Forecastle July 9, 2010 - Widespread Panic, The New Deal

Well after some plane delays and lots of driving back and forth between my house and the airport, we finally made it to Waterfront park for Widespread Panic on the Main Stage.  They had quite a following, lots of glowsticks, lots of dancing, lots of lights, and lots of guitars.  They were a fun band to see live with lots of talent.  These guys really know their instruments.  The vibe at the park at night is always really good.  It felt like a party.  The beer was from BBC, which made me happy.  It's delicious.  There was a slight problem with them not believing my NYS drivers license was real (they thought it was made of paper) because it's different then the KY license, but I'm used to arguing for common sense in KY by now.  I got the beer (they want me to think they're doing me a favor by giving it to me even though I'm 25) and we headed over to the right side of the stage to watch Widespread Panic groove to some great guitar solos.  I would see them again live, but I'm not sure if I'd buy the album just yet.  WPFK had been playing their single "Shut Up and Drive" all week in anticipation.  That was the only song that really stood out.  I would expect that from a jam band though.  This video doesn't do it justice, visually or aurally, but it's a good taste.

Then we headed over to the Ocean Stage to hear The New Deal from Toronto.  This stage was tucked back in the woods with a hill on either side and in the middle valley was a dance party.

Every second of their set, the music got more interesting.  The lighting reinforced this, syncing to each new sound.  They played their hooks long enough to get stuck in your head, then they changed them, always leaving me wanting more and waiting to see what happened next.  At one point the drummer was beatboxing.  The next he was beatboxing and playing the drum set with his other hand.  I couldn't stop moving despite being completely exhausted.  There's a lot of talent here and I was pretty happy to hear them.  Not what I was expecting at all.  A trance, electronica, jam mix could go really wrong, but to get me excited about music and dancing at midnight after a full day, you know these guys have got something.