UPLIFT
Aug. 8
Modern Fools
Modern Fools back on the Cider Mag stage. This
homegrown group of young musicians, made up
of members of other local bands such as Ghost
Dinner Band and Youngest Sun, have created
their own blend of indie rock.
Up next was Dub Apocalypse who came on
the Gazebo stage playing plenty of instrumental jams with a reggae club flavor. This was
the first year at Uplift for the band, but they
have been playing Harlow’s in Peterborough so
their name and some of the faces were familiar.
The crowd was really warming up to the music, dancing in the sun, eating freshly prepared
food, and visiting the vendor booths, as kids ran
around playing with hula hoops and jumping in
the bounce houses.
Hug the Dog returned again this year to
take the Cider Mag stage and they instantly
came out rocking. People of all ages were up
and grooving to their rock music. The fourpiece ensemble cranked out crowd-pleaser after
crowd-pleaser.
Another amazing young band picking up a lot
of speed in the local music scene is The Youngest Sun, who started their jam band set on the
Gazebo stage directly following Hug the Dog.
The Youngest Sun provided the Uplift audience
with a combination of funk and rock jams. The
grass was beginning to get torn up as everyone
got up on their feet to dance.
Last up on the Cider Mag stage was Congo
Sanchez, who exploded straight into their set
just as the sun began to drop down behind the
trees. The two MCs bounced around the stage
as the drummer from Theivery Corporation,
Winter • 2015
banged away on his stand up kit. With a combination of hip hop and reggae beats behind lyrics
filled with both political and real-life situations,
Congo Sanchez had the whole pavilion, packed
full of dancing people, completely captivated.
Roots of Creation, returned this year to headline Uplift. This beloved NH band has been a
part of the festival scene for years, and whether
they play at a charity benefit, at a club, or on
the big stage, RoC never disappoints.
RoC has put forth a lot of hard work to get
where they are today, yet they remain humble, giving shout outs to the volunteers, their
friends and fans, and even giving a special
birthday song, lead by frontman Brett Wilson,
for their teenage nephew. Wilson always greets
the audience, giving off a warm feeling as he
invites everyone to be a part of the RoC family.
This amazingly successful day was capped
off with RoC’s ever evolving, fun-loving brand
of reggae, funk, rock, dub, and experimental
tunes. They cranked out multiple fan-loved
classics, like "Oh Lord!", while also treating the
audience to their new experiments with dub
and electronica. The band even performed their
newer song, “Uplift the People,” which is set
be on their upcoming triple album set to be released in early 2016. As Roots of Creation ended the night, a sense of happiness washed over
the crowd.
With that final outcome, Uplift Music Festival raised more than $9,000 to help those in
their community who are battling cancer. What
a beautiful ending to a perfect, music-filled,
summer day. ■
cidermag.com • CIDER
MAG • 33