Caribbean Holidaze Full Review (Long)

For those who don't know, Caribbean Holidaze was a festival that featured Disco Biscuits, Umphrey's McGee, Keller Williams and The Duo.


Caribbean Holidaze Jam in Jamaica



On Thursday morning our flight out of Memphis was delayed an hour because of the storms in the northeast and upper midwest. We were on a direct flight to Montego Bay, but apparently 40 people coming in from Minneapolis were on the same flight, and their flight out of Minnesota had been delayed. Ultimately, this lead to us arriving in Jamaica almost 2 hours behind schedule, and at the peak time for arrivals at the airport. After an hour spent in the immigration line, and 30 minutes finding our bags and going through customs, we found ourselves on a bus full of hippies headed for Runaway Bay.

The initial part of the bus ride was serene and peaceful. Everyone was just taking in the lush scenery, the tide breaking on the beach, the Rastas on the streets, and the other various sights as we rolled along the northern coastline to our soon-come scene of debauchery. About 45 minutes into the trip, the driver makes a scheduled “rum stop.” Everyone hopped off the bus and grabbed some red stripe, or some shots, or even some jerk chicken. “

After our “rum stop,” the bus was rockin’ and you could tell the weekend was just getting started. The bus instantly turned from serene and peaceful to a scene of hippies drinking beer. I could tell this was going to be a good trip.

We finally got to the hotel at sunset, which was slightly disappointing because originally our flight would have put us in at enough time to hit the beach before dinner. But it didn’t happen, so we got checked in and headed over for a bite to eat at the beachside terrace. The food was surprisingly good, though I wasn’t in much of a mood to eat. I was ready to drink and rage the night away. Rice, Swordfish and Red Stripe was about all I could handle as the resident steel band jammed on some Marley tunes.

After meeting some friendly faces at the Pelican Bar at Breezes, and throwing back a few more Red Stripes, it was on to Hedonism III where we’d be spending the weekend rocking out. Up first were the Biscuits, who opened with a Nughuffer! You could tell in the way they were acting on stage that they were absolutely pumped up to be there.

The first hour of the Biscuits set was completely instrumental, aside from the Nughuffer lyrics and Brownie’s welcome to Jamaica rant during that song. It was pretty raging. They threw in some dub in there somewhere, as they would proceed to do throughout the course of the weekend. I really enjoyed the Nughuffer>Lunar Pursuit>Glastonbury>Nughuffer. It was a really kick ass way of getting the show started. The second set opened with Rock Candy, which seemed to be an above average version, but not a standout version. I don’t really remember much from this set, aside from the Crickets and Digital Buddah. Both were clearly standout versions and the Buddah might have been the best I’ve ever heard. I actually left during the new tune “mastermind” to hit up the free buffet at Hedo, as my appetite had returned to me. As far as I was concerned, that show ended with Buddah, it was that hot.

By the time Umphrey’s McGee took the stage, the red stripe and rum was taking over, and it occurred to me I hadn’t been on the Island 12 hours yet. I lasted about as long as I could all things considered (getting up at 6 AM>3 hour flight>2 hour bus ride>full Bisco show), which ended up being most of the UM set. The wife was being a trooper too, but around 3 AM she had had enough, and we left for sex and sleep. My biggest regret was missing Bridgeless and Africa, but the sex was pretty f**king good so I don’t regret it that much. Plus we still had 2 more full Umphrey’s shows to go. This show didn’t really have any standouts to me, I assume they came in the aforementioned songs. Otherwise, it was a pretty typical Umphrey’s McGee set.

Our second day on the island (our first full day), and what better way to begin than with a morning spent relaxing on the beach. This was terrific, we were catching rays, and listening to the surf roll on to the shore, smoking Jamaican ganja and getting offered more by the water sport crew on the beach at Breezes. Maybe an hour in, and who else but Barber comes strolling up right in front of us, to say hi to the 3 chics tanning on the chairs directly in front of us. One of them proceeds to put sunblock on him from head to toe. Then along comes Aaron Magner, scoops up one of the hotties, calls Barber a “rock star,” as he is getting the star treatment, and off he went. This would be par for the course for the weekend. I won’t bore you with the multiple times I bumped into musicians on the beach, or at the buffet, or casually strolled by Marco Benevento’s room as he played with his daughter. Every where I turned was another band member. It seems they were all staying at Breezes, at least most of them, I think I saw every artist chilling over at Breezes, aside from Jake Cinniger. Brownie even had his 2 kids and his wife there. He has the most beautiful little baby girl.

So yea my first run in with Barber and Magner had me a little awestruck, but by the time Brownie and Barber boarded the bus to take us back to Sangster airport, at that point we were just giving them high fives and treating them like average hippies on an average day.

Keller that afternoon was f**king awesome. Having first seen Keller over a decade ago, I have grown to a point where he does very little for me. However, I had a feeling that seeing Keller on the beach during the Jamaican sunset would be good. He didn’t disappoint. His set was creative and unique. He sang about Callaloo, the Caribbean sea, and the sets the night before. He threw in some funk, and a little twang. The sunset during his set on Friday nigh was one of the most surreal sunsets I’ve ever seen. The clouds rolled in across the ocean, and the sun fell behind them casting rays of light like the fingers of god across our little slice of heaven. This was probably the must fun I’ve ever had seeing Keller. He exceeded my expectations, but again, that would be par for the course.

Dinner that night at Munasan was interesting. Hibachi style food isn’t typical of what you’d expect in Jamaica, but it wasn’t bad. Our Hibachi chef was Jamaican and claimed he was Blackinese and hailed from Montego Bay, Tokyo. Of course I was three sheets to the wind off Appleton rum at this point, so I could’ve been the rum, but the swordfish was delectable.

Umphrey’s McGee on the second night was better than the first. Resolution opened things up and just as it did, it proceeded to rain. The rain in Jamaica is not like the rain in the U.S. When it’s 80 degrees out and 80% humidity, a short, tropical rain is a welcome comfort. By the end of this night I’d be soaked with Jamaican rain, but unlike in the states, at no point was I ever uncomfortable in the rain or with being soaked. I couldn’t have been more happy to be soaked head to toe to be honest with you.

I can’t recall any standouts from this Umphrey’s show but it’s not because it lacked them. It’s because I was so faced on rum at that point that I can’t f**king remember anything. (It’s amazing how much you can drink when no one tells you no, and there is no pocketbook holding you back.) The wife was right there with me, so as they broke for the encore back we headed to Breezes for a short break. She never made it back that night, but this night was late night Bisco on the Beach, and I couldn’t miss that nuts.

I missed the Shem Rah Boo Opener. Actually I caught the tail end and the segue into Little Betty Boop. The highlights from this show were the Tom Hamilton sit in on the U2 cover “Where the Streets Have No Name,” (it wasn’t until leaving did I realize the streets in Jamaica no street signs to designate their names), the Home Again, and the 42>Boom Shanker>42. The latter of which peaked so hard I thought my head would explode. The setlist for Friday night doesn’t look that intense, but it was actually a better, and more intricate show than the first night. Highwire encore was the only Bisco encore of the weekend, and was only played seemingly b/c no one wanted to leave the stage after they finished up.

Saturday morning I slept in. 2 nights of late nights and lots of Appleton Spiced Rum was catching up, and I hadn’t been here 48 hours yet. I decided to lay off the free booze for the day time, which is not all that easy to do I’ll have you know. But I did it, well, at least until Keller again, and then the Red Stripe called my name. Keller’s second show was good, but it didn’t hit me the way the first show did. Maybe it was because of the redundancy, maybe it was because there was a lack of songs about the tropics, I don’t know. I enjoyed it, but the most amazing part of the afternoon was the double rainbow that formed above the Hotel. It was stunning. A full rainbow lasted about 15 minutes, and just in front of it, for only a few minutes, a second one appeared. It captured the spirit of the Keller sets and wrapped them up like a bow.

Dinner that evening at Pastafari Fine Italian Dining was the best I had all weekend. Absolutely delicious and delectable food. Salmon, Fettucine with shrimp, Garlic Cream soup, an antipasto bar to die for. I found it to be a shame that Pastarfari wouldn’t be open for the rest of our stay (only open Thursday>Saturday). Had it been, we’d likely have eaten there at least 2 more times.

Saturday night was the last Disco Biscuits show and clearly the best one. They kicked things off with a rocking stand alone version Caterpillar. 7-11>Jigsaw Earth was pretty intense, but the hilarity that ensued during D’yer Mak’er was one of the memorable moments of the weekend. Tommy Hamilton, and Joe Russo took the stage on guitar and drums respectively, and Barber set his guitar down. Barber was jumping around the stage holding the mic, crooning “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhhh, please don’t let me go….” It was f**king hilarious, but it sounded great. Much better than I could ever picture a Bisco version of that song sounding. And surprisingly it fit as well. Confrontation with Joe Russo on drums and Allen on Percussion was a great. Not the best version of the song, but definitely a high point of the set.

The second set on Saturday night was my favorite set of the whole weekend from any band. Mulberry’s opened things up with Benevento sitting in, but the true meat of the set, Spaga>Mindless Dubble>Run Like Hell was unreal. Dribble started out dub style but finished regular style. It was pretty sick. One of the better version I’ve ever heard. Long and jammed out. The true peak of the entire disco biscuits run was Run Like Hell. Absolutely intense, long, lots of intricate jamming that cascaded into most intense peak of the entire weekend. No encore needed. You’re welcome.

Then it was a quick jaunt over to Breezes to drop the wife off again, and then back over to Hedo for The Duo late night.. This one started late because Marco had some trouble with his keys and an amp. About 45 minutes late it got started. Hamilton sat in on this one too. I’ve seen the duo over 10 times in different outfits (on their own, with Trey and Mike, with Mike), and this one was one of the most fun I’ve had seeing them. It didn’t hurt that it was on the beach in Jamaica. That probably had a lot do with it. A lot of Duo staples like Something for Rockets, Becky, Play Pause Stop. The show lasted past 4 AM, and with the Duo taking the stage at 4 PM later that day, I headed back before they finished, but I think I only missed a song or two.

Sunday morning found us snorkeling in the Caribbean sea. What a wonderful way to spend the day of a show, let’s go snorkel with the coral and fish. Snorkeling was amazing, not as amazing as snorkeling through an underwater cave in the Yucatan Peninsula, but still f**king amazing.

After Snorkeling, strolling about Breezes, I stumpled into the beachside terrace where I was surprised to find Tom Hamilton playing acoustic on the stage. This was just one of the many great surprises of the weekend. I only caught the last half of it, but what I saw was very good and memorable.

The Duo were also amazing that afternoon. They repeated a few tunes from earlier in the night (only band to repeat songs,) but considering their limited repertoire, I gave them a pass. Plus they repeated some really great tunes like Rockets and PPS. Hamilton also sat in on this set as well, and he sang “Tonight, I’ll be Staying Here With You” by Bob Dylan.

Sunday night is Gala night at Hedo and Breezes. The spread at the buffet was maxed out, as all the fine dining restaurants were closed. So we ate sushi and fish, as Keller did the same just one table away.

Sunday night was also the final night of Caribbean Holidaze, and as such much was expected. Umphrey’s was up first. This was the the best Umphrey’s show of the weekend. They seemed more patient and willing to jam on this night. While the first set was typical Umphrey’s, the second set had a few long, exploratory jams. Keller Williams sat in on Partyin Peeps, and Andrew Tosh, Peter Tosh’s son, came out and sang” Legalize It” with them for an encore.

The final set of the night and the festival was the Brain Damaged Eggmen. For those who don’t know, this is a side project made up of half-Umphrey’s (Brendan, Jake, the Drummer) and half-Bisco (Magner and Brownie). They play Beatles and Pink Floyd covers. It was pretty simple and straight forward. The first half was Beatles, the Second half was Pink Floyd. The entire show was full of sing-along type songs with a few jams thrown in. Another Brick in the All part 1 was a highlight for me, as was the Mean Mr. Mustard>Polythene Pam>Golden Slumbers stretch from Abbey Road. The Beatles section closed with I am the Walrus and the Floyd section closed with Brain Damage>Eclipse. Tom Hamilton sat in again on “Comfortably Numb,” and the encore had all members from both bands as well as some crew up on stage singing “Hey Jude.” It was a picturesque way to close it out. I really couldn’t have asked for much more…. Ok maybe on more Bisco set would’ve been nice.

We added the option to stay an extra day, which proved to be a great decision. Not only was 90% of the crowd checking out and heading back out on the bus to Montego Bay for Sangster Airport on Monday, but I had a severe festival hangover and needed to recover. What better place to recover from a festival hangover than on the beach in Jamaica? We took advantage of our off day to head over to Ocho Rios and Dunns River Falls, just because we hadn’t been off the 2 properties since arriving. Ocho Rios was a madhouse, but the Falls were serene, peaceful and beautiful. Back at the hotel was a candle-lit dinner on the beach, a truly wonderful way to spend our last dinner in Jamaica. It was sort of strange seeing the transformation from Hippie-rage fest at the resort, back to the laid back setting that Breezes must typically reside in. But the sereneity was much needed for my festival hangover. I surely couldn’t have boarded a plane that Monday afternoon, or mixed it up in the chaos of Sangster airport.

When it was all said and done, my wife and I had the time of our lives. It was one of the most amazing concert experiences I’ve ever had, and the best festival I’ve ever attended. Every person I met, whether they be fan, band member, hotel staff, or resident Jamaican was a kind soul and a genuine person. I can’t remember the last time I went somewhere, let alone a music festival, and didn’t meet a rude person. There was no one there to sling their nuts. There was no one there because it was a scene. There were no kids, and seemingly no adults either. It was 4 days spent in the company of genuine music lovers on a tropical vacation. It was pure bliss. The wind brought the cool in the daytime, while the bands brought the heat at night. The stage sounded great, the drinks were free, and the crowd was so minimal that getting up front was a breeze. The crowd was so small that by the end of the trip, it felt as if everyone knew everyone else. It was about as relaxing, and raging as it could get. My only fear, is that we partied so hard, that next year, this trip will be a lot more expensive. All things being equal, as drawbacks go, that’s one I can live with.