Nelsonville Music Festival 2015: Day 1
By Wyatt Zelle, Contributor
The sights, sounds and smells of the 2015 Nelsonville Music Festival were alive and well Thursday night. As the sun started its descent over the Hocking Ridges, music was just getting started. Athens' locals Dead Hand of Man’s brand of rock ‘n’ roll could be heard echoing from across the concert grounds upon entry to the festival.
Over on the Main Stage, Elephant Revival strummed to a crowd of all ages. The five-piece hails from Colorado, but draws no similarities to other folk acts of the same state (such as The Lumineers). These Rocky Mountain folkers crafted tunes with a mix of guitars, pedal steel, banjo, mandolin, violin, upright bass and a washboard. Elephant Revival’s brand of country folk was right at home with the crowd at Nelsonville.
At the Porch Stage, Speaking Suns brought the jangle to a steadily growing crowd. Brooklyn “folktronic” group Howard lulled the crowd with fuzzy guitars and saturated, spacey vocals. Trampled By Turtles, the evening headliner, stomped the Main Stage with their finest bluegrass boots.
With so much promising music in one day, it's hard to believe there are three more days left. Fear not; with artists like Built To Spill, The Flaming Lips and Adam Torres, the tunes can only get better.
