Mountain Jam Madness
On the first weekend in June, jammers hit Hunter Mountain in upstate New York to connect with friends and enjoy four days of music at Mountain Jam. This year the festival was celebrating its 11th year on the mountain, and it was its biggest yet. With over 50 bands playing across three stages, there was never a dull moment.
The party started on Thursday with Cabinet, Train plays Led Zeppelin II and double sets of a Marco Benevento tribute to David Bowie and Umphrey’s McGee. This was a great way to kick off the weekend; the festival was still filling in, so there was ample dancing room, and fans were easily able to get to the front of the crowd when desired. Friday included a rainy set with Nahko and Medicine for the People, followed by a sunny, dance-filled Turkuaz set on the Valley Stage. Heavy hitters Jason Isbell, Wilco and Gov’t Mule graced the Mountain Stage leading into the late night set with The New Mastersounds at Healy Brother’s Hall.
On Saturday Live for Live Music hosted a movie screening of Lettuce’s documentary “Let Us Play,” followed by a Q&A with band members and L4LM founder Kunj Shah. A slight schedule change due to a cancellation by Gary Clark Jr. moved The Record Company to play one of their biggest gigs of all time on the Mountain Stage at 4 pm. They closed with their radio hit “Off the Ground” and had the crowd dancing and singing along. Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes played his own impromptu solo acoustic set at the main stage to cover the time gap, leaving fans in a highly emotional state. Dubbed one of the “best bands of all time” by Radio Woodstock, Lettuce played the Valley stage for their first of two sets for the weekend, bringing the funk to the mountain. Saturday’s sunset set was played by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, getting the audience off their feet and dancing. They closed with their single “SOB,” leading the audience into a sing-along with “Son of a b*#@!, give me a drink!” and closing out with a PSA encouraging all to vote for Bernie Sanders. Beck had an extended set that night starting with “Devil’s Haircut” and “Loser,” and he teased in Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Thievery Corporation held the late-night spot on the main stage, followed by Lettuce’s second set at Healy Brother’s Hall to close out an epic day and night of music.
A short and sweet Sunday started with a Michael Franti yoga class, followed by his set on the main stage. With severe weather approaching, Mountain Jam was forced to cancel the festival that afternoon but left some lucky fans with an exclusive Avett Brothers set in Healy Hall. Ending the weekend on the right foot, Mountain Jam is offering partial refunds for Sunday; information about qualifying tickets and how to get your refund can be found at their website; we applaud the festival for doing the right thing by keeping their attendees and artists out of harm’s way and making sure they didn’t pay for something they didn’t get.
Written By: Kristina Rusch