by Elisa Zuckerberg, Founder of HearItThere.com

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

The Pleasantville Music Festival, presented by Northwell Health is also known as New York’s Backyard Jam. It took place on Saturday, July 8 at the village’s Parkway Field (in Westchester County). In its 17th year, this annual celebration of music brought thousands of friends, families, and lovers of live, world class rock, breakout stars and local artists to the bucolic town of Pleasantville.

There was food and drink, the Captain Lawrence Brewing Company‘s Beer and Wine Garden, fun activities for the kids in the Kid’s Fun Zone sponsored by Penny Lick Ice Cream, and operated by Funtime Amusements, and a warm, positive vibe.

Although there were weather interruptions, it ended up being an exceptional day of music! This festival was so well organized and choreographed that even a rainstorm couldn’t interfere with the flow of entertainment.

This was my 4th time attending the Pleasantville Music Festival and it didn’t disappoint! My friend, Erik Rabasca, a talented musician and founder of the CT band Light Warriors, came along for the ride. A newbie at the festival, I showed him the lay of the land upon arriving. Most importantly, were the three music stages and the two large tents that provided refuge from the sun and in the case for that day, rain.

Erik Rabasca (Light Warriors) & Elisa Zuckerberg (HearItThere Founder)

Erik noted, “From the moment you enter the gates, you know it will be a good day. You can tell the quality of a festival by the way you’re treated at the entrance. The staff being so kind and welcoming let you know right away that this was going to be a beautiful day. The weather tried to squash that warm and friendly tone, which you could hear being set in the delivery of festival organizer Bruce Figler as he announced from the Main Stage. But, as this veteran team proved, rainstorms are manageable. Weather be damned!”

The festival is well designed and organized. There are three different stages, the main stage for headliners and national touring acts, the Party Line Chill Tent stage with mostly singer-songwriters, folk and Americana artists, and the Pamnation Party Stage highlighting up-and-coming indie-pop and rock bands. Attendees can easily amble from stage-to-stage and see most of the artists presented that day.

As Erik noted, “Each of the three stages definitely have its own personality.

Click photo to see artists bios.

Obviously, I wanted to hear EVERYTHING which is impossible, but I came close!

The Chill Tent was packed with talent including indie-folk band The Moonrise Cartel, Brooklyn-based genre-bending soul-rock band, Brandi & the Alexanders and Pete Francis (from the band Dispatch) playing with local bass player Andy Kuusisto. The headliner, songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins was a force! I loved her set and one of the most memorable moments of the festival came when the audience of adoring fans sang along to her hit, “As I Lay Me Down.”

“As I lay me down to sleep
This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I’m far away
I’ll whisper your name into the sky (ooh la kah koh)
And I will wake up happy.”

Sophie B. Hawkins

Then, on her final song, she invited her fans to come up to sing and dance on her song, “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover.”

As an experienced attendee of the festival, I was confident the Party Stage would be filled with party-ready concert attendees and the stage with fun bands!

SunDub filled the air with “soulful reggae and vibes at the highest level.”  – Erik Rabasca.

A note about SunDub: Joanna Teters vocals, the musicality of the band, and the band’s likability, were a highlight for me. Also playing the stage was psychedelic rock/pop band Moonunitt, who have Ossining/New Paltz roots. They were funky, weird and perfectly entertaining in so many ways.  A new music discovery from this stage for me was The Criticals, a Nashville-based indie-rock and pop band. I missed indie/rock band Social Creatures, who performed earlier in the day, but luckily caught them later at the festival After-Party at Lucy’s in Pleasantville.

The Moonrise Cartel, Pete Francis w/Andy Kuusisto & Strange Neighbors

SunDub, Moonunitt, cute baby

On the main stage, Blac Rabbit, a psychedelic rock band based in Rockaway Beach, was interrupted by a storm, but when the rain cleared, the band came back with an excellent set.

Allman-Betts Band

Also on the main stage, The Allman-Betts Band, which includes the sons of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band, sounded truly authentic, like I remembered on the radio years ago. Classic Rock fans in the audience roared with excitement to watch the legacy continue with Dickey Betts and Greg Allman’s talented offspring.

They Might Be Giants

In my opinion, They Might Be Giants (TMBG) set was super nerdy music-wise. (John Flansburgh told me during our interview that they’re rock-nerds, and it showed.) They didn’t just play one song after another – they were showing off their skill and talent as songwriters and musicians. In fact, they performed their song “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” backwards! It’s a musical feat that takes creativity and serious musical know-how. TMBG’s John Linnell also conducted an interesting experimental sonic interlude by sampling a classic rock musical phrase and adding playful instrumentation. Later in the set, each of the band’s horn players built up to the big finale “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” with individual solos, which was very cool. I hope the audience appreciated them as much as I did.

What I also missed: I didn’t see the bands Hunter Road and Summer Fling as well as songwriter Ursula Hansberry, but I know how good they are since I was Lucy’s Pleasantville’s Battle of the Bands judge, and had seen them auditioning for these opening spots.

Allison Ponthier

Future outdoor music event organizers take note! The great thing about this festival, and kudos to organizers and sound folks, is that the artists performance schedule is well blocked so that the music coming from each stage does not interfere with one another. They really know what they’re doing.

Jeff Schreider, who leads stage operations for the festival, told me how they do it. “Empire AV sound engineers designed an incredible set up of the subwoofers in two rows coupled with flying the speakers. This produced the exceptional sound including vocal clarity that often is missed at a live outdoor event… similarly the Party Stage and Chill Tent Stage engineers got similar results with their top-notch equipment.  We accomplished great sound on every artist.”

A few other thoughts about the music: It was great seeing Matt Crossett (who lives in Spain) perform again with Westchester-based band Smooch. They’re a talented local R&B group who I’ve been following for many years. Songwriter and pop musician Allison Ponthier was new to me, but clearly had a loving fan base,  judging from the enthusiastic audience response. 

The Pleasantville Music Festival was certainly memorable for so many reasons. It was a music-lover’s dream, covering a wide spectrum of styles satisfying all musical tastes.

“This is definitely the kindest festival I’ve been to. No attitude, no pretension. The weather ended up serving as a pause, making for a great hang and an opportunity to get to know some of the folks you were sitting next to.   – Erik Rabasca, Light Warriors

I spoke to Marie Graham, Director of Vendors after the festival who told me that “the festival is like a 10K piece jigsaw puzzle…how it all fits together, year after year is stunning. Yet every year it does. My vendors had it tough with the weather, but did an awesome job and really helped each other out.”

I’ll leave it with her words and hope to see you HearItThere fans in 2024!!

And just like that, the 2023 #pleasantvillemusicfestival was history. The only thing that surpassed the day itself was the truly herculean efforts of all those that made it happen: Town employees, the hundreds of volunteers, and first responders who yet again, got everyone in, and out safely. The organizers, and their families who supported them through the many thousands of hours of planning. The sponsors who made this event possible. Vendors and the musicians who BROUGHT. IT. ALL. despite the forecast.

And last the unknown woman with long dark hair, wearing a teal tank top and aqua skirt at #pamnationpartystage who reminded so many of us how much fun it is to dance in the rain. 😎 – Marie Graham, Director of Vendors, Pleasantville Music Festival

 

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