The Carolina Chocolate Drops are gearing up for their performances at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, next weekend, after what the Albany Times Union calls a "joyous, raucous and educational" set at MASS MoCA. The Times Union exclaims: "The Carolina Chocolate Drops are just brilliant. Who else could make a straight-up folk festival workshop feel like a hoedown for hundreds?"
The Carolina Chocolate Drops are gearing up for their performances at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, next weekend, June 11, where label mates The Black Keys and Punch Brothers will perform as well. That would make it a fitting time to look back at the short video the band put together back in February when the Bonnaroo lineup was first announced. Check it out at nonesuch.com/media.
After the band's performance at the Sellersville Theatre in Philadelphia last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer's A.D. Amorosi wrote: "The Drops proved the connection between new jack swing and old-time string band sounds and made each as vital as the other."
The trio remained busy through the long holiday weekend, performing at the Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland, Friday, and then at each end of Massachusetts: at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), out west in North Adams, Saturday night, and at the eastern tip of the state for a show at the Payomet Performing Arts Center in North Truro, Cape Cod, on Sunday.
In a preview of the show at MASS MoCA's Hunter Center, band member Dom Flemons spoke with the Albany Times Union about the tour and the band's recently released Nonesuch debut album, Genuine Negro Jig. After the show, the Times Union exclaimed: "The Carolina Chocolate Drops are just brilliant. Who else could make a straight-up folk festival workshop feel like a hoedown for hundreds?" Reviewer Michael Eck describes it as "joyous, raucous and educational."
Though the venue may not have been configured for dancing, "that didn't stop a few hardy souls from jumping up and down," Eck reports. Audience participation continued on the album track "Trouble in Mind," which Eck picks as the highlight of the evening, as it "sounded like thunder when all voices joined together for a glorious whoop."
The band returns to the region this fall for a September performance at The Egg in Albany. "Get your tickets soon," Eck advises, "because word will spread."
To read the complete concert review, visit timesunion.com. For more information on all the band's upcoming performances with links to purchase tickets, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour. To pick up a copy of Genuine Negro Jig, with the complete album plus seven exclusive live bonus tracks included as high-quality MP3s, head to the Nonesuch Store.
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