“What did we do before this?” Easthampton-based photographer Julian Parker-Burns asked a group of friends in the late-afternoon glow at the Pines Theater this past Tuesday.
He was referring to the end-of-summer tradition of Transperformance, where local bands perform as nationally known acts to raise funds for arts enrichment in Northampton public schools. It’s a celebration and social gathering for both the participating musicians and the community at large; this was its 27th year, and it’s hard to imagine an August without it.
In the early hours of the marathon event, families on blankets always bunch up in the shady section of the lawn, and as the sun sets across the outdoor amphitheater, people spread out all over the rolling grass, with kids hopping around down front or running free to climb the low trees on the path to the backstage area.
Each Transperformance has a theme, and this year’s was “Rock and Roll Heaven Revisited,” a sequel to the 1994 event, at which area musicians performed as famous folks who’ve passed on. This year’s acts included Amy Winehouse (Family Davis Jr.), George Harrison (Winterpills) and Kurt Cobain/Nirvana (Workman Song).
In recent months, the Valley music scene had some of its own family pass on as well, like J. Scott Brandon of the Drunk Stuntmen, who got a heartfelt shout-out from his friend Scott Lawson Pomeroy (aka Zip Cody) during his set as Ronnie James Dio.
Pomeroy paid tribute in front of a happy post-sundown throng pressed up against the stage — and when he let loose with his first heavy-metal falsetto vibrato, his band pummeling underneath, the impressed crowd surged with cheers.
Highlights, as always, were plentiful. Workman Song were thunderously good as Nirvana, shaking the cathedral pines as they slammed through “In Bloom,” with vocalist Sean McMahon inhabiting Cobain’s serrated voice. Jerks On the Loose (aka friends Christina Andrews, Kay McKinstry and Katy Schneider) soared together as The Roches, capturing the sisters’ clarion unison singing and harmonizing. Kelsey Flynn, one of the event’s hosts, stayed manic in a muscle-y black leotard as fitness guru Jack LaLanne, herding kids onstage to do some improvised aerobics.
Backstage — where a day’s worth of musicians congregate, chat, snack on food donated by local eateries, and prepare to run on stage for a blur of a performance — the costumes and wigs make it a place where your eyes and mind are constantly needing to blink and adjust. Who’s that under that wild jet-black crimped heavy metal mane? Oh hey, it’s mild-mannered Rick Murnane. And the towering bearded dude wearing galoshes, a rain hat…and, I think, eyeliner? It’s Philip Price as George Harrison, eerily mirroring the cover of Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” album.
Monte Belmonte of 93.9 The River, another of the many returning hosts, was decked out in a sky-blue suit with David Bowie “Aladdin Sane” lightning-bolt makeup on his face and a vivid red wig to match.
Drummer J.J. O’Connell played with four groups at this year’s show (The Mary Jane Jones as Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Jon Carroll & BraveSoul as Robert Palmer, King Radio as The Zombies, the aforementioned Soul Magnets) and has been a part of 15 Transperformances. His first was 1996’s country-themed “Night At the Opry,” appearing with the Drunk Stuntmen as Hank Williams. For the last decade, he has provided the event’s drums to help the night go more smoothly (for the drummers and sound engineer, at least).
On Wednesday morning, with his drums drying on his back deck (having gotten caught in the end-of-show rainburst), O’Connell said the most cherished thing for him about the event is always “the communal hang backstage. I think all musicians involved would say the same thing. Lots of hugs and smiles and catching up going on back there. And when you get onstage, you’re not only playing your heart out for the people on the lawn, but also for the crowd of people you admire and respect deeply looking on from stage right. I think that’s one reason why everyone puts serious love and care into their performances. At least five times last night, I overheard a fellow musician say, ‘This is the best day of the year.’ It’s true.”