Rockcrowd Fest 2011 - Concert #3

"This April, Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show will embark on a tour unlike any in recent memory. Traveling exclusively in vintage rail cars, the three bands will journey across the American Southwest over the course of a week. The aptly titled Railroad Revival Tour will feature the three bands playing concerts at six unique outdoor locations along the route, beginning April 21st in Oakland, California." - RRT website


Well, we're 3 for 3 on ending the evening with big smiles and great appreciation for artists doing what they do.  The Railroad Revival Tour is one of the hot shows going on this spring - and we were very fortunate to be a part of it. A couple of notes:

1) My pictures mostly stink (except I dig the train pic above).  However, you can find some amazing shots of the evening in many places, if you so desire:
 + Rolling Stone has 10 beauties, especially the Edward Sharpe sunset magic.
+ Jason Holmberg caught this beauty of Edward Sharpe stage joy:

+ The San Jose Mercury has a nice set that captures the experience.

2) The whole themed experience was wonderful. The combining of "folk rock" or "folk & roll" with a railroad revival was quite appropriate. And kudos for the tickets.   I think it is a shame that as technology has improved - tickets have become the most unsexy pieces of crap.  Why is there so much investment in "virtual badges" - but a complete drop-off in authentic badges!?  Well, not for this show!



Not only do you get a nice physical ticket.  It is gorgeous. It is unique to the show - all 6 shows have an individual design. It has your name printed on it (fuck you, scalpers).  It has a code printed on it - with this code, I will be able to go to the RRT site and download all the music from all the shows!!  (As I mentioned with the Ben Kweller show - the more music figures out how to get us the "bootleg" experience the more win-win.)  This show has done a better job of creating a memorable, themed-experience than most of the big festivals I've attended - WELL DONE.



3) What an ideal time to see Mumford and Sons. These guys are h.o.t. The Mumford/Avett/Bob Dylan performance on the Grammys created quite a stir - vaulting them from really popular to securely superstar. They have one album released - Sigh No More - which is one of those amazing accomplishments, where every.freaking.song is goosebumps good. But they are definitely working on the 2nd album.  We got to hear 3 new songs, including the hauntingly sweet "Lover's Eyes" (working title) - and make no mistake, these guys are going to hang around as one of the best bands on the planet for a while.

After 3 weeks of a concert/week - I am excited for a week to rest - but also sad that we don't have a #rockcrowd show.