David Shaw, Zack Feinberg, Andrew Campanelli Michelle Stancil Photography
Last year The Revivalists won Hang Loose Band Competition to play at the Hangout Festival. This year, the band was booked on the lineup and made the most of their Sunday show, energizing the crowd with Rob Ingraham’s saxophone solos, Ed Williams climbing on his steel guitar, and lead singer David Shaw jumping over barricades to sing directly to the packed crowd. The set was only an hour, but fans remained at the stage chanting for another song and begging for set lists, towels, picks, and anything else they could take as a souvenir.
“That crowd was fantastic,” said Williams. “They were so responsive, it was almost overwhelming for the early time that we played. We are playing fifteen festivals this summer and Hangout is one of the best. We run in to friends from other bands and hang out at the artist beach. Last year we swam in the ocean with Wilco. They treat us so well in the artist tent that it is almost disappointing to go anywhere else. We turned down other gigs so we could stay here all weekend.”
The Revivalists is a New Orleans funk band and the seven musicians are at their best when they are playing live. Over the summer they will play shows and festivals from New York City to Texas, Colorado, and Canada. “This is the way we like to play,” says Williams. “We are all friends before anything else and we bring out the best in each other when we play together. We like to tour and be on the road. People assume that live touring is like traveling with your best friends, but it is harder than that. It is more like touring with your six girlfriends.”
“Spending this much time together with the Revivalists is a combination of being married and being in a fraternity,” says keyboardist Michael Girardot.
The Revivalists have written many more songs since their last album, City of Sound, was recorded in the summer of 2010. They played four songs at during Hangout set that aren’t an any album, “Stand Up,” “All In the Family,” Bullet Proof,” and “Monster.”
“Three of those songs started with jams during sound check when we were just playing around and Dave put lyrics over them,” says Drummer Andrew Campanelli. “A lot of our inspiration comes when we are out on the road.”
“We are a band of songwriters,” says guitarist Zack Feinberg. “We have enough material for 30 more albums.”
