Cider Mag Winter 2015 Issue 52 | Page 33

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