Dead of Summer brings a varied lineup, “Terrapin Station” will be played in full | Arts and Culture

MANCHESTER — A major attraction at the Dead of Summer Music Festival will be Pink Talking Fish and special guests performing the famous Grateful Dead album “Terrapin Station” from 1977.

“It’s a great album,” said Eric Gould, bassist and founder of Pink Talking Fish. “Every time I hear the first track on it, ‘Estimated Prophet,’ there’s just something about it that gets me so pumped up. You don’t say that about a lot of studio tracks from the jam scene. It’s really cool.”

Joe Levy, owner of Whirlygig Music, said the festival will feature 18 bands on two stages at Manchester’s Hunter Park from Friday to Sunday, with a third day added this time.

Also new is a fundraising disc golf tournament organized by the White Light Foundation and Fiddlehead Brewery Team Mastermind, with all proceeds going to Neighbor to Neighbor and United Counseling Services’ new PUCK pediatric mental health program.

Neighbour to Neighbour is a not-for-profit organisation that helps elderly, disabled and other homebound residents in the Northshire region to continue living independently in their own homes. PUCK provides a safe alternative to emergency admissions by providing appropriate treatment and care to children in crisis in a therapeutic environment.

“The focus was on keeping them in the region,” Levy said.

Tournament registration and festival tickets can be purchased at deadofsummermusicfestival.com. Single-day passes, three-day passes and RV passes are available.

More than 29 food, craft and clothing retailers have registered for the festival.

“We have yoga on Saturday and Sunday mornings,” Levy said. “And on Friday and Saturday we have tie-dye for adults and children.”

Levy said the festival’s original scope has changed as it has grown since its launch in 2019.

“Dead of Summer is no longer just a Dead festival,” Levy said. “The lineup is so diverse. We have New Orleans funk. We have some different tribute bands. We have some original bands. We have some female-dominated bands.”

To create some variety, Levy and Pink Talking Fish came up with the idea of ​​performing “Terrapin Station” in its entirety on Saturday night.

“It will be an incredible epic,” Levy said.

Pink Talking Fish combines the music of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish. They have “integrated the Dead as a fourth band over the years as a concept beyond the concept,” said Gould.

It all started when Pink Talking Fish played pre- and post-shows for the Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concerts at Soldier Field in Chicago in 2015 to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary.

“It’s kind of stuck in our minds,” Gould said. “We happen to do it a lot this year.”

Pink Talking Fish will be joined on stage on Saturday night by Sammi Garett (vocals and percussion). Garett performs with Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew in the band Remain in Light, a tribute to the Talking Heads’ groundbreaking 1980 album.

Adrian Tramontano, a member of Twiddle, will be on second drums and percussion. Vermont guitarist Joe Agnello will fill “the role of Bob Weir,” Gould said. The Wolfpack, a brass and string quintet, will also be on the bill.

Rehearsals went “wonderfully,” Gould said.

“It’s going to be great,” he said. “It’s a special festival in a special corner of the country. We played there last year and had so much fun.”

Gould talked about the sunset during his band’s performance.

“It’s been amazing,” he said. “There’s just a special spirit to this festival and everything that’s been built around it. We’re excited to add something special to this already beautiful setting.”

Neighbor will headline Friday. Ricky James, singer and keyboardist, said all of the band’s shows in Vermont have been “super exciting.”

For the past three years, Neighbor has played at Nectar’s and Higher Ground and hosted his own festival in Jeffersonville.

“We have so many great fans here in Vermont who support us,” James said. “It’s always nice for us to come back and rock it.”

Neighbor was formed in January 2019. James said the band has a residency in Boston and has “built a loyal base of fans over the years.”

“It’s just continued to grow and thrive,” he said. “The community is really excited about the music and the band.”

James called New England “one of the strong markets for Neighbor.”

Last May, the band released their debut album of the same title. James said it was well received by fans and will be available on vinyl and CD from Dead of Summer.

Neighbor is writing new material and plans to return to the studio soon to record the second album.

James said the band considers Vermont one of their favorite places to perform.

“It’s always a lot of fun and people are always really excited,” he said. “We’re looking forward to a really fun night of music with everyone, especially the opportunity to play a long set that night. We can do a lot in a two-hour-plus block of music.”

Max Creek is the headliner on Sunday. The band celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021 and continues to be successful.

This is the third time they’ve played Dead of Summer.

“We’re looking forward to it,” said Mark Mercier, keyboardist for Max Creek.

He believes audiences can expect more varied performances than in the past, when the festival was more about paying tribute to the Dead.

“I like the Dead’s music,” he said. “There are only so many Dead songs. If five or six bands play Dead songs, how often do you hear ‘Bertha’?”

Mercier noted that he had nothing against “Bertha” and acknowledged that the melodies were played differently by each group.

“But I’m glad they’re using this as a starting point,” he said.

He had auditioned for Phil Lesh and Friends, a band formed by the Dead’s bassist, and appreciates the musicianship of the Dead’s band members. And “Terrapin Station” is one of his two favorite Dead albums.

Many bands have been around for some time, but they may only have one founding member, Mercier said.

“They’re like a showcase,” he said. “With us, the music is still very real. It’s still alive in us. Every time we go on stage, it’s a new experience. We’re not rehashing old times. We don’t feel like we’re so bored with the stuff that we fall over.”

Scott Murawski, guitarist for Max Creek, said the band has developed a certain instinct through playing together for so long.

“We are not afraid to take risks and cause a total loss if necessary to keep things interesting,” he said.

Max Creek experiments “a lot,” Mercier said. He finds he’s influenced by the music he listens to earlier in the week, and that can be anything from folk music to Florence + the Machine.

Mercier described music as “an ongoing thing.”

“You take what happened before and add your own perspective,” he said. “Your perspective changes with what you experience.”

Mercier was once a big fan of classic rock. Now his tastes have broadened. As a classical musician, he is also a big fan of Bach.

Max Creek is currently in the recording process.

“It’s a studio album, which is interesting because we haven’t been in the studio for a long time,” Mercier said.

Murawski said the band tried to select unreleased tracks for the recording.

“So there are some rare treasures and also brand new things,” he said.

Murawski said he was also looking forward to the festival, where he played for the first time in 2022 with Rolling Thunder Revival.

“The place is really, really cool and the people are really nice,” he said. “People seem to be having a good time.”

Since Dead of Summer is relatively new, it is different from other festivals the band has played at.

“It’s always nice to come to a new place in a new area,” Murawski said. “We love playing in Vermont.”

Murawski said the central location allows the band to appeal to fan bases in Burlington, Massachusetts and Connecticut.