Mustang Rock & Roast or Outer Banks Seafood Festival–A decision had to be made.
Sometimes you have to make a decision even when there isn’t a good one available. That describes what happened this past weekend on the Outer Banks.
Do I go to the Outer Banks Seafood Festival in Nags Head or Mustang Rock & Roast in Corolla at Mike Dianna’s Grill Room? Or should I try to get to both?
Really tough choice because both events are amazing.
In the end, I opted for the music immersion experience of Rock & Roast because…well, because I love live music.
That being said, there was an amazing lineup of musicians at the Seafood Festival. And a couple of people have raved about how Outer Banks blues legend Mojo Collins and Triple Vision were on fire on Saturday. Dang…wish I had seen that.
But the way Mike Dianna and Bearded Face Productions sets things up with two stages and no breaks between groups made the choice for me.
I did swing by the Seafood Festival for quick look, and those Shrimp Lumpia from Ten O Six were amazing, but by 2:30 I was at Mustang Rock & Roast.
Saturday
The first thing to know about Rock & Roast is that no one goes hungry. Pay your admission and Saturday is AYCE barbecue—that’s the Roast—from some of the best restaurants around. Good food, too. But I’m not even going to try to call out the best.
First of all it was all really good. Secondly, taste is so subjective that what I might think is amazing, someone else would describe as…well, in much less complimentary terms.
The music, though. That’s subjective, too, but judging from the reaction around me, I’m on safe ground .
With eight bands taking the stage on Saturday there is no way that all of them can be reviewed, so I’ll just go with two that really stood out for me.
Big Daddy Love was an amazing combination of rock, jazz and bluegrass. Rock and roll playing banjo pickers are few and far between. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before, but Brian Paul Swenk on banjo was rocking out with the best of them.
The capper was Saxophonist Lee Ross, artist in residence for the show, jamming out with BDL and trading jazz leads with Swenk. Great stuff.
Headliner Motet was everything that the headliner for a show should be. The group filled the air with the joy of music.
Incredible musicianship. The vocals went from a falsetto to a trained tenor voice. the bass lines were funky, clean and fast. Great trumpet and sax. Everything clicked.
The result was pure energy with a jazzy, funky kind of hiphop sound. The the perfect way to end the evening.
Sunday
Tropical Storm Nestor kind of threw a curve at us on Sunday. Some of the tents that are set up around the outside of the show couldn’t handle the wind, so an adjustment had to be made. And the adjustment was moving sales up to the Grill Room porch which is usually one of the performance stages.
So—Everything was under the big tent…including the steamed oysters—the rock in Rock & Roast.
With that setup the continuous music didn’t happen but big kudos to Shelli Gates and her Minions, the minions being the kids from the Mustang Outreach Program who volunteer as roadies for the show. They did an amazing job of breaking things down and getting set up quickly.
We should also mention the job Shelli does in managing the show and keeping everything on schedule.
Yes, the oysters were amazing, but the music is why I was there and if possible some of what happened on Sunday one-upped Saturday.
In the afternoon there was a bluegrass theme to the music, but this was not the the traditional bluegrass of days gone by. A lot of the newer bluegrass musicians are blending styles, using jazz chords in traditional music, or just playing rock and roll songs with bluegrass instruments.
It’s called “New Grass” and it’s exciting to watch it take shape.
If ever a band defines where that music is going it has to be the Songs from the Road Band.
The band is a guitar, bass, mandolin and fiddle…which is a very traditional bluegrass band, except the bass, is electric and their sound is not traditional at all.
Any bluegrass band that puts Traffic and Pink Floyd in their set list is going to stand out. Then, take it to a new level with some jazz chords and riffs, and it’s a completely different sound.
Not denigrating anyone, but Mark Schimick may be the best mandolin player out there right now.
Making it even better, Big Daddy Love, from the night before came out and jammed with Saxophonist Lee Ross joining in.
No matter how good all the other bands were, nothing could top Turkuaz.
A great show with something approaching choreography—the singers weren’t completely synchronized but they were close. A huge big sound with brass and saxophone. Phenomenal musicians. Great vocalists. It was all there.
The sound? Kind of a jazzy, Latin influenced, funky sound.
Turkuaz is a band that, if they get back to the Outer Banks, or anywhere close, go see them.
The Mustang shows benefit the Mustang Outreach Program, teaching kids how to perform music on stage and the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.