Eclectic Collaborations, Late Night Jams and More Highlight Equifunk

Photo by Dino Perrucci

Funk and rock fans had a field day over the weekend at the annual Equifunk at Camp Equinunk and Blue Ridge in Pennsylvania’s Poconos. The all inclusive event-which includes beer, food and more in the price of the ticket—took full advantage of its summer camp setting, with a pool stage, campfire jams and more. The festival also held its first-ever Sunday series, with Jon Fishman and Pork Tornado as the headliner.

Equifunk kicked off on Friday with afternoon sets from The Weeks, Bobby Paltauf Band and King Lincoln. Paltauf, a thirteen-year-old guitar whiz, covered plenty of classics like “Eleanor Rigby,” “Shakedown Street” and “3rd Stone from The Sun” before closing out his set with Phish’s “Tweezer (Reprise).” Duane Trucks and his band King Lincoln also gave the crowd renditions of Jerry Garcia’s “Reuben & Cherise” and Neil Young’s “Lookout Joe.”

The Main Squeeze really set the tone for the festival with their rocking Friday evening set, which opened the E-Rena main stage. The band was followed by the night’s headliners, JJ Grey & Mofro, who brought a Southern rock vibe to the funk-oriented festival. The New Mastersounds then came out after midnight for one of their always-grooving sets. Lettuce/Trey Anastasio Band saxophone player James Casey joined the group for most of their performance, which included plenty of NMS standards like the appropriate “Summer Camp.” BoomBox then took the stage at around 3am for some high-energy late night jams.

Superhuman Happiness got things going at the pool stage on Saturday afternoon before Monophonics came out for a set of mostly funked out covers. The group played tunes like Sly & The Family Stone’s “Are You Ready” and “There’s a Riot Goin’ On,” Ike Turner’s “Thinking Black,” Sonny & Cher’s “Bang Bang”, The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” Funkadelic’s “I Got a Thing,” Curtis Mayfield’s “Check Out Your Mind” and more.

Keller Williams & More Than A Little kept the funk vibe going strong during their pool stage set on Saturday. Williams performed barefoot in a suit with the group, which featured two stellar background singers and some prominent bass. The band put their twist on the Talking Heads’ “The is Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” and “Once and a Lifetime,” as well as Cage The Elephant’s “Wicked” and The Grateful Dead’s “Samson & Delilah” and “West L.A. Fadeaway.”

The Heavy Pets also got some help from James Casey during their show when the sax player joined them for “Help Me Help You” at the beginning of the set. The band was followed by Marco Benevento, who brought a more eclectic sound to the pool stage as he got the crowd moving with some of his TigerFace tunes like “Eagle Rock” and “Limbs of a Pine,” as well as a new song, “If I Get to See You Again.”

Nigel Hall Band opened the main stage that night with a soulful show that was contrasted by the blues-rock set that came next from Anders Osborne. The New Orleans guitarist was joined by John Medeski, Scott Metzger, Tony Leone and Carl Dufrene for a stellar performance on the main stage, which featured covers of Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” and JJ Cale’s “After Midnight.” Osborne also showed that his recent Phil Lesh collaborations have been rubbing off on him with a fantastic rendition of “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad.”

Soulive started off their headlining set with a take on Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” before grooving through an “Eleanor Rigby” that jammed into “3rd Stone from The Sun.” As promised, Maceo Parker then joined the group in the middle of the set. The sax legend came out swinging with takes on his classics “Uptown Up” and “Shake Everything You Got.” The show wrapped up with a version of The J.B.‘s “Pass the Peas.” Parker then made a surprise appearance even later in the night as he helped The New Mastersounds close out the main stage during their 3am set.

While The New Mastersounds were keeping things funky at the main stage, Marco Benevento was leading an intimate, had-to-be there jam at the campfire. The rowdy performance included covers of tunes like Elton John’s “Benny and The Jets,” as well as plenty of crowd interaction and spontaneous jams. By all accounts, Benevento kept the party going into the early morning hours.

Sunday featured the first-ever Equifunk Sunday Series, which was sponsored by Relix. While it wasn’t quite sunny enough for the masses to rock out in the pool as they had the day before, the adjacent stage was still going strong. Papa Mali came out at around noon with the New Mastersound’s keyboardist Joe Tatton and guitar prodigy Bobby Paltauf. The group was followed by the high octane, avant-garde sounds of Mike Dillon Band and a funkier-than-usual set from the London Souls.

Eddie Roberts, Stanton Moore, Nigel Hall, Pete Shand and James Casey all joined forces for a special set as the Equifunk Allstars in the middle of the afternoon. The groovy set turned into even more of a superjam when Mike Dillon and his always-fun bandmate Carly Meyers joined the fray toward the end. The Main Squeeze then closed out the main stage with another fantastic set that was equal parts soulful and jammy.

Next, the Sunday Series moved to the main stage where New Orleans rockers The Revivalists kept the party going. Phish drummer Jon Fishman then took the stage with his band Pork Tornado, who played their second show in ten years. The band kept things both funky and goofy throughout their set, which featured some solid grooves and saxophone jams. The show also included some genuinely funny banter between the bandmates. Touchpants may be Fishman’s comedy rock band but the guys from Pork Tornado know how to tell some jokes as well.

Finally, Equifunk wrapped up with an appropriately funky set from The M&Ms, which brought John Medeski, Stanton Moore, Maceo Parker, Robert Mercurio, Papa Mali and Marco Benevento together on one stage.

As usual, Equifunk was a great time for everyone involved. While the extra amenities were certainly a bonus, the real highlights of the festival were the eclectic collaborations, both planned and spontaneous. You never know what you’ll get at an event like this and that can be half the fun. With its late-night (early morning?) campfire jam, interesting one-off lineups and all-inclusive summer camp setting, Equifunk is truly a unique event.