4Peaks 2021 Music Report

I would have collapsed my thoughts on the music into my prior post about the festival itself, but it got super-long. So, here's the music "review".

Stages

The small stage was smaller than prior years. It wasn't even really a stage as much as a 10x10 canopy set up next to the main stage, but behind the bicycle barriers. Unless you were way up front, you could not really see. In prior years, the small stage was set up inside a large tent, so folks had a place in the shade. No public shade this year.

The main stage, however, was a fancied-up semi-trailer flatbed. It was probably the same stage they had used in prior years. In 2019, 4Peaks commissioned artist Ryan Kerrigan to create the side tapestries, and they were reused. We talked with Ryan a bit and he figures they will probably use them for years. The backdrop was the familiar sheer with the 4Peaks logo in the center. The main speakers for the main stage ran along the bottom of the stage, pushing some solid mix all weekend.

In the past, I would describe the band's sound and then explain whether I would go see them again. This usually takes the form of "I would stay at my bar if they showed up" or something like that. To abbreviate the post, because it got really long, I will shorten those statements into a number 1-5:

1 - if (artist) arrived to perform at a place I was all set up for the night, I would leave

2 - if (artist) showed up to play, I would pay my bill and prepare to leave to monitor improvement

3 - if (artist) showed up, that's fine, but I'm not looking for them

4 - I will pay attention to when they are playing in town and go if I can

5 - I will look for this artist, add them to my instagram and jambase feeds, etc

Thursday

The music started late afternoon on Thursday, leveraging only the small stage. 

Blackstrap Bluegrass - basic bluegrass from Bend with pitchy vocals. 3

Scott Pemberton Band

Maxwell Friedman Group - great, solid R&B with hat-tips to jazz. Covered Herby Hancock and nailed it. Definitely work seeing Max Friedman with his group or sitting in with another group. We've seen him sit in with lots of artists over the years and while he is only 17, his growth has been incredible. 5

Elektrapod - wow. simply wow. Max Friedman sat in on keyboards and his solo's were just incredible. I think even he got swept up into it, getting lost in the groove and just pounding us. They introduced their new vocalist (Sara Clark) and she was just amazing, taking them to another level. This closer was our festival highlight, and, obviously, we would see Elektrapod again. 5

Friday

Friday and Saturday, the music shifted from main stage to small stage back to main stage, starting on the main stage. Boo concluded that the started on the main stage Friday morning so they could work out the kinks and set the levels with the first band so the rest of the day went smoothly. Since the alternative would have been to work out the kinks during the second act of the day, her logic seems pretty solid.

Stillhouse Junkies - first band on the main stage, and they were good. Solid fiddle, versatile, playing lots of uncommon songs in a bluegrass style. For example, they closed their set with "Heat of the Moment" by Asia. We heard this band while cleaning up morning dishes. 3

Fair Trade Boogie Band - really really good local Bend product that absolutely did not sound like they had only been working together for months. This band started what I called "the day of the bassman" where practically every band had a bass player who laid down grooves, forcing hips to dance. 4

Scott Pemberton Band - these guys were on my want to see live list. They were slotted in the early afternoon, so the bowl was pretty empty when they started. It wasn't by the time they were done. These guys rocked. They rocked hard. Great guitar and bass work. Scott doesn't use a guitar strap for what looks like a Gibson (read: heavy guitar) so he can wield it like a traditional guitar or lay it down on a bench and play it like a dulcimer or slide/steel guitar. I had high expectations for these guys and they delivered. 4

Western Centuries - Country mostly, and sorry-to-say, kind of forgettable. Fairly good, but nothing jumped out as special. We were getting lunch at the bus while they played, so it could have just been bad timing. 2

TK and the Holy
Know-Nothings

TK and the Holy Know-Nothings - Like Scott Pemberton, these guys were on my see-them-live list and high-expectations list. They were basically the happy-hour act, so the crowd was fairly sizeable. Boo and I found a spot where we were surrounded by abandoned low-back chairs so we were CoViD-safe, yet we were straight-on the stage. These guys are pro's, and should be touring beyond the Pacific Northwest. The lyrics tell stories, and are delivered with passion. The musicians are all multi-instrumentalists, providing whatever instrument the song calls for, even if that means the lead guitarist plays bass while the bassist and keyboardist create a horn section. These guys are so good, they are an absolute must-see and I will definitely follow them. 5

Ron Artiss II - Mellow R&B / blues with some tasty guitar that reminded me of Robert Cray. Boo and I were walking the perimeter of the festival during this set, so we didn't hear much of it with any focus. 3

Hot Buttered Rum - The Friday night closer, these guys were a mashup of Greensky Bluegrass and Little Feat. They are very skilled musicians, and the zydeco rhythms against traditional bluegrass instrumentation was really fun.... and complicated. 3

Saturday

Saturday, the music shifted from main to side to main stages again, starting with Stephanie Anne Johnson and the Hidogs on the main stage.

Stephanie Anne Johnson and the Hidogs - 3-piece including the vocalist (Stephanie) playing rhythm guitar, which meant any instrumental solo's were on the bass. He nailed it, though. Stephanie has a great voice that is clear and powerful through her range. She writes their material, so it is catered to her. The songs are short, but have good stories within them. Given the right lead guitarist, this group could be amazing; they are already really good. 4

Band of Comerados - these guys played at the unofficial GoWesty stage in 2019, and we watched the video filming from about 20 feet away. While the instrumentation might imply bluegrass, they are not a bluegrass band. They are more of a singer-songwriter vibe with finger-picking solos. 3

Sweet Lilies - there were nice harmonies, when they happened. Unfortunately, this group was all over the place genre-wise, doing rap tunes (Insane in the Membrane cover?), but not doing them terribly well. Other than odd rap covers, they mixed in slow ballads. They are either changing musical direction or just confused. As an audience member, I was the latter. 1

Todd Sheaffer - One of the original members of Rail Road Earth, there were some expectations about how he would appear on a bill that just had his name on it. He did not pull a Jerry Garcia and appear with a band. Instead, he played a series of slow, mellow songs on an acoustic guitar. He's good, but he put us all to sleep. Maybe it was the mid-afternoon sun, but I think it was the music. 2

Proxima Parada

Proxima Parada - From San Luis Obispo, these guys are all about the vibe. They lay down a pretty good groove, and create this mid-CA coast mellow that reminded me of My Morning Jacket. They got a little metaphysical odd, doing a long experimental space jam about "resilience" and another about "vulnerability". I think if they focused on the love-groovy they started with, they would have been the surprise of the festival as Stacy expected them to be. 2

Coral Creek String Band - Did you guess bluegrass from the name? Winner, but they were more country (no banjo nor mandolin). They did a version of Pink Floyd's "Breathe" that was pretty amazing. 3

New Monsoon - This was the final band on my wanna-see-them-live list for 4Peaks, and they were the last band to play the main stage. Unfortunately, New Monsoon was on everyone's wanna-see-them-live list, so the concert bowl was packed. Boo and I got as far as the space between 2 vendors and realized there was nowhere that was 2 meters from others. So, we listened in the greenspace between the venue and the camping. These guys were as good as billed. Definitely professionals laying down some classic jam-band vibe with some Rail Road Earth jammy bluegrass mixed in. They closed their set with a cover of The Who's Eminence Front that was really really good. 4

That's it for the "mini" 4Peaks Music Festival reports. We had a great time. We got more rest than folks really should get at a music festival, but that's how we fest... we don't call them "restivals" for nothing. Anyway, thanks, as always, for following along. I realize that my taste in music is just that and there are other audience members who have vastly different feelings about some of these artists. That's great, and that is what makes 4Peaks so right. There really is something in the performance music space for most people there.

As always, thanks for following along, and more next time-

4Peaks 2021 Festival Report

In my last post, I described the adventure of getting to and from 4Peaks 2021. Today's post is about the festival itself. I had intended to also include my thoughts on the bands, but this got super-long, so I will post on that later on.

CoViD Fears

My first reaction to learning that 4Peaks Music Festival was going to happen was probably very similar to your reaction when you read that. I went: "WHAAATT?!?!" or "that sounds like a super-spreader event to me". In the days leading up to the opening day, I hit the CDC website multiple times a day to see what the delta-variant growth curves looked like, and then the Oregon Health Authority to see if there were any new county or state level mandates. As the country slowly turned red on the CDC map indicating community transmission was very high, no new state nor county mandates came out after the indoor mask requirement released on 13-August. We were prepared to abort our trip as we were leaving town, considering places we could camp instead if the festival was cancelled upon our arrival. Boo and I expected to spend most of our 4Peaks time at the bus, avoiding sharing any close space with others.

Pandemic Influenced 4Peaks

rare pic of me

We were very curious about how 4Peaks would change their set up to keep things safe. I should probably start with how they referred to the festival as "Mini Peaks", and the steps they took reflect that different thinking. First, they radically reduced the number of tickets made available. Most years, there are a few thousand people. This year, they sold 500 tickets and not all of the tickets were presented at the gate. As of Friday morning, you could get a ticket for free through FB. In prior years, there was a "Kidlandia" space for the kids to have a 4Peaks day-camp kind of thing with art, activities and performance artists. This year, there was no kid-specific program; in fact, there were very few kids at all. They omitted the "silent disco" at night, the tent for the smaller stage, all indoor vendor space and even the overhead sails. As a result, there were no public shaded spaces. They also shortened the festival by a day, removing all programs from Sunday. Last, there was no grand entrance for the concert bowl, making the entire ranch "the venue". While this could have lead to rowdy behavior throughout, I found the opposite to be true: the camping area was more mellow than prior years. Boo and I did not really experience the food and drink vendors, but I understand that they would not refill cups out of CoViD safety.

For our part, Boo and I approached even the more-safe festival in a reserved way. I previewed all of the bands, and selected 4 that we would try to see in person and another 4 on a slighlty lower tier that would be on an alternate / depends-on-safety list. Then, when the schedule was released, we adjusted plans to avoid opportunities to be in a large crowd. For example, we caught the early bands of the day on Friday and Saturday when no one else was in the concert bowl: super safe, and included one band from each of the 2 lists: Stephanie Anne Johnson/HiDogs and the Fair Trade Boogie Band, respectively. Two of the bands on the first list played opening (Thursday) night. Opening night is always light at the stage, so we could see Maxwell Friedman Group and Elektrapod within the bowl without being within 2 meters of others. In contrast, the biggest names closed the large stage on Friday and Saturday: Hot Buttered Rum and New Monsoon respectively. For those acts, we did not go near the concert bowl: way too crowded, too intoxicated and too unmasked.

Yoga

Boo and Hapy

In more contrast to prior years, this year Boo and I did the 1-hour under-the-open-sky yoga on Friday and Saturday morning. It was really good, helping to work out the kinks from sleeping in the bus in 7*C (mid-40*F) overnight temps. There were probably about 50 fellow yogi's both days (some different, some of the same faces). I was one of probably 5 men, which was totally fine, but does make me think that for a single person seeking a female companion, s/he could probably not find a better place than a yoga class to find a centered female who is taking their emotional, spiritual and physical health seriously. Boo and I both found the overall festival very therapeutic and I believe that started with the yoga. In an aside, I started doing yoga for exercise when CoViD19 closed my gym, and even now, after my gym is open and charging me every month, I would rather do yoga at home (GymRa.com) than push weights in a public, enclosed gym. I am in the best shape, my most limber, of my life and that is from almost-daily yoga. Could not recommend adopting this practice more.

Camping

Regardless of which bands we went to go see, our camping spot was 50 feet from the main entrance to the concert bowl / vendor area, and almost straight-from-stage. As a result of our location, we could clearly hear the low end, and most of the high end coming from the stage. We could understand the announcements from the stage, and even make out the vocals from bands who had a clean sound. Some of the mid-range was lost, but that was a small price to pay for being safer.

The location for 4Peaks was the same as the last few years, but the venue was oriented very differently. The stages were in an area which was usually blocked off, and the usual camping area was blocked off this time. Instead of camping on angled desert scrub, many of us were on mostly flat, soft green grass. Hapy was set up near the RV's (where we were directed), on a corner next to one of the water stations so there were many passersby.

We laid out the large carpet, set up the lot couch, the kitchen, the canopy, the solar collector and Boo's shower (See Camp Shower). Of all the things that drew attention, it was the shower that drew folks over to learn the what's and how's: from the dollar store, get one kiddie pool, one hula-hoop, 2 shower curtains and 2 sets of curtain rings: $6US and you have a shower stall. Add a solar water heater (a black bag with a shower hose and nozzle attached to it) and you have a shower.

The Zamp solar collector connection to the luxury battery worked flawlessly, keeping our cabin and under-canopy lights running at night and all of our devices charged all weekend. We were able to offer charging service to folks, and play our stereo before the stages got going in the morning.. and by late morning the battery was fully charged again. Love that desert sun. I was unable to get the furnace to fire up, however. The initial draw for the glow-plug is just too high for a deep-cycle battery to support. I will have to integrate a typical car battery and figure out a switchable in-series path so I can add that battery just for the initial startup of the furnace. Something to let the back of my mind work on.

Meeting People

We have always made new friends at 4Peaks, and this year was no different. As I indicated above, our designated camping spot was right next to the area water supply. So, anytime someone in the general area needed water, there was an opportunity for a "hey neighbor" connection. Since we spent so much time away from the crowd in the bowl, we met and got to know a lot of our neighbors, like "the Brothers" (Glenn and Jimmy L-to-R) pictured here who had the camping spot behind us.

"the brothers"

We met many people who had also been going to 4Peaks for years, meeting only one person for whom this 4Peaks experience was their first. I imagine those who made it were the folks who were paying attention (since tickets sold out so fast) and who made 4Peaks a priority over the years. As a result, the folks we connected with were pretty special. Often, our connections started the same way: with how we are all trying to avoid crowd contact, followed by a CoVax information exchange and then talking about whatever... the bands, camping, vendors, outfits, etc. After the first few statements, it was like any other festival exchange, except for the 2 meters of grass between us.

Unlike prior years, we were not doing shots, swigging wine with folks, or hanging out in each other's camping spaces. I imagine some attendees did that, but neither Boo and I nor any of our immediate neighbors were hosting folks within their canopies. 

Thanks Stacy

Hapy in lower left

Ultimately, Stacy and her staff did an amazing job of holding a (Mini) 4Peaks that resonated like the early years. It was stripped down. No Kidlandia, no silent disco, no national touring acts. It was a regional reflection of a festival while not feeling like it was in the middle of a pandemic.

Boo and I love 4Peaks, but there's no way to truly express it. Driving in through the gates, I felt tears of joy welling up. I watched someone fall into tears, and then into another's arms at the end of the second yoga session, moved by the words of gratitude expressed by the instructor: thanks simply for us all to have a forum, a place, for a few days to re-center, and remember how we choose to be. I will be watching for the pre-sale notice for 2022, ready to go again already. Hope to see you there with us.

That's it for now. Next weekend is Hapy's 50th Birthday; I'll post on that later on. Thanks, as always, for following along-

4Peaks 2021 Road Report

With CoViD-19 impacting all facets of life, it came as a surprise to me that the fine folks who run 4Peaks were going to hold a festival this summer. In March, they set the date in August, rather than their usual mid-June. At the time, it was reasonable to assume that the vaccinations and such would make for a safe-enough festival experience. I will post all about the festival itself later. Today is just about the getting there and getting home.

Getting Outta Dodge

As you've read before, Boo and I like to leave the night before the day we intend to arrive somewhere. This is especially true when driving Hapy. Boo took departure day off from work, so while I finished up project work for our days away, she got started on our departure preparation. The night before, I had pulled everything not bolted down out of the bus, and stacked our gear in the car canopy space. This made for an easier, and much earlier departure. One thing I forgot: my toolbox. Gulp.

Unlike pretty much every other exit from home, this time we left in daylight. We filled up with B20 at our usual filling station (30+mpg again) and hit the highway. I noticed along the way that the engine missed a few times, and that continued throughout the trip. In fact, there were times when Hapy laid down some black smoke, and even threw a code. I think it was the fuel since we did not have that experience during our round-trip to Leisureland a couple of weeks earlier. I will use standard dino-diesel for this next fill-up and see if the stumbling goes away. I have not had a bad tank of fuel from Sequential before, but after that bad fuel experience in 2019, I know the symptoms. This was similar, but not nearly as bad. I mentioned the wind sheer in my post about the drive to Leisureland. The passing trucks and crosswind were more noticeable south of Portland, before reaching the OR-22. As I drove, I thought about ways to remedy.

Dash Light

It had been a few weeks since the drive to Leisureland. Recall that I discovered that the dash light for the speedometer was not functioning. Well, after a few weeks passed, and all that daylight driving... I completely forgot about it. The dash light did not resolve itself. So, about the time I passed the correctional institute on OR-22 as it started to grow dark, I turned on the headlights and, again, the dash light did not illuminate. Unlike the drive down I-5 a few weeks earlier, this time, I was driving on a windy up-down state route. So, I could not just point the bus in the right direction, and mind my speed by watching my RPM's. Instead, I just drove slower. This, I am sure, infuriated the few other cars sharing the highway with me, but I decided that getting there was more important. Besides, there are passing lanes every few miles so any inconvenience by my speed was quickly resolved.

Getting to Bend

We arrived in Bend after 10, and headed for the WinCo. After our late-night dinner at the WinCo on our way south to Eugene a couple of weeks earlier, it was just too easy. And funny. Again, the store had few fellow shoppers, and we grabbed a salad and a sandwich. We ate in the parking lot, and decided that this was where we needed to get groceries for the festival anyway, so we motored around to the rear of the store and vagabonded. We awoke before 8 the next morning and hit the WinCo for fest-food. We shared the store with a large group shopping for a camp. They literally had 20 shopping carts or more filled with food. One cart had just large flats of eggs. Fortunately, we checked out through a different line, but wow, that was something to behold.

We were still hours early for the opening gate, so we found and visited nearby Sawyer Park. We enjoyed a picnic lunch, and sat by the river for a few hours until it was entry-time. All of the pictures except the last one on this post were taken there. We followed the multiple turns to arrive at the festival grounds, surprised at how different everything looks after 2 years. We passed a new high school, through multiple new rotaries, and then the gates. We were waved through to possibly our best festival camping spot, at least since Chinook, where we had green grass underfoot and the music clearly reaching us from the stages.

From Bend to SkiBowl

4Peaks ended on Sunday without any morning events. This shortened the festival by many hours, and effectively encouraged everyone to leave earlier. Boo and I were no exception, being on the road home by 11. After the crosswind experience, we agreed that we wound try the OR-97 to OR-26 (north then west) route home instead of the usual OR-22 to I-5 (west then north). The departure from Bend was lovely, and we stopped at Quince Park in Redmond for a picnic lunch. There were a handful of young families enjoying the play structure while we used a stone picnic table. Then, we were back on the road north through Madras and on to Mt Hood.

This part of the trip was very similar to the last time we drove this way with GratefulEd in 2017 (See 4Peaks Road Report 2017) with several pull-overs to let Hapy cool down (his high temp only barely crossed 200* twice), and to let traffic pass. Unlike that trip in 2017, however, we were driving into a gusty off-center headwind that battered Hapy relentlessly. I found that I had to slow way down (under 40 mph) just so I could keep him predictably between the lines. So, our original reason for driving this route (less wind impact) was foiled.

The drive from Madras to Government Camp is 62 miles. For the first 40, it is open desert with little to buffer the wind, and only 1 lane traveling in each direction. The last third of the drive, however, is through increasingly dense forest, so the wind eased up, but the incline shifts from sporadic to constant. So, we pulled over a few times even after reaching the forest. By the time we reached Government Camp, I was ready to not be behind the wheel for a little bit. So, we stopped at SkiBowl and visited the spot where Boo and I spoke our wedding vows in the snow. It looks very different in the summer, with a stone patio and a big event tent in the area, but we used the location of the trees to guide us to the spot.

From SkiBowl Home

This last leg of our journey was the easiest. We pulled out of SkiBowl and continued west on US-26, but from Government Camp westward, it is all downhill. We pulled over in Sandy for a snack (in the bus), but otherwise drove without event. Hapy stayed cool, and there was no noticeable wind impact. We chose to avoid the interstates and took OR-212 to OR-224 into Milwaukie and then crossed the Willamette River over the Ross Island Bridge. Even crossing the bridge had less wind than the central Oregon desert had.

Ultimately, we arrived home before 6, stretching a 4 hour drive into 7. As much as I lament how hard the driving is in the wind, I will say this much: driving a bus in the wind forces you to be present like nothing else. Most folks, who are driving modern cars can afford to think about other things. No sooner do you leave somewhere then you are thinking of tomorrow or what you're going to eat for dinner or something. Not in Hapy, not in the wind, no way. You are extremely in the moment, twitching the steering wheel against the wind gusts, fighting the pitch, noting your speed, the engine temperature, the cars behind you, the cars coming at you... there is no tomorrow to think about; you need to survive this moment. So, for others, who left the festival, and were mentally in their old paths by the time they got home, I was very much in the same mental state as I was when I left the festival, albeit more tired.

Reflecting

I write all that down so that as I address the things that may be contributing to Hapy's handling, I will not forget the gift that these shortcomings provided: living in the moment... for hours. As I sit in reflection, I also recognize that this was another successful trip that did not include a flatbed towing us home. Consider too, this trip included no wrenching of any kind, no tweaks to any systems. In fact, this trip did not even include a tool box. 

As I try things to address the handling, I will post them here so others can follow. I do not intend to do anything before Hapy's birthday out of concern that he not be road-able for that. I might try adjusting his shock absorbers, but even then, I could break off a mounting stud and then he's stuck at home. As with all trips, there is a mental list of things I would like to look into, but handling needs to be first.

Thanks, as always, for following along. I will post about the festival and the music later-