All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
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Grand Point North is an annual two-day music festival in Burlington, Vermont—a celebration spearheaded and headlined by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, in conjunction with Higher Ground, one of the city’s for-profit, music production organizations. Across the afternoons and evenings of September 14th and 15th, 2012, the festival hosted acts representing modern pop, rock, funk, and electronica. Both nights featured long, climatic sets from Grace Potter and the Nocturnals; all other bands were given almost exactly one hour and ten minutes with which to perform (except the Avett Brothers). To accommodate the quickest transitions between acts-- most bands hauled with them their own Hammond organ, Leslie speaker, and other massive gear-- two adjacent stages allowed stage crews to be forever building up or taking down the next gear. A large chunk of Burlington’s Waterfront Park was cordoned off, its paved bike path populated by a sprawl of lawn chairs filled by live music enthusiasts, and the whole place was copiously surrounded by teams of security officers. The scene was generally a family affair, of strollers and mothers and children; there were no curse words within any of the lyrics or banter on stage; the whole show, as a motion picture, would have been rated ‘G.’ I watched a three-year-old boy scramble about the grounds, in a Beastie Boys/Check Your Head t-shirt.
 Farm Fresh Radio 102.9FM was distributing free carrots, at the main gate on Friday afternoon! |
Beside a mob of musicians, there was plenty of food and drink: thin-crust slices from Woodbelly Pizza, fat sandwiches from Bluebird BBQ, tall sacks of kettle corn, the ever-present aroma of crepes from The Skinny Pancake, aluminum cans of Woodchuck Cider or Long Trail Ale, and a beer tent beyond. Pirogi Union, whose website mentions ‘growing pains’ following their wildly successful fundraising campaign on the website Kickstarter.com, could barely keep up with the crowd’s demand for their delicious, doughy dumplings. No vendors could have been more popular than Ben and Jerry’s, however, whose reps distributed free samples of their latest frozen confections from the window of a van; the presence of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a major sponsor of the festival, featured an elaborate Keurig-powered coffee bar, offering a dozen types of hot and cold brew. Living on nothing but coffee, ice cream, and rock and roll on the side of Lake Champlain in early fall requires something more than a hearty, frugal New England constitution; amidst the well-dressed suburbanite families and mobs of Chittenden County undergraduates, there must have been a few of us who were up to such a challenge.
Two-thirds of the massive white beer tent was cordoned off, with two layers of fence: in this, the VIP area, I never saw more than a dozen patrons enjoying their exclusive and free bar, private portapotties, and seating areas. More than half of everyone brought lawn chairs, and parked themselves in the last of the shining summer weather across Friday and Saturday afternoons; many folks took advantage of the rocky slope edging the lake, just far enough away from the crowds and the music, and nearer to the glimmering water.
Burlington has quite a reputation as a town that values
quality live performances, no thanks to the uncritical eye of most music columnists,
who, in weekly columns, usually lavish blankets of high praise for all who are entwined
in the city’s rich music scene, and seldom offer much more than the bland
promotion of upcoming gigs across genres. The empire of local music in
Burlington was not built in a day, or upon one critic’s blank and high praise. The
second annual Grand Point North festival was important not only for cornucopia
of musicians with specifically local roots, but also for its status as one of
the new, 21st century perennial festivals taking place in the Green
Mountains.
RYAN POWER (Burlington, VT)
HELOISE WILLIAMS AND DJ DISCO PHANTOM (Brooklyn, NY)
I am not necessarily a fan of Electronic Dance Music [EDM]. So, Brooklyn-based Heloise Williams and DJ Disco Phantom was—for me—not one of the highest points of Grand Point North. That’s not to say Heloise doesn’t have an excellent and versatile voice, and would stand a good chance of success on any given network’s vocal-performance competition show. And DJ Phantom surely knows what he’s doing, behind his dual virtual turntables: the music sought to create a scene clearly rooted in the late nights of urban Gotham, and was out of place on the side of a lake in the mid-afternoon. That didn’t stop the crowd from gathering, pushing forward towards the stage, and waving their hands in the air on command: thick with digital reverb and backed incessantly by the deepest electronic thumps, Heloise stripped herself of her sequined shawl, and down to her full-body, flesh-colored stage garb as she wailed. People cheered when she pulled out her iPhone, and used a terrifically coarse noise generator to accompany the dee-jay.
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
For more photos, and to download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
For more photos, and to download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
RICH ROBINSON BAND (Atlanta, GA)
Rich Robinson and his guitar licks provided some of Friday afternoon's headier experiences in three-chord funk, including what I recall being a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Nothin'." Robinson holds a place in the Southern Rock tradition, this side of Skynrd: born two months before the original Woodstock festival, he and his brother started The Black Crowes in the early 1980s, writing "She Talks to Angels," the band's mega-hit, at age fifteen. At this venue, however, it was all about Robinson's chops, backed by a small and tight ensemble, playing with ease and grace at the end of a long summer tour.
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
For more photos, and to download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS (Durham, NC)
Friday's eclecticism was a beautiful thing: from EDM antics to straight-up guitar rock riffs, to the Carolina Chocolate Drops, whose original sound takes its cues from musical historiography available only south of the Mason-Dixon Line: cello, guitar, fiddle, banjo, kazoo, foot taps and stomps built songs like “Ol’ Black Annie,” and the rousing “Don’t Get Trouble in Your Mind.” Thrashing chords on a banjo may forever be more rousing than anyone’s slick mashing of fingers against iPhone screens. Receiving huge cheers upon mentioning one of Burlington’s pseudo-sister city, Asheville (the new snowbird destination of the trustafarian elite), I was surprised at the crowd’s lack of response when the Drops mentioned Austin, Texas, what many regard as the weird desert heart of the music scene. The Drops had been recently asked to perform their ultra-fast version of Johnny Cash’s “Jackson,” for a PBS special on the Man in Black. The foursome accomplished a clear and vivacious rendition in no time flat, and their set even included a fine performance of a traditional Gaelic melody: I had expected to witness attempts at musical transformation at this fest in Burlington, but not true transportation, as Lake Champlain became, however briefly, Loch Lomond. Of all of the acts at Grand Point North, I’d seek out front-row tickets for a Carolina Chocolate Drops show: not only because their music accomplishes a sense of both the familiar yet entirely unique, but engages the audience in a personable and humble way, accomplishing a relationship that other brash and electrified iterations of Earth, Wind, and Fire seek, but miss. They were surely the most human performers to command either of the stages at Grand Point North, and for this, the crowd loved them.
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
For more photos, and to download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
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All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
To download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
DR. DOG (West Grove, PA)
Aside from Grace Potter’s first-night closing set, Pennsylvania-based rockers Dr. Dog did their masculine, post-garage band thing, lining the stage with two electric axes and a bass; their vibe was power punk, neither grateful nor dead, but punkier, less tentative versions of the last century’s power pop. Dr. Dog had a determination, and lacked all sense of the casual, while they provided the waterfront with their bombastic suburban grooves. Dr. Dog left the stage, to continue on what seems to be a never-ending tour across these last days of the Mayan calendar, a journey that started sometime after the February 2012 release of their latest album, Be The Void.
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
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All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
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GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS (Burlington, VT)
Friday Night
Friday Night
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
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All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
For more photos, and to download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
For more photos, and to download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
photos.artwithjennie.com
SAM ROBERTS BAND (Montreal, Canada)
On Saturday, a similarly diverse roster of acts sought to keep the blood flowing: Sam Roberts and bandmates are Canadian, and their sound falls neatly into the north-of-the-border rock traditions of Neil Young—Roberts himself wore a t-shirt with the logo from Neil’s 1972 masterwork, Harvest. Sam Roberts’ band meandered through up-tempo grooves, accented occasionally by staccato saxophone from Chet Doxas, and synthesizer work from Eric Farnes. Early on Saturday evening, as the Sam Roberts Band took simple pop chord structures and funked them up, into neo-Van Morrison riffs, the sun broke through the clouds, on its way down across the lake: “I thought fall had arrived,” Roberts told the crowd as he smiled, basking in the last warmth of a late summer sun. “All of us northern folk,” he said, should “enjoy it while we can.”
GALACTIC (New Orleans, LA)
Galactic may have been one of the most popular jam-type bands to have taken one of the two stages at Grand Point North. Hammond organ, saxophone and trombone, bass (winning the Big Cab Award) were each essential parts of their show, and perhaps one of Galactic’s best attributes is their collective flexibility: not only were they one of the more hip and entertaining highlights across both nights of Grand Point North, but were also the hosts of the GPN ‘after party’ at Higher Ground. Some of their flexibility and apparent ease onstage came through front man (and former Living Colour vocalist) Corey Glover’s wild vocal antics: from beneath his black hoodie came melodic styling rooted in Ray Charles, Harold Melvin, and Barry White. The band funked along righteously, at their worst not falling too far from the predictable rock-jam tree, while at their best, I imagined the vibes to be not far at all from Otis Redding’s performance at Monterey. Corey Glover is probably more of a showman than Otis ever was; in performance, Glover probably couldn’t quite calm down enough to sing “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.” Which is fine: the group will tour consistently until the end of October, including three nights at an Australian music festival, a night in New York with Allen Toussaint, and a slew of dates across the south (at the House of Blues in Houston, Galactic will be joined by two guests—JJ Grey and Mofro—during their main show, and another entire band—Gypsyphonic Disko—during the ‘after party’ in the Foundation Room). Still riding waves of great press after their New Orleans-inflected release earlier in 2012, Galactic will come to commandeer their own galaxy, if they somehow maintain the energy they displayed at the B-town waterfront.
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
To download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
For more photos, and to download high-resolution images without watermarks, please visit
THE AVETT BROTHERS (Asheville, NC)
If everyone who appeared at Grand Point North had worked as hard onstage as The Avett Brothers, the crowd would have simply collapsed each night, by the time the Nocturnals were to take the stage. Even Grace herself mentioned to the Saturday night crowd that, because of the Brothers’ unbridled enthusiasm, following them was simply a “mistake”: no one, not even the esteemed Ms. Potter herself, could forge and foster such a connection, between performers and their audience. The last time The Avett Brothers played live in Vermont, a cold wind whipped around the makeshift stage at Champlain Valley Fairgrounds, and the bassist—Bob Crawford—was missing, his wife about to give birth to their first child. While the complications surrounding the birth of Bob’s first child provided the themes of fragility and perseverance found on their latest release, The Carpenter, this elongated set made clear of The Avetts’ abilities of expression through music, whether life is happy or sad. The Avetts seem to have been on tour since early March, and had a European leg of their year’s journey at their back as they took to the Grand Point North stage: this was the first of their fall gigs, and the first in the United States since the release of their new album. “Thanks for the CD release party,” they called to the crowd from the stage, as they ripped through their evolving catalogue (including “Head Full of Doubt […],” “Paranoia in B flat Major,” “Life and Death,” and perhaps their set’s choice cut from their early catalog, “The Shine”). Backed by drums, cello, and Bob’s stand-up and electric bass lines, some of their songs bore a newly fluid quality, a smoothness, not to mention synchronized leaps in the air, and specifically-asynchronous breaks within “Kick Drum” (a song that ended with a coda, a few minutes’ of bluegrass jam). If this year’s touring accomplished within The Avett Brothers what the relentless and tedious nights at the Cavern Club accomplished within The Beatles, one should expect their next studio work to represent a project as sweeping and accomplished as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Without lavishing too much praise upon the North Carolinans, The Avetts’ remarkable encore opener was perhaps one of the most beautiful musical moments I’ve ever encountered: a tender, mezzo-piano rendition of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” was clearly an obvious and sentimental favorite of the pair. I imagined the audiences from coast to coast, continent to continent, being witness to this song, and the residual spiritual effect of this music on the cosmos.
GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS (Burlington, VT)
Saturday Night
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
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Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’ success comes in part
through their being the rightful heirs to a legacy of middle-of-the-road rock:
in performance, the band reminded me too much of 1992’s Soul Asylum album Grave Dancers’ Union, if Dave Pirner
hadn’t been on so many drugs. In Grace herself, I wanted to find a female Bruce
Springsteen—an authentic ringmaster populist—and though she resisted the urge
to crowd surf during the final minutes of her second night’s set, it seems
Potter has felt compelled to maintain a professional air of blandness around
her image and lyrics: most words held no more than the standard Bonnie Raitt
romantic tune, and usually less than John Cougar’s “Little Pink Houses.” One
can’t stop the beat. After Grace told a short tale about a trip to Nashville,
and about the unplanned Nocturnals’ collaboration with Black Keys producer Dan
Auerbach in a studio, the crowd was treated to a ‘new song’ that had resulted:
while there is little new beneath the sun in the realms of pop and country, the
work’s exploration came through its complex, Tom-Waits-style beats, driving
beneath a funky, if less-than-chromatic bassline. For some, it could have gone
on for hours; for others, looking for boogie music and New England pop swing,
the Auerbach collaboration song may have been a snoozer. Phish keyboardist Page
McConnell emerged on Saturday night, stationed at Grace’s Hammond while the
Nocturnals rambled through their cover of ZZ Top’s “Lookin’ for a Touch.” Page soloed
away gladly on the non-ivories, and after the number Grace admitted to having
attended 40 Phish shows. To this point, the crowd remained relatively quiet: by
the time Phish had produced and recorded most of its best pop fugues in the
early 1990s, more than half of the crowd still hadn’t been born. Night two also
included a lovely tune from a solo Grace on slide guitar, a whole-group-invades-the-kit
drum solo, and a pair of carefully-chosen classics, with which the group
displayed a muted respect, for both Heart’s “Crazy on You,” as well as a speedy
romp through Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.” The band rocked on, with all
of the fury one might have expected to find at the Fillmore during the Summer
of Love. The Nocturnals’ last moments in the Burlington spotlight were sloppy
in an appropriate way: one guitarist, his legs kicking wildly as he leapt and
thrashed about, kicked his amp over backwards, knocking asunder the red Nord
keyboard in its wooden case. Some circuit on a pedal board died and was hauled
offstage during the last song. The grand finale of Grand Point North came as
Grace invited ‘everyone’ back onstage, and, for having chosen one of the Beatles’
most popular yet unusable songs, the rendition of “All You Need is Love” that
resulted may have actually featured—you guessed it—the brothers Avett, standing
close around the mic, latching on to and loving the “love you/yeah yeah yeah”
vocal countermelody accented in the original 1967 single. The sun had fully
dove into the lake, and it was turning quite dark and cold, by the time the
stage was flooded by the day’s performers: this festival, weeks even after
Labor Day, may come to be the elegant and unofficial end to the New England
summer.
All Photos (c) Jennie Harriman, 2012.
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