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Thread: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can...

  1. #1
    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Default Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can...

    I have been meaning to post this, but have been busy... So I am trying to remember everything I wanted to mention, and it's a lot. I think this was the 7th or 8th time I have gone over the years. I have seen more of my musical heroes there then anywhere.

    The Telluride Bluegrass Festival was June 15th-18th and I drove out with 3 buddies of mine from college.

    The town of Telluride is in a box canyon, so the scenery is gorgeous. Waterfall at the end of the canyon is always in view in the distance. The local NPR station KOTO broadcasts most of the festival over the radio so even when I am not at the festival I can hear the music anywhere.

    Wednesday Night before the festival...
    There is some free music over in Mountain Village. We take the gondola over the mountain and the views are spectacular. The Cleverlys are playing and we caught the most of their set. Then we went to Yonder Mountain String Band (YMSB) "firstgrass" concert. The band was ok, but seemed a little sluggish.

    Thursday, Day one of the festival...
    Chris Thile opens up the whole festival by playing solo. I am pretty sure he brought some friends out at some point but I can't remember now. I catch the Tim O'brien band, but miss out on Dierks Bently with the Travelin' McCourys set to go to the Punch Brothers "Happy Hour" at Elks Park. It was packed, and Gabe Witchner(sp?)was not there because his wife was expecting, I can't remember the fill in fiddle player but most of the punch brothers set was straight bluegrass. It was one of those sets all the bluegrass police want the punch brothers to play, and they finished up by doing a couple of the songs they wrote without a fiddle player. The "Telluride house band" was on the MainStage that night, so I got to see Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton and Stuart Duncan. To finish off the night, we had tickets to the "nightgrass" show of the evening, The Travelin' McCourys at the Sheridan Opera House. Special guest Jake Joliff on mando came out, and to end the night daddy Del himself joined in on a few.

    Friday, Day two of the festival...
    We sleep in and miss a couple of shows, but manage to catch YMSB at Elks Park where it was their CD release party I think. Back to the MainStage for the end of The Jerry Douglas Band and the Punch Brothers set. Gabe was back so it was a regular set for PB. Listened to a little of Greensky Bluegrass before going to the YMSB nightgrass set at the Sheridan Opera House. I should mention they have gotten over what I saw as sluggishness on Wednesday and really put on a hot show both times I say them that day.

    Saturday, Day three of the festival...
    Sleep in again but make it to Sarah Jarosz followed by YMSB. Sam Bush came out and played a few songs with them. That night the Sam Bush Band was on the MainStage and that was really amazing. Best place ever to see Sam, he really puts on a show! Dispatch was interesting, but it was a touch of an anticlimax after Sammy... We sold our nightgrass tickets for Elephant Revival because we were trying to save energy for the last day.

    Sunday, Day four of the festival...
    We are all dragging from the altitude, and the ridiculous amount of music. I see Bela Fleck & Chris Thile followed by Hot Rize. Went back to the condo we rented and listened to the rest of the evening on KOTO. Punch Brothers nightgrass closed out the festival, and Gabe was gone again, so Thile comes out and says, "just in case you were going to demand a 20% refund, I want to introduce Sarah Jarosz and Jerry Douglas" or something like that. It was magical, Flux and Sarah with the Punch Brothers! Then at the end they played a couple acoustic from the stage. To drag out every last second of the night, Chris and Sarah came out to the middle of the floor and we were all in circles around them listening to them play 2 (or was it 3?) songs acoustic to finally end the festival.

    What can I say, it was amazing! Without even mentioning all the songs I forgot I heard and all the amazing cool details this has been a long post, I tried to bold all the band names I saw so you could just skim it and get the just...

    It cost a lot, it was physically tiring, but it was the best 4 days of music I have seen since the last time I went.

    You should consider going next year, it will be the 45th annual.

    Thanks,
    Dan
    I should be pickin' rather than postin'

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  3. #2
    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

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    And I have no idea why it goes sideways when I post a pic from my phone... sorry!
    I should be pickin' rather than postin'

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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Interesting. Did you do any jamming?

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    Gummy Bears and Scotch BrianWilliam's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Telluride is beautiful and the music is awesome. But for me, the crowd is too much.

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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Sounds like a great time, a little too much Yonder for me but that's just my taste.

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    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    I did pick a bit with one of my friends that came along, but there wasn't all that much time to do things outside of listen to music. In the years past when we camped I definitely did more jamming.

    And yes, waaay to many people, but still a ton of close up moments from the Nightgrass and Elks Park, and for Sam Bush band I was down front...

    I have followed YMSB since their beginning, and I have been worried since Jake joined, but this album is really a step in the right direction!
    I should be pickin' rather than postin'

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    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Funny you mention too much YMSB, they played in my hometown the Tuesday when I got back, and it was the best of the 5 times I saw them play! Jake is really coming along as a powerhouse mando player, I saw him go head to head with Ronnie McCoury and Sam Bush and he was holding his own amongst giants!
    I should be pickin' rather than postin'

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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Quote Originally Posted by dang View Post
    Funny you mention too much YMSB, they played in my hometown the Tuesday when I got back, and it was the best of the 5 times I saw them play! Jake is really coming along as a powerhouse mando player, I saw him go head to head with Ronnie McCoury and Sam Bush and he was holding his own amongst giants!
    Yeah I've seen the videos and have got to see Yonder live with him and he is a powerhouse on the mandolin, the feeling just isn't there for me. When I see the Greensky guys there is a real energy, cohesiveness and feeling that I like and I feel Yonder just hasn't had that energy since bringing Jake and Allie

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    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr.dab View Post
    Yeah I've seen the videos and have got to see Yonder live with him and he is a powerhouse on the mandolin, the feeling just isn't there for me. When I see the Greensky guys there is a real energy, cohesiveness and feeling that I like and I feel Yonder just hasn't had that energy since bringing Jake and Allie
    I can't really disagree with anything you said there, but after seeing them this time I felt like they were starting to tighten up a bit as a group. The Wednesday show was weak but other days they were tighter, I still don't think they have adjusted to Jake, he is a totally different player then Jeff was, and do I think they were tighter with Jeff.

    I thought the new material was good, and they need that to move forward. This video was a pretty decent representation of what I saw:
    I should be pickin' rather than postin'

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    Registered User mandomurph's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Quote Originally Posted by BrianWilliam View Post
    Telluride is beautiful and the music is awesome. But for me, the crowd is too much.
    I agree 100%. Went once several years ago. The best of the best musicians, but the crowd had no qualms about standing in front of your view and talking loudly to each other.
    I complained to management and maybe things have changed, but I prefer smaller crowds
    and quieter audiences.
    mandomurph

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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    I went for my bachelor party in 2015. It was pretty awesome. And the jamming in town park camping is plentiful. I want to go back. I hear Rockygrass is even more of a picker's fest.

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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    I've been to Telluride a few times but never for the BG Fest. I always thought it would be fun but I saw pictures of the crowd from this year and it gave me pause. Maybe it's a sign of getting older but when I go to a live show, I want to hear the music and not be listening to people gabbing it up around me. We were at Rockygrass last year and will go again this year. Had a great time there and while the crowd was sizable, it appears to be smaller than what I saw in the pictures from Telluride. We are going back to Telluride in late July but I will be glad the big crowd will be gone. Like mandomurph, I now prefer smaller crowds and quieter audiences.

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    poor excuse for anything Charlieshafer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Going to Telluride for the music is understandable, but if you go without taking a few days to hike, you're wasting your time! Just walk up to the end of town, up the road that leads to the waterfall, past that for another few miles, up to about 12,500 feet and hang out at Blue Lake and see this:

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    Don't get me wrong, the music is great, but you can see all those guys all o er the country. I can't see these mountains from Connecticut...

  18. #14
    Registered User Al Trujillo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Ahhh....Telluride!! We really enjoy visiting Telluride (and other similar towns) each year. Though my wife and I would love to take in the Festival the logistics of getting there, cost, accommodations, crowds, etc. keep us from heading that way. I've become more averse to large crowds and lament the days when Colorado was a bit less crowded. I appreciate the pictures and stories though - I'll experience it for now vicariously through others.

  19. #15
    poor excuse for anything Charlieshafer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Quote Originally Posted by Al Trujillo View Post
    Ahhh....Telluride!! We really enjoy visiting Telluride (and other similar towns) each year. Though my wife and I would love to take in the Festival the logistics of getting there, cost, accommodations, crowds, etc. keep us from heading that way. I've become more averse to large crowds and lament the days when Colorado was a bit less crowded. I appreciate the pictures and stories though - I'll experience it for now vicariously through others.
    Hit the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown! Nice, small, in-town festival with some great artists. I agree with Al in general, crowds now tend to annoy me more than excite me. Maybe one festival a year now, I'd rather drive a few hours if necessary for a one-off performance by the right performer in the right venue.

  20. #16

    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    With KOTO streaming, I can listen from the comfort of my own home. OK, I don't have the mtns and Bridal Veil falls out my window, but I don't have to wait in line for anything either.
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    Everyone should go at least once! Sam Bush is King of Telluride
    and the House All Star Band is like Strength in Numbers....... & hard
    to beat the beauty of the setting. It is an ordeal & harder than some
    other Festivals, but it was an amazing experience the few times I've gone!

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  23. #18
    Registered User Steve-o's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    I went once back in the early 80s. The crowds weren't bad then. We did it on a shoestring budget. Slept under the stars and brought or own food. It was my introduction to David Grisman and Newgrass Revival. It fed my muse and changed my musical journey. Wonderful memories.

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    Default Re: Why I go to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival whenever I can..

    TOO MANY PEOPLE anymore.
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