The COVID-19 pandemic had severely locked the world, due to which music festivals from all across the world that were scheduled to host their events in 2020 got canceled. However, now it seems that the return of those festivals has started, bringing together the worldwide fans, live music, and packed houses to start with.
Just like every other music festival, The Peach Fest 2021 is all set to roar with Oysterhead making their long-awaited reunion on the 3rd of July at the Peach Music Festival. This is their first-ever gig since the two-night Colorado run held in February 2020. And, before that, the popular group didn’t perform since 2006.
The Peach Music Festival 2021 is held at Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA from 1st to 4th July. Speaking of the reunion of Oysterhead, the show was hosted on a single-set with a marquee performance on the Peach Stage attracted a major portion of the festival’s attendees, as the crowd gathered to watch the rare assembly of Stewart Copeland, Trey Anastasio, and Les Claypool.
Unfortunately, some of the fans did get to see some extra Anastasio back in the day when he had made a surprise appearance at the Ghosts of the Forest band-mate Celisse’s set.
For Oysterhead, a major portion of their set came off their studio LP The Grand Pecking Order. The festival and the live music started with the trio’s signature and namesake melody ‘Mr. Oyesterhead’ was soon followed by ‘Oz is Ever Floating’. Surprisingly these are the two songs that the band reflected on during their final before the pandemic Colorado gig.
With these two songs, The Grand Pecking Order followed with more of their material including ‘Rubberneck Lions’, ‘The Grand Pecking Order’, ‘Little Faces’, ‘Polka Dot Rose’, ‘Shadow of a Man’, and ‘Army’s On Ecstasy’.
A quite astonishing move that was made by the band was when a non-Oysterhead tune flowed in with Phish’s favorite ‘First Tube’. Oysterhead’s previous reunions also included material by Copeland’s The Police, Claypool’s Primus, and also fellow power-trio Cream.
Finally, the set came to an end with ‘Pseudo Suicide’, and ‘Owner of the World’.
Now speaking of the grand Peach Fest 2021:
July 1, Thursday
The Thursday afternoon was kick-started with sets from Mikaela Davis, Eggy, Dark Star Orchestra, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, the muggy air and intermittent rain, and others. The shows were spread out between the Grove and the Peach stages and the acts were cluttered with crowds. Only a few attendees missed out on a full range of live music. What kept the massive crowd satiated was the wide selection of funk, jam, and in the case of Davis, the amazing music. And, all of these were just on Day 1!
July 2, Friday
On the 2nd day, it was the Mushroom Stage where Goose had given a breakout performance in 2019. It opened on Friday at the Peach Festival 2021 with Ghost Light, Thumpasaurus, and Aqueous. Nicole Atkins that was followed by Live at the Fillmore East was given as a tribute on the 50th anniversary of the Allman Brothers Band seminal live album.
Aside from everything, what felt like a real celebration was the fact that there was a steady return to normalcy after what seemed like ages! Both musicians and the patrons were equally delighted to be back on the floor!
On Friday eve, the crowd was amazed at two sets from Umphrey’s McGee and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead that were followed with a two-hour late-night set. Moreover, Russo expressed special thanks to his nephew/ drum tech Evan Roque who took over his role behind the kit two years earlier.
July 3, Saturday
Friday gave way to a wet night but Saturday kicked in with a much enthusiastic, dry, warm, and jam-packed session at the Peach Festival 2021. The spirits were high amongst everyone and also for Oysterhead with everyone raging at the Turkuaz late-night.
The rain gained its power at around 5 pm when Oteil & Friends had begun a set of Allman Brothers chords, soon welcoming the Allman Betts Band for a few songs to help cover up the rain. Next, Dopapod played a stunning pack set at the Mushroom Stage that was truly a welcoming sight for a Northeast Festival favorite.
On the Grove Stage, it was Andy Frasco who invited a cast of friends namely Mike Gantzer, Taz, and members of Doom Flamingo. Andy recreated his Peach 2019 set with the crowd surfing over to the pool directly from the stage. It was later at the Grove when Trey Anastasio sat with Celisse, who is a member of Ghosts of the Forest.
Oysterhead engulfed the stage with their highly anticipated performance. This was their first performance after a considerable amount of time and also since it was last Les Claypool’s time on stage. The group weaved through a consistent string of tracks and some mind-bending improvisations with Trey taking some hit turns on the Matterhorn guitar. The entire showcase was like a dream and a treat to the fans.
It was more like a super jam between the three legendary artists proving yet again that they are a top-notch band!
Returning on The Peach Stage yet again, instrumental quartet TAUK set their fans upon a very exclusive path towards dark sounds that were eventually taken over by the Oysterheads in the evening. With some of the fan-favorites like Afrotonic and Times Up that were mixed with the latest original Aquatic Curtain, it was almost impossible for the crowd to resist the urge to bang their heads. And, especially when Isaac Teel was drumming!
The Peach Festival 2021 was truly an event that the audience needed to indulge in after a long period of mental and physical turbulence.
