Peach Music Festival Review

The Peach Music Festival is entering its 4th year of existence in Scranton, PA. Peach Fest is an Allman Brothers Band inspired festival that features many popular Jam Band Acts!

I am currently on a road trip from sunny Delray Beach, FL and heading to Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. Along the way my mom and I thought we would take a little detour to Scranton, PA and spend the day at the Peach Music Festival. Arriving at 4pm we were met with a slight issue trying to redeem our tickets from will call, but all was good. To our suprise our tickets granted us access to some of the best seats in the house.

As we arrived to the main stage I could hear the New Orleans Funk of Trombone Shorty at full blast. Wow did they put on a great show. Very high energy, and the talented musicians combined many elements of Jazz, Funk, R&B, and Rock to bring out the best in their music. The highlight of the show was a cover of Stevie Wonder's Classic "Higher Ground" that got the crowd grooving.

Following up Trombone Shorty was my personal favorite act of the night, Joe Russo's Almost Dead. "JRAD" is a Grateful Dead cover band lead by former drummer of Furthur, Joe Russo. These guys know how to jam, and accuratley depict the free flowing jam style of the Dead ,while also putting their own unique spin on the music. If only these guys had a longer time slot because they really lit it up!

Next I saw rock legend Warren Haynes featuring Railroad Earth. What a great combination; Haynes masterful slide playing and soulful voice meshed perfectly with the many string instruments of Railroad Earth. Although a slower show than the other acts, the music was exceptional. Few people put on a show like Warren Haynes can.

The Headliner of the night was Gregg Allman. Frontman of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, The Allman Brothers, Gregg Allman has a singing voice that rivals the likes of Frank Sinatra. Gregg Allman is the definition of Southern Rock and Soul. I was worried at first how Gregg would sound due to his recent health issues, but man; he sounded better than ever. He was singing loud and brought the energy as he got off the piano to grab his acoustic guitar and played a truly moving "Sweet Mellissa" The show ended with a bang as Warren Haynes came out on stage to join his good friend and busted out a ripping version of "One Way Out"

The Peach Festival is an outstanding event that is contantly bringing in worldclass musicians and vending. I was lucky enough to get a beautiful piece of artwork from the historic rock artist, Mike Dubois (a high school friend of my mom). Thank you Peach Fest, you truly made my college road trip just that much better!