First year festivals can be hit and miss.
It takes a lot of time and practice to make such large endeavors run smoothly. Fortunately, Better Than Ezra lead singer Kevin Griffin seems to have done just about everything right in the first year of the Pilgrimage Festival in Franklin, TN, creating an event that has the potential to be one of the great festivals in the country eventually.
Set in the rolling hills of an active horse farm (one of the stages is in an equestrian arena), the environment couldn’t be better. The site is accessible by only one two-lane road. I was concerned about traffic problems, but parking was plentiful. A mere five-minute walk from the stages, and I was back on the highway less than fifteen minutes after starting my car. There are two large stages, one smaller stage and a children’s stage. This is a nice touch in a festival that aims to be more family orientated than most. There is a larger shopping area than most festivals and a better selection of food trucks. Although the food vendors were one of the few missteps as I didn’t see a single one with less than a 20-30 minute wait for most of the festival. Even though the crowds seem to have exceeded the organizer’s expectations, the venue didn’t seem to be anywhere near capacity. There was plenty of room to sit comfortably on a chair and watch from the back and I was able to make my way close to the stage at even the most well attended shows.
Pilgrimage obviously set out to be a slightly different type of festival. Lawn chairs and kids are encouraged. Ticket prices are slightly higher than usual ($80 a day), and the starting times reflect the desire to pull in a slightly different audience. The festival was two days only and the first show began at 10:30 AM. The closers were done by 8:00 PM each night. It’s an unusual feeling to finish a major festival and think, “Well, what do we want to do tonight?” Still, it was a pleasant change and with the acts staged 15 minutes apart on three stages that were no more than a 6-7 minute walk apart, it all worked remarkably well.
The smaller crowds and intimacy of the surroundings led to some outstanding performances, although most bands seemed to play more laid back sets with a few notable exceptions. Weezer was a highlight, leading crowd sing-a-longs in an absolute downpour. Steven Tyler seemed to draw one of the largest crowds as he deliberately went 30 minutes past his allotted time, leading to some delightful snarkiness from Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, whose own set was delayed by 45 minutes. However, it all seemed worth it when they wound up playing “Mariner’s Revenge” under an epic sunset that looked like an extension of the stage. Jimmy Cliff led the biggest sing-a-longs of the festival and it was impossible to leave his stellar set unhappy. The smaller equestrian stage was perfectly suited to the soul power of St. Paul and the Broken Bones, to the literate roots rock of Franklin native Will Hoge, and local fave Nikki Lane. On the main stage, Wilco turned in a spectacular set with a mix of classic and tracks from their new record “Star Wars.” Dawes and Band Of Horses turned in solid, strong sets while closer Willie Nelson was, well, he was Willie Nelson.
I have heard a lot of people say over the years that they used to go to Bonnaroo but they just can’t deal with the conditions and the crowds now. If you feel that way, well, Kevin Griffin has already announced that Pilgrimage will be back next year. Give it a try and discover one of the year’s best-kept secrets.
