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Different musical styles blend beautifully
at Mountain Music Fest

McDowell Mountain Music Festival (M3F)
Margaret T. Hance Park
Phoenix, AZ
March 3-5, 2017

Grouplove

Gov't Mule

The Shins

Review and photos by Frances Sealy
Photos of Chromeo by C. Elliot

Alternative rock, electronic digital music, and jam bands all coexisted beautifully on this weekend in Phoenix. Huge crowds filled the Margaret T. Hance Park for a weekend of great music and perfect weather. Two stages alternated throughout the days so that fans had non-stop throughout the fest. This is the 14th year for this nonprofit organization benefitting local family charities.

The Shins headlined the first day. They are on tour to support their amazing new album, Heartworms, released on March 10th. There was a great blend of the band's older tunes performed during the set like "So Now What" and "Simple Song." Tonight's band included James Mercer on guitar and lead vocals, Yuuki Matthews on bass and keyboards, Mark Watrous on guitar and keys, Casey Foubert on guitar, Jon Sortland on drums, and Patti King on keyboards.

Grouplove is versatile fun-loving indie rock group that warmed up the gathering crowd for the headliners. Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi were in tandum as they sang their hits "Colours," "Tongue Tied," and "Ways To Go." These may have been the obvious crowd pleasers, but they are presently touring in support of their new album release, Big Mess, that was released last September.

Bob Moses, an electronica duo, performed earlier in the day. The set seemed to be very low-key compared to the later acts. The music was very good, but without the aid of lighting effects, the set fell flat. On the smaller stage, many great local acts such as Heaps N Heaps, The Record Company, Huckleberry, Jay Allan & the Uncommon Good entertained the folks.

The second day was predominantly EDM. This day drew the biggest crowds of the weekend. Flume, Chromeo, and DJ Mustard were the headliners. Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight used their sampler boxes, drum machines and floor toms to drive the crowd into a frenzy during their set. Flume was a beacon of cool during his highly anticipated set. He delivered breathtaking song mixes and hypnotic stage lights. He was rewarded with a sea of hands in the air and wild fan adoration.

The last day M3F went back to its roots of improvisational jam bands. The crowd wasn't the biggest, but it was a crowd of faithful 'deadhead-like' fans. Many who came had been following Gov't Mule from city to city. Their set was filled with many fan favorites including "Thorazine Shuffle," Soulshine," and Radiohead's "Creep." Warren Haynes and the band were in top form.

Railroad Earth performed earlier in the day with their improvisational Bluegrass/Americana style. They have recently been working with Warren Haynes on a new album. It was not a surprise when Mr. Haynes joined them for a couple of songs during their set. These guys are expert musicians and their harmonies can't be beat.

Lettuce performed an improvisational instrumental set that blended almost all genre of music out there from jazz, funk, hip-hop to psychedelia. They utilized synthesizers, sax, trumpet, guitar bass, drums and percussion. Their latest album, I>Mt. Crushmore, provided much of the material for the set.

There were a lot more bands worthy of mention, but there was too little time. The festival was a great success for all involved.