Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest, Fort Collins, August 12-14, 2011

by Tim Van Schmidt

"Wow!" Hazel Miller said it from the stage in Library Park during her rollicking rhythm and blues set, capping off a full weekend of amazing musical power and style. Her one-word review of Bohemian Nights is really all you need to know about the event that has kept Fort Collins rocking HARD for seven years now- but I'm going to tell you what I saw anyway.

And I saw plenty. During the course of Bohemian Nights, featuring a handful of headliners from out of town and another 80 top notch Colorado bands to boot, I managed to get to 59 performances over the three days. Now that's really trucking, but made possible by a carefully constructed schedule with staggered start times and the fact that the five main stages that I visited were within just a few minutes walk from each other.

While I made it a point to stay with each performer for at least 2-3 songs, there was one great band that had me glued to the spot during Bohemian Nights- Bop Skizzum on the Linden Street Stage on Sunday. A big powerful band with a full horn section, Bop Skizzum also features an energetic front woman who had stage control down to an art. Temporarily, I forgot about the rest of the schedule while this band was raging on stage.

In fact, I got caught up by a number of bands on Linden Street. That included one of the next great discoveries of Bohemian Nights- Another Kind of Magick. From Wyoming, this band features young men- the oldest of which is 17- who pumped out a very worldly and convincing blues, aided by a front man-guitarist who put in extra work to keep things lively.

Also on Linden Street, I was impressed by the crowd-rousing power of Air Dubai. And speaking of power- I had seen the Epilogues before- at the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks- but the band on stage at Bohemian Nights was ten times more passionate and electrified. Also passionate and electrified on Linden Street was the front man for Chain Gang of 1974- and the drummer-singer for Wire Faces.

Of course, Linden Street was just one of the stages and the highlights were plentiful elsewhere as well. In Old Town Square, for example, that crazy zombie band Widow's Bane managed to pull off their dark, roiling rock in the broad daylight.

At the Singer-Songwriters stage I saw several all-star lineups on stage- the Atoll's Cary Morin joined both Dave Kimball and Scott Allen, who also brought along with him Ralph Rivera. Mollie O'Brien not only brought her husband Rich Moore on stage, but also John Magnie, of the subdudes. The stage was also full of musicians for the Sunshine House's final band gig.

I even enjoyed visiting the Kid's Music Adventure Stage, checking out a MC-DJ team called the Littleague and keyboardist Docotr Noize. Both performers had the kids up and jumping with positive, upbeat energy.

Of course the big headliners- the experts from out of town- dominated the Mountain Avenue Stage with Cracker and G Love rocking on Friday, the Tedeschi Trucks Band on Saturday and Asleep at the Wheel on Sunday, after a drenching rain shower. G Love is cool, true enough, but the Tedeschi Trucks Band came out punching with a big sound, real horns and a confidence made possible only by a cohesive unit. It didn't matter what they were playing- a deep, rough original or a Sly and the Family Stone cover- the Tedeschi Trucks Band delivered plenty.

The Mountain Avenue Stage also featured big Colorado bands too. How can you resist the infectious energy of the Patti Fiasco? With revival fervor, Musketeer Gripweed defied the hot sun that beat down on the festival throughout most of the three day run to put in an over-the-top performance. One of my favorite local bands, the Lindsey O'Brien band- sounded great on the big stage and John-Alex Mason made his cigar-box guitar rock plenty on Mountain. I enjoyed getting a taste of Dovekins but the biggest treat of the entire three days on Mountain was the set by Nathaniel Rateliff and Fairchildren. Rateliff writes finely textured songs, fleshed out by a powerful band sound- I want to hear more of that.

If I had to pick a favorite venue, though, I think my choice this year would be Library Park. The wide diversity of the music presented there over the course of festival was impressive indeed. SHEL's savory folk pop ruled on Saturday afternoon and in the evening Finnders and Youngberg as well as the Emmitt-Nershi Band showcased top shelf bluegrass and roots acoustic music. On Sunday morning I had the pleasure of starting the day with Indomables Musical's upbeat dance music and then let my jaw drop during Otis Taylor's "trance blues" set later in the day- his is a deep and moving music, raw and primal.

But finally, this brings me right back to Hazel Miller. Her band closed out the schedule at Library Park with a rhythm and blues celebration. The band seemed wound up, Miller seemed to be having a good time and the crowd was right there with them. So when Miller and band came back out for an encore- a rare occasion at Bohemian Nights- it didn't matter what they played as long as they just kept playing. Miller and crew cranked into a driving version of the Rolling Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash" and the crowd knew just what to do- get busy and dance. Now that's what I call a beautiful end to a major event that freely mixes big music with local culture. "Wow!" Right on, Hazel!