Preview: Langerado Festival

March 5, 2008 5:25 PM
by Marcos Colón [email]

What was once considered a typical jam band festival is now turning into a monster of its own and a signature music production in South Florida. First held as a single day event, the Langerado Music Festival now holds strong as a four-day extravaganza of music. After changing locations several times, the sixth annual event has found a new home in the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, 30 miles west of Ft. Lauderdale. Not only has the location changed, but the acts are starting to grow in capacity and notoriety. You can bet that the Junkies will be there to support and report on the event that keeps snowballing every year.
Day One greets all with a pretty slow start, even though it is a Thursday and the majority of the crowd won’t be in full force until later Friday and maybe even Saturday. There’s only 11 acts taking the stage this day but there are some performances to look forward to including locals Awesome New Republic. The man to surely look for is bass extraordinaire and Primus’ own Les Claypool. Ending off the night is Dark Orchestra, a Grateful Dead tribute band that’ll try and woo the crowd with the attention to detail that they place on their improvisational rock.
Day Two is definitely not one to be missed. Some of the highlights of the day include Philadelphia indie rockers Matt Pond PA, New Yorkers The Walkmen, The Roots, 311 and !!!. There’s absolutely a lot to look forward to, and the time slots are organized well enough so that there’s not much performance overlapping. Spam Allstars also take the stage on Day Two, so all of Miami should definitely go out and support the talented locals who infuse their sound with latin, pop and hip-hop. The highlight of Day Two has to be headliners. The Beastie Boys will without a doubt rock the crowd. I’ll go out on a limb and say it now, the crowd will love it! These guys only provide a constant supply of great music that they’ve produced over 20 years.
Miami locals The Postcards kick off the third day of the festivities. Their infectious indie pop sound has created quite the buzz for them and they may have gotten a better slot this day if it wasn’t for the start of their state tour with They Might Be Giants. Other acts to look for include Arrested Development, Dr. Dog and Matisyahu, a man who’s always known to be a crowd favorite. Finishing off the day are legends R.E.M. What’s there to say about them other than…don’t miss the performance. A late performance that all should definitely catch are the Disco Biscuits. The trance infused jam band from Philly will keep the crowd going until 3AM.
The last and final day of the festival you can’t miss the Shout Out Louds. The Swedish quintet’s latest album, Our Ill Wills, was one of the top releases in 2007 and all can rest assure that their performances will include songs from it. Other notable performances that day include Of Montreal, The National, and Minus the Bear, whom CJ will have an exclusive one on one with. Wrapping up the final performance of the day is Phil Lesh and Friends. What better way to end a four-day extravaganza than with a psychedelic rock jam.
This year’s Langerado festival is definitely one for the books. Any and all acts should be checked out. Everyone should indulge in the different sounds that this festival has to offer. For next year’s festival, the sky’s the limit.