2010 Hangout Festival Recap
In it’s first year, Hangout’s Beach Ball is among nation’s finest festivals
Gulf Shores shines as beacon of hope for entire coast amidst Oil Spill
By Rusty Odom, Lauren Fyfe, Jay Tomson & Marcus Haley
There’s an unmistakable feeling that comes with that first step into the sand.
All troubles dissipate. It’s like pressing reset on the conscience. There’s a similar emotion that consumes the body with familiar live music. The two can be quite similar, but for some reason they have always been kept separate.
Until now.
When it came to the case of Gulf Shores’ first ever large-scale music festival, hiccups became part of the process. But last second artist cancellations couldn’t stop this weekend of music and neither could afternoon tornado warnings. Not even a deep-water horizon oil spill could stop it.
Nothing was going to stand between the inaugural Hangout Beach, Music and Arts Festival and success.
The original idea for the first ever large-scale music festival on the beach came from another annual event that takes place in Gulf Shores called “The Shrimp Festival.” That festival occurs throughout various parking lots around the beach community. Shaul Zislan, owner of the Hangout Restaurant in the heart of Gulf Shores, wanted to expand on the idea, with hopes of incorporating the beach.
Zislan began to search for people who shared his vision. He reached out to Huka Entertainment’s AJ Niland and as the two walked across the pristine sand just outside of the Hangout restaurant’s walls, the embryo for a full-scale musical festival was created.
“AJ and I started brainstorming about the possibilities,” Zislan told BLANK at the festival. “He’s the industry expert, so once he said it was feasible, I went to the mayor and the city council and got their verbal support.”
“The local support was contingent on us giving them a plan that made sense. Once they saw how strong the plan was and they approved it, that’s when we realized, “Hey, we’ve got something here.”
It would be December of 2009 before all red tape was spliced and all permits cleared. The festival was a go, but time was against the organizers.
“Realistically, we put this all together in three months,” explained Zislan. “We got most of our permits in December, and then it was the holidays, so we basically started in January.” By mid-April, the footprints of the festival were firmly in the sand.
“AJ deserves all the credit for the musical lineup as well as the production lineup,” urged Zislan. “The production team is just as important as anything else. I know the artists get most of the credit, but the people who set these things up behind the scenes, they are rock stars as well.”
These uncelebrated “rockers” had accomplished quite a feat, and were ahead of schedule, and then another obstacle burst into the equation.
When word broke about the oil spill on April 20th, the people of the gulf coast were devastated. Most of the areas projected to be affected by the oil slick where just catching their breath from the devastation that Hurricane Katrina brought less than five years ago.
The fishing industry in the Gulf prepared for a year full of tainted product and regulations that would decrease the size of their workplace to nothing.
All the while, Hangout Festival organizers worked around the clock to make sure the festival was still feasible but, more importantly, they wanted to make sure the celebration was still appropriate.
In the grand scheme of things, an experimental first-year music festival didn’t seem to matter. And on the surface, it didn’t. But those behind the Hangout saw an incredible opportunity, the kind that only comes around unexpectedly.
As the estimated belches of oil grew daily, the mood of the gulf’s people became increasingly dire.
Vacation cancellations had reached 35% in Gulf Shores. The oil was scaring people away, even though the beaches and surrounding oceans remained completely unaffected by the spill.
Local businesses were wringing their hands with doubt, as were the hundreds of vacation realtors in the area.
The Gulf coast was reeling from the wetlands of Louisiana to panhandle of Florida.
Most people, or in this case, organizations, would have given up.
Instead, Zislan, Niland and the gathering of optimistic souls behind the Hangout Festival pressed on.
The people organizing the festival used the assemblage of musicians, fans and activists as a unitary torchbearer for the entire Gulf Coast, proving to tens of thousands of first-time Gulf visitors that this area and its livelihood is worth saving.
Environmental activists Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy and Erin Brockovich came to Gulf Shores to take in the weekend of music and spoke to the beauty that the area possesses. “I’ve searched the world for beautiful white sand beaches and who knew they were basically in my own back yard,” Brockovich said at a sun-drenched press conference in a Surf Style parking lot. “I think that everybody in this area knows the value of they have here. Everyone here knows it’s worth preserving.”
People from 46 states had come to the southern tip of Highway 59 to celebrate the marriage of music and ocean. Not only did these festival attendees provide an economic boost to the area, they all shared Brockovich’s sentiment.
The Hangout Music Festival was giving the Gulf Coast a much-needed shot in the arm.
It would provide even more with its benevolence.
Two weeks before the beach ball was set to open its gates, Zislan announced that all of the event’s proceeds would go to Gulf coast protection and restoration efforts in light of the oil disaster. With this groundbreaking revelation, the festival was much more than music and arts….The Hangout had a purpose.
“When the deep-water horizon oil spill came into play, it was apparent that we needed to go all out,” said Zislan. “The plea of the area was to show people that we are not bogged down in black goo. The people in the area are as alive as ever. The beaches are beautiful. People were getting the perception that it’s bad down here. That made the decision to donate all the profits easy,” said the festival creator and host.
“It’s like a farmer who doesn’t eat his crops the first year. You want the roots to be strong for the future. We planted a seed with this festival and now we have to nurture it.”
If the oil never makes it to the shores of Alabama, Zislan says he’ll send the money wherever it’s needed to help the gulf coast. “We have to give back to this beach first,” he said with a matter-of-fact appreciation.
Immediately, everyone who had purchased a ticket had become a part of the solution. Before the first note was ever played at the Hangout Music Festival, hundreds of crucial moves made the weekend possible, but the first-class manner of the decision-making process is what separated this from other first year events.
The crashing of four-foot waves owned the ears of festival-goers as they rushed onto the white sands of the Alabama coast just after noon on the festival’s opening day.
Attendees hardly had time to take in one of the most unique venues in music history before Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam struck their first chord. Knowles was the first of several breezy surprises of the weekend. Along with BDS, he played a wonderful blend of bluesy southern rock in front of a few hundred sun-drenched people who were just looking to hangout. Knowles chose Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to conclude the first ever set of the Hangout Music Festival and with a giddy sense of reverence, everyone in attendance knew that this weekend was going to be the real deal.
Orianthi was chosen as the first act on the main stage (dubbed The Hangout Stage) and kept the energy high with jaw-dropping guitar solos. Now solo, Orianthi was handpicked by Michael Jackson to perform on the ill fated “This is it” tour. As expected, she played one of Jacko’s songs before finishing her set with her radio hit “According to You.”
Jeff Austin hit the Playstation stage for its genesis show as Orianthi was flailing her last extended guitar solo. Austin is best known for his work with Yonder Mountain String Band, but decided to bring friends to Gulf Shores, which included acclaimed flatpicker Larry Keel. Bluegrass magic ensued throughout his hour and a half set.
The North Mississippi Allstars duo was composed of brothers Luther and Cody Dickenson and visited a higher tempo than do most NMAS sets. Washboard solo’s, dueling drums and the like made the band of brothers sound just as good if not better than normal, and they even played a couple of the songs they worked on in the motion-picture, “Black Snake Moan.”
As the newest traveling member of The Black Crowes, (Luther) Dickenson wasn’t done for the day. He, along with the Robinson brothers and the rest of the Crowes, performed a greatest hits concert, possibly due to the fact that the iconic modern southern rock act is planning a lengthy hiatus from touring at the conclusion of their scheduled shows.
Instead of forcing less-noted and less-moving numbers as they are prone to do, The Crowes took their time on versions of “Jealous Again,” “Hard to Handle,” “Remedy” and “She Talks to Angels.”
Across the sand, Robert Randolph and the Family Band had completed a rousing beach-party with the weekend’s first encore. Randolph also unveiled news that he will be featured on the upcoming Elton John/Leon Russell collaboration during the hangout festival. Meanwhile, folks were still dancing from the sounds of Memphis electronic pioneers Pnuma Trio.
With each performance that took place, the momentum was building. The schedule had been accurately managed. Zislan was right. These production folks were rock stars.
Alison Krauss and Union Station was likely the act with the most widespread appeal to locals of the Gulf coast, and it showed during her pleasantly crowded performance with special guest Jerry Douglas. As the sun traded the moon for the sky, Girl Talk played his signature mash-up of rock beats from every decade and current hip-hop. Those in need of an indie rock fix were warmed by versions of songs from Radiohead, Phoenix and Arcade Fire. With dozens of fans onstage dancing alongside DJ Greg Gillis, Girl Talk could have owned the benchmark moment of day one, had it not been for headliner Zac Brown.
Modern County is nothing like the country of our parents. It’s talentless and thoughtless for the most part. It’s going to take some serious work to eliminate that thought within most music circles, but the movement to take country back to its roots may have found its general in Zac Brown.
With his jam/country hybrid, it’s apparent that Brown knows music and furthermore, has an appreciation of those who laid the groundwork for him. Just as likely to bring Jerry Garcia out on stage as he is Hank Williams, Brown has found a way to merge two seemingly impractical genres of music with success.
His set went long and was filled with traditional country ballads, extended instrument duels and covers of Van Morrison, The Band and Charlie Daniels. As his band said their final thanks, a five-minute fireworks show put the cap on the first Friday at the Hangout Festival.
The music, however, would go on. The festival grounds were placed on a public beach area, but the boundaries of the event included the Hangout Restaurant, which gave the festival its name. The noise ordinance forced the music to stop at 11:00PM outside, so the party moved inside the eatery and bar for late night carousing.
Inside the Hangout Restaurant, Big Gigantic, Gift of Gab and Alex B were slated to play. A crowd waited just outside of the festival gates patiently for employees to allow entry into the Restaurant turned dance-hall.
The theme inside the Hangout eatery was immensely upbeat and these three hip-hop acts celebrated the genre with sets that seemed to go on forever.
Big Gigantic and Alex B (of Pnuma Trio) served as bookends of the after-party and each earned the respect of many virginal listeners. In fact, Big Gigantic may have been the most promising discovery of the weekend. Big’s addition of saxophone to the modern electronic sound is well placed even if unexpected (picture Pretty Lights with Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker). Alex B. is pursuing a solo career to accompany his role in Memphis-based Pnuma Trio and did nothing to sour his fans as the last performer of day one.
Though Jerry Jeff Walker and Jakob Dylan couldn’t make their flights to nearby Pensacola due to formidable weather in Texas, day two shined brightly on the already tanned festival. Indie musicians AA Bondy and The Whigs each owned the third stage (Playstation Stage) when it was their turn while The Funky Meters, Ozomatli and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals all boasted large crowds at the sand stages. “I was in awe the second I got up on stage. It’s Coachella on the beach,” said Potter. “It’s beautifully laid out and the fact that its located within a town in really integral. I love to see festivals play nice with the town. I’m really impressed at how the Hangout has kept their honor and not bombarded the area. I haven’t talked to one unhappy local person.”
Ozomatli, a Grammy winning MexiCali rock band from Los Angeles, showed their appreciation for the scenery by taking their show to the crowd, complete with drums, horns and cowbells. They followed the footsteps of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which had led the crowd on a musical march the previous night after joining Zac Brown for his final song. Ozomatli would not be the last band to interact so intimately with the fans on this weekend. In fact, musicians visiting the other side of the front-row became the norm at the Hangout. It was apparent that the fans weren’t the only ones who wanted to get their feet in the sand.
The largest day crowd of the weekend was owned by Rodrigo y Gabriella. Never before had anyone in attendance seen the Mexican duo seem more comfortable than they did on the sands of Gulf Shores. Adorning ear-to-ear smiles, the pair of guitar virtuoso’s played a dizzying hour and a half. The couple mixed ballads of well-known materiel with Spanish-spitting Tarentino-rock, and together, Rod y Gab produced the best show of the weekend.
The guitar is a truly amazing tool of music. The celebration of the instrument continued as the acoustic was traded for the electric, as Gov’t Mule took the main stage next.
Grace Potter joined Warren Haynes and company for Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Women,” which sent chills down the Alabama coastline. Meanwhile, Nashville’s Moon Taxi, potential jam-band of tomorrow, owned the largest Jambase (the fourth stage) crowd of the weekend.
The Roots didn’t miss a beat as the replacement for the scratched Flaming Lips and neither did the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who subbed for Jakob Dylan in the 11th hour. Potter and Haynes joined the PHJB for the most collaborative moment of the weekend on a rousing version of “St. James Infirmary.”
John Legend was Saturday’s headliner. He first walked off stage 45 minutes early. He returned and encored with hit “Ordinary People,” and then bowed away once again, to a crowd that wanted more. For those who were there to see Legend, they got what they wanted, but Legend didn’t win any new loyalty with his early exit.
In stark contrast to Legend, Keller Williams would go all night long in his sold-out Hangout after-show.
Through two days, the Hangout had been a success. Only Sunday remained, but the schedule had saved the best for last.
The final day of the Hangout fest started with promising funksters ALO and perennial soul-quartet, The Blind Boys of Alabama. ALO is on their way up, while the Blind Boys of Alabama have “seen” it all throughout their decades on music’s map.
As ALO broke into the chorus of the famous Prince song, “Purple Rain,” clouds took over the festival grounds. Within two hours, tornadic winds were blowing through surrounding counties and the festival was forced to evacuate all parties.
Some worried that the remainder of the fest would be called off, but compared to the problems that stood in the way of the Hangout in the weeks and months previous, a little hard rain was nothing.
However, the schedule would need to be adjusted. Once the festival gates were reopened, fans were excited to hear that all shows had been pushed back one hour. Matisyahu and Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears were to be the only casualties of the delay, until word came that Matisyahu would play the third and final after-show of the weekend later that night.
In their final testament to first-class management, the Hangout brass then announced that the festival would be open to the public, completely free of charge.
With a slight drizzle still falling from the sky, Michael Franti took the Hangout stage with hopes of reenergizing the waterlogged crowd, which now included thousands of locals who had previously watched from across the road with curiosity.
Noone could have been better for the job. During Franti’s song, “That’s the sound of the sunshine coming down,” the heavens opened and the sun reigned supreme once again over what must have been the most satisfying beach in the world.
At that moment, the Hangout achieved true success. Nothing could stop it.
Franti spent more time in the crowd than he did the stage. He borrowed the talents of two front-row fans to play Nirvana’s “Smell’s Like Teen Spirit,” and then he made a request to get any willing youngsters on stage with he and the band during their last song. Had Franti run for political office in Gulf Shores that day, counting the votes would’ve been unnecessary.
Just as Franti had gained the favor of the town and of Mother Nature, OK Go played a marvelous set on the Playstation Stage. Their set had a measured start with a few tracks from their 2010 release, “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky.” As the show progressed so did the band’s intensity. Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Damian Kulash brought guitar and mic stand into the crowd to sing picnic love-song, “Last Leaf.” He would reenter the crowd on the song “This Too Shall Pass,” this time, with his fun-forcing body-linguistics at full tilt.
As the tight-eyed crowd sang the chorus side-by-side with the boisterous frontman, the lyrics became much more than words. It was a celebration of accomplishment that everyone there for the first ever Hangout fest understood. “You can’t keep lettin’ it get you down, and you can’t keep draggin’ dead weight around,” says the opening lines of the song.
By the end of OK Go’s set, nothing trivial seemed to matter. The forecasted rain clouds had transformed into a beautiful beach sunset. All that was left was the finale.
Trey Anastasio is a lot of things to a lot of people, but to us he’s just a fun musician. Nothing more, nothing less. We always have a great time at his shows, even though his music isn’t exactly our cup of tea. His latest outfit, Classic Tab, is by far our favorite. A horn section and a set of ladies armed with angelic vocal chords add to the unit. They used their headlining spot at the Hangout as an experimental playground, which pleased the crowd on several occasions. Anastasio and Tom Marshall wrote the song “Sailboat Man” specifically for the Hangout Fest, while they also debuted “Burn that Bridge” during their set. Covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” and The Band’s “It Makes no Difference” added to the experimentation.
As the band regrouped onstage for the final encore of the weekend, fireworks lifted from the sand. They continued to illuminate the sky throughout the song and several minutes after the last chord was played.
The Hangout festival’s only detractor is the possibility that attendees could have simultaneously ruined normal sunbathing beach vacations and festivals in on foul swoop.
We haven’t seen ‘em all. But BLANK Newspaper has covered over a dozen festivals. From Coachella on the west coast to Chicago’s Lollapalooza to Bonnaroo in our own backyard, we have a pretty good idea of the festival landscape in North America.
None have been as meaningful or as rewarding as The Hangout. Dancing in the sand is an amenity that only this festival holds, but it wasn’t just the beach that made it special.
As Anastasio played his final note and the fireworks gave off their last bit of energy, the sounds of the ocean, which had lain patiently dormant all weekend, slowly regained control of the aural landscape. Smiles and amazement matched an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and purpose.
By the end of it all, the mood in Gulf Shores was different. It was the kind of weekend that stirs the soul. The kind of time that makes you want to get in shape, get up earlier, and quit smoking.
It was an event that forces the idea of achieving higher means. And with its beachfront aesthetics, it opened this inspirational door to the adolescent music fan just as it did for experienced music aficionados.
The Hangout Beach Music and Arts festival is not just a weekend of music, it’s the most refreshing vacation a music fan will ever experience.
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