It’s Thursday August 13th, 2015 and I’m listening to a live set the Dead played 38 years ago. A set the Dead played 15 years before I was even born. Yet, on top of Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Dark Star Orchestra is replicating the April 27th, 1977 set so well the crowd only seems to be able to tell the difference between the two by sheer knowledge of the impossibility. And that’s just how the first night of Peach Music Fest went, and boy did it just get better and better from there.
The next day the fest started bright and early. With a water park featuring a handful of slides, a wave pool, and a lazy river to boot, you’re left with the options of dance or play with plenty of opportunities to do both. The water park was definitely a highlight of the festival. The unique blend of music and entertainment really stood out.
Cabinet, a band Peach was fully pushing this weekend with shows the first three days did not disappoint giving any fiddle band a run for their money. A few hours later, Trombone Shorty commanded the stage and brought that New Orleans sound to Scranton. These two were only the first of many courses on the day to lead us up to an unstoppable performance by Gregg Allman. (Groovy Funk Award goes to Holloway & Kadlecik Project for having the song of the day with their closing cover of After Midnight)
Oh how glorious The Peach is. Saturday’s outing consists of Old Crow Medicine Show (possibly the weekends crowd favorite), Willie Nelson, Bob Weir w/Billy & The Kids. For those of us too young to get The Dead the way any good American got them back with Jerry, The Peach presents itself with its share of opportunities, and was filled with shows of Grateful Dead members.
Besides being a no nonsense, ‘good music or get-the-fuck-out’ kind of festival, Peach Music Fest is about community, family, sharing, caring, wind, water, fire, earth, and hearts. Montage Mountain and looking forward to the next one.
God Bless America
I had a damn good time on top of it.
