While Billy Currington finishes up tonight on the Coke Stage, the party will just be getting started at Afterbend on the Southside, a new addition to the Riverbend Festival this year.
Afterbend, at First Tennessee Pavilion, will include a performance by 7 Walkers, with guest performer Ivan Neville from Dumpstaphunk. Afterbeed will also feature a local performer, Spoonz; a bucket drum troop and various booths offering on-site activities.
The 7 Walkers features legendary drummer and co-founder of the Grateful Dead, Bill Kreutzmann, alongside bluesman Papa Mali, bass player Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green, JFJO), multi-instrumentalist Matt Hubbard (Willie Nelson and Friends), and special guest bassist George Porter Jr.
According to presenter Subversive Activities, the resulting sound, as represented on 7 Walkers' new album, is "a fiery and funky collection of tunes that quite brilliantly capture the unique collaboration between these two very different musical shamans."
Tiffanie Robinson, the associate producer of Afterbend, says this after-hours event is designed for young Chattanoogans who still want to enjoy entertainment and live music after the main festival closes. Confident that this new entertainment opportunity will expand Riverbend's young-adult audience, Robinson insists that "even though this is our inaugural year, we are already thinking of plans for Afterbend 2011."
Chip Baker, executive director of Riverbend's Friends of the Festival, says that the partnership between Riverbend and Subversive Activities to produce Afterbend is one of many collaborative efforts to extend the Riverbend experience in the Chattanooga community. "We love to do things with groups or organizations that want to collaborate ... we love people with ideas."
"We have typically closed down the festival around 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. each night and called it a day," says Andy Tallent, Riverbend director of public relations. "The Afterbend show is an incredible way to keep the music playing and the party going."