Riverbend got off to a sweltering start Friday, but if you had your ear to the ground, you quickly established a perimeter around your blanket on the Coca-Cola Stage lawn and then high-tailed it for the Bud Light Stage to bask in the homegrown reggae of Milele Roots.
Since my job is to describe “a day at the festival,” I usually end up sprinting from place to place trying to compile a smorgasbord of colorful commentary while generally ignoring the actual performances. This year, I decided to slow down and give the bands their due. Milele seemed like the perfect group to start with.
With a few exceptions, nonheadlining acts are usually slotted to play for about an hour, but Milele was set up to jam for two and a half hours. It’s nice to see a local band given so much stage time, which is one more sign to me that this year is going to be one of the strongest for showcasing local talent.
Just before Milele’s 5 p.m. down beat, I caught up with bassist Christian Craan, who filled me in on what to expect. The band had tacked on five additional musicians to the normal six-piece lineup. This bolstered presence not only added some serious musical oomph courtesy of a saxophone, organ and horns, it made for an experience closer to old-school Milele shows, which regularly featured 14 musicians, Mr. Craan said.
At first, it didn’t seem like the fleshed-out sound was making much of a difference since the crowd on stage almost outnumbered the smattering of people facing them in the parking lot. As the evening wore on, however, the audience swelled until it was several hundred strong, making it one of the best turnouts I’ve seen for a local band at Riverbend.
It’s not hard to see what drew them in. Milele is a fun band to watch, thanks in no small part to the fact that members clearly are enjoying themselves on stage. That kind of exuberance is infectious, and it was wonderful to watch the energy level ramp up consistently as the band and the crowd fed off each other.
After about 30 songs, including five new songs that never before had been played live, Milele ceded the stage to Grace Potter and the Nocturnals looking exhausted but still smiling. Drummer Yattie Westfield, who also is a bafflingly good guitarist and pianist, said he couldn’t have been happier at the turnout.
“I could pass out. It’s overwhelming,” he said. “To be the first band to go on? I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.
“When you’re playing for your hometown, it’s always a blessing to have people around who love you. That love energizes the band.”
Riverbend is many things to many people. Some see it as a chance to display their sweaty navels to the general public (I swear there needs to be a dress code, even if it is hot), and judging by the crowded real estate on the Coke Lawn, many people pick their spots and put down roots.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach. Even if you’re just there to see the nine headliners, a Riverbend pin is still a ridiculous bargain, but fixating on the big stage means missing out on hours of music by wonderful artists, out of town and local, on the other stages.
So even though I’ll be right there with you tonight watching Alison Krauss and Union Station rip it up on the Coke Stage, if you’re smart, you’ll join me in exploring a little beforehand.