LIVE: Rock the Dock in Lake George, 07/22/2022

By Tammie Birdwell On Jul 28, 2022

On Friday, July 22 the fourth annual Rock the Dock festival was scheduled with funk band Galactic as the headliner. Unfortunately, at the very last second Galactic had to pull out of the lineup. While this is usually the sort of thing that can stop a festival in its tracks, that wasn’t the case this time. A few quick-thinking promoters stepped in and found a replacement in a hurry — Vermont-based jam band Twiddle. With a new headliner on the bill, Rock the Dock avoided catastrophe and went off without a hitch.

On Fire

The temps were sky-high on Friday night, but that didn’t stop anyone from coming to see their favorite band. And although this was only a short one-day festival, it was packed with some of the northeast’s most incredible talent. And since there were two stages, the music never stopped.

The Lineup

Sit-ins, Setlists, and Sunshine

There are several factors that make a festival great — there are the obvious things like the weather and the lineup, of course. If you want to throw a truly magnificent event, you need a little magic, or at the very least some people who know how to fit the right bands together in one place. And Rock the Docks absolutely killed it on that front on Friday night.

For live music lovers, the ultimate high is a sit-in. There really isn’t anything more special than watching musicians you love join bands they don’t usually belong to for a song or two. It creates a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you get to hear music that has never been played anywhere else in the world. Friday night was an ongoing plethora of one mind-blowing sit-in after another.

We saw some new combinations, including an incredible set from O-Man and the Night Trippers. (JIM: let me confirm this I am pretty sure they are brand new I have sent a message to Mateo to find out). Annie in the Water had a new lineup with Josh West again on the drums. This festival absolutely nailed it on all fronts — and you could even watch from the top deck of a boat if you wanted to.

Twiddle

To close out what was an already beautiful evening, Twiddle took the stage. Personally, I have seen this band well over 75 times and I can tell you that they bring the heat every single time — even in a snow storm on top of a mountain in sub-zero temperatures. While Friday was the opposite of the “snow globe” experience, the band did not fail to thrill everyone in the crowd. It was the second time I saw them with Adrian Tromantano on the drums and he is absolutely spectacular.

Despite the fact that they only had a little over an hour to play, Twiddle delivered some really tasty jams and a few delicious sit-ins. They also gave us some old favorites as well as some new tunes. It was an incredible night of music topped off by one of the best jam bands on the scene right now.

Setlist: Stroganoff, Syncopated Healing, Gatsby the Great > Zazu’s Flight > Gatsby the Great, Subconscious Prelude, Brown Chicken Brown Cow (w/ Joe Davis on guitar and Matt Richards on Keys), Polluted Beauty (w/ Mike Oehmen on saxophone), White LIght, Beautiful, Lost in the Cold

Photo Gallery by Traci Kelley