Way Over Yonder in Santa Monica

Way Over Yonder in Santa Monica

By Jake Tully

Day two of Santa Monica’s 2nd annual Way Over Yonder fest saw what may very well have been largest gathering of L.A. County’s finest folk and Americana music fans. Held in the same location on the Pier as the city’s famous Summer Twilight Series, Way Over Yonder is yet another entry on the ever-increasing small -scale festival experiments in the Greater Los Angeles area, as well as one of the most finely curated lineups of folk and alt-folk music in Southern California.

Initially, it seemed as though the crowd had little to-do with anything but headliner Jackson Browne. Abandoning stages for food trucks, arriving late to miss the opening acts and acting flippantly towards the talent earlier in the day, the primarily 50 plus crowd seemed oddly rowdy.

The Barr Brothers took the Main Stage first, a formidable act to put on the opening slot of the day. (Note: Though two stages were present, this reviewer spent the day at the Main Stage for purposes of primary festival coverage coupled with the fact that the Carousel stage was difficult to navigate and almost impossible to enter.) Highly touted as one of the premier forerunners of folk, the boys from Quebec proved with ease what all the hype is about.

To all 60 of the concert-goers that were enlightened enough to catch the Brothers Barr for the entirety of their set (more folks filtered over after they realized they ought to catch some music rather than fanning themselves while eating tacos and figuring out how to use their iPhones) the reward was a truly kick-ass show as well as the opportunity to catch a seminal early performance of a band we’ll be hearing from quite a bit in the near future.

Next up was The Lone Bellow, another perfectly wild bunch hailing from Brooklyn. After putting on an otherwise underwhelming performance at Outside Lands 2013 (Yours truly ate tacos and configured his phone during their set) it seems the band had all but entirely revamped their stage presence and had a much better toehold on the locus of performance.

It seemed as though most of the 20-somethings flocked to the stage for The Lone Bellow, while the familiarity to traditional folk became more apparent to the rest of the baby boomers et all. Performing songs from their debut LP as well as new material produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, the band seemed to focus less on getting the perfect set and more on hitting the right tone of performance.

After a day of snacking and packing the improper amount of food water, this reporter began to fade fast. Humbly asking the powers that be for either a pulled-pork sandwich or the next act to excite me so much that my hunger pangs dissipate, I leaned over the barricade into the pit and looked for spare crumbs.

Suddenly, as if Ronnie Hawkins himself answered my call, out came Jamestown Revival in all their glory. Though they had no sandwiches in hand, they did bring to the stage what was easily the most raucous set of Saturday. Between covering Creedence and inciting an all-out hootenanny on the Pier, Jamestown Revival seemed to draw the largest multi-generational crowd from girls in floppy felt hats that somehow knew every lyric to every song and the parents of said girls who were still confused as to why they hadn’t heard “Doctor My Eyes” yet.

Jamestown Revival had set the bar for energy for the rest of the night, even receiving a two-song extension on their set no doubt due in part to the crowd’s unabashed excitement. The band really brought it home, and helped in part to quell my stomach.

Chris Robinson Brotherhood graced the stage next, led by the former Black Crowes frontman Robinson himself. In what was the most psychedelic set of the night, CRB jammed on nearly every song, solicited Pigpen-esque keyboards, and otherwise put their listeners in a trance-like state with their “farm-to-table jams.” CRB proved that there’s clearly still a large following for the 90s-inspired jam bands, as did they lend themselves perfectly to the Allman and Dead concertgoers present on Saturday.

Chris Robinson Brotherhood ushered in the more apparent contemporary factor of the festival (though it seems odd to label jam bands contemporary, it’s getting to that point in time) and the Pier was now flooded with ticket holders who in reality came for the last three hours or so. Heartless Bastards were on deck, and the crowd was getting antsy.

Maintaining a front-row position throughout the night, it was difficult not to get elbowed out of the way by fans of Bastards and Browne. I held my spot despite people getting riled up at not getting their entitled front-row view, then again perhaps they should’ve camped out all day and forgone meals if they wanted to be on the barrier.

Nonetheless, Heartless Bastards came on after nearly ten minutes of technical difficulties backstage. This trend continued throughout the set, leaving both the crew and the band restless and somewhat angry while on stage. While it wasn’t a categorically bad performance, it was one nonetheless marred by issues with sound and mixing, leaving both the performers and the audience in a peculiar mood. Frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom seemed particularly upset by the state of affairs – rightfully so – and made no bones about it.

After Heartless Bastards had left the stage the excitement in the air was palpable – Jackson Browne was eminent. People around me discussed what songs Browne might have in his set, and for a singer-songwriter of his caliber, guessing is no easy matter. There are so many eras of Jackson Browne to sample, especially when one factors in the upcoming album he is currently promoting.

And then, like an enigma, Jackson Browne appeared throughout our collective storm of guessing. A man who seemingly hasn’t aged in decades, he casually sauntered out on the stage and began directly into “The Barricades of Heaven.” Having had the pleasure of seeing Jackson before, one thing holds true – he only seems to become more genial as time goes on.

Jackson’s voice is nearly identical to that of his 1972 self. He’s taken immaculate care of himself over the years, and it shows. Singing both tunes old and new (The infamous “These Days” and newly penned “Standing in the Breach”) it seemed as though Jackson could’ve ostensibly done anything and bowled Santa Monica over.

Browne asked the crowd, “Should I be playing all these new songs or should I play some of the old ones? You tell me.” The crowd gave an overwhelming response to his classic catalog to which Browne responded, “Ok, ok – but I gotta play some new ones first.”

Browne’s new material was well-received, much like the rest of body of work it fell into excellent song craft with a newly minted political acerbity.

When Browne’s set was nearing the end he polled the audience, “Can we skip with the artifice of an encore and instead of wasting time making me come back out can I just play two hits? That’s what I think we all want.” Browne proceeded to go into a rousing double-header of “Running on Empty” and “Take It Easy,” rounding out the night with crowd favorites.

If there was one outstanding moment of Way Over Yonder’s Day 2, it would be difficult to detect. The festival was a well-conceived and thoughtful tribute to folk festivals of times past, and hopefully will become a Santa Monica institution.

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