builds momentum quickly to become an uplifting, anthemic tune bound to force a smile onto your face.

Umphrey’s McGee’s covers. The virtuosity of the members of Umphrey’s is never more present than when they play the songs made famous by other bands. Rush and Michael Jackson were great choices and the crowd responded with raucous applause.

Big Gigantic. After hours of chilling on the hill, listening to the dulcet tones of Warren Haynes and Furthur, the crowd needed some electro to get them back in the groove. Despite a few technical difficulties, Dom Lalli and Jeremy Salken laid it down think and to that point had the crowd moving more than any prior act. In just a few years, the Boulder, Colorado duo has really become a festival staple. If they’re not on the bill, you know you’re missing out.

moe. Though their set was spacey, moe. set the tone for a wild evening with some old-favorites and their unique brand of uniquely goofy yet catchy songs.

Brandon: Furthur’s lack of cohesiveness was disappointing to say the least. Weir and Lesh seemed to lose each other in the jams, struggling to hit key timing points. The Dead’s signature noodling style went awry although their vocals were incredible.

Hannah: Primus’ incredibly wacky music was difficult to swallow unless you were in the mood for a little psychedelia The stage, replete with giant astronauts with TV heads, was a little bit disturbing and the music was scattered and chaotic.

Nick: Furthur was a bit too low-energy for their set time. It would have been nice to let them play earlier and give a band like Galactic a later time slot.

Chris Kuroda in the house. All Good confirmed that Phish’s legendary lighting guru was on-site for the weekend and had some involvement with the lighting. His signature lighting textures could be noticed during Furthur, Umphrey’s McGee’s and moe.’s sets. Though it’s still a mystery what his role exactly was.

Warren Haynes’ spotlighted during Furthur’s first set. Not so surprising that the grizzled front man appeared on stage with the aging jam-legends – Haynes lives for on-stage collaborations and played with The Dead for years. What was more surprising was how he completely transformed Furthur’s outfit while on stage. He assumed the lead both in vocals and creative guitar playing. He truly shined on “Turn On Your Lovelight,” delivering powerful, soul-stirring vocals and searing guitar licks.

New sound towers. The sound towers segregated the crowd and created some blind spots but helped improve the overall sound higher on the hill.

Water, water everywhere. There was so much more water this year with giant tanks at the campsites and in the festival area.  What a delight to be satiated all day long with both music and nutrition.

It’s a small world. It never ceases to amaze me just how easy it is to bump into people you know. I saw friends that I didn’t even know were there just by turning around at an opportune moment.  This is truly one of the most auspicious things about All Good.

Buddha. The Buddhist statue present when walking into the main stage area was a beautiful addition to the architecture of the festival.  At night, when the Buddha was lit with different colors, I actually felt fortunate to be at such a special festival.

John Butler Trio and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. So often, once the sun goes down electronic music dominates. I wasn’t sure how these artists would fare in their late-night spots and I was, quite frankly, pleasantly surprised. They more than held their own for the organic musicians and made for great nights.

Space. Despite being so crowded and having no overlapping sets, I never felt crammed from various vantage points on the hill. Sure, the pit was pretty wild, but there was more than enough room for everyone to get down and not continually bump into other people.

Pretty Lights. Obviously my number one highlight but still surprising nonetheless. I’ve seen Derek perform before but never in this bombastic style. And his light set-up was the best visual presentation of the weekend as well Just superb.

As usual, All Good was comprised just as much of young, rage-oriented twenty-something’s as it was of the old-guard – the Dead Heads trying to relive the past glories through the chronic energy of Phil Lesh and Bob Weir.

The family vibe was out in full force as family-oriented patriarchs and matriarchs shared their passion for live music and festival communities with their young children.

Overall, everyone was incredibly friendly and the aural and visual pleasures were plentiful all weekend.

“See kids, this shirt was first sold when I was on tour!” – A Grateful Dad and his children browsing the selection of Grateful Dead memorabilia in the Sunshine Octopus vendor booth.

“Yeah, Furthur is good and all . . . but I just want Phish.” – A shaggy-haired Trey Anastasio fan-boy.

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Check out links to all our coverage of All Good in our 2011 Festival Guide.

What did you think of All Good 2011? Highlights, lowlights and surprises. Let us know in the comments below.