Full Story: Hippiefest concert thrills Tioga Downs’ audience

Hippiefest concert thrills Tioga Downs’ audienceThe Lovin' Spoonful performs at Hippiefest, held at Tioga Downs on Saturday, July 25. (Photo by Wendy Post)
Hippiefest concert thrills Tioga Downs’ audience

Legendary rocker Rick Derringer and his band perform during Hippiefest at Tioga Downs on Saturday, July 25. Also pictured is drummer Kenn Moutenot. (Photo by JoAnn R. Walter)

A line-up of legendary rock and rollers billed as “Hippiefest” took the summer concert stage at Tioga Downs on Saturday evening, July 25, which included performances by Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals, the Lovin’ Spoonful, Rick Derringer, and Joey Molland’s Badfinger. The spirit of the hippie era was prevalent as concertgoers arrived donned in colorful attire, from tie-dyed shirts and dresses to bandanas and flowers, as well as other accessories.

From the moment Rick Derringer opened the show with a song he wrote recorded by the late great Johnny Winter, “Still Alive and Well,” to the finale’ when Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals were literally igniting the concert venue with their high-energy classics while end-of-show lightning in the night sky seemed to compete with stage lights, the Hippiefest show was packed with fan-favorite tunes and powerful instrumentals.

Derringer shared in a July 14 phone interview, “Real legends singing iconic songs and at the top of their game; Hippiefest is better than expected.”

Derringer’s comment was spot-on.

Hippiefest concert thrills Tioga Downs’ audience

Rick Derringer and his band perform at Hippiefest on the Tioga Downs summer concert stage on Saturday, July 25. Pictured is bassist Charlie Torres, who has played with Derringer for over 25 years. (Photo by JoAnn R. Walter)

Concertgoers who thought twice about attending Hippiefest missed out on an amazing collaboration of artists who ruled the charts in the mid 1960’s to early 1970’s, and proved to the Tioga Downs audience that they can still bring down the house some five decades later.

At the age of 17, Derringer made the summer of ’65 memorable with his band, The McCoys, when the number one smash, “Hang on Sloopy” hit the airwaves, and the song had the Tioga Downs crowd toe-tapping in their seats.

Derringer shared some music history, telling the audience that when “Sloopy” hit number one, it edged out the Beatles song, “Yesterday,” and then joked that he didn’t really need Ringo Starr’s approval to share the story today.

Derringer had previously shared during a phone interview, “A highlight of my career has been touring with Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band.”

Within Derringer’s set, he was joined by original Badfinger member, Joey Molland. Molland commanded the stage with a selection of Badfinger’s hit songs, along with Derringer and his band, bassist Charlie Torres, and drummer Kenn Moutenot. Molland performed “Baby Blue,” along with “Come & Get It,” “Day after Day” and “No Matter What.”

Molland shared a story about his first audition with Badfinger, and chuckled, “They didn’t tell me I’d be singing ‘Come & Get It’ for the rest of my life.”

Hippiefest concert thrills Tioga Downs’ audience

Original Badfinger band member, Joey Molland, performs during Hippiefest at Tioga Downs on Saturday, July 25. (Photo by JoAnn R. Walter)

Derringer and Torres then amazed the audience with their unbelievable guitar wizardry. Spotlighted by green lighting effects, the duo owned the stage as they played Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein,” and received a well-deserved standing ovation.

Derringer announced to the crowd, “I wish I could play all night,” as he led into his rock and roll anthem, “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo,” and showed off his guitar mastery with an extended version of the song to the delight of the Tioga Downs audience.

A stage change prompted a brief intermission, but it wasn’t long before the Lovin’ Spoonful engaged the audience with their string of hits. Two original Spoonful members, Joe Butler and Steve Boone, shared that they met each other 54 years ago, while Jerry Yester joined the band in 1967.

After a few jokes about age and gray hair, Butler and Boone joked, “We’re glad we’re still here.”

“Can you all whistle?” Jerry Yester asked, as the audience eventually caught on to the whistling technique for the Spoonful’s smash hit “Daydream.”

The Spoonful performed other hits including, “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind” and “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice,” just a few of their folk-pop and rock classics.

But it was the ever popular, “Do You Believe in Magic” which hit the charts 50 years ago; and “Summer in the City” that got the crowd out of their seats and up to the stage area to dance.

Hippiefest concert thrills Tioga Downs’ audience

Rick Derringer and Joey Molland of Badfinger, and Derringer’s band perform during Hippiefest at Tioga Downs on Saturday, July 25. (Photo by JoAnn R. Walter)

Following the Spoonful, Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals electrified the stage with their famed hits, “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long,” “In the Midnight Hour,” “A Beautiful Morning,” and “People Got to be Free,” among others.

The Rascals, also known as a “blue-eyed soul” band back-in-the-day, performed several hits from their album “Groovin’,” including the title song, “Groovin’,” which brought more audience members to the stage area to dance to the slower speed classic, as well as “You Better Run,” which was later covered by Pat Benatar and “I’m So Happy Now,” a song on the famous LP which led them into singing a more recent song about happiness, Pharrell Williams’ smash, “Happy.”

Needless to say, the audience left happy following Hippiefest at Tioga Downs.

Hippiefest concert thrills Tioga Downs’ audience

The Lovin’ Spoonful performs at Hippiefest, held at Tioga Downs on Saturday, July 25. (Photo by Wendy Post)

Prior to the concert, Jeff Gural, CEO of American Racing and Entertainment and owner of Tioga Downs, addressed the audience in between sets about upcoming expansion plans as well as remaining summer concerts and special events. For more information, visit tiogadowns.com or find them on Facebook and Twitter.

To view brief video performances, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nuho5wjaVfA&feature=youtu.be and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OpWKD4Ds-I&feature=youtu.be.

Click here to view more photos from Hippiefest. For photos below, click the thumbnail to enlarge.