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Music stoked the fires to the
wee hours of the morning

10,000 Lakes Festival
Detroit Lakes, MN
July 18 - 21, 2007

Bob Weir

Gov't Mule

String Cheese Incident

Story and photos by Matt Schwenke

The fifth annual 10,000 Lakes Festival brought relative hordes of people to the Northwoods of Minnesota once again (and within an hour of Fargo, ND) for another 3 and 1/2 days of music featuring what remains of the once-teeming jam band scene. fest goer

With the late cancellation of Trey Anastasio, as he deals with his problematic affinity for pills, the strength of the headlining list was considered suspect by many, and attendance was down a bit from last year. However, a wide array of smaller acts on the three side stages and some good weather for camping on the grounds of the Soo Pass Ranch proved to be the festival's saving grace.

Performances from The Family Groove Company, GypsyFoot and The New Primitives officially started the festival fire Wednesday evening as the campgrounds began to fill, and WookieFoot, with their odd circus of a performance, stoked the fire into the a.m. hours.

On the first full day of music, side-stage performances from Galactic and Particle drew energetic crowds in the afternoon before Zappa Plays Zappa set the high water mark for the day. While Galactic's Ben Ellman simply breathed fire through his saxophone in a powerful set and Particle was entrancing as ever, the calibre of musicianship for the day would reach it's height with Dweezil Zappa and company's renditions of the late Frank Zappa's music. Quality sets from The Disco Biscuits and Umphrey's McGee would follow but paled in comparison.

The second day heated up early with conductor Matt Butler's Everyone Orchestra, a free-form collective of musicians playing at the fest and directed by Butler's gestures and cue cards. As Butler motioned/signed to the crowd and his newly-created orchestra, the collaboration produced a truly unique experience. Following the artistic display was the storied New Riders of the Purple Sage, who served as an outlet for experimenting in country music for members of the Grateful Dead and happily strummed the afternoon away. Moe. brought their measured attack to warm the main stage before The String Cheese Incident, who slipped the fest into their schedule after Trey cancelled, stirred up a dancing mass. While the band seemed a bit tired and never reached the high gear they're known for, the crowd didn't seem to mind the relaxed pace and the performance garnered much applause.

The line-up for the third and final day of the fest was arguably the strongest, and classic performances from Bob Weir & RatDog, Gov't Mule and Little Feat delivered the goods while performances from newer acts Kaki King and Toubab Krewe pointed to bright futures.