Levitate Music & Arts Festival 7.5 - 7.7.24

Marshfield, MA

Words & Photos by Arlene Brown

No matter the genre, music festivals share a couple of common themes: Love of music and of each other. The Levitate Music and Arts Festival in Marshfield, Massachusetts started in 2013 from the Levitate Surf Shop wanting to bring the community together in a big way to support local kids and families and their love of surf, skate, and snow. What better way than to have a 3-day festival of artists and musicians with that deep soul, reggae, root? Levitate brought together the youngest fan at three months old to the eldest of visitors at “about 88!" Three stages at the Marshfield Fairgrounds of diverse music mixed with about 30 food trucks featuring every type of food you can think of: Grilled cheese sandwiches, Thai, barbecue, smashed burgers, burritos, tacos, pizza, “nugs” and more! Because of the obnoxious heat and humidity, the most popular trucks/stands were ice cream, slushies, a lemonade stand and the water refill stations.

Speaking of heat. It was hot. It was humid. It was everything you think of for the weekend after July 4th. On Friday, things started off with Foundation winner #1 and local Worcester, Mass band, Blue Light Bandits and their 70s R&B sounds. Uganda native, Jon Muq, who now lives in Austin, Texas followed from the main stage and quickly had everyone dancing as they made their way into the festival. Jon Muq had a very easy Jack Johnson type soulful sound. A couple of songs to listen to: “One you Love” and “Shake Shake.” 

One of my favorite bands of the weekend was Grace Bowers & the Hodge Podge; they bled soul and rock. Grace Bowers, a blues guitar genius at only seventeen years old, blew away the entire crowd with her riffs and runs. It’s no wonder she’s garnered the attention of Dolly Parton, Lenny Kravitz, Lainey Wilson, Peter Frampton and even Slash! Alongside lead singer, Emily Justin, and the rest of the Hodge Podge, they brought the southern soul and served it with funk and style. Listen to all of her songs, but start with “Tell Me Why U Do That” and “Wine On Venus.” 

Back at the mainstage, indie alt rockers, The Moss, danced and rocked out to a few of my new favorites such as “The Place That Makes Me Happy” and “Willie’s Song.” The former song is all over Sirius XM Alt Nation radio station. Meanwhile, local Boston solo act Lee Ross got the crowds dancing to his live looping grooves mixed with keyboards, organ, sax and even flute!

Bringing that jam vibe Chicago based, Neal Francis, and his piano skills drew an increasingly larger crowd than they expected. After fixing his piano bench, Neal and his crew got the crowd singing and grooving to “Can’t Stop the Rain” with their funky 70s type vibe. Starting off their US tour, Stolen Gin and their surfer rock sounds were a nice mix to the rest of the festival mood. Check out their songs “Analie,” “Underwater,” and “If We Go Down.”

For the VIPers, there was a small stage in the exclusive area for bands/musicians to do smaller, more intimate sets. The first of these "surprise sets" was Aldous Collins with local members from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

And as great as the rest of the bands were for the first part of the day, the last three were the best. Dirty Heads turned up the heat and the energy on the main stage with a mix of reggae, hip hop, some rock and some rap. Lead singers, Jared "Dirty J" Watson and Dustin "Duddy B" Bushnell, worked seamlessly through their twenty two songs. Songs to listen to: “Cloudlifter,” “That’s All I Need,” “Oxygen,” “Heavy Water” and “Vacation.” Their most recent album came out last year and they’re working on new material as they head out on a US tour this summer into fall.

For those that are into great guitarists like Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Jimmy Page, you should definitely check out Orebolo, an acoustic trio from Goose. Peter Anspach (guitar/vocals), Rick Mitarotonda (guitar/vocals) and Jeff Arevalo (stand up bass) play with so much passion and technical ability you become entranced in their world where their strings also sing.

As the sky started to get dark, world renowned Mt. Joy took strong control of the main stage. Starting off with “Sheep,” “Evergreen” and “Astro Van,” the crowd was singing every word. The audience showed their love for Mt. Joy and were completely under the spell of Matt Quinn (lead singer, guitar), Sam Cooper (guitar), Jackie Miclau (keyboard), Michael Byrnes (bass) and Sotiris Eliopoulos (drums). Their summer tour has them criss-crossing from the west coast and then back to Boston with Noah Kahan and then back west. 

Things got started a little later on Saturday due to a few non-confirmed incidents. The gates didn’t open until 12:50 PM and due to very tight security, it took longer for attendees to get through and into the fairgrounds. That didn’t stop Philly based Snacktime from getting started for their 1:00 PM set, greeting everyone with their funk, jive and soul. Dancing through their set helped put everyone in a better mood. The delayed gate opening also didn’t stop another Philly based band, G. Love & Special Sauce from starting, even without their lead singer, Garret Dunton, aka G. Love. Luckily for them, Mihali Savoulidis from Twiddle was there to step in until G. Love could get there. (Apparently he was stuck in traffic?) Remember how I said collaboration was a theme for the weekend? It was a big part of Saturday. 

Huge crowd favorite, Ripe, a local band formed of Berklee School of Music classmates, took over a part of the VIP area and played to the G. Love crowd after their set. Lead singer, Robbie Wolfsuhn and his band of jazzy groovy mates danced all over the stage and into the crowd. A few songs to explore are “Get Over,” “Noise in the Forest” and their new album Bright Blues is great!

If there were one band who is used to the heat and the humidity, it would be The Hip Abduction hailing from St Petersburg, Florida. With their Dave Matthews Band type sound, the crowds flocked to hear “We’ll Be Alright,” “Float” and “An Island Still Remains.”

Local up and coming Mark King Band was impressive with their ability to jam and entertain the crowd. Collaborations continued as big band styled Cory Wong was joined by Ripe’s lead singer, Robbie Wolfsuhn, for a little  jazz, rock, funk and a some ska. Surrounded by smiles and matching outfits, Cory Wong and crew had so much energy! Check out their songs “Cosmic Sans,” “3 on E” and “The Optimist.” 

Hawaiian/Californian alt reggae band Iration picked right up where Cory Wong’s energy finished. Jumping, jiving and jamming Micah Pueschel (Guitar/Lead Vocals) with Adam Taylor (Bass), Joseph Dickens (Drums), Cayson Peterson (Keyboard/Synth), Micah Brown (Guitar/Vocals) and Drake Peterson (Trumpet, Keys) definitely had the biggest crowd of the day up to that point.

Another local band that is garnering attention on Sirius XM Margaritaville is Joe Samba with his single “Little Love.” Showing love to the masses and truly a gem of a human, Joe and I sat down to chat:

Joe Samba: “Yeah, so I'm affiliated with the South Shore. I used to come down every Monday to play at Main Street Sports and that's where the Elovaters are from that whole area. So, I became really close with them and we would gig together all the time, every Monday, and that's how I discovered Levitate. I like it. The Southshore in general opened up a whole new can of worms musically for me. And I was never like a dude who would jam. I was always a very planned out type of songwriter, so I want to play how I intended. But coming to the Southshore it really got me more comfortable with jamming and just freeform. That's kind of half our show now, it's just like telekinesis. We look at each other without even saying anything, we know where it’s going. So that's like from Levitate to just gigging in the Southshore and Plymouth primarily,  it's just cool. The scene that Levitate played a role in down here, from Stick Figure and everything, where it's accessible, and I feel like I'm with my best friends that are the most talented people ever and it's fucking cool.”

Arlene Brown: “And you learn from each other, right?”

JS: “Exactly! And like watching each other grow. See where the Elovaters are now. See where Stick Figure is now. All from beautiful Duxbury and just being surrounded by it in the first place. It was what gave me the plug for wanting more for myself because I'm surrounded by a really good energy and coming to Levitate was that. My buddies, The Quinns, they were my backing band for a while. They're from the Southshore and they played Levitate as like the local guys and they would bring me out on stage. I got to sing on stage with the Quinns and it's like it gave me that bug, you know?”

AB: “So you’re getting ready to go on tour...”

JS: “We're going out with Bumping Uglies and Ballyhoo, starts in like a week.”

AB: “What city are you excited about?”

JS: “I haven't been to Florida in a while. It's always a treat playing Janice live in St Pete, but it's going to be a really hot July in Florida. But I lived in Key West for a while. So I'm used to that heat.”

AB: “How about that new album?”

JS: “Yeah! So the new album! I got 10 new songs and essentially I got my new single, “Little Love” I just dropped, and I'm dropping another song in July called “Meant To Be" and that's in preparation for the album I’ll be releasing.”

Check out Joe at Joesamba.com! I highly recommend that you check him out while he’s on tour!

Speaking of the Elovaters, they were next up on the main stage and I don’t think the crowd was fully ready for what was about to happen. Hometown favorites, they not only brought crazy cool music vibes, but also gigantic beach balls and a woman in an inflatable raft going across the crowd. They also brought out local fan favorite and stage hopper of the day, Mahali from Twiddle. There is so much good stuff that you only see at live music festivals!

After seeing their viral video for “Jungle” eight years ago, I was so excited to finally see Tash Sultana live. They are one of the best loopers from around the world. This Australian native mixes keyboards, guitars, sax and flute, rocking the stage with their hard hitting eye jiggling, chest thumping, hard bass soul bluesy vibe. 

Finally, day two came to a close with Lake Street Dive. It’s hard to believe they have been together for 20 years. While the band was originally formed with students from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, they hail from all over the US, including Mike Calabrese who is from Vermont. Their 70s pop, bluesy, funky, soulful sounds mixed with a beautiful set was a perfect way to end the day.

Sunday was hot. Sun blazing, humidity wrenching, sublimely hot. I unfortunately missed Levitate Foundation winner #2, professional surfer and musician, Makua Rothman. Instead, I caught Philly and Charleston, SC based Little Stranger on the main stage. Holy. Moly. If you don’t know who these guys are, you have to check them out. Self deemed “Hip Hop Simon and Garfunkel,” Kevin Shields and John Shields (not related) pack a Gorillaz meets Beck meets Dirty Heads meets just a touch of Weird Al Yankovich type feel. Constantly moving, looping, dancing, crowd joining, Kevin and John have a blast on stage, and the entire crowd joined right along. Their song, “Oh, Shit!” was a huge crowd favorite! Currently touring with Stick Figure and SOJA, check out their new album and go see them, if you can! I was so excited to meet up with them right after their crazy set to get to know them better! (BTW, I might be their new tour manager, but I never got to sign the contract. Next time!)

AB: “Okay, that set was stellar! What gets you to do all that? Not everybody has that energy on the stage. Not everyone can do that!”

KS: “The dreams of a fourteen year old version of ourselves.”

JS: “That’s true. I think that we have been doing a ton of festivals lately and we get to play like every other weekend. Typically we’re touring, so it’s kind of nice when you get a nice long set at a festival, we kind of need that shit and we haven’t had it for a couple of weeks. It’s like, that’s our release, so I think it’s almost a chip on our shoulder to, like, do the thing that we love.”

AB: “And then it’s like a snowball effect to add that energy, that dopamine high from it and the adrenaline rush.”

KS: “We don’t exercise so that’s about our dopamine high.”

AB: “Touring, so this is the beginning of it?”

KS: “So we, we’re picking up a tour. We leave on Wednesday. We fly home to Charleston tomorrow, and get a day to pack and we leave. We’re doing a five week tour with Stick Figure and SOJA. It’s going to be amazing! We’re very excited about that. We’re starting in Albuquerque. Hitting a bunch of spots out west.”

AB: “So, nice cool Albuquerque...”

KS: “I looked up every city we’re hitting thinking that going west would be cooled down and it’s 90 plus everywhere we go. Albequerque itself is 103 today. But yeah, we’re starting Albequerque west, kinda midwest, but north midwest, Chicago area and things like that, and then we bring it back down to Charleston and then Florida!”

JS: “Nothing better than playing Key West, Florida in August.”

AB: “Oh, not humid at all.”

JS: “The last time we were there was last summer. We did a tour with Dirty Heads and when we got down there it was 112 degrees outside, but onstage it was 121 degrees. And you know, we’re the first band to play. So the sun was cooking.”

AB: “First off, I can’t imagine you guys playing with Dirty Heads.”

JS: “Those guys are great!”

AB: “That would just blow me away! Touring! And new album!”

KS: “New album! One week old, now. Just a little baby. And it’s going great so far!”

JS: “We’re really pumped to have the album out. We basically worked on it for the last two years. We started it January 2023. Kevin and I rented a cabin up in Batcave, NC. We have been touring so much. We live in Charleston, but when we go home, we have so many friends there, it’s not like a getaway. So we’re like, 'We gotta seclude.' So we got a little cabin on top of a mountain and that kind of started the writing process.”

AB: “So, do you have a theme or just whatever you dream of at night?”

KS: “Yeah, I think we had exactly the opposite of dreams. Our deal was to not, it was a no holds barred on all ideas. Just kind of see what happens. See what comes to us. It’s how we got some great ones, like "Kama Sumatra." Because that’s not… I don’t think we would have started with that vibe.”

JS: “No, yeah. It was very. I mean. We, us, we’re not, I don’t think there’s a theme to anything that we do.”

AB: “So, kind of like flying by the seat of your pants?”

KS: “Yep!”

JS: “Hell, yeah. We like how it sounds while we’re making it, it's a very tangible feeling you get between us, that we’re like, ‘Oh, this is cool,’ then we follow through with it. But it doesn’t mean that it falls in a world that of like, uh, any genre that I know of.”

AB: “And I think that’s what makes music truer to yourself.

JS: “Cause as long as we’re having fun doing it, I think that comes across.”

AB: “So, the new album is called what?”

JS: “This album is called, Sat Around Trippin. Our last album was called, Trip Around Saturn. So, yeah.

AB: “You guys are just amazing! Oh, your Gorillaz cover of 'Clint Eastwood...'”

JS: “Well, Gorillaz was a big thing when Kevin and I started this project, cause we had both been in bands that had fizzled out. We started working together and we kind of had this mutual love for Gorillaz. It was a big thing the mix of hip hop with melodic instrumentation and stuff. We actually play in a Gorillaz tribute band with our buddies in Charleston. We do like full sets, it’s fucking awesome.”

AB: “Do you guys use masks?”

JS: ”Nooooo, we didn’t have the budget.”

KS: “One day!”

JS: “During Covid, we did! That shit was fire!” 

KS: “It was infectious! It was ill, dude.”

AB: “And with that, Little Stranger! Thanks guys! Have a great tour and we’ll see you soon!”

JS & KS: “Thanks, Arlene! Stay Cool!”

Not sure how you could follow Little Stranger, but world renowned for his mastery guitar skills, Daniel Donato, was able to get everyone to take deep breaths while simultaneously taking our breath away. He has played with some of the biggest names in music. His self deemed “Cosmic Country” is a bit of country, some 60s groove and some roots all thrown in that get your body swaying. Check out his songs "Ain't Living Long Like This," "Sugar Shack" and "Double Exposure."

Bozeman, Montana and Seattle’s own, Richy Mitch and the Coal Miners, were a special treat for the eyes, or so I was told by a group of devoted screaming early 20s girls on the barricade rail. I was also told that Richy Mitch did not play “Laramee.” They did, however, play “Wet Socks” and “Evergreen.” With their true folk rock and pop sounds both lulling and energizing the crowd, it was a great reminder of how the traditions of “old” sounds continue to be passed down to the next generations. Luckily, Richy Mitch and the Coal Miners add their own energy and youthful flair to their set.

Speaking of youthful flair, The Rins had a very different type of vibe. Straight out of Boston, The Rins started as a side project of lead singer Erin MacKenzie. She reminded me so much of Gwen Stefani with her dancing and vocal range. True ska and rock bleeds through their sounds. Highly recommend checking out their new album Heavy Heart.

When I think of Ziggy Alberts, I think of wavy blond hair, deep blue eyes and that unforgettable Australian smile. After watching him perform, I also think of his deep roots lyrics and gentle Down Under folk spirit. Songs to explore include “Laps Around the Sun,” “Runaway” and “New Love.”

Karina Rykman has a happy energy around her that just sucks you in and makes you feel, well, happy. Her upbeat riffs, jumping and playing around the stage are infectious while she matches that energy with her mix of jam, rock, funk and indie pop. Check out her latest album, Joyride.

Of all the musicians/bands at Levitate this weekend, the one band that seemed to stand out as being truly the newest to the music world was Oliver Anthony. And knowing that this is the only musician to ever debut at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart without ever having appeared on the charts before with “Rich Men North of Richmond,” made it more interesting to see him in person. He filled part of his forty five minute set with some diverse covers. They opened their set with Cage the Elephant’s “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked.” They also covered Brooks & Dunn’s “Boot Scootin' Boogie,” “Crazy” from Willie Nelson/Patsy Cline/Gnarles Barkley and of all the songs to close out their set, Lynrd Skynrd’s “Free Bird.” They did fill in with their own songs: “90 Some Chevy,” “Rich Man’s Gold,” “Cobwebs and Cocaine,” “I’ve Got To Be Sober,” “Ain’t Gotta Dollar,” “Cowboys and Sunsets,” “Virginia,” “I Want To Go Home," and finished with “Rich Men North of Richmond.” After hearing the lyrics, you know exactly why this song went to number one so fast. It’s something we can all relate to in this crazy world of politics and life.

Following Oliver Anthony in the country/blues genre, Charley Crockett brought his pure Texas cowboy charm and music from his twelve studio albums in the last nine years. He had something for everyone, and they all enjoyed it. Songs to listen to include “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” “Hard Luck & Circumstances,” and "$10 Cowboy.” 

And to top off the entire festival, the incredible Sublime. Just Sublime. Former lead singer, Bradley Nowell left some big shoes to fill as the front man of such an iconic band way back in 1996. For 15 years, Rome Ramirez filled those shoes, but recently announced that he would be parting ways with the band, thus ending Sublime with Rome. Fortunately, Jakob Nowell, Bradley’s son is a pretty good musician and singer in his own rights and has taken on the helm. Jakob and his “uncles,” founding members with Bradley Nowell, Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson, have found a new life in the renewed Sublime. And with that new life, is new music. Just as their set was coming to its end, Stick Figure front man, Scott Woodruff came out to help debut Sublime’s new song, “Feel Like That” with Jakob, Bud, and Eric. The old groove of what Bradley started felt like it was back and with good reason. The recording of “Feel Like That” has original samples of Bradley’s tracks. Jakob was able to sing “with” his dad almost thirty years later after his tragic passing. So, in a sense the “old” Sublime is back, but with a new view on life, love, and making those around you happy. I can’t wait to hear what else Jakob and Sublime come up with using old tracks mixed with new and fresh sounds.

As for the final song of the weekend, of course it was “Santeria.” Every single person sang every single word, including, “My soul will have to - Wait till I get back - To find a Heina of my own - Daddy's gonna love one and all.” For love of music and community, that’s what it’s all about.

For more information on Levitate Music and Arts Festival 2025, stay tuned!

Arlene's Photo Gallery

www.levitatemusicfestival.com