Returned from beautiful Masontown, WV and had an incredible experience at All Good! After waiting in line for three hours on a country back road we arrived to a familiar vibe of peace, love, and music. My group opted for spending the extra $20 or so for Throwdown Thursday (early arrival=closer tent spot to music). Good thing due to our tent site only being about a five-minute walk to the main stages. This option also included viewing of such bands as the Donna Jean Godchaux Band, Fort Knox Five, Grateful Dead replicators Dark Star Orchestra, and electro-house jammers the New Deal!!

Weather: High of 93 and HOT!

Friday: Already having knowledge of a storm front, we were prepared for rain. Tarps came in handy as our tent was bone dry after the rain stopped at around 10pm. The weather only added to the experience we had during sets from Dr. Didg and Umphrey's McGee, and did NOT stop the explosion of fireworks booming the surrounding mountains. The beautiful colors from the light show shining onto thousands of energetic festival-goers to the fireworks in the sky continued for an EPIC finale from Furthur's four-hour set. At this point, I'm presuming about 85-90% of attendees were in the stage area watching Furthur, and I am sure that some of them were not expecting the face-melting intensity of Bassnectar's set that immediately followed. Lotus followed Bassnectar's set and continued to play until around 4:30am that morning. My legs were tired from dancing but who cares? We're at All Good!

Weather: Overcast/rainy/storming in the afternoon leading to cooler temps at night

Saturday: Waking up a bit later after the insanity that was Friday night, we got ourselves ready for what came to be one of the most beautiful days of my entire life. Weather was high of 75, storm was gone, and I could see the surrounding valleys and greenery for miles. After walking into the festival grounds and setting up a spot to sit down on the top of the hill (great for viewing both stages and people-watching), American roots-rockers Railroad Earth did a great job at capturing the ambience and vibes of the festival. Athens, Ohio natives Papadosio jammed at their best in front of the largest crowd I've ever seen them play. George Clinton and PFunk did what they do best and brought the FUNK! Highlights of this set included a rap by George's granddaughter Sativa (no joke!). Perpetual Groove played a short, but continual and memorable half-hour set, followed by Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi, the New Mastersounds, a three-hour set by classic jam band rockers Widespread Panic, Garage A Trois, and a late night 2am bluegrass hoedown by Colorado natives Yonder Mountain String Band!! In my opinion, incorporating a bluegrass late night set really changed up the feeling of nighttime at a festival. The quick, progressive stringing by the members of Yonder definitely matched the previous night's energy. After Yonder, I was dead tired, went back to the campsite, and slept.

Weather: PERFECT! High of 75!!

Sunday: The last day of a four-day music festival is obviously the roughest. Your body says NO! but there is still music to absorb. And hell, it's All Good, right? After zombie-walking to the stage for a final time, we caught the first half of Grace Potter and the Nocturnal's set. I am honest in saying that I was unfamiliar with the majority of her earlier work, although I recognized a few tracks from her latest self-titled album. She's definitely got soul and was a pleasure to listen to!! After Grace Potter, we stumbled back to the campsite (not intoxicated, just tired.... okay, maybe a bit intoxicated), and packed up our campsite. The trek home felt longer than usual, although it only took us about 4.5hrs in total. Best Subway I've ever eaten.

Weather: Perfect, again.


Pros: Beautiful venue, friendly and loving people/vibes, restrooms frequently cleaned, free water at campsites and staging area, both main stages right next to each other so walking was non-existent once in the stage area, NO OVERLAPPING SETS!!!!, LED screens attached to stages, good vegetarian and non-vegetarian food options, cheap(er) ticket prices, amount of trees for shade, a third grassroots stage in tent area.

Cons: Lengthy wait once off highway on a dusty backroad (I guess not entirely the festival's fault, but car was COVERED in dust and dirt), some negativity felt from the staff/volunteers (don't volunteer if you are going to be pissed about missing your favorite show), definitely some shady people trying to sell some shady stuff (I guess it was a LOT better this year than last year, though).

Overall: I thought the festival was very well-organized and offered plenty of amenities for the amount that I paid for the ticket. The majority of the cons that I listed were not entirely the festival's fault, just the crowd that will follow the typical deadhead trend making up for some definite unfriendly family moments. I would recommend this festival to anyone trying to escape from the city for a weekend in order to enjoy a diverse lineup of classic and electro jam bands, funk, bluegrass, and some head-spinning basslines!! Peace and love, and remember: It's All Good!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtkL4...eature=related

That video really shows the energy from Friday night, have you ever seen so many glowsticks in your life at one time?

Very nice first hand account of All Good, Patrick! Should have had you there as an official correspondent. Hopefully you can give us the word on Camp Bisco this weekend as well. I would have been really interested in seeing Furthur, George Clinton, Donna Jean, and some others for the first time and then seeing some old faves like Grace, Old Crow, Lotus, Yonder, and Bassnectar again. Seems like a pretty satisfying line-up that offers a lot for people even if they're not straight up jam fans.