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Great Lakes Burn Slow (PopFest, 40 Watt, 8/14/08)

Things slowed down for a bit after Cars Can Be Blue, as Great Lakes took the stage.  Another two-piece, featuring Dan Donahue and Ben Crum, Great Lakes’s sound was much more toned-down, with an early, stripped down Tom Petty feel.  Twangy, bluesy, and soulful, the way that music from the country (and let’s face it, as much as we may try to deny it, Athens is in the country) is supposed to sound.  The crowd swayed and moved with the music, as a chill, relaxed, almost melancholy atmosphere took over.  That is, until the last number.  Former band members, harkening back to Great Lakes’s Elephant 6 heritage, rejoined the band for their last song.  The tempo was kicked up, the rock was rocked out, and the Great Lakes family reunion squeezed every last note out of arguably (I wasn’t officially keeping time or anything) the longest ending of a song in PopFest history.

Great Lakes photo by Waites Laseter.