FOR THE FUNK OF IT Music Festival 2024 Joyfully Returns Home To Belden Town [Photo Gallery & Wrap-Up]
cover photo & gallery: Casey Garrotto
The For The Funk of It Music Festival 2024 took place August 9th to 11th, returning to the glorious, green confines of Belden, California after several years away from home. Celebrating its 8th annual edition, the all-funk extravaganza made good on their promise to deliver the funkiest party on the West Coast.
Hosted in the stunning, picturesque environs of the Belden Town Resort in the Sierra Mountains, for three hot days and breezy nights the festival provided an intimate experience with some searing performances and relaxing waterside hangs on the shady banks of the refreshing Feather River.
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The cowboy-town outpost feels like a bygone era, with only a saloon and a General Store straight out of a Western motion picture from half-a-century ago. This antiquity was uniquely juxtaposed by the mind-bending international futurism on display at Phaneros Art gallery housed in the same building, which also doubles as a hotel. The place feels like time out of mind, and boasts some of the best stargazing you’ll ever see at a festival site.
The FTF 2024 lineup welcomed a smattering of tremendous bands, some for the first time, and others returning again. Friday saw a power-packed evening with back to back heaters from East Bay crews Oakadelic and Collectivity, with the former laying down a vibey rendition of Jamiroquai’s primordial “Blow Your Mind”. Night one closed out with one of the hottest groups on the scene, Seattle’s Polyrhythmics, who delivered a particularly potent throwdown of funk, dub reggae, afrobeat, psychedelic rare groove, and more with guitarist Ben Bloom leading the charge.
Saturday’s highlights included Tha Exchange, who dropped a massive combo of Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” that segued into a surgical, note-perfect rendition of Slick Rick’s “A Children’s Story”, and welcomed special guest LAZWELL for a sit-in. Later, The Exchange’s drummer/vocalist Cliff Porter joined the mighty trio The Nth Power for the lion’s share of their supernatural two-hour festival apex deep into Saturday night. Porter has collaborated with drummer Nikki Glaspie, bassist Nate Edgar, and guitarist/vocalist Nicholas Cassarino at past events, so there was a familiarity already in place.
Like many classic The Nth Power festival sets, there were some horns involved, and Oakadelic/Collectivity guitarist Ben Misterka dueled with Nth’s Cassarino, before lending him his Telecaster when Nick’s axe had problems. It was a scintillating seance from start to finish; I’ve had the privilege to enjoy The Nth Power live over fifty times across the past decade, and not for nothin’ but their FTF set was a performance to remember forever. A rowdy superjam titled “Hornmaggedon” is pretty self-explanatory as thirty-plus musicians funked it up til the wee-est of hours.
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Sunday in Belden was a mostly chill afternoon on the Feather River, as we enjoyed the coolout zone to beat the heat. NorCal psychedelic cumbia sensations Suika T impressed, unveiling a colorful, danceable, intoxicating energy to the mostly-funk party. Arcata, CA smooth operators Object Heavy continued their meteoric ascent in the scene, uncorking the sexiest set of the weekend with vocalist Richard Love at the helm and Brian Swislow holding down the keys; this whole band is a vibe. To bring For The Funk of It Music Festival 2024 to a close, Cool Cool Cool dug deep for an upbeat, emotional ninety minute danceparty that proved to be drummer/co-founder Michelangelo Carubba’s swan song with the group.
Definitely the funkiest-kept-secret in NorCal. Rest assured, we’ll be back to For The Funk of It!
words: B.Getz
Please enjoy this FTF ’24 Photo Gallery courtesy of Casey Garrotto
