Echo Festival 2007 – Day Two/Three

SSv returned to the main compound Saturday as Son Volt played the main stage. The grass was still covered in confetti from the previous night’s escapades as the alt-country quintet ran through a set of songs spanning their catalogue, most recently including early 2007’s The Search. Although the Son Volt on hand was frontman Jay Farrar’s newly pieced-together incarnation of the post-Uncle Tupelo group, fans still seemed to enjoy the somewhat dry set.

After Son Volt 2.0, indie DIY darlings Clap Your Hands Say Yeah took over the main stage late-afternoon, starting off with song from this year’s Some Lound Thunder before delving into fan favorites from their eponymous debut. “This seems like a nice place,” frontman Alec Owneswoth remarked to the crowd. “We just got here.” While not exactly showmen, live renditions of “Satan Said Dance” and “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” fired up the crowd nonetheless.

Falafels and hummus were had while Thievery Corporation began their set on the main stage, complete with belly dancers and their Garden State soundtracked “Lebanese Blonde,” but our venture into hip Eastern electronica was cut short in favor of Cat Power.

A pony-tailed Chan Marshall brought along the Dirty Delta Blues for a set of her jazzy, bluesy vocaled tunes. In anticipation of the soon-to-be-released covers disc Jukebox, covers of Patsy Cline’s “She’s Got You” and the Rolling Stone’s “I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)” and Frank Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York” made their way into the mix as the notoriously performance-anxious Marshall put on a solid performance even while mostly singing to keyboardist Gregg Foreman, instead of the crowd. “We’re amateurs,” the petite chanteuse noted to the crowd after straightening out a set-list snafu, adding in her ode “Aretha” at the last minute. Despite the small gathering, Marshall was coaxed to finish her crowd-pleasing performance.

Running late from the B.E.T. awards, where he won the Best Album of the Year award, Common bounded onto the stage 25 minutes late for his set with the exuberance of a caged tiger. Clad in a hoodie and ski jacket Common gave fans an energized performance acting out arrests, dancing “the robot”, and falling to his knees while proclaiming impassioned odes to hip-hop and the ladies. The “MC with a temper” purveyed his intelligent brand of hip hop and thanked fans for supporting the music they love throughout his brief appearance.

After Common’s severely truncated set, The Killers‘ Halloween-in-the-garden set-up began to come together.

Regardless of a no-photo policy, the SSv team decended upon the Killers with a venomous force, squeezing our way to the front to catch the over-the-top theatrics of the festival’s biggest draw. Fresh flowers seemingly grew from the rock quartet’s amps and equipment, along with white Christmas lights. Carved pumpkins that spelled out the band’s named framed drummer Ronnie Vannucci’s drum kit and a small skeleton and cauldron stood watch from Brandon Flowers‘ upright piano. By the time Flowers and company took the stage with the first three tracks of 2006’s Sam’s Town – including that albums anthemic single “When You Were Young.”

A dapper Flowers strutted across the stage with Freddie Mercury-like showmanship, belting out the best tracks and singles from the Las Vegas band’s two albums. Singles like “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr. Brightside” amped up the crowd and Sam’s Town rockers “Uncle Johnny and “The River is Wild” pleased die-hard fans.

There was no doubt that, despite the hippy overtones to Echo, The Killers were there to rock. Guitarist Dave Keuning worked his magic with a Flying V and straight-outta-the-80s silver jacket and Robert Plant hairstyle. The band’s rock ‘n’ roll flair seemed far more calculated than the previous night’s ADD attraction of The Flaming Lips, but perfectly fit to top off a clear, southern Saturday night.

Day Three

By Sunday the grass on the main compound had shirked to a dull, dusty beige – littered with remnants of Coyne’s confetti, cigarette butts and beer cups, despite the festival’s message. The SSv crew arrived in time to catch the tail end of RJD2’s Lunar-stage set, and even caught the DJ personally selling his own records to eager fans as a congregation began to form for the upcoming set from Spoon.

The ever suave Britt Daniels greeted the crowd with an exuberant “Hi!” as Spoon took the stage for one of the rockin’-est sets of the weekend. Daniels hammed it up for the cameras as the group rocked out “My Mathematical Mind” with personality that suggested, unlike other of the weekend’s bands, Spoon was enjoying every minute on stage. The exuberance was reciprocated: A roaring cheer from the crowd erupted from the crowd when Daniels asked “Who out there believes in rock ‘n’ roll?” before launching into Stranger Than Fiction theme “I Turn My Camera On.” The Austin band’s set also featured tracks from the best-of-the-year-list worthy album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, including “Don’t Make Me a Target,” “Rhythm & Soul” and single “The Underdog.”

Shortly thereafter, inside the tented Eclipse stage, hipper-than-thou NYC band The Bravery fell victim to bad scheduling. Despite being pitted against festival favorites Umphrey’s McGee and hip-hop collective The Roots, the group used the small congregation to their advantage and turned the set into a storytelling-infused all-request hour. The solid set included their mild hit “Honest Mistake” and while a request for “Pac Man Fever” was denied (“You’re crazy, man”) they did treat the gathered fifty to a new song called “The Dandy Rock,” sung mostly by guitarist Michael Zakarin. Like The Killers the night before, The Bravery’s brand of rock swagger seemed out of place for the heavily jammed bill, but was an electrified jot of panache and spunk for anyone seeking refuge from the dust and drone.

From there, it was a drastic shift to the main stage and the mellow vibe of Phil Lesh and Friends who jammed out two sets capping off the festival with a mix of mostly Grateful Dead tunes, like “Friend of the Devil” and “Loose Lucy” to eager hippies and curious indie kids alike. There’s no denying a living legend even if the deadhead style wasn’t exactly our cup o’ joe.

All in all, the Echo Project failed to shake major comparisons to neighboring Tennessee’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Even though the event was far smaller – in both scope and attendance – the look, feel and overall outcome was much of the same. A similar M.O and a similar roster of artists in a new location does not a unique festival make. Even so, the three rockin’ days left the little South of Atlanta town a bit more hardcore than it was before. Here’s hoping Echo makes it back next year even bigger, better and with a clearer vision.

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