I didnt film these but they are fun to watch!
I might put the tiny vid I did do up tomorrow.




Mother Nature smiles on San Francisco Earth Day concert
By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 04/24/2007 10:09:34 AM PDT


Stephen Marley sounded terrific as he led his raucous band through contemporary reggae tunes. THE FORECAST called for rain. Mother Nature, however, decided to overrule the weatherman and deliver a sunny, warm afternoon.
Who can blame her? It was, after all, her day.

The surprisingly great weather, coming on the heels of Saturday's steady downpour, was the most welcome guest at Sunday's big Earth Day concert at Speedway Meadow in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

The free event — known as the Green Apple Festival — was part of a weekend-long, nationwide campaign to raise awareness about environmental issues. There were also major Green Apple concerts held on Sunday in Central Park in New York City and at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

All Bay Area bias aside, the San Francisco concert had the best musical lineup of any of the three cities. It featured Jonah Smith, Martin Sexton, the Greyboy Allstars, Stephen Marley and Bob Weir's Ratdog.

The question going into the concert was how many people would show up to see that solid bill? Police said they were originally expecting 10,000 to

15,000 attendees, but it appeared that there was only a third that many when Sexton took the stage around noon.

As it became clear that the weather was going to behave, locals began turning out in droves.

Of course, it's difficult to get an accurate body count at a free show in the park. Some estimated that the crowd peaked at roughly 30,000, which is probably high. Organizers went with a more conservative number —
20,000-plus.

The folks that did turn out were treated to a splendid afternoon of music. I missed seeing the opener, NYC-based roots-soul singer Smith, but all of the other acts on the bill delivered solid sets. The best of the lot was Weir's Ratdog, whose terrific set was nothing short of a revelation for those that haven't seen the band in a few years.

The message, however, was not overshadowed by the music. There were plenty of green organizations with booths at the event, trying to sell people on ways to help the environment, and just about everywhere you went there were reminders to be kind to Mother Nature.


That included the hand-wash stands near the portable toilets, which pleaded with users to forgo paper towels and take heed of this advice: "Shirts and pants make mighty fine places to dry your hands."

The artists, as expected, talked the green talk from the stage. Backstage, they could also be seen walking the walk. For instance, they ate from a great lunch spread provided by chef Charlie Ayers, a Peninsula


resident, and used plates and utensils that were all compostable. Not sure if you've ever used a soft, compostable knife and fork to eat with — it's quite an adventure.


The majority of the crowd turned out to see Marley (one of Bob's many talented kids) and Weir (the former vocalist-guitarist for the Grateful Dead), but everybody seemed also to enjoy Sexton and the G-Boy Allstars.

Sexton, a 41-year-old folk rocker from Boston, delivered a fine set that balanced original tunes with well-chosen covers. The vocalist-guitarist won over the previously uninitiated with revved-up selections from his recently released "Seeds," including a solid take on "How Far I've Come," and rocked our socks with a B-3-drenched version of Billy Preston's classic "Will It Go Round in Circles."

He also hit the crowd with a killer run through Johnny Cash's classic "Folsom Prison Blues" and did a triumphant job with Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Turn On Your Love Light," a tune that the Dead regularly covered in concert.

A favorite of the jam-band nation, the Greyboy Allstars took the stage next and proceeded to knock out some heavy, heady funk-jazz grooves. The band is stocked with great instrumentalists, some of whom are better known for their work outside of the Greyboys, including saxophonist Karl Denson (Tiny Universe) and keyboardist Robert Walter (20th Congress).

This set, which drew from the band's new "What Happened to Television?" CD, provided a convincing argument that Denson, Walter and the other gents should concentrate their energies on the Allstars.

The G-Boys were followed by Marley, a reggae musician who is trying to follow in the footsteps of brothers Ziggy and Damian as well as his father, Bob. Thus far, he's off to a great start.

His performance was stronger than what I've seen from Damian, the Grammy-winning artist who hit the big time with 2005's "Welcome to Jamrock." The 35-year-old vocalist — who, bong-toting bakers will want to know, was born on 4/20 — sounded terrific as he led his raucous band through contemporary reggae tunes from this year's "Mind Control." He also tossed in a few of his dad's greatest hits, including "Buffalo Soldier" and "Could You Be Loved."

The concert climaxed with Ratdog as the band delivered a 90-minute performance that left Deadheads scratching their noggins and wondering out loud, "Gee, when did these guys get so good?"

Dead fans who have ignored Weir since the passing of his old partner, Jerry Garcia, should give the tie-dyed troubadour another chance. Ratdog has gone through many lineup changes over the years, but this current one — featuring sensational axe-man Mark Karan — is worthy of attention.

On Sunday, Ratdog's versions of "Eyes of the World," "Jack Straw" and especially the traditional jam-up of "China Cat Sunflower" and "I Know You Rider" were quite possibly the best played Dead tunes I've heard since, well, the Dead played them.

It was an absolutely triumphant showing for Bob Weir — good enough that we'll award him the coveted AMVP award (Almost Most Valuable Player) for the Green Apple Festival.

The MVP, of course, goes to Mother Nature herself for blessing us with such a wonderful afternoon to enjoy the music.



Contact music critic Jim Harrington at

jharrington@angnewspapers.com. For more live music coverage, visit the Concert Blog at

www.insidebayarea.com/music