Mother Nature always wins—
We learned that again over the previous weekend as the
Chipotle Cultivate Festival came to town for a day long adventure of food, ideas, and music.
Having just completed its fifth year, the one-day free festival included cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, live music, local food artisans, breweries, wineries, a special Chipotle festival menu, and other activities emphasizing fresh food made with sustainably raised ingredients.
Gavin Kaysen
|
Chef appearances included
Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods),
Gavin Kaysen (Spoon & Stable), and
Richard Blais (Top Chef: All Stars), with DJ
Christopher Golub spinning between the five scheduled musical acts.
In addition, there were a handful of interactive experiences focused on sustainable food – including issues surrounding GMOs, how to make guacamole, and the reality of processed foods, as well as a Kid’s Zone.
Surly Brewing teamed with the festival to create a
Rhubarb Farmhouse Ale saison exclusively for the event as well.
 Hippo Campus
|
The crowd at the music stage began swelling very early on, as local favorites
Hippo Campus played first, with a spirited 40 min. set that included new single, ‘South’ (EP out Oct 2 on Grand Jury Records)as well as favorites from their debut EP,
Bashful Creatures.
The St. Paul foursome with a peppy
Vampire Weekend-esque indie-pop sound has a large area following and includes guitarist/ vocalist Jake Luppen, guitarist Nathan Stocker, bassist Zach Sutton and drummer Whistler Allen. “We’re gonna finish off with a classic”, Luppen cheekily said, ending with the title track from their initial EP, “…have a burrito for me”, Luppen added.
Anderson East
|
The southern soul of
Anderson East was next, the Alabama native touring in support of his third and latest,
Delilah (Low Country Sounds/Elektra). His slightly raspy voice echoed his Baptist upbringings, with East saying early on, “Did anyone bring their dancing shoes? ...you’re sure gonna need ‘em!”.
A crack band with organ and slide guitar backed the singer, even adding in a mid-set cover of
The Faces’ ‘Stay with Me’, slightly slowed and less manic than the original, simmering with Southern spices. Ending with ‘Satisfy Me’, East’s set clocked in at the same running time as his major label debut, a too-brief 32 min.
 X Ambassadors
|
Clouds started to thicken and the wind picked up as
X Ambassadors took to the stage for their 40 min. set. The Ithaca, NY band actually has a local connection, as lead guitarist Noah Feldshuh spent most summers growing up, in nearby Prior Lake, and had many of his extended family in the audience.
The band’s debut full-length,
VHS (KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records) is making waves, thanks to breakout second single, ‘Renegades’ (which has also been smartly placed in a
Jeep commercial)and the crowd was on their side from the beginning drum beats of ‘Loveless’ feeding on charismatic front man Sam Harris’ eagerness to interact with the crowd.
Harris broke out his saxophone for the first time in the set on ‘Love Songs Drug Songs’, the crowd sang along to the chorus of ‘Unsteady’, and the band ended with ‘Jungle’, the album’s initial single done with
Jamie N. Commons on record.
Atlas Genius
|
Flashes of lightning veined the nearby sky as Adelaide, Australia band
Atlas Genius came out to their intro music of
Etta James’ ‘At Last’. The Aussie band has a new album,
Inanimate Objects (Warner Bros Records
), out just last week, and offered a preview of several of the new songs during their 40 min. set.
“This is beautiful”, singer/guitarist Keith Jeffery remarked after the first song, “Let’s pray to the gods of rock ‘n roll that we have no rain”. ‘If So’ got the crowd clapping, while the crowd heeded Jeffrey’s request to “dance your pants off” on ‘Back Seat’, getting everyone to crouch down then jump up in tandem, saying “that was exactly right” as the song finished.
The first two songs from the new record followed, ‘The Stone Mill’ and current single, ‘Molecules’, with biggest applause reserved for their final song, ’Trojans’, which reached number 4 on the alternative charts.
With the sky darkening and rumbles overhead heard louder, the crowd (many of whom were mimicking
Walk the Moon’s colorful face paint on their cheeks) soon received the bad news that a storm was fast approaching and the band would not be playing their headlining set.
A chorus of boos predictably rang out, but were hushed when the band themselves took to the stage to apologize to the audience, even ad-libbing in an acapella verse of ‘Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)’ to try and appease the crowd.
And with that, an orderly crowd exited the festival as dark skies loomed; happy to have had a free day of music, food, and fun, but less than enthused that
Mother Nature managed to get the last word in.
Recent Comments