All Good Festival 2006

Very little planning went into this trip. It was a spur of the moment decision that transpired due to Dave Brogan's advice one month prior. Therefore, Kate Madigan drove from Connecticut to Maryland and I drove the following three hours to West Virginia. It was an interesting ride, the first road trip made in my new Chevrolet Aveo name Arthur. We had to take an unpaved stone road up to the lovely Marvin's Mountain Top where Arthur would sit for three days. We quickly set up camp, and relaxed. Cracked a couple of beers and waited for people to walk by we knew. All Good is by far my most favorite festival. Smaller than most, larger than some. Two stages, practically next to each other so you never miss a gig. The stage in relation to the mountain provides great sound, making this festival louder than most. All Good Festival also has great pizza that is open all night, its fabulous! Friday was an exceptional evening! I introduced Kate to Southern Culture on the Skids and the Bridge. She took to the Bridge more kindly. We squeezed through to third row during Ween, who by the way have the most intense fan base! Ween was a great surprise to both of us. The first time either of us had seen Ween live, I totally dug. Afterward, we grooved to Trey and the Duo. The interactions between Marco Benevento and Trey were so incredibly enjoyable to watch. Marco looked like he was having the time of his life, which made the vibe of the show and the crowd full of excitement! The Bridge, my hometown band from Baltimore, had a hard act to follow in Trey and the Duo but they did it! Blaring out Rosalita, Beat Box and Feel the Rhythm. Friday night ended with a typical late night set from the Disco Biscuits, where they also played Astronaut. Saturday surely wouldn't disappoint with ultra sexy bands like Tea Leaf Green, ALO and Grace Potter taking the stage. Any who, truth be told, I had ulterior motives that made going to this festival an easy choice, I mean besides Trey and Ween of course. Four months earlier my pal Kate and I went to see Tea Leaf Green at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, New York. It was our first TLG show and we had quite the experience. We happened to meet the illusive Sauce who tour closer. We kindly agreed since we had been partying all evening and certainly were unable to drive the two hours back to St. Bonaventure safely. Long story short, I hung out with Sauce all evening into the wee hours of the morning laughing. That morning they flew back to San Fransisco and we drove back to SBU. Tea Leaf Green was playing at All Good so I decided to make a sign to get his attention. The sign did not get Sauce's attention because he wasn't there, but the boys in the band noticed, and Pineapple their sound engineer took my picture, word got back to Sauce and the rest there is history. Right after their show I ran into Betty, a groovy lady I had also met at the Buffalo show. She told us about Josh Clark's "Guitarmaggedon" at the Rope-a-Dope Stage with Steve from ALO and DJ Logic. We staggered over to that show, where Josh and I met up for a hot second before he took the stage. Afterwards, Betty, Pete (Betty's pal) and myself went for a little beer run. Kate went to see Galactic and the three of us went on an adventure. We happened to run into Trevor Garrod and this dredded chic Shara (who later would become a very good friend of mine) with whom we chatted and carried on. That evening ended with raging sets from the Black Crowes and Robert Randolph, followed by a late night set from The Greyboy Allstars. Early the next morning we bolted, leaving the lovely Marvin's Mountain Top and all its fabulous memories behind, including a piece of my car in a ditch that two trusting hippies said I could drive over... We capped the weekend off with a luscious stop at Panera that quickly made the memory of all the Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches disappear.