Words and Photos: Bill Foster
Here at Blank, we try to focus on the positives. We know very well how difficult it is to put on a festival and how hard a festival team works to provide us with a good time. That said, some things simply cannot be ignored and, as the tweet storms under #failbird on Twitter demonstrate, the first day of Railbird was an epic disaster. Capacity was doubled from fifteen thousand at the 2019 edition to thirty thousand this year and the staffing and infrastructure was simply not in place to support it. It took ninety-minutes and thirty dollars simply to get to the site despite a fleet of at least a hundred buses. At the site, lines ran from a short forty minutes at some VIP areas to a two-and-a-half hour wait for water and beer at some points. Some folks waited thirty minutes for water – on asphalt on the hottest day of the year – only to be told they were sold out. In a hotel bar afterwards, one couple told me they were not going the next day. A friend went to see a favorite act and wanted one beer before the show, which caused him to miss the whole thing. I feel for an overworked staff that I know tried to give a great experience but the first day turned out to be “make a documentary about it” level bad on a logistical level. Water is a matter of survival and because I had access to free water in the press tent, I was able to see most of the shows I wanted but most of the folks I spoke to told me they could only see about two to three acts the entire day. I still missed John Moreland because of the bus line and I didn’t see My Morning Jacket because I was worried that doing so would lead to me getting home at 4 AM.
That unpleasantness aside, and Railbird issued an apology statement and will hopefully fix some things today, the huge crowds were loud and enthusiastic and they have made some obvious improvements at the site. Most prominently, the new main stage, dubbed Limestone, is the largest stage I have seen outside of Bonnaroo. They have moved it sidewise, and it can accommodate a crowd twice as large. The VIP viewing areas are giant bleachers and among the best I have seen at a festival. The smaller Burl stage has moved to a larger, less cramped area and it’s a great little stage that provided some of the highlights of the day. The bourbon tasting, and horse racing and other ancillary events are quite nice and give the festival a strong local feel.
My day began with Margo Price, who put on her usual spectacular show on the Elkhorn stage. Covers of “Dead Flowers” and “Help” along with her own “Cocaine Cowboys” and “Four Years of Chances” were set highlights. The size of the crowds meant I couldn’t catch the end of any sets today as I had to make it to the next show. In this case, that meant the Black Pumas. They played Barley’s in September 2019. Today, they played in front of about twenty thousand people who knew every word. Eric Burton prowled the huge statge exhorting his seven-piece band, “Let go, Black Pumas,” while produce guitarist Adrian Quesada laid down the psychedelic funk (And, guitar nerds, on a Fender Coronado). Burton leapt into the crowd so fast and so far security couldn’t keep up with him. This was the best show of the day by a band that is surely heading for number one headliner status.
From there, I hit the smaller stage for Bendigo Fletcher. I’ve become aware of them because Shooter Jennings has worked with them and featured them on Sirius XM. Their first album was produced by Ken Coomer while lead singer Ryan Anderson worked at a grocery store. Their music is kind of mismatch of everything from classic country to dreamy psychedelic pop with elements of Led Zeppelin at their weirdest. After seeing this set, I don’t think there will ne any more shelf stocking in Anderson’s future.
From there, back to the Elkhorn for Midland. They had one of the more energetic crowds of the day and the crowd seemed to love it. For me, it was lower energy than I am accustomed to seeing from the Austin -based band, albeit enjoyable and the closing cover of “Eastbound and Down” was predictable. Afterwards, I hustled over to the Burl stage for Briston Maroney and my favorite set of the day. Those of us from Knoxville, have been watching Briston and Devon since their middle school days in Subtle Clutch. Maroney is simply exploding right now with a clutch (if you will) of catchy, impeccable songs and an energetic and exciting band. The small stage had the largest crowd I saw that day on that stage and the front consisted entirely of teenagers who knew every word and moshed and bounced the entire set.Young kids with loud guitars are what makes the world go round and by the time they finished with “Freaking Out on the Interstate,” I believed in rock and roll again. If you like what you read here, Please check out Briston’s set at New Ground Festival in Lakeshore Park in Knoxville on September 12th.
Because I was familiar with Briston, I wanted to take some end of show photos, so I missed the photo pit for Leon Bridges. However, I watched most of it from the audience. Bridges was fashionable as always, charming in his dialogue and entertaining in his dancing. He has become a seasoned professional with a tight band and the show was exceptional. I then headed back to the Burl stage for Japanese Breakfast. Again, the small stage provided the highlights of the day, as the band had a young and exciting crowd full of enthusiasm. I judge bands by their crowd and based on this one, the band headed by Korean-American Michelle Zauner is going places. The show was charming, quirky and just a delight from start to finish.
Afterwards, I hit the Elkhorn for Billy Strings and my final show of the day. By now, the sun was down allowing the band’s spectacular light show to shine. Strings is one of the few artist to really expand his popularity during the pandemic and his crowd at this show was HUGE. I remember thinking how large a crowd Tyler Childers had in 2019 and this was easily double that. It basically filled the natural auditorium until folks ran out of hearing range. Strings’ show was simply spectacular. His setlists are wildly different every night and the dissonance and strangeness in his playing make his version of bluegrass into something entirely new. This was an awe-inspiring show.
Bring on day two!
