Saturday, September 10th, was a gorgeous day with bright sunshine and a light breeze. The perfect day to spend at the 99 acres of the historic Wallisch Homestead in West Milford, New Jersey, to celebrate the 3rd Friends of Wallisch Homestead Music Festival. In addition to the seven-act lineup, there was food, cornhole, craft vendors, and a people's choice classic car show!
Starting the groove of the day off right were tunes from The Rock Underground (TRU) music school in Greenwood Lake, NY. Featuring Huge Cowbell followed by Neon Beige, who performed Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," highlighting the harmonies of two lead vocalists. Next up was Peter Pitre of Founding Fathers, who kept the good vibes going with a midday acoustic set featuring classic rock favorites. Following his performance was crowd pleaser and West Milford favorite Jimmy the Barber and The Rockaholics on the North Stage. Entering with an afro wig, colorful shirt, and beige jacket, Jimmy added his quirky comedy to his musical set. Getting the crowd up and involved, he even pulled out a good sport from the audience to join him in singing Tommy Tutone's "867-5309." Jimmy the Barber and The Rockaholics brought energy and character to their longer-than-anticipated set, which rejuvenated the crowd for the second half of the day.
Cold Sweat rocks and they rock hard. This three-piece group featuring a singing drummer delivered tight playing from seasoned guys who really know what they're doing. Giving the crowd slick licks from bluesy rock tracks from Stevie Ray Vaughn to Lynyrd Skynyrd, U2, and a high-powered rendition of The Rolling Stones's "Paint It, Black." But the true highlight of the set was when the trio pulled their former bandmate, Nancy, from the front row of the crowd to lend her commanding vocals to a powerful performance of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit."
Next up was OCD (One Chick with Dudes) with Chuck Burgi. Their lively lead vocalist brought a fun energy to their set, covering various tracks from Incubus and Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy" to Sheryl Crow and Lenny Kravitz. To close the show was the headlining group, Total Soul, led by Jeff Dieterle, who's played with Alicia Keys and performed horns on one of Mariah Carey's records. Total Soul brought the moves and tunes to the homestead. With their classic Motown favorites like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" to Four Tops' "Can't Help Myself," this 8-piece group got the crowd on their feet dancing to all of the classic hits.
LONG-STORY SHORT: Saturday was a great day for great music. From talented students to classic rock jams and smooth soul, there was music to everyone's ears.
