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| The Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Mill Valley has become the traditional epicenter for the opening of Bay Area music festival season and the 2025 version of the Mill Valley Music Festival brought a wide-ranging diverse lineup under gorgeous weather for both days. MVMF is renowned for a lineup that crosses many musical genres and provides most attendees with a balance of beloved artists and new experiences. Two stages operate alternatively with the main large stage mostly commanded by national acts and the smaller Sweetwater Stage focused on local talent.
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| Gary Clark Jr. @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
This year saw the main stage headlined by guitar virtuoso Gary Clark, Jr. on Saturday the prolific songwriter, produced and performer Nile Rodgers & Chic. The smaller second stage – sponsored by Mill Valley’s Sweetwater Music Hall – hosted headliners with local ties with Wreckless Strangers and Matt Jaffe on Sunday after Rose Paradise on Saturday.
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| Elliott Peck Band @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The festival kicked off on a beautiful and sunny Saturday with Elliott Peck Band rocking the main stage with a great performance from one of the favorite performers from Terrapin Crossroads and the extended Dead family (see here for my interview with Peck prior to the Festival where she discussed her history, songwriting process and overcoming a serious health issue to return to the stage).
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| Elliott Peck Band @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Peck’s performance saw her supported by a band of Bay Area jam legends with guitarist Scott Law, drummer Sean Nelson and bassist Burt Lewis before she was joined by special guests Nat Keefe (from Hot Buttered Rum) and Grahame Lesh (her bandmate in Midnight North). Songs like “Another Life Ago”, “Coyote” and “Good for You I Guess” got the lunchtime crowd up and moving and Peck’s presence drove in early festivalgoers.
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| Ghost-Note @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
After the Marin School of Arts Rock Band led off the action on the Sweetwater stage, Ghost-Note took to the main stage. Led by two percussionists from Snarky Puppy - Robert “Sput” Searight and Nata Werth – Ghost-Note adopts the Puppy formula of featuring an all-star group of musicians in an ever-evolving and changing lineup. Their song styles ranged from jazz to thick funk with a dash of hip hop thrown in. Lead vocalist Mackenzie Green was mesmerizing up front, and the horn section of Jonathan Mones and trombonist Daniel Wytanis also wowed.
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| Meels @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Over on the Sweetwater Stage, Bay Area singer-guitarist Meels performed versions of her Indie-folk songs from her 2024 album “Tales from a Bird’s Bedroom” before an enthusiastic crowd. The band that followed on the stage, Flamingos in the Tree suffered a unique issue as a demonstration on a Bay Area bridge led to lead singer and guitarist Daniel Escovar being forced to take the stage for the hour-hour set alone. As his fellow bandmates came scrambling in with equipment attempted to set up, Escovar did an excellent job of keeping the songs going and focusing on the opportunity given. In the end, the full Reno-based band was only able to perform a few songs as a full ensemble with their last 15 minutes.
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| Vieux Farka Touré @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Over on the main stage, Vieux Farka Touré brought an international vibe to the day as the Malian performer brought his West African sound to Marin. The second-generation singer-guitarist wore a wide smile throughout the set as the audience grooved to songs from albums including “The Secret” (produced by Terrapin legend Eric Krasno) and “Samba”. Interestingly, “Samba” does not refer to the Brazilian music genre, but rather to the Songhai word for being a family’s “second boy” that led to him being called “Samba” by his family.
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| Crosby Collective @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The festival’s most-intriguing performance of all came from Crosby Collective. Formed by multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Jason Crosby, the band does incredible mashups of songs that one would not normally see as adjacent. I heard many people throughout the weekend reflecting and enthusiastically saying “I’ve never heard anything like that!”
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| Crosby Collective @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Under Crosby’s magical musicianship and vision Grateful Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias” weaved in and out of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog.” The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” moved into Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” to the Dead’s “Shakedown Streat” and then to Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” To make the transitions smooth, Crosby assembled a dream team of musicians from unsung guitarist Tom Guarna (always a WOW), bassist David Schools from Widespread Panic, organist Jeremy Jeffers and drummer John Morgan Kimock to performers he works with in Jackson Browne’s band with vocalists Alethea Mills, Chavonne Stewart and Andre Washington and guitar-pedal steel master Greg Leisz.
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| Crosby Collective @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“We only have one more,” Crosby told the audience with about twenty minutes left in the one-hour set. “But it’s a really long one.” He introduced Elliott Peck to lead the way as the band intertwined Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” with U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I Was Looking For” before taking a slightly edgy version of Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” into a Nirvana’s “Lithium” that had the audience and band members jumping and raising their arms.
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| Crosby Collective @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Crosby really seems to be on to something new and tasty with his mashup approach. It combines the best elements of jam bands, DJing and straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll. Crosby Collective’s initial concert at The Fillmore in January sold out and has already become legend and they have two June shows scheduled at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre. Look for more to come based on their first two triumphant performances.
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| Rose Paradise @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Bay Area native Rose Paradise headlined day one on the Sweetwater Stage with her debut album “Over the Hill” just having come out a few weeks prior. With a long blonde curly-haired look that was reminiscent of earlier Taylor Swift and an impressive voice that could be favorably compared as well, Paradise had the crowd locked into her 45-minute set.
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| Rose Paradise @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“I wrote this album about that hill right there,” she told the crowd pointing up to Mount Tamalpais. Now residing in New York, Paradise has been making a big splash in folk rock and the talent she displayed on Sunday made clear that she will be heading for the main stage in the future.
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| Gary Clark Jr. @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Gary Clark, Jr. wrapped up day one on the Main Stage with the long and lanky guitarist taking the stage in the still bright sunlight with a large white cowboy hat, black coat and slacks. Thundering bass accompanied him as the set slowly built into song with the vibrations traveling across the entire Friends’ Field site.
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| Gary Clark Jr. @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Songs like “What About Us”, “The Healing” and “This is Who We Are” were standouts in the performance. Clark’s renowned guitar-playing is shape-shifting live – moving from the Blues to Funk and back again throughout. Despite the long day in the unrelenting sun, the audience remained very enthusiastic, and the vast majority stayed for Clark’s entire set.
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| Gary Clark Jr. @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Day two saw the sun back again – this time augmented by an early day wind that successfully fought back any fog. While the clouds that signaled the next day’s coming rain made an appearance at the very end of the day, festivalgoers were blessed with sun throughout. On the Main Stage, Mission Delirium – described as a “booty shakin’ brass band” took the stage with approximately twenty members on stage. They were big, bold loud and fun - bringing a New Orlean fun brass feel to the start of the day. Eventually, the band paraded off the stage and out into the audience to finish their half-hour set.
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| Mission Delirium @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Meanwhile, in a quieter area of the festival, singer-songwriter Clementine Darling was performing an inspiring acoustic solo set of her Americana/country songs inside the Beer Hall. In front of less than twenty early arriving concertgoers, Darling gave an inspired performance of her songs like “Reno” that certainly could have held their own on the Sweetwater Stage.
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| Clementine Darling @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Indeed, if I had any criticism of this year’s festival, it would have been that I would have liked to have seen some of the acts given smaller physical space and time on the Sweetwater Stage provided with the opportunity to entertain from the Main Stage. The previously mentioned Rose Paradise from day one and Bay Area favorites’ Matt Jaffe and Wreckless Strangers both put on incredible rock performances that deserved bigger stages.
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| Matt Jaffe @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Jaffe is a Bay Area wonderkid guitarist-vocalist who has grown up to give powerful performances of his self-written songs. On Sunday in the 2:15 segment, he made the most of his half-hour set slot by blasting through a handful of songs with the intensity dial turned up to 11. The Marin protégé of the Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison continues to grow as a songwriter as evidenced in his 2024 album “Gone Enough to Miss” and on Sunday showed he can more than hold his own as a live performer.
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| Wreckless Strangers @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Wreckless Strangers who headlined The Sweetwater Stage on Sunday bring a big rock n roll sound to every show. Despite the wind and sun, co-lead singers Amber Morris and David Noble (who also serves as lead guitarist) brought a ton of energy and fun – combined with great songs and players. Bassist Josh Zucker, rhythm guitarist Rob Anderson and drummer Mick Hellman once again delivered the goods as they were accompanied by guest keyboardist Eamonn Flynn. Songs like “Fast Girls”, “I Found a Way” and “Never Give Up” were clear demonstrations of this band’s prowess and its continued rise – particularly here in the Bay Area music scene.
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| Monophonics @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Over at the main stage, Thee Sinseers from East LA and the Bay Area’s Monophonics both performed nice, energetic sets. Sinseers lead singer Joseph Quinones projected the image of a cool 60’s crooner in command of a large, big band. Kelly Finnegan – lead singer and keyboardist of Monophonics performed from high above the crowd as his keyboards were placed on a rolling riser on the stage. From his throne above, he projected a ton of energy, and the jazzy vibe fit nicely with the clear, fresh day and Mount Tam views.
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| Sister Nancy @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Between the two soul acts, the legendary Sister Nancy came in at 65 years old but quickly appeared to revert to her 20’s in energy and spirit. The Jamaican Dancehall DJ and Singing legend prowled the stage with a confidence second to no other performer on the weekend. Nancy – who is widely regarded as the first female dancehall DJ made frequent reference in her songs and raps to her being the original, as well as many shout-outs to Mill Valley and California.
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| Nile Rodgers @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Nile Rodgers is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and he and Chic quickly demonstrated Sunday how he earned those honors with a rapid-fire visit to handfuls of hits that he played a part in. He started out the set with classic Chic songs that got the crowd up and dancing - including “Le Freak” and “Everybody Dance.” Singers Kimberly Davis and Audrey Martells were phenomenal in bringing the classic female-led songs to life with an impressive mix of vocal ability and performance presence.
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| Nile Rodgers @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Shortly afterwards the band went into the deep catalog of songs that Rodgers had played a part in bringing to life. Songs from Diana Ross and Sister Sledge blended seamlessly with massive hits from 80’s legends David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran and modern artists such as Beyonce and Daft Punk.
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| Nile Rodgers @ the Mill Valley Music Festival (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
After two days of a wide diversity of artists, it seemed only fitting that the festival closed with an artist who had a personal connection to hits that crossed so many genres. The audience dancing throughout the entire set and rapt with attention with his stories and dancing lustily with each song.
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