2013 might go down as the “Year of the Jamband Music Festival.”  This summer, no matter the weekend or the location, there was an amazing festival worth attending, each with an incredible lineup. What differentiates one festival from another has as much to do with an attendee’s personal experience – with the people, the surroundings and the vibe – as the music itself.

Equifunk provides a breath of fresh Poconos air from the traditional cookie-cutter festival experience.  Much has been written about the all-inclusive nature of the festival: for a single ticket price, along with three stages of continuous music throughout the day and night, attendees get on-site camping or cabin accommodations, meals and all the beer they can drink (on Friday and Saturday). But Equifunk is about so much more than that. In essence Equifunk is a state of mind, or rather, a state of like-minded music fans and musicians who come together in a low-key, chill non-commercial environment to celebrate funky goodness.

The festival kicked off Friday with attendees arriving continually throughout the afternoon and early evening, setting up camp, settling in, reuniting with old friends and making new ones. Traveling solo as a first-timer to Equifunk, I didn’t know what to expect. I was struck by the welcoming reception I received from multiple outgoing strangers within minutes of my arrival, with whom I felt a strong, immediate connection because of our shared taste in music and common experiences. By the time I partook of the make-your-own fajita buffet dinner that night, it already felt like a family gathering.

An early Friday set by 13-year-old blues guitar whiz-kid Bobby Paltauf and his band foreshadowed a theme for the entire weekend: jamming covers of rock, funk, blues and jam staples. Paltauf’s set included personalized takes on The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”, Gov’t Mule’s “Rocking Horse”, Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”, Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street” and, to close out, Phish’s “Tweezer Reprise”.  By the time the after-work crowd rolled in on Friday night the lights were lit and the Equifunk E-RENA (a converted hockey rink with gorgeous ceilings and a high-tech lighting rig) was hopping. The Main Squeeze, an Equifunk favorite and up-and-coming funkstravaganza from Indiana got the party started with heavy beats, soulful singing, exceptionally tight grooves and shredding guitar solos. Memorable covers included takes on Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” and Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” (featuring Sister Sparrow’s Arleigh Kincheloe). JJ Grey & Mofro spiced up the funk throwdown with a southern, bluesy flair. JJ owns the stage like few others and electrified the audience with a mix from Mofro’s discography, including singles from their 2013 release This River (Your Lady, She’s Shady; 99 Shades of Crazy, Somebody Else). Friday evening’s heavy blues-laced funk fest raged right into early Saturday morning as the New Mastersounds brought their jazz fusion 70s party funk to the stage at midnight. Their set featured James Casey of Trey Anastasio Band on saxophone - if there was an award for most prolific artist-at-large it would definitely go to Casey, who seemed to be practically everywhere over the weekend.   

If Friday evening had the vibe of a house party with great music attended by hundreds of friends, Saturday was more like a summer BBQ.  The low-key, personalized nature of the Equifunk experience is in many ways a product of the environments at Camp Equinuck and Blue Ridge. Attendees are literally situated within the confines of two summer camps, with all of the amenities each has to offer. Want to spend the afternoon at the pool whooshing down a massive waterslide? You can do that. Want a more serene day catching rays at the lake or rocking in a hammock between the trees? That’s also an option.  In either case, Equifunk’s organizers made sure that great music was everywhere you were. It was only a short walk between the Equinuck and Blue Ridge pools and their respective stages, and set times were well-staggered making it easy to take in different sets and experiences throughout the day.

Two of my favorite sets from the entire festival came back-to-back in entirely different settings early Saturday afternoon. First, New Jersey-based genre-fusing jam band Mother’s Wine took the smaller stage at the Blue Ridge pool. Effortlessly melding jazz, funk, electronica, bluegrass and straight rock influences, Mother’s Wine delivered a highly-polished improvisational performance which included a sit-in by Jeff Lloyd of The Heavy Pets. They were immediately followed by Keller Williams & More Than A Little – the latest Williams project – at the Equinuck Pool.  As Keller Williams is a man of many musical styles, it’s fair to say that few attendees knew what to expect from this set with his new band. Steeped in smooth R&B-inspired funk grooves, the sound was a departure from Williams’ usual offerings that complemented the spirited poolside setting. Raging performances by The Heavy Pets and Marco Benevento (complete with tigerface) closed out the afternoon at the Equinuck Pool.  

The Saturday night funk fest at the E-RENA had a soul-shaking start with The Nigel Hall Band, setting the tone for the evening. Next came an hour and a half of guitar-shredding ivory-mashing funk fire from the supergroup pairing of Anders Osborne and John Medeski. Rounding out this soulfunk sandwich was Soulive featuring fellow Royal Family artists The Shady Horns. They were also joined by special guest Maceo Parker, whose soulful saxophone sounds are synonymous with all things funky. Around 2 o’clock in the morning, after 14+ hours of music and with yet another New Mastersounds set still to come, festival attendees relished the opportunity to rest by the campfire at the Equifunk Teepee Stage while Marco Benevento and friends (Dave Dreiwitz, Andrew Borger) serenated them with a slew of sing-along covers, including Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets”.

While in years past the festival has ended after breakfast on Sunday morning, this year Equifunk featured its first-ever Sunday Series, a third full day of music including some of the collaborative highlights of the weekend. Sunday got off to a slow building start – which was widely appreciated by the many campers who shared in a second jam session with Marco Benevento that lasted until the sun came up. A slow but steady stream of festivalgoers rolled into Equinuck Pool Stage throughout the morning and in continuing with the musical themes of the weekend, were first treated to a series of tightly jammed covers by the Frank Stallones (Bobby Bland’s “Turn on Your Lovelight”, and Grateful Dead’s “Mr. Charlie”, Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic” and Robert Palmer’s “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley”). Next came the first of many cross-collaborations of the day: Papa Mali, Bobby Paltauf and Joe Tatton of the New Mastersounds. By 1 o’clock the stage was set for high gear and the Mike Dillon Band got things cookin’ Louisiana style. If music could caffeinate your ears, then Mike Dillon would be a human percolator.

The high energy buzz raged on poolside throughout the afternoon with electric performances by The London Souls, the Equifunk All-stars (featuring members of the New Mastersounds, Galactic, Lettuce, Mike Dillon Band, Trey Anastasio Band and the London Souls) and a second set of straight fire from The Main Squeeze. Throughout the afternoon, artists could be found strolling around the Pool Stage grounds interacting with attendees and taking in the sets for themselves.

Whatever bits of Sunday serenity remained at that point were obliterated by The Revivalists immediately thereafter in the E-RENA. The Revivalists have been busy making their mark on the festival scene this summer with high energy performances, and Equifunk was no exception. In keeping with the themes of the weekend, their performance featured a guest appearance by Mike Dillon for a raging cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade”.  If the festival had ended at that point, everyone would have gone home with their souls shining bright, and yet two of the most anticipated sets of the weekend were still to come.

Though the crowds had thinned considerably due to the rapidly-approaching work week, Phish phans lined the rail of the E-RENA for a close view of Jon Fishman and one of Pork Tornado’s only performances in the last decade. When country-western finds its way to a funk fest anything is possible, and Pork Tornado’s set featured everything from Frank Zappa to Frank Sinatra, along with one of the most amusing covers of the weekend in the Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself”. Closing out the funktastic weekend was the equally impressive supergroup The M&M’s which featured John Medeski, Marco Benevento, Stanton Moore, Maceo Parker, Rob Mercurio, Papa Mali and Mike Dillon. The M&Ms ended Equifunk 2013 with tight funk-driven improvisation on rock classics including Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come” and The Who’s “Eminence Front”.

I had an excellent time in the truly unique Equifunk environment. It’s not often you can take in excellent tunes while cruising down a waterslide, get free meals and libations, and see band members mingling with fans to enjoy the music of their peers all in one place. There’s been a lot of talk this summer about doing things “the right way,” and the Equifunk festival is a perfect example of how fans and artists can come together and create a fantastic funkified experience.

Written & Photos by: languagestrange

Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts