With the talented Ben Harper, Keller Williams, the Flaming Lips and G-Love... there's not much to criticize. The 4th Annual Langerado Fest rocked Sunrise for two days this year and featured camping grounds so fans could keep the party going all the night. The bonus sound check held on Friday night where Perpetual Groove, Benevento Russo Duo and others warmed up the audience for the festival was the ultimate way to start it all off.

       Saturday, March 11th: Day 1

       The John Ginty Band was picked from over 350 Florida bands to open up the 47 band festival Saturday morning around 11:15. The Florida sun was beating down, but the vibration of five stages pulled the crowd from the parking lot party into Markham Park. One kid on jambase.com voiced one common concern when he asked if they "could lower ticket price next year" in response to the $130 two-day passes.


       Although the price was steep, it didn't stop thousands of music-enthused hippies of all ages from traveling to South Florida. Promoter Ethan Schwartz of South Florida Jams' goal was to broaden concert goer's horizons by bringing a broad range of music to Langerado, from jam bands and psychedelic rock to reggae and hip hop, and this goal was achieved.

       Into the first afternoon, the bumbling beats and booming bass of Burning Spear had the entire crowd swaying from left to right in front of the Sunrise stage. When the lead singer shouted "Talk to Me!" in his Caribbean accent, they roared!

      At the same time The Brazilian Girls got the grooves flowing in the Swamp Tent with their techno beats and Bjork like vocalist. It was as packed as a South Beach club in there!

       Over at the Florida Native Stage, which featured local bands and was sponsored by New Times, Crazy Fingers echoed sounds similar to Creedence Clearwater. In one song they even sang "Creedence, why don't you come out to play?"

       The Flaming Lips put on a sensational performance that brought new wave sound and outlandish antics together. A stage full of animated figures and men in mysterious fur costumes helped the Lips bring the audience into a frenzy.


       By nightfall Ben Harper & The Criminals, the most famous band of the day, had the entire crowd mobbed around the Everglades Stage. Their incredibly passionate performance was a definite highlight of the weekend. It was unfortunate that Ben was drowned out for a lot of his set; as a jambase.com fan put it - "Was it only me or was the sound guy drunk!?"

      Sunday, March 12th: Day 2

       The second day's line-up featured MoFro, G Love & The Special Sauce and Miami's favorite, The Spam All-Stars. As the crowd thickened, t-shirts and shoes were pealed off. Laid back parents brought their kids, balloons were flying around the crowd, and women were hoola-hooping.

       The political Anti-Balas Afrobeat Orchestra made overtly Democratic comments that climaxed when they sang "George co-co Bush... Indictment!" Robert Randolf And The Family Band played a drawn out instrumental set made of electric guitar riffs and Lyrics Born tore up the Swamp Tent with a hip-hop performance. The audience exploded as the lead guy kept screaming "Clap you hands everybody" in the unmistakable manner of Old Dirty Basturd.

       Keller Williams, a big favorite, welcomed people with his acoustic guitar and made people smile with his "my love handles" song. On the other end of the spectrum, Wilco was bringing back the 80's with their synthesizers and electric guitar.


       To end the "three-day mini-Woodstock" as Evelyn McDonnell, from the Miami Herald called it, the Black Crowes, who most people haven't heard of since their hit Remedy in 1992, were supposed to be the BIG CLOSEOUT. Fans were at first respectable to the depressing new songs that they played, but were waiting anxiously for "Jealous Again" or "Hard to Handle." People started to wander around until they drifted nonchalantly from the stage. By the time they closed with "She talks to angels" half the place had cleared out.

       Despite The Black Crowes performance, Langerado inspired the audience the way that every festival should. The idea was both to bring different types of bands to a wide range of individuals and to promote music as a vehicle for communication and enlightenment. This was attained through sonic lunacy that was as varied as the people who came to listen to it. It was exhilarating to see the unity and the sense of community shared by those who performed and those who watched.