Freako de Mayo Music Festival in Las Vegas

May 4th & 5th, 2012

at
Las Vegas Country Saloon and The Canyon Club at the Four Queens

Performing at the Freako de Mayo Festival will be
Quactus, Spafford, Cubensis and Moksha

The Las Vegas Jamband Society (LVJBS) and the Orange County Jamband Society (OCJBS) are bringing California and Las Vegas together for a two night festival of freaks in downtown Las Vegas for the first annual Freako de Mayo Festival on May 4 & 5.  Located at two great venues, the Las Vegas Country Saloon and the Canyon Club @ The Four Queens, the  OCJBS and the LVJBS are bringing together four great jambands to the heart of downtown Las Vegas.  Both venues are on Freemont Street making the total experience an explosion of musical and visual overload.

Freako de Mayo Schedule:

Friday, May 4, 2012 @ the Las Vegas Country Saloon
Spafford 9:30 pm
Quactus 12:30 am

Saturday, May 5, 2012 @ the Canyon Club in the Four Queens
Cubensis 9:30 pm
Moksha 1:00 am

QUACTUS:  The most common asked question, “What’s a Quactus?” A Quactus is a little bit of every great jam band you know and love blended together to form a familiar sound that you know you can put your finger on, but you’re not sure why. A 6 piece band for everyone, Quactus mixes intricately composed guitar leads, tight rhythms and spacey jams that keeps fans all over the country dancing.  After 7 years of touring extensively throughout the West coast, Quactus may call Los Angeles, CA home but they continue to entertain crowds wherever they perform.

SPAFFORD:  Spafford is a high energy, four-piece, funky jam rock band from Prescott, Arizona. Spafford’s music is characterized by captivating vocal harmonies, catchy and unique riffs, proficient jam sessions, and solos from each member of the band.

CUBENSIS:  CUBENSIS brings the Grateful Dead concert experience back to life! Drawing from all eras of the Dead, the band performs a three-hour set of Grateful Dead and JGB classics that retains all the spontaneous exploratory jamming for which the bands were renowned. However, the music produced is uniquely Cubensis, as the band extracts the most out of every song using inspiration and their well-honed improvisational skills.

MOKSHA:  Explosive shows, filled with an arsenal of well-crafted material, have earned Moksha their reputation as Las Vegas’ secret weapon. This well-oiled machine emerging from the glitz and glamour of Sin City and quickly garnering a solid following of loyal fans on the West Coast. With guitar, keys, bass, drums, and horns, this unique blend of musicians lives and breathes in a deep pocket of funk rock. Swirling in subtlety, their music paints a sonic landscape that unfolds in the moment and feeds on the dynamic ebb and flow of audience and band interconnection.

A limited number of Weekend passes for Freako de Mayo are available for $40. If you would like to pay with cash, you will be able to do so at any LVJBS show or meeting. Otherwise, the passes can be purchase here:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=AC7FEFQQ32B5Q

Please note: the weekend passes are will call only. If you purchase online, please print your PayPal receipt and bring it with you along with your ID and credit card.

A special room rate at the Plaza Hotel downtown has been arranged for Freako de Mayo attendees. To book for Friday and Saturday nights at the SPECIAL $89 rate please click the link below. Note that you can only get the discounted rate until APRIL 16th. YOU MUST USE THIS LINK TO GET THE SPECIAL RATE! 2 night minimum; double occupancy.

https://plazahotelcasino.com/reservations/?res_promo=SPFOD12

There will also be a Freako De Mayo Pool Party for Saturday, 5/5 at the Plaza Hotel Rooftop Pool. It is open to both GUESTS and NON hotel guests but those not staying at the Plaza Hotel will have to pay a $20 facility fee to use the pool.

F r e a k o  d e  M a y o ! ! !

On a Friday night in Hollywood, CA at the legendary House of Blues, Umphrey’s McGee took the stage to prove to a usually very picky Los Angeles crowd why they deserve to be the heir to the jamband throne.  Fitting that it was St. Patty’s day weekend for them to show their “Mc” off.  And show it off they did, bringing a heavy rock n’ roll set to the former home of rock’s legends…the Sunset Strip.

 Ryan Stasik, Umphrey’s bass player, showing off his flexibility

Overheard at the show was the comment, “How does a progressive rock metal band from Chicago get to take the crown of all Jambands.  They don’t jam.”  That comment was quickly snuffed out as Umphrey’s delighted a packed House of Blues to their version of jam-tastic, face-melting rock n’ jam music.  Not your Phish-esque jamband, Umphrey’s McGee takes their cues from a deeper raunchier place in the annals of music history than the usual psychedelic ethereal musical trips that most of the jambands of late tend to do.  Not that they don’t have that ability, rather they pick and choose their jams to take you to a much heavier rockin’ place with some shredding guitar riffs, double drumming rhythm section and an onstage presence that screams, “we’re happy to be here and that you’ve come to share this with us.”  Less floating through space and more rocketing across time.  The Umphreaks, as their fans proudly call themselves, agree as they bounce and gyrate wildly to the thumping sounds coming from the stage.

Add in the incredible lighting technical work from one Jeff Waful and you’ve got a recipe for a both visually and auditory experience that can’t be compared.  Umphrey’s designated “7th Man,” Waful drives the band with wild and calculated light show that can shape the music as much as the music drives his lighting choices.  A pleasure to watch and dialed in perfectly to complete the UM-package.

But first, Big Head Todd & The Monsters continue with their winter/spring club tour; their first in over three years. For select stops along the tour, the band has been performing their breakout album, Midnight Radio, live in its entirety. Also on the itinerary: FestEVOL ski mountain stops in Colorado, Vermont and New Hampshire with Guster and others. And as always, it wouldn’t be Summer without BHTM’s annual hometown Red Rocks Amphitheater, this year on June 9th!

Big Head Todd & The Monsters winter/spring tour dates are as follows:
March 14 Greenville SC Handle Bar
March 15 Charleston SC Music Farm
March 16 Charlotte NC The Fillmore
March 18 Crested Butte CO Crested Butte Mountain Resort
co-headline with Guster
March 25 Ludlow VT Okemo Mountain Resort
co-headline with Guster
April 1 Newbury NH Mount Sunapee Resort
co-headline with Guster
April 14 Phoenix AZ McDowell Mountain Music Festival
May 5 Uncasville CT Mohegan Sun Casino
May 12 Myrtle Beach SC House of Blues – Myrtle Beach
June 9 Morrison CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
with special guests Barenaked Ladies
June 16 Sioux City IA Awesome Biker Nights

“Last Summer On Earth” Tour w/ Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, BHT&TM and Cracker:
July 6 Toledo, OH Toledo Zoo Amp
July 7 Rochester, NY Marvin Sands PAC
July 8 Dayton, OH Fraze Pavilion
July 9 Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion
July 11 Vienna, VA Wolftrap
July 12 Raleigh, NC Raleigh Amp
July 13 Charlotte, NC Uptown Amp
July 14 Charleston, SC Family Circle Stadium
July 16 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Amp
July 17 Tampa, FL Ask Gary Amp
July 18 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amp
July 20 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods
July 21 Austin, TX ACL at Moody Theat.
July 22 Dallas, TX Gexa Amp
July 24 Albuquerque, NM Sandia Casino
July 25 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre
July 27 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amp
July 28 Las Vegas, NV The Joint @ Hard Rock
July 29 San Diego, CA Harrah’s Rincon
July 31 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery
Aug 2 Boise, ID Botanical Gardens
Aug 3 Redmond, WA Marymoor
Aug 9 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah’s Council Bluffs
Aug 10 West Allis, WI Wisconsin State Fairgrounds
Aug 11 Detroit, MI DTE Amphitheatre
Aug 12 Indianapolis, IN The Lawn @ White River State Park
Aug 14 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach
Aug 15 Philadelphia, PA Penn’s Landing
Aug 17 Bethlehem, PA Sands Event Ctr
Aug 18 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion
Aug 19 Bangor, ME Bangor Waterfront

Tickets and additional info available at www.lastsummeronearth.com.

A quarter-century is a long time for any band to stick together, but Big Head Todd & The Monsters not only remain intact (Mohr, bassist Rob Squires and drummer Brian Nevin have been at it since their University of Colorado days and keyboardist, steel guitarist and background vocalist Jeremy Lawton joined in 2004) but continue to evolve, fine-tune and surprise. With more than a dozen albums and countless live gigs to their credit, BHTM—with their signature mix of funky rock and blues, soul, country, folk and jazz, Caribbean and African rhythms and more—inspired one newspaper critic to enthuse, “Ah, so this is what a stick of dynamite feels like!”

Since the heady early years of such hit albums as Midnight Radio and Sister Sweetly, and with more recent endeavors like 2010’s critically acclaimed back-to-the-roots Rocksteady and last year’s loving tribute to the father of the blues, 100 Years of Robert Johnson, Big Head Todd & The Monsters have always sought out new routes to explore. “We don’t know where it’s going, but it’s going where it’s supposed to go,” founding guitarist and lead vocalist Todd Park Mohr once told an interviewer, and that philosophy sums up BHTM’s open-to-all-possibilities approach perfectly.

www.bigheadtodd.com
Twitter @BHTM

WITH SPECIAL SETS FROM TONY RICE WITH
LARRY KEEL & NATURAL BRIDGE AND INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS

The Three-Day Festival Takes Place March 23 – 25, 2012 at
Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL

Tickets on sale now at suwanneespringfest.com

The 16th Annual Suwannee Springfest is kicks off in less than one month and today, promoters have released the daily stage and performance schedule. With more than 30 artists performing on 6 stages, the weekend promises nearly round-the-clock music from some of the finest string players around. Full lineup and schedule details are available at www.suwanneespringfest.com.

The 16th Annual Suwannee Springfest will be held March 23-25, 2012 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. Three-day weekend passes are available now for only $150 and children age 12 and under are free of charge. Discounts are offered for students and retired and active military. On March 15, weekend passes go up to $165 so buy early and save. To purchase tickets online or to find out more, please visit www.suwanneespringfest.com.

2012 Suwannee Springfest confirmed lineup below:
Yonder Mountain String Band
Donna the Buffalo
Justin Townes Earle
Emmitt-Nershi Band
Guy Clark
Verlon Thompson
Darol Anger and the Republic of Strings
Tea Leaf Green
Hot Buttered Rum
The Gourds
Tony Rice
The Mosier Brothers
Tornado Rider
Greensky Bluegrass
Infamous Stringdusters
Great American Taxi
Ryan Montbleau Band
Roy Book Binder
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Jim Lauderdale
Joe Craven
Larry Keel & Natural Bridge
Dread Clampitt
Grant Peeples
Randall Bramblett with Geoff Achison
Split Lip Rayfield
Ralph Roddenbery Band
Elephant Revival
Two Man Gentleman Band
The Pinkham Family
Saltwater Grass
Jubal’s Kin
Larkin Poe
Big Cosmo
Habanero Honeys
Packway Handle Band
Bobby Miller & The Virginia Dare Devils
Whetherman
Sloppy Joe
Quartermoon
Two Foot Level
Grandpa’s Cough Medicine
Mickey Abraham’s Traveling Acoustic Ensemble
Sosos
Uproot Hootenanny
Short Straw Pickers
Tennessee Firearms
Bibb City Ramblers
Lefty Williams Band
Donna Hopkins Band
Sanctum Sully
Red June
Taylor Martin’s Engine
Lizzy Ross Band
Honey Blue

Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park is also home to other Big IV Productions, including the Blackwater Music Festival (taking place this weekend), the Purple Hatter’s Ball and the Bear Creek Music & Arts Festival. Hosted each November, the 2011 Bear Creek Music & Arts Festival lineup featured Trey Anastastio Band, Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood, The Funky Meters, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, John Scofield & Piety Street, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Lettuce, George Porter, Jr., Jon Cleary, and the Pimps of Joytime. For more information on the Bear Creek Music & Arts Festival go to: www.bearcreekmusicfestival.com

A post on the band’s website reads:

Greetings from The String Cheese Incident Headquarters….the management team has been hard at work, racking our brains to try and come up with a couple of new and creative ideas for the Barefoot Boys that will properly capture the feeling of excitement we all get when we look ahead to Summer 2012…..we came up with a massive list of ideas that ranged from shooting Billy out of a cannon to having Kyle brew up a pool full of Summer Ale and inviting all of Boulder over for a swim…..unfortunately many of these ideas proved to either be prohibitively expensive, logistically impossible or just downright dumb…..however, we are pleased to report that we did come up with a couple that we wanted to share with everyone.

First, the most exciting thing we have seen sweep across the cultural landscape in the last couple of months has been the mania induced by New York Knick point guard Jeremy Lin….As Mr. Lin is often referred to by the global media as “the Michael Kang of Basketball” we felt that it was only fair for us to return the favor. Therefore, from this moment forth, the band will now be known as The String Cheese Lincident…. Not only are we thrilled by the obvious media boost this will provide for the band but think of the merch possibilities…..Lincredible!!

The second idea we are going to roll out this summer is one that we have actually been working on for a very long time. Way back in the summer of 2003, the band filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against Ticketmaster. The basic gist of the lawsuit was that the band wanted to maintain the ability to sell a large amount of tickets directly to the fans with the intention of keeping the service charge as reasonable as possible. Some very pointed discussions took place, the issue was resolved and the band continued selling tickets as they had always done. Fast forward to today and pay attention…..this is the exciting part….The String Cheese Incident is proud to announce that we have figured out a way to finally achieve the ultimate goal with this whole ticketing exercise…. The Summer Tour of 2012 will be SERVICE CHARGE FREE. That’s right…..if you order tix thru the band’s website there will be no service charge add-ons aside from shipping(which is out of our hands)….the ticket price that is listed is the price that you will pay. The band is going to cover the credit card fee….the band is going to cover the cost to take the orders and fulfill the tickets…..the cost of a $49.95 ticket to Red Rocks will cost you $49.95……the cost of a $49.95 ticket to the Greek will cost you $49.95…..a $239 ticket to Horning’s will be $49.95…just kidding, it will actually be $239….that’s it….super simple. We’ve got a big batch of tix to sell but the supply is not limitless….get ‘em while you can…..

As you will see below, the venues that the band will be visiting this summer have been chosen with lots of love and care….they are all epic and we couldn’t be more psyched to get out on the road.

Onward!!

SCI SUMMER 2012 DATES
Sat, May 19 Hangout Festival Gulf Shores, AL
Fri, June 29 Electric Forest Rothbury, MI
Sat, June 30 Electric Forest Rothbury, MI
Sun, July 1 Electric Forest Rothbury, MI
Thur, July 5 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO
Fri, July 6 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO
Sat, July 7 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO
Tu, July 10 Deer Valley Amphitheater Park City, UT
Thur, July 12 Pepsi Amphitheater Flagstaff, AZ
Fri, July 13 Greek Theatre Los Angeles, CA
Sat, July 14 Greek Theatre Berkeley, CA
Sun, July 15 Greek Theatre Berkeley, CA
Fri, July 20 Horning’s Hideout North Plains, OR
Sat, July 21 Horning’s Hideout North Plains, OR
Sun, July 22 Horning’s Hideout North Plains, OR

TICKETS to SCI 2012 Summer Tour: Pre-sale begins Tuesday, March 6 at 10am MDT at www.stringcheeseincident.com, with public on-sale for all summer Incidents beginning Saturday, March 10 at 10 am MDT at www.ticketmaster.com

www.stringcheeseincident.com
www.facebook.com/stringcheeseincident