Hangout Festival has something special about it. Located right outside of Florida on the beautiful beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama, our team has attended the past 5 years and seen some kick ass cover songs at the festival.
I don’t know if something about the beach makes you want to play cover tunes, but it’s a tradition we now look forward too and one that impresses us every time. The beach tends to bring out the best in bands and it keeps us coming back to Hangout year after year. Here are the 5 best covers we heard at Hangout 2015.
5. Trampled By Turtles – Brown-Eyed Women (Grateful Dead cover)
Daytime bluegrass by the beach! Trampled By Turtles returned to Hangout once again this year and performed a nice Grateful Dead tribute during their early afternoon set. Last year Jack Johnson covered Grateful Dead at the festival, so it’s fun to see a completely different style of Dead cover for their 50th anniversary.
4. Umphrey’s McGee w/ Lupe Fiasco – The Show Goes On (Lupe Fiasco Cover)
Lupe was unable to make it on time for his set so Break Science filled in and did a full set in the tent. He made it to the fest eventually and came on stage with Umphrey’s to perform his song, “The Show Goes On.” It’s cool to see Umphrey’s bring out a hip hop artist as they continue to remain one of the most progressive and open-minded bands in the live music circuit.
3. Beck – Rappers Delight/ Miss You/ Whip It (Misc.)
In the middle of performing “Where It’s At,” Beck stopped to introduce his band. I believe he said, “Can I take my time with this shit?”
He then proceeded to introduce each musician on stage. Each one started up their own song and the whole band would play like 1/4th of the song then move on to the next member. The bassist kicked things off with “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugar Hill Gang. The Guitar Player chose “Miss You” by The Rolling Stones. The keyboard player was definitely the funniest. Beck urged him to do his Michael McDonald impression and sing “Takin it to the Streets” by The Doobie Brothers. He did a damn good Michael McDonald impression. It was pretty much perfect.
The drummer finished it off with “Whip It” by Devo. The band then crept back into playing “Where It’s At” at which time Beck said, “Are we still playing this song?” They finished the set out with the second half of the song before returning for an encore.
2. Zac Brown Band – Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen cover)
We witnessed Zac Brown Band perform with The String Cheese Incident at the first-ever Lockn Festival, so a headlining Hangout set came with high expectations. At the end of the set, they threw a curve ball at the crowd and busted out “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. They played it really well and it was a serious sing along moment. They played their most famous hit, “Chicken Fried,” two songs later to close out the set.
1. Foo Fighters – Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover)
Foo Fighters took best set of the weekend. Dave Grohl was really on point.
They played a fantastic selection of songs and covered Queen 3rd to last song. Not only did they play “Under Pressure” by Queen & David Bowie, they also covered “Miss You” by Rolling Stones right before Queen and “Stay With Me” by Faces earlier in the set with members of Zac Brown Band. “Under Pressure” had amazing crowd response. The video below is cool but doesn’t do it total justice. Hangout you never let us down!