THROUGH THE LENS: Two Moon Crush Festivals, Cowboy Moon and An Avett Moon, Close Out the Festival Season

This week’s column is the last one this year devoted to roots music festival coverage. It features two Moon Crush fests at Miramar Beach, Florida: Moon Crush: Cowboy Moon (November 1-3, 2024), and Moon Crush: An Avett Moon (November 8-10, 2024). Each fest had a single stage and offered three performers each evening. The Cowboy Moon lineup was curated by Lyle Lovett, and headlined by him and his Large Band, whereas An Avett Moon featured its namesake, The Avett Bothers at the top of the bill.

As this column reported in 2022, Topeka Live, who put on the Moon Crush series of themed music festivals, bills itself as a “connected music vacations” on the Gulf of Mexico. As in previous years, there were reserved seating areas called “coves.” Food and drink could be ordered via phone app, then delivered. For festival-goers who wanted to move’ and groove, there were also spaces in front of the stage to dance your heart, if not the night, away. These Topeka “boutique music vacation” experiences, of which there were seven this year, certainly pamper the discerning roots music fan. 

Speaking of whom, Lens Column regular Boom Baker attended both fests, with fellow regulars Brenda Rosser, Kim Reed, and Alan Perry joining him for Cowboy Moon. I cannot recall another time when ND photographers were so well represented. Their photos are featured in the gallery below.

Cowboy Moon: At Cowboy Moon, Boom was extremely taken with Lovett’s 14-piece Large Band whose sound he described as “seismic.” Longtime Lovett fans will recall his 1989 album, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, which first featured his Large Band and seismically shifted what country music could sound like. The band permed at the festival twice, on opening and closing nights and featured two of the greatest sidemen in roots rock history, bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Russ Kunkel. Boom told me that he certainly hopes Lovett performs with that band more often.

Other artists included Jason Isbell, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Hayes Carll, Nikki Lane, and The Mavericks. There was also a special Saturday morning indoor performance by Stephen Kellogg, called a storyteller’s set. Boom told me, “Kellogg’s stories were [so] inspirational that [they] brought some to tears. Sandwiched in his set was a short, stand-up comedy piece that made us laugh so hard as to bring more tears…that is, tears of joy.”

An Avett Moon: The festival’s namesake The Avett Brothers performed both weekend nights. According to Boom, the band’s sets were long — upwards of 20 songs each. He noted that the Avett Brothers have a “devoted fanbase that knows the words to every song, and are along for the long haul.”

Boom also told me, “When Grace Potter hit the stage, it was like a lightning bolt had crashed. Topeka’s official photographer, Will Byington, said it best: ‘every single show is a barn-storming, roof-burning, rock n’ roll revival of fun.’” 

New to Boom was Greensky Bluegrass, who, nonetheless “lived up to their self-described style of ‘not quite bluegrass’ with their own interpretation of the music.” Actor turned musician Shakey Graves, Jamestown Revival, and others also gave memorable performances.

Click on any of the photos below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.