Next weekend, Montage Mountain will be a music lover's paradise when the Peach Music Festival rolls into town for three days' worth of good tunes and good vibes.
The festival, presented by iconic Southern rockers the Allman Brothers Band, will be held Friday, Aug. 10, to Sunday, Aug. 12, on multiple stages throughout Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain and Sno Mountain Ski Area & Water Park.
Besides the Allmans, who will co-headline the festival's first two days, the eclectic lineup includes country superstars Zac Brown Band and jam band stalwarts O.A.R., as well as the Warren Haynes Band (fronted by Mr. Haynes, the Allmans' co-lead guitarist), Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Blind Boys of Alabama and The Wailers. There also will be a few local acts, among them MiZ and Cabinet.
The multi-day format is something new for the amphitheater, which is giving festival-goers the opportunity to camp on the ski area grounds. Other accommodations will include a lodge, general store and showers.
The Allmans have a close relationship with Toyota Pavilion concert promoter Live Nation, and earlier this year, the two entities decided to join forces for a Northeast event similar to the annual Wanee Festival in Live Oak, Fla., which the Allmans have performed at for the past few years.
Toyota Pavilion ultimately was chosen because of its scenic mountain setting, according to Toyota Pavilion general manager Jason Resetar. He's expecting about 12,000 fans on each of the festival's first two days and slightly less on the pared-down final day. Of those, about 3,000 will be camping, he said.
"It's been a lot of work, but I'm really looking forward to it," Mr. Resetar said. "It's going to be a huge feather in our cap."
"It'll be great to see what's happening in Scranton," said Jaimoe, who along with Butch Trucks has been drumming for the Allmans since the band's inception in the late 1960s.
Jaimoe's other band, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band, also will be performing a set at the festival. Pretty much everyone in the Allmans has a side project these days. It keeps them engaged and enthused about trying new things when they get back together to tour, he said.
"When you come together as the Allmans, there's all these different approaches to songs. It's pretty exciting," said Jaimoe, whose real name is Jai Johanny Johanson.
Known for their unique amalgamation of rock, blues, country and jazz, the Allmans have long been considered one of the forerunners of the jam band movement, thanks to the intricate improvisations that punctuate their live shows, most notably on the iconic "Mountain Jam," which can last upwards of a half hour.
That sort of playing requires significant chops, and Jaimoe, who spent time playing for iconic R&B singer Otis Redding before joining the Allmans, traces his skills back to his days in his high school's marching band. "I'm constantly saying to kids, 'You wanna learn how to play, play in the school band, so you have some idea about what you're supposed to be doing,'" he said.
Strong influence
Plenty of contemporary bands have been influenced by the Allmans, including O.A.R. Occasionally, the band's shows come with a cover of the all-time Allmans favorite, "Melissa."
"Our saxophone player (Jerry DePizzo), he's a huge Allmans fan," said O.A.R. drummer Chris Culos. "The riffs they've done, the guitar tones, that vibe they have, just, there's something there that people react to."
Known for their huge cult fan base and songs like "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker" and "Shattered (Turn the Car Around)," the members of O.A.R. have long had a soft spot for festivals, Mr. Culos said. For one thing, it's a great opportunity to expose their music to non-fans.
"We take into consideration that there's people who haven't necessarily heard of the band before. So we'll play some songs they might know," he said.
It's also nice because they get to see and hang out with a lot of bands they really love, some of whom they've collaborated with, like Robert Randolph & The Family Band and The Wailers.
Like the Allmans, O.A.R. is renown for its improvising, which stems back to its members' beginnings as high schoolers in Maryland. For them, though, it was more a matter of necessity than musical virtuosity, Mr. Culos said with a laugh.
"When we first started out, we would play a lot of house parties," he said. "We'd be in a guy's backyard, and we'd have four hours to play. We'd have 10 songs, so, by default, we stretched things out."
People loved the jamming, though, so they kept at it during their years at Ohio State University. Through word-of-mouth, their following organically grew and grew and grew, to the point where they sold out large venues before even signing with a major label.
Today's O.A.R. shows are "hits mixed with the improvisational stuff," Mr. Culos said.
"We like set lists, but we don't necessarily stick to them all the time," he said. "It all kind of comes from people wanting to come and see O.A.R. many times over and over again. How can we present these songs differently for them night after night?
"We just want to give people what they came for."
Contact the writer: jmcauliffe@timesshamrock.com
Peach Music Festival Lineup
Headliners are listed first:
Friday, Aug. 10 (music begins at 4 p.m.): Zac Brown Band, Allman Brothers Band, Warren Haynes Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Blackberry Smoke, Trigger Hippy, Ivan Neville's Dumpsta-phunk, Cabinet and 61 North
Saturday, Aug. 11 (music begins at noon): Allman Brothers Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, O.A.R., The Wailers, Rebelution, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band, Railroad Earth, Toubab Krewe, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, JD & The Straight Shot, Grimace Federation, Tauk and MiZ
Sunday, Aug. 12 (music begins at 12:30 p.m.): Wake Up With Warren (Warren Haynes solo acoustic), Robert Randolph & The Family Band and Blind Boys of Alabama
If you go
What: Peach Music Festival, presented by the Allman Brothers Band
Where: Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain and Sno Mountain Ski Area & Water Park
When: Friday, Aug. 10, to Sunday, Aug. 12
Details: Three-day passes are $225 to $450 and one-day passes are $60 to $150. Camping passes are $35, while RV passes are $100. Tickets are available at LiveNation.com, the Toyota Pavilion box office and by phone at 800-745-3000.
For more information: Visit thepeachmusicfestival.com.
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