Closing Out The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival

From Earvolution:

Closing Out The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival

The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival continued throughout a rainy New York weekend with the festivities spreading into numerous venues. Officially commencing on Thursday evening with the Jammy Awards, the Green Apple Festival seemed to offer something for everyone, ranging from two afternoons of free shows outside of Grand Central Terminal to two evening shows where jambands packed in CBGB, the legendary punk rock club.With the buzzes not yet faded from the last evening's Jammy Awards, New Groove of the Year recipients Grace Potter & The Nocturnals performed a lunchtime set on Vanderbilt Avenue. Just hours later, Potter and her band moved a few blocks west, opening for Toots & The Maytals at Times Square's Nokia Theater. In addition to the New Groove honoree, Umphrey's McGee, Assembly of Dust and Bela Fleck & The Flecktones also offered abridged sets.On Friday evening, commuters were met by the weekend's most ubiquitous performers, the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart and percussion/performance art troupe, The Mutaytor. Anyone patient enough to catch a later train managed to catch a reprise of Hart's percussion extravaganza from the prior evening, including guest appearances by Mike Gordon and Steve Kimock. On Wednesday evening, Kimock (and others) joined in with Hart and Bill Kreutzman's Rhythm Devils at The Canal Room. Hart repaid the favor on Friday night, joining Kimock and drummer Stephen Perkins for their Canal Room set. The following evening, Kimock and Perkins moved their act down to the Blue Note Jazz Club for a late night set.San Francisco based Tea Leaf Green, fresh off their victory for Song of the Year, stormed into CBGB playing three sets in just under 5 hours. In addition to playing their award winning song, "Taught To Be Proud," Tea Leaf Green paid homage to the New York underground scene upon which CBGB's reputation is founded, covering The Ramones' “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” and "Teenage Lobotomy" as well as The Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For My Man." While maybe not the type of performance the punk rock gods envisioned as one of CBGB's last, Tea Leaf Green left their indelible imprint on the soon-to-be-closing venue.In line with the eco-friendly theme of the weekend, fans attending Particle's Friday night show at the Bowery Ballroom were encouraged to leave their cars at home and ride their bicycles to the arena. While the weather didn't entirely cooperate with such a venture, the really nasty downpour didn't occur until the next evening.The festival wound down last night at the Ziegfeld Theater with the debut of the documentary, Wetlands Preserved. The film recalls the history of the beloved club that was once owned by Green Apple Festival organizer Peter Shapiro. Centering the close of the festival on the film makes a proper honor for the individual whose efforts made possible this year's inaugural event.