Sweetwater 420 Fest
April 18-20, 2014
Atlanta, GA
written by Michael Phillips
photography by Austin Seay
Sweetwater 420 Fest is a three day long annual event put on by Sweetwater Brewing Company in Atlanta Georgia. It is held every year on the closest weekend to Earth Day. One major aspect of this gathering is to bring awareness to keeping the Earth clean, and it really shows with the way that the people picked up after themselves. 2014 Marks the 10th year for the festival.
Originally, Sweetwater 420 Fest began in Oakhurst, Georgia as a way to fuse together everything that Sweetwater is passionate about – Fantastic Beer, amazing music, and an incredible community. In 2006, it moved venues to Little Five Points’ Chandler Park. It remained there through 2013. The celebration has grown so big this year that it was moved to Centennial Olympic Park in the middle of downtown Atlanta. In addition to a new location, new stages were added, including the “Not So Silent Disco Stage” which is the first all EDM stage, presented by Iris and Area 51.
Bringing together local talent as well as nationally recognized musicians, the festival always prepares quite a diverse and powerful line up. With acts such as Sublime with Rome, EOTO Conspirator, Anders Osborne, G. Love, Kung Fu, and The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, there was no shortage of amazing performances. In addition to the great musicians, Sweetwater Brewing Company also incorporates charities, non-profits, workshops, artists, and vendors that are fun and environmentally conscious. It also hosted a comedy lineup featuring Atlanta Improv, as well as a kid friendly zone complete with fun games for the whole family.
Friday morning began as an overcast day that developed into steady rain all day long. And even though from the beginning the weather was looking grim, that didn’t deter the festival attendees for a moment. It was a chilly, wet day in Atlanta. While some of the visitors to Centennial Olympic Park were trying to stay dry, most just made the best of it and embraced the rain as a part of the experience.
Once the first band took the Planet 420 Stage at 4 PM Friday Afternoon, the rest of the weekend that followed was one continuously-moving dance party. To kick the weekend off, Honey Island Swamp Band laid down their brand of Americana with just the right New Orleans flavor to get the crowd on their feet and moving despite the dreary weather conditions.
Shortly after at 5 PM, Galactic took the main Sweetwater Stage and blew fans away with a set all about the funk, but you can be sure they mixed in jazzy jam elements they are known for. They started on a high note with their song Boban. Alongside the extraordinary band, vocalist Maggie Koerne really brought their set together with her own powerfully soulful style. Other highlights of their setlist included Maggie nailing “It’s a Man’s Man’s World” into “Fallin”, Heart of Steel, and Boe Money.
While Galactic was keeping the Sweetwater Stage lifted with a fusion of funk, jazz, reggae, and everything in between, Atlanta’s Eddie Gold was throwing down the heavy electric tunes on the Not So Silent Disco Stage. No amount of rain could’ve dampened the good vibes that were circulating around the first ever solely EDM stage at Sweetwater 420 Fest. The light and sound production there was of the highest quality. Area 51 and Iris really pulled together to create what almost felt like a festival within a festival. Eddie Gold’s set was the perfect middle ground between Galactic groovy set and Conspirator’s Jamtronic set that began at the Planet 7 PM Friday night.
Comprised of Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein from The Disco Biscuits, alongside Chris Michetti of RAQ and KJ Sawka of Pendulum, Conspirator is the perfect merger of live instruments and perfectly orchestrated electronic components. Highlights of their Friday night set included crowd favorites such as their remix of The Company We Keep’s “Right/Wrong” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” In the middle of Another Brick in the Wall, Bassist Mark Brownstein teased the Atlanta Braves’ war chant Tomahawk Chop, followed by Michetti’s guitar, and eventually the whole crowd was throwing up their Tomahawks and chanting in support. The moment of unity between the crowd and the musicians was one of the greatest of the entire festival. Conspirator continued to deliver the heat all through their set with their original tunes like “The Commish,” “PowWow,” and “Tumblr.” Near the end, they announced they were playing an After Party at Terminal West. Their set was a personal favorite for me. They really put it all out there and played their hearts out, and kept the entire crowd dancing all night long.
Following up Conspirator, the legendary Steel Pulse brought some roots reggae to the Sweetwater Stage at 9:30 Friday Night. Hailing all the way from Birmingham England, Steel Pulse was founded in 1975. Spanning nearly 40 years together, they have really held true to themselves and their music. The vibes were high from the time they took the stage to the time the festival ended. Despite the drastic drop in temperatures, Steel Pulse kept the crowd warm by keeping everyone’s feet moving to the music. Even though it was a very wet one, the first day of Sweetwater 420 Fest was a huge success.
Saturday we woke up to a little better weather, but still a damp, cloudy day for the majority of it. Kicking the day off at 12:00 PM on the EDM Stage was DJ Applejuice. He brought the dub vibes for the first hour and a half of the festival. Following was Wesley Cook at 1:45 on the Sweetwater Stage. Wesley Cook is known for bringing a lot of positive vibrations with his music. His set was full of great moments. Worth mentioning was his song Heavy, a lyrical reminder not to take life too seriously. So much love and happiness was flowing within the crowd of fans gathered together at the afternoon set. The clouds broke for a little while to relieve us from the rain, but eventually it came back.
After Wesley Cook’s set, it was time to head back over to the Not So Silent Disco Stage for an afternoon slammed full of extremely talented DJs. Atlanta native Leah Culver, also known as MK Ultra, took the stage from 2:30 to 3:30. Her set was an eclectic fusion of melodic vocals meticulously laid over hard hitting beats. As time passed, the crowd filled in and the Iris sponsored stage was the place to be. Following up MK Ultra was another Atlanta local, Ployd, who held down the stage from 3:30 to 4:30. By the time Ployd came out, I was actually thankful for the rain because the crowd was getting so hot from dancing; we needed something to cool us off. He threw down his own version of electronic music for the crowd and did not disappoint. Once Ployd was finished at 4:30, it was time for NiT GriT to take over.
Now if you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing a Nit GriT Set, it’s unlike just about anything else you can experience. He has a way of controlling the dance floor with a mash up of intensely deep tracks and melodic tones sewn together with craftsmanship rarely found in a DJ these days. There were a lot of great sets witnessed out at the Not-So-Silent-Disco, but what Nit GriT was throwing down was definitely a special set.
As the afternoon turned to evening, EOTO took the Sweetwater Stage at 5. EOTO is an improvisational electronic project by the drummer and percussionist of String Cheese Incident, Michael Travis and Jason Hann. You can’t anticipate what kind of conglomerate of genres you will get out of this SCI Side Project. The energy of the crowd was at a high, the sky began clearing up, and the mood was set by the crazy electronic fusion that is EOTO. Somehow they have an uncanny ability to sound like a robot dinosaur fighting with an alien caveman, at the same time as holding a steady beat down that is absolutely entertaining and entirely danceable. Jason Hann lyrically flowed over several tracks, which for any fan of the band knows is always a welcomed treat. A mix of covers, mashups, and originals, this set was one for the books and definitely won’t be forgotten any time soon. After watching EOTO crush it for two hours, it was time to go the Planet 420 Stage.
7 PM rolled around and Anders Osborne came out strong starting with the song “Windows” followed by “Had My Reasons” and “I’m Ready.” Anders has been playing shows for 25 years and shows no signs of slowing down. Near the middle of the set the band played “Burning on the Inside” straight into crowd favorite “Black Tar.” The vibes were high and the energy was intense surrounding the performance Anders Osborne put on for the crowd. They closed their set out with “Heaven’s Door” and “Echoes of My Sin” into “On the Road to Charlie Parker.” A great set of classic-inspired rock from one of the greatest singer-songwriters this generation of music fans has ever seen.
Soon the sun had completely set and it was 9 PM Saturday night, time for a two hour performance on the Sweetwater Stage by Sublime with Rome. They played just about every song you would expect from Sublime; Everything from their stoney version of “Smoked Two Joints,” to Sublime’s classic rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias.” Energy in the crowd was a bit rougher than it had been or would be again the entire festival. Songs like “Date Rape” and “April 29th, 1992” brought the element Punk Rock Sublime became legends for. Over all, it was a great set full of old hits and new songs by a band that’s been a part of my life since I was very young. When the set ended at 11 PM the festival had ended for the day and everyone left the park.
Sunday was the perfect day for a music festival. I woke up to sunny skies and the 4/20 festivities had everyone in Atlanta feeling Irie. The park had a different feel to it now that the grey skies had gone away and the sun was out to play. Everywhere you looked were people smiling and dancing to the music. The first two days of rain had kept some people at home it seemed, as day three’s crowd had been significantly bigger.
The first on my list to catch was New York based band Kung Fu over on the Planet 420 Stage. Kung Fu brought the electro-funk fusion they are known for. Kung Fu has become a staple name to add a little funk to any festival, and I am pleased they were included in this line up. Previous years, Sweetwater 420 Fest has been centered on this genre of music and I am glad it was still represented by bands such as Kung Fu and Galactic.
After Kung Fu was Phillies’ own G. Love & Special Sauce taking the Sweetwater Stage at 3:45 Sunday afternoon. G. Love always knows how to get an audience involved with catchy, upbeat lyrics and a bluesy swagger that you don’t often find in musicians these days. The peak of his set was at 4:20 when they played the song “Whose Got The Weed” for the 420 celebration that was taking place Sunday in Atlanta. Other highlights of the set included “Cold Beverages” and “I-76.” Beginning to end, G. Love controlled the crowd with smooth lines and groovy guitar riffs. Following their set was the band Dirty Heads.
Dirty Heads hail from Southern California and their jams usually consist of hip-hop infused rock and reggae music. It became clear quite quickly that this set was particularly pleasant for the tokers in the crowd. Clouds of smoke rolled through unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the Southeast. It is reassuring to see that even though there are draconian laws we exist within, there’s still a certain amount of personal freedoms allowed. The tolerance displayed by law enforcement within eyes view of people choosing to use cannabis was seen all over the festival. Crowd favorites of the Dirty Heads set include “Lay Me Down” as well as “I Got No Time.” Following their set, none other than Chris Robinson Brotherhood took the Sweetwater stage to close out Sweetwater 420 Fest.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood is a bluesy rock band that was formed in 2011 by Chris Robinson, former singer of The Black Crowes. The band has only been together a short time and already has multiple full length releases under their belt. Putting together original material with classic covers, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood is never one to disappoint. They started things out with the song “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go” and kept things rolling with “Tomorrow Blues,” “Shore Power,” “About A Stranger,” and many more. The high point of this CRB set was definitely their cover of the Grateful Dead classic Bertha. As the crowd sang in unison, faces old and young sang along as if no time had passed since the Dead were together. They closed the set out with a beautiful rendition of Rosalee, and it really felt like a complete experience once they had left the stage.
To sum it up, Sweetwater 420 Fest was one of the greatest values a festival has ever offered. Weekend tickets were only $18 for three days of consecutive world-class music. The security and staff were all absolutely amazing. Police I encountered in the park all seemed very friendly, most with smiling faces. It seemed that everyone on staff was there to ensure the music fans had the best experience possible. I am so grateful for the way everything was put together and organized. It really made for one amazing weekend full of smiles, friends, and amazing tunes. Centennial Park has a solid chance of becoming a frequented music venue if events such as Sweetwater 420 Fest continue to be held in this beautiful park in the middle of downtown Atlanta. Thank you to everyone involved for your efforts to make this weekend one to remember!
