By Jason Woods, News Staff

HUNTER, N.Y. ‘- The 12,000-strong crowd roars, waiting for the band to play. It’s hot, it’s been a blistering weekend mired by the beating sun and the torrential rain. But those who have gathered have come for the same purpose ‘- to witness the extended solos and live performances of their heroes in this collective setting at Mountain Jam, a three-day music festival held at the Hunter Mountain ski resort.
‘There is something really exciting about the communal experience,’ said Whitney Pastorek, a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly. ‘Seeing these bands with 45,000 other fans all together ‘-‘ that’s something truly amazing.’
The festival, now in its fifth year, has been growing since its inception. Last year, there were only about 10,000 audience members in attendance each day, compared to this year’s count of about 12,000.
‘It’s been growing every year, and we have a really good time putting it on,’ said Brett Pasternak, promotions director for WDST, the radio station that sponsors Mountain Jam. ‘We’re hoping to continue to see growth and just keep having good music and having a good time,’ he said.
Mountain Jam may not be as widely recognized as Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza, but jam band hall-of-famers like The Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule and The Derek Trucks Band were the headliners. Though these bands may not have sold the quantity of records Britney Spears has, they have followings just as loyal and rabid.
‘These bands kicked ass,’ said Kyle Montag, a freshman philosophy major at Northeastern who attended the festival. ‘Gov’t Mule, BK3, and especially The Allman Brothers, they were unbelievable.’
Early rock festivals began in the ’60s with memorable events like Monterey and Woodstock. Given the nature of the festivals, they are well-remembered for their ‘free love,’ and drug use. But they are also remembered for introducing and cementing icon status for rock legends like Jimi Hendrix. They’ve been a staple of the music culture since, but their prominence decreased in the late ’90s, reemerging in the middle of this decade.
‘Everything from the ’80s has been mined, so now they are going back to the ’90s,’ Pasternak said. ‘And these ’90s bands are back and touring, bands like Phish or Third Eye Blind and No Doubt.’
Current music festivals can sport a modern, rowdy frat guy vibe, but the booze still flows freely, the weed is plentiful, and psychedelics can be found by those with an interest.
Performers at these venues may not have achieved international recognition, but they steadily perform, sometimes before hundreds of thousands of fans a year. While former multi-platinum artists are struggling to even sell a million records, their main source of income, veteran jam bands continue to tour with festival stops generating immense interest, publicity and revenues, according to media reports.
‘I think that for right now, this is extremely important to an artist, and will be for the foreseeable future, until someone can perfect a new way of purchasing music,’ Pastorek said.
The recent downturn in the music industry has driven the industry to have a renewed focus on touring, according to media reports. For example, Madonna is one of the best-selling artists of all time, but her 2008 album, ‘Hard Candy,’ sold less than a million copies. The accompanying tour sold over $280 million in tickets, the highest ever for a solo artist on tour.
‘I really like seeing a band live that’s not one of those big Hollywood industry things,’ Montag said. ‘This actually supports the band, and it’s a real band, not something fake.’
Pasternak said that there is no better promotional tool for artists like Bruce Springsteen, a headliner this year at Bonnaroo, than playing before thousands of fans. Many artists make one or more festival stops on their tours, especially the larger summer fests.
Phish is a popular jam band that reunited this year after a five-year break-up. Although they’ve sold only 8 million CDs in the United States ‘- less than the last two Carrie Underwood CDs, which sold close to 10 million copies combined ‘- they are considered by many to be one of the greatest jam bands. The band tours for hundreds of thousands of fans, and has one of the most dedicated followings in music. Phish will be performing one of the headlining acts at Bonnaroo next week, and played at Fenway Park last weekend.
‘It’s great that Phish is performing together again,’ said Chris Meenen, a sophomore music industry major. ‘The concert was awesome, they are one of the best, and they proved that here tonight,’ he said.
Many of the bands at Mountain Jam and other summer festivals frequent Boston. The city’s tour industry is fueled by locales such as Bill’s Bar, House of Blues and Paradise Rock Club, among others. The Derek Trucks Band, Michael Franti, The Brew and Umphrey’s McGee were performers at Mountain Jam that have recently played here in the city; Umphrey’s McGee will play again June 17.
Dave Matthews Band, emblems for the jam band culture, also performed this weekend at Fenway Park.
There are many music festivals still to come, as the summer season is rife with them all over the country, whether they are major like Bonnaroo, or lesser-known like Mountain Jam.
‘I’ll be going to at least three,’ said Alex Dreiblatt, a sophomore communication studies major. ‘It’s a great way to see a lot of bands for cheap, and they are great experiences, much different than going to one show.’
This summer, Pasternak says the down economy may actually help the music festivals because they are such a good deal. Tickets to Mountain Jam, which featured 39 artists, were $89.50 for one day.
‘You can go to 75 shows for the cost of one or two,’ Pasternak said.