2019 Innings Festival
Tempe Beach Park & Arts Park, Tempe, Arizona, USA, March 2-3, 2019
by Mary Andrews
The Innings Festival’s second year was a resounding success at the Tempe Beach Park outside of Phoenix, Arizona. The festival was a blend of music and baseball’s spring training. The weather cooperated with 80 degrees and clear skies both days of the festival. It was a great experience for the fans.
Major league baseball legends like Roger Clemens, Ryan Dempster, Jake Peavy, Jim Thorpe, Shawn Estes and many more were there to meet the passionate baseball fans. They gave interviews and unique performances. Festival headliner, Eddie Vedder, made a surprise appearance on Sunday afternoon.
Some 25,000 fans attended to see music headliners Eddie Vedder and Incubus. Dorothy aka Dorothy Martin and her band opened the musical festivities on the Right Field stage. Dorothy is a rocker with a magnetic stage presence and a diva attitude. Rolling Stone has deemed them as ‘a band you need to know.’ The band gave a powerhouse performance. The California band has all the makings for a future ‘super’ band.
Speaking of a supergroup, across the park on the ‘Home Plate’ stage, The Baseball Project, got the music going. The band is composed of Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Linda Pitmon, Steve Wynn, and Mike Mills. McCaughey, Buck, and Wynn are former members of R.E.M. Collectively, the band is together to play and sing about baseball stories. It’s all about the love of the game. They have released three albums about baseball. You don’t have to be obsessed with baseball to enjoy their songs.
Incubus was the headlining act on Saturday and a set worthy of a stadium. Their 16 song set was adorned with “Wish You Were Here,” “Drive,” “A Crow Left of the Murder,” and Ginuwine’s “Pony.” Jon Theodore of Queens of the Stone Age played drums for the band since their usual drummer was out with an injured wrist. The band focused on their most successful album Make Yourself.
Highlights from the second day of Innings Festival include Eddie Vedder’s closing set. Vedder managed to transform a ball field into an intimate room with thousands of fans. It was a solo show with Vedder playing guitar, banjo, and the ukulele while sitting on a stool on the stage. There was a nostalgic vibe added by the screens on each side of the stage by projecting his image in black and white.
The set was pure magic as the fans sang along to all of the songs they knew. Vedder is one of the most personable performers around. The show was much like being a friend in Vedder’s living room. He forgot some of the lyrics to “I Am Mine” and said, “Oh I can’t believe I fucked up. I haven’t even smoked any pot today.”
Vedder covered Jason Isbell’s “Maybe It’s Time” from A Star is Born, U2’s “In God’s Country,” Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers,” Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me In Your Heart,” and The Beatles’ “Something” and “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.” The set was simply superb.
Earlier in the day, Chicago rocker, Liz Phair, kept the baseball vibe going when she performed a song she had written, “God Loves Baseball.” Phair set the tone with “Supernova,” “Johnny Feelgood.” And “Exile in Guyville.” It seems Phair is a big baseball fan.
G. Love & Special Sauce gave a fun set that included the Beatle’s longtime question ”Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?”
Shakey Graves provided one if his most energetic and captivating sets. The singer/songwriter raised his red solo cup to a toast the Innings crowd and he gave fans a taste of “Dining Alone,” “Mansion Door,” “”Pansey Waltz,”, and set opener “Roll the Bones.”
St. Paul and the Broken Bones gave the Sunday crowd a taste of a Southern revival meeting as he transformed into a possessed preacher. His character included everything from the robe, the rolling eyes, and his body stance. One had to love his portrayal.
One also had to love his kick-ass band in the background. The horn and the rhythm sections are as tight and good as they get.
Who knew baseball and rock and roll together would hit a home run? Innings Festival gave fans everything they promised and we can’t wait until next year’s offerings.
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