Here’s your official Bele Chere 2010 music line-up. It looks like there are four stages, and in general, I’m yawning here.
Friday, July 23
Coxe Avenue Stage
Winner of Last Band Standing 3:30 p.m.
Nathan Moore 5 p.m.
The Trainwreks 6:30 p.m
The Fabulous Thunderbirds 8:15 pm
Biltmore Avenue stage
Vipers Dream 5 p.m.
Brushfire Stankgrass 6:45 p.m.
Southern Culture on the Skids 8:30 p.m.
Battery Park stage
The Speedbumps 4:30 p.m
Freekbass 6 p.m.
Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band 8 p.m.
Haywood Stage
Mark McGuinn 4:30 p.m.
Inner Visions 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 24
Coxe Avenue stage
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra 12:30 p.m.
Dirtfoot 2:30 p.m.
Laura Reed 4:30 p.m.
The Dirty Guv’nahs 6:30 p.m.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals 8:30 p.m.
Biltmore Avenue stage
Garry Segal 12:15 p.m.
Plain Jane Automobile 2:15 p.m.
The Legendary JCs 4:15 p.m.
Town Mountain 6:15 p.m.
Bomshel 8:15 p.m
Battery Park stage
Hot Politics noon
Hip Abduction 2 p.m.
Simplified 4 p.m.
Tropic Culture 6 p.m.
Toubab Krewe 8 p.m.
Haywood stage
The Cheeksters 12:15 p.m.
The Mad Tea Party 2:15 p.m.
Kellin Watson 4:15 p.m.
The Defibulators 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 25
Coxe Avenue stage
The Hot Seats 12:15 p.m.
Jamie McLean 2:15 p.m.
Randall Bramblett Band 4:15 p.m.
Biltmore Avenue Stage
Bayou Diesel
Lil’ Brian & the Travelers 2 p.m.
Brother Joscephus & the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra 4 p.m.
Battery Park Stage
Voodoo Court 12:45 p.m.
Now You See Them 2:30 p.m.
Reggaeinfinity 4 p.m.
Thanks to loyal reader Cliff for the heads-up!
19 Comments
I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the Legendary JCs, they are from Orlando and have been amazing every time they’ve been to Boone.
I can see both sides to this discussion. I’ve hit almost every Bele Chere for the last 15 years, and I can say that EVERY year I see at least one new-to-me band that I like and buy their CD. More often than not it’s a band from out of our area.
On the other hand, in years gone by I’ve seen great bands playing genres of music rarely offered anymore. How about Belmont Playboys from Atlanta scorching Biltmore stage with punkabilly a few years ago? Then there was a Texas country old style rock n roll band that was very cool: Cave Cat Sammy. And that very cool cowboy-reggae band, The Reggae Cowboys. Bele Chere was much more adventurous back then.
We’re apparently getting a break from Stephanie’s Id and Christine Kane this year. I like them both, but I hunger for the new and undiscovered (by me). I just saw the Afromotive at Earth Day in town (love ’em). I’m going to go see Simplified AGAIN, because I believe they are the next Big Thing, huge talent.
So in the end, we must ask ourselves: who is the music lineup for? Us locals or the tourists? The festival is supposed to be a draw for the tourism industry, and while we pay taxes on it, our economy does benefit (I guess). But do the tourists really care if the bands they see are local or not? I mean, are Joe and Susie gonna come back to Asheville just because they saw and liked a band that normally plays at Jack of The Wood or Mo Daddy’s? Really?
bring a pillow or earplugs
To Ricky Party:
If you’re are going to continuously bash Bele Chere, can’t you at least learn how to spell it correctly?
I come to your fair city almost every Belle Chere. I always hear somebody new (at least to me) and am thankful there are free events like Belle Chere. I think some of the above posters are either lazy or have way to much time to spout off the way you do. Why not get involved —volunteer — thank someone who does.
Also, as for me I am coming to the Randall Bramblett Band.
(Think Traffic, Sea Level, Allman Brothers, Widespread, Levon Helms, Govt Mule, Roger Glover-Deep Purple, Chuck Leavell, Robbie Robertson, bonnie Raitt, all these know his talent).
"Dear "Ricky Party"
So enlighten us…tell us the 42 acts you think should have been selected. Are you in a band by chance?"
No, actually, I’m not in a band. But I, like many here in Asheville, follow a lot of different types of music, and to me it’s pretty clear that Belle Chere is only interested in representing the 88.7 demographic of musical tastes that exist in this area, while continuing to ignore anything they deem too threatening or too edgy for the southeast’s largest outdoor festival.
No shit there are a lot of local acts who are deserving of stage time at Belle Chere. But you know what? There are also tons of other local acts that don’t sound like Toubab Tea Party Stankgrass Folk Revival that are relegated to the fringes, so to speak, of the festival, basically being forced (if they want to play at all) into organizing their own reactionary "festival" in different bars and record stores around town, just to be heard at all during this huge weekend that happens each year. Asheville is always priding itself on its diversity, but when it comes to the preeminent event of the year, they fall way short.
"First Bele Chere get’s scrutinized for not including enough local acts in their line ups over the years, now they’re being scrutinized for not being "imaginative" enough? Come on. You should take a breath, and try and look at the positive side for a second."
Maybe you should "take a deep breath" and realize that many of us who are fed up with the booking for this huge event have legitimate gripes about the lack of representation of various tastes each year. This isn’t just your festival, Toubab fan. This is a showcase of our city and our region and it should represent all that it has to offer. One of the local bands that has received international attention, and who has never been offered a slot at Belle Chere, is U.S. Christmas. They played the Lab recently and were absolutely incredible, in my opinion. Yet each year, they’re playing the tiny space down at Static Age when they should be given a spot on one of the main stages.
I realize the economy is down and the organizers have tried to cut costs drastically the past few years, but it wouldn’t be that difficult to, yes, have a little imagination and find something just a little different. It isn’t a matter of cost so much as it is a matter of taking a few risks. Bonnaroo, obviously, is a truly great festival in its organizational philosophy. Each year, that is a festival where you can truly find anything and everything, no matter what your tastes. Obviously Belle Chere is free and our city planners will never be able to afford Jay Z or Radiohead and anyone who wishes to see acts of that level playing in the streets of Asheville are being unreasonable. But the philosophy of offering a little something for everyone is what makes a lot of these successful events what they are. Once again, I don’t think this is too much to ask, if the festival is to reflect the true diversity of our city and our region.
Oh Please Bele Chere stopped being Original 20 years ago, you been to one you been to the all.
Overpiced Lame local art – Seen one piece you seen them all
Over played local Music – You can see most of these bands ANY other time anywhere in town.
Over Priced food
and to boot the taxpayer gets hit with the clean up bill!!!!
Dear "Ricky Party"
So enlighten us…tell us the 42 acts you think should have been selected. Are you in a band by chance?
If you’re just upset by the local acts that were selected, that’s one thing, but how do you feel about the 30 other regional and NATIONAL acts that are scheduled? Why do you wanna hate on the local artists and Bele Chere’s line-up in general so hard? It’s not like you have to pay to get into this festival, it’s FREE for goodness sake. How are you gonna complain when there’s a free festival happening with 12 local acts who work hard, and deserve to be showcased just as much as the next group?
You have to keep in mind that Bele Chere only selects from the locals that submit an application…thus- who knows who even submitted locally! First Bele Chere get’s scrutinized for not including enough local acts in their line ups over the years, now they’re being scrutinized for not being "imaginative" enough? Come on. You should take a breath, and try and look at the positive side for a second. MAYBE just maybe, you’ll discover a band at Bele Chere this year, that you’ve never heard before. Maybe you’ll even fall in love with them. Discovering new music at a festival, go figure. Or MAYBE you should just go take a trip to the beach, sit in the sun, feel the breeze, smell the ocean air, and listen to…your itunes list of the acts you would have selected for Bele Chere.
I think it’s pretty clear that year-in, year-out Belle Chere only pleases a pretty one-sided demographic of musical tastes. So I don’t feel like they’re really even making an effort to please everyone.
where’s David Holt and the Lightening Bolts? I guess they were pre-booked in Old Fort…
If nothing else, I think Bele Chere proves year in year out that you can’t please everybody!
There are really only 2 bands that fit in to the jamband scene (even then it’s a stretch)…Toubab Krewe and the Booty Band. Neither are jambands…but many consider them on the fringe of that scene since they tend to play jamband festivals. I will say if any complaint should be made it’s that the Booty Band has played I think 4 years in a row now…or maybe 4 out of the last 5. There are alot of bands who haven’t played BC at all that at least deserve a shot.
I think there is just about always a higher % of bluegrass/acoustic/folk/old time bands than any other genre. It’s not my favorite type of music but I don’t complain….there is plenty else for me to see. There always is.
If you want to hear something unique than come listen to Tropic Culture. Not a local Asheville band and lots of fun. Large band with a Rock, Reggae, and latin flare. Battery Stage July 24, 2010 6:00 pm. http://www.TropicCulture.com
Thanks for the tip. I do know a little about Grace Potter. And while it’s nice they’re going to be there, it’s hardly anything to get really excited about, in my opinion, because I still feel like we could have a much better, more well-rounded Belle Chere if there was just more diversity and everything wasn’t catered toward the ever-present jam band approach to music. I realize it’s a festival and free summer festivals are limited with what they can afford (especially in this economy) but it just seems like there is never an element of surprise any more with this festival, no monkey-wrench thrown into the mix of what is always an incredibly one-sided music line-up.
Basically, I just want to see weirder, edgier stuff. Not dominating, but at least given a presence. And I guess that’s why we have the Anti-Belle Chere Fest at Static Age. But it would be nice if the Belle Chere organizers had any interest in reflecting the true diversity of tastes that exist in this area, and not always funk/jam/soul/jazz fusion.
…pardon my pre-coffee sentence structure. I meant to say that you’d be well-advised to not miss Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. One of the best for sure.
Well, if it’s non-local that you’re looking for, you would be hard-pressed to miss Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the best and most exciting non-local (they’re from Vermont) group on the bill. They were just picked by Rolling Stone as one of the top 10 best new bands of 2010, and they deserve it. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. Bele Chere made a great choice, and a smart choice in picking them to be featured amongst our great local talent. I’d dare say the reason you didn’t see more ‘adventurous’ or bigger regional and/or national talent to supplement the local choices is because the $$ wasn’t there. I know that even the ‘bigger name’ bands don’t get paid much in comparison to other festivals, and local acts get next to nothing compared to even ‘lesser known’ regional/national acts.
FurrowedBrow – Speaking only for myself, I actually HAVE ‘ventured out’ to see a lot of local acts, and while some of them aren’t bad, you should understand that it’s difficult for a lot of us to get excited about an event that ought to take advantage of its status as the biggest outdoor festival in the entire southeast and book something we haven’t seen every Thursday at Mo Daddy’s or X Brewery. There’s just nothing special about it. It’s not so much a slight against the talent level of the musicians your defending as it is to the lack of imagination on the part of the festival bookers. Toubab Krewe? Jonathan Scales? Laura Reed? Brushfire Stankgrass? Wow, you guys really took some chances there!
I realize that for a lot of the friends and fans of the local musicians it’s exiting and flattering to be showcased at Belle Chere. There should definitely be a place for area musicians on the various stages of Belle Chere. But when the majority of the line-up is weighted so heavily toward one direction and style of music (jam/funk/folk fusion), it gets to be quite homogeneous and, yes, dull.
I’m not saying they need to book Bruce Springstein or Radiohead or anything even close to that. But at least give us something that isn’t a clone of everything we’ve heard on 88.7 for the past year. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
I find that most people who are critical of local talent being on Bele Chere stages are, in general, not supporters of local talent in the first place and don’t actually venture out to the bars/clubs where said talent ‘performs most any day of the week’. They want what is handed to them on the TV or the radio in neat little packages and rarely venture out to see that some of the local bands are REALLY GOOD and deserve to be up there, representing Asheville (which is what Bele Chere is really about in many ways). Pity… if you actually supported and were familiar with some of the local groups playing you’d know that a lot of them have never been on an official Bele Chere stage before, or it’s been several years since they last performed. Yawn all you want… the rest of us will be having a great time hearing great local talent.
Wow another lame Sell Chere . . The Fabulous Thunderbirds . . Really Seriously . . . . ????
Just when you thought the Bele Chere line-up couldn’t get any duller.
Nothing against any of the bands playing, but it just really sucks when the biggest outdoor festival in the southeast books bands you can catch any day through the week at your local pub or brewery.
I wouldn’t be surprised if next year they have the lady busker who plays outside of Greenlife on Coxe Ave. stage…