Michael Cleary Band: Blog

"Strange days indeed, most peculiar mama". Well, nothing peculiar at all if you're an old hippie or a young modern day hipster who enjoys a good outdoor music festival.

After not having seen MCB in several months, I recently wandered into the Strange Creek Festival in Greenfield, Mass on May 28th to check them out.  Not only was I able to see the band but was also able to see  "The Face of Today's Hippie".

After a truck drive and a walk through the woods with the gear, the band hit the stage amongst tent city and came out of the gate strong playing a solid hour long set. Following a very good performance from the band that played before them, Mike started out the set with something familiar to the crowd, a Trey tune, “Alive Again”. Mike's superlative guitar playing drew people in from afar, so I was told from people in attendance, to hear the groovy sounds.

With a crowd gathering and not one afraid to take chances, Mike had the band debut a new Edmund tune, "See You Later". It came off well for the first time and it was easy to hear the musical potential for this song. And when they broke into the smooth R&B song "When U Get Back" the crowd got it, started grooving to it and the band blew it out with that usual fantastic peaking piano solo by Vin.

One great aspect about the face of todays' hippie is that these kids have open ears. Even with the band being unknown to much of the crowd it didn't take long for these kids to "get" the music and appreciate the level of playing that was unfolding before them. The reason I say kids is that, in my opinion, the majority of the crowd had to be from 16 to 23 years old with a few older hippies in the mix.

There they were - dancing in the clothes that I once wore. Maybe I should have told them to strike another match, go start anew, but no, they are the chosen few, the keepers of a flame, that started when Jack envisioned a rucksack nation and here they were - a generation later waving the freak flag high. As Hunter realized; the high water mark may have come and passed, but thankfully this spirit just won't die.

A young girl, perhaps 18 or 19, sat down on the ground in front of me while the band was playing and started reading from a small thin book which I imagined could only be a book of poetry due to it's size. I watched her as she read, stopped, gazed up from the book obviously pondering the poem or line she had just read. I was intrigued and curious as to what book she was reading. After awhile she moved the book in such a manner that I was able to see the cover  and lo and behold it was Jack Kerouac's "Scattered Poems", with a picture of Jack on the front.  

And the band kept playin on... doing fine appreciated versions of their own tunes, Mind Made Up, Second Nature, and What Goes On. To check in on the other band members that afternoon, Lee looked as if he was having the time of his life, Edmund Pert was en fuego and Jed did a monstrous bass solo on Child Inside. After a fabulous fun romp through a Santana medley, which the band does as well as, hmmm, maybe Santana, (you can catch a video clip below) it was over, time to pack up the gear, march it through the throngs of people and trees to head down to complete the double-header at Jake's in Wallingford, CT. that same night. Blowing kisses at beautiful hippie girls, I proceeded with my own exodus.

              Peace and Love don't get old,  Battus Philenor

OH, Ya' know....  there's no better place to see MCB than outside, so now that the weather is nice, come on down to the Wadsworth Mansion in Middetown, Ct. on Wednesday, July 20th for one of their best and biggest gigs of the year. Don't miss out on the fun people.   B.P.