Jammin’ For The Animals II, 7/30-31 @ Blue Falls Grove
July 6, 2010 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Announcements, Featured
The Reading festival season is alive and kicking again with the second annual Jammin’ For The Animals Festival, an event benefiting the Humane Society of Berks County in memory of festival organizer’s brother, Bobby Jones, being held at Blue Falls Grove in Ontelaunee Township.
The second year also brings the addition of a second night of live music, with the festivities to begin on Friday evening (7/30) with two very solid bands, and did we mention, a Grammy Award wnner to fill in the gaps (and from what the rumor is, to sit in with BOTH bands to make the first evening, an epic night of improvisational jams and dueling solos).
The camping music & arts festival returns to Blue Falls Grove, a family fun picnic & camping site for over 26 years, complete with an Olympic size swimming pool (additional discounted cost), fishing (license required), over one mile of creek front, volleyball, basketball, hiking, and horseshoes. It is adjacent to 3,000 acres of watershed and a 1,000 acre lake for fishing and it has become famous recently as the site of the “birthday party episode” of the “John & Kate Plus 8” reality television series.
Gates will open at 5pm on Friday, July 30th with Grateful Dead tribute band, the Good Lovin’ Jamband kicking off the music at 6:30pm. Grammy-winning guitarist David Cullen, a Berks County native, will be providing the “tweener” set before premier Pennsylvania bluegrass band Cabinet hits the stage to headline the first evening at 8:30pm. There will also be an acoustic campfire jam with the members of Cabinet immediately following their set on the main stage.
Gates will re-open at noon on Saturday, July 31st with events for children and adults of all ages. Scheduled events are juggling & hula hooping workshops, tie-dying & pottery workshops, piercing & tattooing seminars, glassblowing, fire performances, live painting in the art village, disc golf, Chinese auction, raffles, as well as dozens of kids activities in their own pavilion. This is all happening while non-stop premier live music is going on from 1pm until 10:30pm with artists including Mike Miz, Flux Capacitor, Fellswoop, George Crow & Cody Chelius, Dakini, Estaban & Friends, and headlining the event is breakout gospel, funk, organic groove jamband, Natural Breakdown.
In only its second year, the Jammin’ For The Animals festival is leading the way in captivating the small, hassle-free festival scene with the caliber of music one would normally see at a larger festival. Combine the top notch music with workshops, kids events, raffles, and a variety of vendors of all kinds with proceeds benefitting a great cause in the Humane Society of Berks County, and what you get is a great festival with a great vibe – something +VIBES is proud to be a part of.
PlusVibes Productions will be providing the light show for the festival, as well as greeting you at the front gate and patrolling the grounds as the VIBES PATROL. Our good friends at Scarlet Sound will be providing the crisp sound.
This event is an ALL-AGES, rain or shine, family-friendly (please be kind to the people AND the environment) event. Friendly pets are also welcomed (leashed only).
A limited number of advance tickets are available for $30 for the weekend through CHRIS at PlusVibes Productions, at the Brass Lantern, and at the additional ticket outlets listed on the MySpaceand Facebook pages.
Tickets will be available at the gate for $40. NO DAY PASSES are available. We highly recommend you take advantage of the discount and guarantee your ticket (we’re expecting a big crowd) by purchasing your ticket now.
Children under 10 are admitted free with adult. Camping is available for an additional $5 per person (to be paid at front gate).
For more information or any additional quesitons, email info@plusvibes.com.
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE. BRING A FRIEND!
In and Out of the Garden We Go – June 12th at Snipes Farm
June 2, 2010 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
The first +VIBES sponsored festival is on Saturday, June 12th at Snipes Farm in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia.
Featuring a day long (with overnight camping available) celebration of the works of Jerry Garcia, the bands are Star “69, Old & In The Way Tribute (featuring members of OFP & Sully’s Fortune), Pangea Acoustic, Steal Your Face, Toni Brown Band, Reflections, Deadbolt, Only Footprints.
The event is organized by Gig Goals and the good people at the Music at Snipes Farm committee, and +VIBESwill be providing the evening light show. Our good friends at Scarlet Sound will be mixing the live sound.
The campground will open at 11:00 AM on Saturday, June 12th and close at 1:00 PM on Sunday, June 13th.
Tickets are as follows:
$15.00 Advance (available at the Brass Lantern [through Chris])
$20.00 Day of Show
$5.00 Camping (per person) at the gate
We encourage the purchase of advance tickets.
This show is an all-ages, RAIN or SHINE event.
All information about the event and the beautiful venue can be found at the Music at Snipes Farm website.
Come join a celebration of inspirational music with friends & family.
Snipes Farm & Golf
890 West Bridge Street
Morrisville, PA 19067
215-295-1138
A full description of the venue can be found here.
ATTN: Music-Lovers — HELP SAVE THE BRASS LANTERN
Due to the relentless recession, the steady decline of patronage, and for various other reasons (any thing that could possibly break in the last year, HAS), the Brass Lantern joins the long list of privately owned companies in serious danger of closing its doors forever!! The venue is currently on the market and will continue to be, until sold or until their business begins to thrive again.
The Brass Lantern has been a landmark for live music in Reading, Pennsylvania since around 2001, hosting prime national touring acts such as Melvin Seals & JGB, DJ Flow (of the Chappelle Show), The Recipe, RAQ, and Michael Glabicki (of Rusted Root), just to name a few. More importantly, it has been the “stepping stone” venue for hundreds of smaller jam bands, building solid fan foundations for bands such as Lotus, Pnuma Trio, Quagmire Swim Team, Juggling Suns, Frog Holler and many others.
These bands played (and some are still playing) multiple shows at the Brass Lantern in order to capture the hearts of Reading live music fans and create the “travelling music fan” in an era where live shows (and turnout for live shows) is in direct proportion to keeping each band travelling and performing, thus keeping the band together. Some of these bands have moved on to bigger venues and large festivals largely in part to building their fanbases at the smaller clubs across the country like the Brass Lantern.
By consistently providing the quality live music stated above, and using mainly word-of-mouth promotion with bits of Internet blogs and posts by its proud staff and satisfied patrons over the years, the Brass Lantern has gained the reputation as “PA’s Best All-Around Small Venue“, and truly is a hidden gem (although scuffed) nestled in the city of Reading. People connect at the Brass Lantern, whether it’s over a fine craft beer or a top-end mixed drink, over a game of darts or pool, or over some top notch live music; all patrons, whether it’s their first time there, or they’re a regular customer, are assured a safe and fun time. It is for this reason that people want to come back. Many patrons who come in from out of town remark, “this bar reminds me of my hometown bar” and it’s because we treat bands and out-of-town concert-goers so kindly and with open arms (yes, this is still possible in the heart of the city).
Simply put, the Brass Lantern is the reason PlusVibes Productions was even created.
So, I plead with you to KEEP THE BRASS LANTERN ALIVE.
Come in and spend a little money – have a drink or have a bite to eat, catch up with good friends and good people, see the best live music that Reading has to offer, and TELL SOME FRIENDS ABOUT the Brass Lantern. We honestly have some of the best food & drink specials around the city and we absolutely need all the business we can get, plus we love seeing new faces!
I actually bartend every Tuesday evening from 5pm until 2am, with our $1.25 Taco special (chicken, beef, or beans, 7-10pm) along with $6 domestic pitchers. I am also usually playing some of the best Brass Lantern live show recordings from over the years on our soundsystem. Do you have a request? Do you want to talk about good music? I would love to chat.
Is there a live show from the Brass Lantern that you would love to have a copy? I personally extend an invitation to anyone wanting a copy of a live recording to come in, have a couple drinks, maybe eat some tacos, write down the show you want, and I will personally make you a copy for free(first come, first served). It will be ready for pick up the following week (there, I got ya’ for two visits). All I ask is that you buy a drink or two each time you stop by!
I thank you for your continued support of live music in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, and I hope to see you soon.
Chris K
Founder, +VIBES Productions
Entertainment Director, The Brass Lantern
More information, including a full band schedule can be found here.
The Brass Lantern
1350 North 12th Street
Reading, PA 19604
610/372-9311
Hours: Mon thru Sat 5pm-2am
Bucks County Bluegrass Festival, September 12th
August 14, 2009 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
The Killing Room video In our first official event outside the Reading/Berks area, PlusVibes Productions is proud to be a sponsor of this year’s Bucks County Bluegrass Festival at Snipes Farm, Morrisville, Pennsylvania. The one day festival (with camping available) is scheduled for Saturday, September 12th, 2009, and its proceeds will be donated to the Farm School at Snipes Pandorum on dvd .
The Farm School at Snipes is a non-profit educational organization that exists to model and teach sustainable farming, while building community and reconnecting people to the land. They host a wide variety of programs and activities throughout the year for children, youth, and adults.
will also be on site collecting canned and non perishable foods to donate to local charity. Stop by and share some love with a stranger.
Snipes Farm is a beautiful 150 acre property with recreation areas including mini golf and pitch & putt courses, driving range, wild animals, fruit orchards, and ancient trees. The Snipes family dates back to the year 1682, and its remarkable history can be read here.
On July 26, 2003, Snipes Farm welcomed their very first official musical event, called the Bucks County Bluegrass Festival. This year they are excited to announce the return of this event. Snipes Farm and Don at Gig Goals booking agency have teamed up with some great pickers from all around the region. Bring your lawn chair’s, throw a blanket on the grass, eat some BBQ and enjoy!
The festival features two stages, with alternating stages running music from 2pm until 1am, with the gates opening at noon. This is a family-friendly, rain or shine event. A camping area is available for an additional fee.
The lineup consists of The Pluckin’ Grassholes North to Alaska download , Painted Blue, Jatoba, Boulevard Express, Mason Porter, Lyle Rickards & the Black Lighters, and The Vinegar Creek Constituency. After the headlining set, an All-Star pluckin’ jam usually happens on the main stage or by the main bonfire.
This festival will enjoyable for all bluegrass lovers, both young and old. As with all events at Snipes Farm, it will be a time for friends & family to come together on a gorgeous property, rich with history and culture, to celebrate the roots of bluegrass music with a foot-stompin’, whiskey drinkin’ good ole time.
PlusVibes Productions will assist with sound engineering for the day, in addition to being a caretaker/overseer of the property (one of the solid crew of good people enlisted to assure the property stays beautiful). We are full believers in the “Leave No Trace” philosophy when attending festivals, and we encourage you to do the same by cleaning your camping area each night, especially the cans, bottles, and extinguished cigarettes.
PlusVibes will also have a table on grounds with a mailing list sign up sheet as well as promotional material for future PlusVibes Productions events. Stop by and say, “Hello”.
Here’s all the information:
2009 Bucks County Bluegrass Festival
@ Snipes Farm What Just Happened? dvdrip , Morrisville, PA
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
Admission: $15 advance, $20 at the gate ($5 per person camping fee)
Gates: 12pm
Music from 2pm until 1am.
All ages, under 12 admitted free.
Rain or shine event.
More information here.
Dragonfly Music & Arts Fest on Saturday, September 26th
August 12, 2009 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
We are excited to annouce festival number three (out-of-four) that PlusVibes Productions is sponsoring this year. This round it is the Dragonfly Music & Arts Fest at Blue Falls Grove, near Reading, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, September 26th, 2009.
It will be the final outdoor event this summer, at least in the Reading area – one remains on October 3rd at Snipes Farm, Morrisville.
This one-day festival (with camping available*) is in celebration of the Autumnal Equinox (on 9/22) and features our friends and jam band veterans, the Juggling Suns headlining the pavilion stage.
Festival organizer, Todd Jones, returns to Blue Falls Grove, approximately 10 miles north of Reading, after a successful 1st Annual Jammin’ For The Animals Benefit show for the Humane Society of Berks County back in July 2009.
The primary sponsor will be Dragonfly Studio and Glass, in West Reading, a prominent glass, art, and tattoo studio owned by David Dragonfly. David has always been a kind friend to the live music & arts scene in Reading over the years, building a faithful clientele for his business along the way. He will be doing tattoos all day on the festival grounds, for those of you up for some true body art!
The festival features live music from 1pm until 10:30pm with a side stage to provide music while the main stage is in transition. A LARGE camping area is on site, not far from the stage, with car-side camping, and tree lines on both sides for shade, although it stays cool because it sits right off the water on a low level area.
Overnight camping is encouraged and the family-friendly event will include a kids pavilion (dedicated to activities for kids [or adults who feel like kids]), hula hooping and juggling workshops, swimming (at a small additional cost), and assorted food & arts vendors in between the pavilions.
A solid four-punch-combination of live music is this round’s primary focus, with the jabs coming in the form of bluegrass powerhouse jam band Cabinet, out of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania starting off at the main pavilion, followed by excellent West Coast newgrass string band Montana Slim String Band out of San Francisco.
Cabinet is a 6-piece blugrass ensemble, pushing the limits in the “duels” of each jam, creating beautiful improvisational moments, and making their shows both dance-filled and jaw-dropping (from back-and-forth seamless duels) from beginning to end.
They are a Pennsyl-tucky favorite that have been filling up rooms such as the Brass Lantern and the River Street Jazz Cafe for the last couple of years, and currently are scheduled for a very special holiday celebration, billed as “Christmas with Cabinet“, at the Brass Lantern on December 26th.
Montana Slim String Band, hailing from San Francisco, is a SOLID bluegrass 5-piece known for their “invigorating live performances, peppered with dueling melodic fiddle, mandolin and acoustic guitar improvisation.”
They most recently set up and played impromptu sets each night at Yonder Mountain String Band‘s Northwest String Summit, in North Plain, Oregon in early August 2009 and a writer for Jambase.com described them as, “Tenacious troubadours from San Francisco with snappy rhythms that inspired some delightfully dirty dancing, they won over several new fans before the weekend was over.”
They will be doing warm up shows (2 full sets) at Zeno’s in State College on Thursday (9/24) and at the Brass Lantern on Friday, (9/25) to make a run of the time that they are in the area. So show your support if you are able to attend any of the 2-set shows.
The fight then moves on to the body shots, with conscious dub, roots reggae rockers, I Yahn I Arkestra. Hailing from the “boondocks of Baltimore”, Kaseopi and Jah-D relocated to Philadelphia and, since forming in 1997, they have been sharing their positive conscious Rastafarian vibe to many of the city’s hottest jam band area clubs, such as The Middle East and the World Cafe Live.
They have grown to become one of America’s most unique and original reggae bands, offering up cosmic rhythms – psychedelic, herb-induced soundscapes with an uplifting message and positive vibes.
The smooth riddums, Rastaman chants, including spoken word by “Joseph I”, and Nyabingi drums are the perfect opportunity to trance the mind and open up your consciousness for the knockout punch that is the called the Juggling Suns.
The Suns have been tearing up the jam band circuit since 1997, shredding up clubs, halls, theatres, and festivals along the way, and often referred to as extremely under-rated.
Their original songs have been covered by the Disco Biscuits and Keller Williams, and the Suns have hosted numerous guest musicians up on stage beside them, including Buddy Cage, Tom Constanten (Grateful Dead), Martin Fierro (Legion of Mary) and Jon Gutwillig (Disco Biscuits).
Guitarist Mark Diomede, who has been on the road as a musician since 1989, received the Asbury Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. Diomede has shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Herring, Santana, moe., Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, and many more.
This event is fully packed with talented musicians on the bill, and will surely be an epic celebration of the beginning of the Autumn season.
PlusVibes Productions will be providing security, front gate meet & greet, and most importantly, spreading the word throughout the live music scene about a great festival in the Reading area.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please contact Dragonfly Studio & Gallery in West Reading.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Superb guitarist & singer/songwriter, Mike Miz will be kicking off the festival at 1pm with a very special set, and also immediately after Cabinet during changeover to Montana Slim.
We hope to see all of you there!
A limited number of tickets are also available at the Brass Lantern (see ChrisK).