Sweetwater 420 2024 Preview

Gov’t Mule, 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM

Many festival jam bands draw their lineage back to sixties hippie bands like The Grateful Dead, but few as directly as Gov’t Mule (QRO photos). Originally begun as a side-project to the reformed Allman Brothers Band in the early nineties, Gov’t Mule right at the cusp of breaking out on their own in 2000 when bassist Allen Woody died. But guitarist Warren Haynes and drummer Matt Abts recovered to become a festival mainstay, featuring a rotating cast of guest members and being guest members, like Haynes’ work in The Dead. They (QRO photos outdoors) come to Sweetwater 420 (QRO photos at a festival) behind last year’s Peace… Like a River (QRO photos at a ’21 festival).

Grace Potter, 7:45 PM – 9:00 PM

While many jam bands on the festival circuit seem to have been playing since the sixties, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (QRO photos at a festival) formed & broke out in this century (QRO photos at festival), thanks to 2007’s This Is Somewhere. The funky blues-soul act (QRO photos at a festival) earned major praise for 2010’s self-titled release (QRO review) and 2012’s The Lion The Beast The Beat, and got bigger & bigger (QRO photos at a festival).

In 2015, however, Grace Potter went solo (QRO photos at a festival) and released her first proper solo album, Midnight, following it up with 2019’s Daylight. During COVID she couldn’t tour, so did a weekly Twilight streaming series, including an episode on the set of the original Star Trek. Beam me up, Potty (QRO photos at a festival), as she is back on the Mother Road (QRO live review last year), coming to Sweetwater 420 (QRO photos at a ’22 festival).

St. Paul & The Broken Bones, 6:15 PM – 7:15 PM

From just over in Birmingham, Alabama, St. Paul & The Broken Bones (QRO photos at a festival) bring the true southern soul. They come to rock Bourbon & Beyond (QRO photos at a festival) after 2016’s Sea of Noise (QRO review), 2018’s Young Sick Camelia (QRO review), 2022’s The Alien Coast (QRO review), and last year’s Angels In Science Fiction (QRO review).

Larkin Poe, 4:45 PM – 5:45 PM

Sisters Megan & Rebecca Lovell form Larkin Poe (QRO photos at a festival), whose blues-country really stand out (slide guitar included), on albums like 2018’s Venom & Faith (QRO review), 2020’s Self Made Man (QRO review) and bonus covers record Kindred Spirits (QRO review), so catch the hard-working ladies at Sweetwater 420 (QRO photos outdoors in ‘22), which they come to right after (QRO photos at a festival last month) winning the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album for Blood Harmony (QRO review).

Andy Frasco & The U.N., 3:30 PM – 4:15 PM

The blues rock of Andy Frasco & The U.N. (QRO photos at a ’22 festival) just Keep On Keepin’ On, most recently with last year’s L’Optimist (QRO photos at a ’22 festival).

Also:

Connor Clark, 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM

Big Gigantic, 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM

Boulder’s Big Gigantic (QRO photos at a festival) mix (big) electronic beats with live drums and even live saxo-mo-phone. Known to set crowds in a writhing heap of body parts (QRO photos at a festival), Big Gigantic (QRO photos at a festival) has been showcasing their electronic fervor all across the globe (QRO photos at a festival), and the last ever New Year’s Eve at New York City’s closed landmark venue Roseland Ballroom (QRO live review), and now come to Sweetwater 420 (QRO photos at a festival).

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM

A New Orleanser heading east to Sweetwater 420, Trombone Shorty (QRO photos at a Southern festival) doesn’t just toot his horn but also integrates more modern funk and rap into his jazz (QRO photos at a ’22 Southern festival).

Papadosio, 6:15 PM – 7:30 PM

Papadosio (QRO photos at a festival) expands minds with genre-defying music.

Little Stranger, 4:45 PM – 5:45 PM

John and Kevin Shields (no relation) may come from Philly, but started their alt-hip-hop down South (QRO ’22 photos in the South).

Also:

Hedonistas, 3:30 PM – 4:15 PM

Battle of the Bands Winner, 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM