With its idyllic location (The Double JJ Ranch & Golf Resort, a tree-lined mecca six miles inland from Lake Michigan), environmental bent (organizers set a “near-zero waste” goal for the festival) and jam-band friendly lineup (Widespread Panic and Phil Lesh, among others), many artists and attendees were trumpeting the inaugural Rothbury Festival as the next Bonnaroo.

“The vibe here is great,” says former Phish bassist Mike Gordon. “It’s beautiful here with the lake and the forest. It’s like Bonnaroo without the mugginess of Nashville.”

Baltimore resident Evin Barger, 21, who attended Bonnaroo from 2005-2007, sees a similarity between the newborn Michigan festival and ‘Roo’s early years. “All the musicians here are the same sort of genre,” says Barger. “There’s no heavy metal. There’s no Kanye West. I love Kanye, but Bonnaroo is not the place to see him.” (more…)

Perhaps the Zen spirit of Rothbury’s jammy vibe engulfed John Mayer. The singer-guitarist with the biting wit was in chill-out mode for his Sunday evening set. “Waiting on the World to Change,” as smooth and serene as the nearby lake, came across like the most passive-aggressive protest anthem ever written. Guitar licks fell as slow and steady as teardrops on a shuffling “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.” Even a cover of the blues standard “Crossroads” sounded unnervingly polite. Still, the set wasn’t without its highlights, including the soul-flecked ballad “Gravity,” a song far more weightless than its titles might suggest.

[Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic]

Gov’t Mule guitarist-singer Warren Haynes, with his shoulder-length gray hair and ever-present smile, appeared to be enjoying his time at Rothbury more than anyone (including the guy who fashioned a hat from a hollowed-out watermelon and fell asleep/passed out in Sherwood Forest). He jammed with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, paid homage to the host state by performing a tune alongside Michigan bluesman Larry McCray and unearthed the weekend’s best cover when he belted out a moody version of Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike.”

Former bandmates Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon were the Ross and Rachel of Rothbury, subject to countless “will they or won’t they” rumors among fans hoping for a Phish reunion at the festival. Those rumors came one step closer to reality on Sunday when Anastasio and Gordon joined with Phish drummer Jon Fishman for a breezy cover of the Beatles “She Said, She Said” (all three artists were on the bill separately). “It was good, we had fun up there,” said Gordon, who admitted that he and Anastasio made plans to perform together at the fest (Fishman’s appearance was more unexpected).

[Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic]

Dave Matthews‘ between-song banter devolved almost as quickly as the mental capacity of those campers experimenting with mind-altering substances in Rothbury’s Sherwood Forest. At the onset of the nearly three-hour performance he talked about the weather in mundane terms (”What a beautiful day”), but less than 30 minutes later he was riffing about laying in a hammock and trying to “touch the moon with [his] tongue.” Surprisingly, as his stage presence grew more unhinged, the group’s musical explorations tightened. A galloping “Tripping Billies” mixed mirth (”Eat, drink and be merry…”) and morbidity (”…for tomorrow we die.”); “So Damn Lucky” built to a dizzying, horn-fueled climax; a true-to-its-source take on Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” proved a smart selection, as violinist Boyd Tinsley sawed at his instrument as if he was trying to start a fire.

[Photo: Getty]

Throughout his late-afternoon Rothbury set with Spearhead, Michael Franti displayed a knack for impressions that would put Dave Coulier to shame. During an amped-up cover of Sublime’s “What I Got,” the singer dropped a few bars of “The Rainbow Connection” in his best Kermit the Frog voice and briefly channeled Cookie Monster as he chanted “C is for cookie.” It wasn’t all fun and games, though. A pair of politically charged songs from his forthcoming record (All Rebel Rockers, out on Anti- this September) — the hard-hitting reggae riddims of “Remote Control” and the comparatively peaceful “Hey World” — found the singer laying out his views for a New World Order.

[Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic]

Akron, Ohio duo the Black Keys delivered an hour-long set of bluesy rockers that were every bit as grizzled as frontman Dan Auerbach’s increasingly bushy beard. A rowdy “Set You Free” found drummer Patrick Carney pummeling his kit like a back-alley brawler finishing off an over-matched opponent; “Strange Times” veered between spacey psychedelia and whale calls of feedback; a cover of Captain Beefheart’s “I’m Glad” — all chiming guitar and heartfelt vocals — proved a lone tender moment. Still, Auerbach seemed struck by the crowd’s mellow nature. “We should go for a record today,” he offered near the set’s midpoint. “World’s Most Peaceful Mosh Pit. Can we do it?”

[Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic]

The three members of the Secret Machines, outfitted totally in black, looked as though they might wilt in the midday sun Saturday afternoon at Rothbury. But the trio’s droning dirges — best experienced in dingy clubs long after nightfall — proved a nice tonic from the crunchy festival fair. “Alone, Jealous and Stoned” was a swirling, psychedelic monster, driven by drummer/man-beast Josh Garza’s earthshaking clatter. “Sad and Lonely,” by contrast, slowly emerged from a barbed-wire scrawl of guitar, the group gradually locking into a hypnotic groove.

Over on a neighboring stage the Dresden Dolls didn’t shy away from addressing political or social issues during their blistering afternoon set. The pair performed a sneering cover of Fugazi’s “Blueprint” (more…)

Widespread Panic’s sunset performance — the first of two sets the group played Friday at Rothbury — had the feel of a spring break beach party. Dozens of yellow balls tagged with smiling faces bounced like popped corn on the throng of onlookers — an inordinate amount of whom were sporting the same fuzzy, Dr.Seuss-style hats worn by dating guru Mystery on VH1’s The Pickup Artist. But despite the carnival-esque atmosphere, the band members looked more like laid-back college professors (aside from Dave Schools, who, despite his name, resembled a grizzly bear wrestling a bass guitar) as they stretched out on instrumental marathons (or songs that became them) like “North.”

[Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic]

Shortly after the sun went down, Of Montreal set off an electro-pop dance party at Rothbury. With many in the crowd decked out like it was a mid-Nineties rave (glow sticks and neon necklaces abounded) Kevin Barnes and Co. worked through a shimmering “Faberge Falls For Shuggie” and a the loose disco-funk of “Suffer for Fashion.” The band seemed to take the latter song literally, dressing like castoffs from a 1980s discotheque. Barnes, for one, sported a bright orange scarf, blue boots, white jeans and a matching headband. And while some of the frontman’s lyrics bordered on bizarre (”Be careful how you touch me/My body is an earthquake,” he howled at one point), the performance dove head-on into Fellini-esque surrealism, with masked characters stalking the frontman as he worked the stage.

[Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic]

Midway through Modest Mouse’s Friday evening Rothbury set, frontman Isaac Brock recounted how he recently tried to tackle bandmate Tom Peloso because the bassist was “standing there all happy.” The failed attempt at channeling Bruce Smith left Brock with an injured arm and a possible concussion (”There was lots of blood,” he explained). But the singer’s aggression remained untamed as he ripped through songs like “Trucker’s Atlas” and the yelpy “Wild Packs of Family Dogs” with a boxer’s energy. Best of all might have been the band’s biggest hit, the chiming “Float On,” which the audience turned into a rowdy saloon sing-along.

[Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic]

“It’s 4:20. It’s time to smoke,” hollered Snoop Dogg just three songs into his afternoon set, pausing to take a puff from an overstuffed blunt. Never mind that it was actually 4:32. The lanky MC, who took the stage riding a tricked-out three-wheel bicycle, delivered a crowd-pleasing set, touching on songs both new (”Sensual Seduction”) and old (”Gin and Juice”). Dressed in an out-sized white T-shirt, the affable rapper tempered his Don “Magic” Juan audacity with just enough of Deputy Dog’s “awe shucks” demeanor. After all, there aren’t many people who can tell a crowd of women they want to “put it inside you,” and sound disarmingly charming doing so.

[Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic]

Even though she was dressed head to toe in gleaming white, soulstress Bettye LaVette wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty Friday morning at Michigan’s inaugural Rothbury Festival. The diminutive singer, whose voice remains as forceful as an encroaching typhoon, wrung blood from “Choices” and strutted her way through the roadhouse boogie of “Take Me Like I Am.” She also recalled her childhood days spent terrorizing the residents of nearby Muskegon and announced her return to the middling afternoon crowd with a simple statement: “You know I’m home, don’t you?”

Up next on the same stage were Southern rock gods Drive-By Truckers, who backed LaVette on her 2007 disc The Scene of the Crime. (more…)