Dream Festival

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

I’m a pragmatic man, so when the Reader editorial staff came up with the idea of conjuring a “Dream Festival” lineup, my mind first flew to impossibilities before I reigned it back into the realm of what might, in a perfect world, be realistic.

Artwork by Year Round Co.

Of course, I’d love to resurrect at least a dozen bands and artists and pull in a few that are currently performing but in no way, ever, would come down from their Olympian mega-arenas to perform in little ’ol Sandpoint.

That said, my wishlist does include a few big names but, based on my considered experience listening to their work over the years, I feel like their personalities might lend them to considering our relatively small yet, pound-for-pound, priceless venue.

Week 1

Thursday

I would happily queue up to see Australian-born rockabilly bluesman C.W. Stoneking for the first night of The Festival. Typically dressed in an all-white quasi-tropical ensemble, Stoneking’s off-kilter, sometimes haunting, other times jumpy, delivery evokes hot equatorial nights where anything — even the alluringly dangerous — can happen.   

Friday

Eilen Jewell would be a natural for The Festival at Sandpoint. She lives in Boise and even cut an album once titled Boundary County. Her folky sound is anything but typical, landing closer on the genre spectrum to certain Leonard Cohen tunes, as well as the oeuvre of Jolie Holland, than what we might consider the “plaid-and-banjo” style of the Northwest. Her vocals can be at turns delicate and wistful, world-weary and hard-edged. Not to mention her lyric writing, which ranks up there with the best sonic storytellers.

Saturday

Country artist Granger Smith is successful in his own right, but his alter ego — Earl Dibbles Jr. — draws as big or bigger crowds. When Smith cocks his trucker hat to a jaunty angle and pulls on his overalls, he transforms into Earl, the country boy of country boys, who dips dip, cracks cold ones and rollicks across a landscape of hollers and fields toting his trusty shotgun and singing fun-loving songs about that easygoing rural life. Once you hear him shout his trademark, “yee yee!,” you’ll find yourself adopting it as your own exclamation of hillbilly joie de vivre.

Sunday

This is a little out-of-the-box, but Denver-based four-piece DeVotchKa makes my “Dream Festival” lineup for its multi-instrumental, Gypsy-punk inflected sound. In a genre niche inhabited by bands like Gogol Bordello and Diego’s Umbrella, DeVotchKa pulls audiences from their seats with a raucous amalgam of dancy accordion, fiddle and assorted horns — a perfect band to complement the “instrument petting zoo” traditionally put on for the kids earlier in the afternoon on the first Sunday.

Week 2

Thursday

Based in New Orleans, Hurray for the Riff Raff trafficks in what can be loosely regarded as Americana, but that term comes off as too broad for any band that steps out of the mould of Top 40 pop, rock or hip-hop. Those elements are present in Hurray for the Riff Raff’s sound, but it’s shot through with a much deeper vein of Cajun influences, making for an irresistible blend of traditions enlivened by the stellar vocal performance of band leader Alynda Segarra. 

Friday

This would be a helluva get — and among the most unrealistic of my picks — but I get the sense that the ever-unpredictable Tom Waits might at least consider a headliner spot on The Festival stage. A legend for decades, his lyrics are American modernist poetry and his inimitable vocals and genre-bending compositional sensibility catapult his work into its own rarefied atmosphere where jazz, blues, rock, folk and subversive experimentation blend into what can only be described as “Waitsian.” 

Saturday 

This is another true fantasy act, but former Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard feels like she would be a fabulous fit for The Festival. Her powerhouse vocals and guitar work propelled the driving energy of her blues-rock band and, now that she’s gone solo, blazes on its own with a rowdy Southern soul influence spiked with R&B and hip-hop. 

Sunday

I’m loath to even conceive of anything other than the Spokane Symphony for closing night. Our favorite regional orchestra is as much a part of The Festival as its iconic tent. But in the spirit of “what-if,” it might be interesting to imagine a group like The Bad Plus stepping in with its profoundly unique avant garde jazz stylings, which somehow feel cutting edge while also being classically minded.

Dream Festival

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Week 1

Thursday

I can think of no band to kick off my dream Festival than Beirut. This dynamic band of musical geniuses blends indie and world music in perfect proportions. Beirut features a litany of unique instruments that set this band apart from every other. Their brass section plays in perfect harmony, their percussion is funky and driving, and Zach Condon’s voice is one of those that you appreciate more and more over time. I saw Beirut play live in Portland, Ore., a couple years ago and it stands as one of the finest live performances I’ve ever seen. 

Friday

Though I wanted to choose Weezer, I think a more timely suggestion would be The National. This dark chamber rock band has it all: phenomenal songwriting; a dynamic, unique mixture of rock, indie and folk; and a deep, sonorous voice from frontman Matt Berninger. Their live shows are equal parts soft and loud, driving and quiet — with every song on the set list painting a night of perfection under the stars at War Memorial Field.

Saturday 

For the Saturday country night, I can think of no other living country artist that would give me as much of a thrill as seeing Willie Nelson playing live on The Festival stage. At 87 years old, Nelson is still playing shows and recently released his 70th solo album, First Rose of Spring. Whether it’s his smooth, crooning voice or his simple, down-home lyrics that speak of a better time, Nelson will always be one of those artists that immediately sets my mind at ease from his first note to the last dying ember of his voice.

Sunday

If I were in charge, I’d make a slight change to the first Sunday. In the past, this date was a collection of fun orchestral concerts aimed at getting families together and showcasing our local student musicians. I think this should be moved up a little to create a new “local’s night” that doubles as a fundraiser for the Charlie Packard Memorial Scholarship fund. If you attended the special concert held for Charlie a couple years back, it was one of my favorite Festival memories in recent years, where almost everyone in attendance was local. 

The event would feature local bands that might not normally have a chance to play on the biggest stage in Sandpoint. Ticket prices would be reduced and anyone with a 7B driver’s license gets placement in an early admission line. Proceeds would benefit the scholarship, and locals would have one night every year for them.

Week 2

Thursday

For the first night of Week 2, I’d suggest booking the Australian brother/sister duo Angus & Julia Stone as the opening act. The main performer would be none other than Bon Iver, an indie-rock powerhouse group whose haunting harmonies and melodies would drift out into the crowd like a warm wind. Their quiet songs are enough to send chills down your spine, but when they hit a crescendo — especially on songs like, “The Wolves, Act. I and II” — there is nothing better than to be listening live while the magic is created.

Friday

When I was in my early 20s working in Los Angeles, I was given tickets in the eighth row of the Hollywood Bowl for a Radiohead concert. My boss at the time was a colossal jerk, and knew I had been given the tickets, so he demanded that I work late doing meaningless paperwork until the concert had begun. Then he sent me home. I will despise this man for the rest of my life, because I’ve never had another chance to see Radiohead live. To see Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway perform live on The Festival stage would be a dream come true for me. This single band has shown me more beauty and melancholy than any other.

Saturday

Of all the inspirational musicians out there, few have achieved the same level of admiration as Neil Young, whom I list as one of my influences for starting to play music. Young has left us with a compendium of songs and attitudes that will stay with the music world forever. He has the ability to slow us down and hear the heartbreaking cadence of the quiet songs, only to pick us back up and blow us away with raw, driving rock. To this day, Young’s guitar solo on “Like a Hurricane” gives me goosebumps. That song has been described online as, “That one song where Neil Young plays the second greatest guitar solo in history, sings a little and then plays the greatest guitar solo in history.” Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Neil.

Sunday

I wouldn’t change a thing about the Grande Finale night. The Spokane Symphony has always been the perfect way to wind up The Festival at Sandpoint, punctuated by fireworks at the end. If I were to request a particular performance from the orchestra, I’d love to hear Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, as I’ve always been partial to that one.