Woodland locals Whoduk, DJ Adrian G (rear) Big Sammy and Jake Uno took the stage and blew up the crowd with a stunning performance that won them a spot among the day's top performers. (Matthew Henderson/Democrat)

Maximum Freedom = maximum mania

College-esque concert rocked Davis' world with all kinds of music

By JOSH FERNANDEZ/Democrat staff Writer
Daily Democrat

In what turned out to be a bizarre public display of irony, a gathering that's aim was to represent personal freedom, unfortunately ended in what has come to be a concert clich : With police vehicles, sirens and disgruntled music-lovers asking themselves, "What happened?"
Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom IV, put on by KDVS 90.3 FM in Davis on Saturday, was supposed to have featured 17 bands and lasted from noon until midnight, but instead was cut short early by Yolo County police at about 10:30, leaving two bands without a venue to perform and over a hundred unhappy music aficionados.

Yolo County Sheriff's Deputies showed up to Plainfield Station on County Road 98, only citing "an anonymous complaint" as the reason to shut down a party that had gone for the whole day without so much as a problem, nor a hint of violence.

Early Saturday, Brendan Boyle, co-creator of the Operation, and KDVS DJ, was busy making sure the event ran smoothly, talking with concert-goers and members of the media and helping bands with their equipment - some who traveled from as far away as Japan.

Another KDVS DJ and event co-creator Rick Ele was also busy helping the owners of the establishment, make sure that nothing went wrong.

Ele's job was easy, according to the owner of the Plainfield Station Restaurant and Bar, Pietro Fazzari, who said hardly anything ever goes wrong when he hosts music events at his establishment.

"I've been doing a lot of punk rock shows here," Fazzari said. "They're good kids."

Fazzari purchased the property, along with the neighboring home in 2002, reserving its spacious backyard for a stage and a second beer and food bar.

In the past few years, Fazzari has been trying to establish his bar/restaurant as a music venue that will hopefully cater to Davis and Woodland music fans, while still keeping its "local bar" feel.

There were many music fans from around the country, as well as locals of the bar, who were excited for the day-long event.

Attendees at Saturday's concert brought blankets to sit in the grass, sipped on cheap beer, talked with friends and, of course, listened to the eclectic range of musicians who took to the stage.

There were many notable bands to choose from throughout the day.

Th' Losin Streaks from Sacramento, a band that sounded like the Beach Boys had they been formed in juvenile hall, made the crowd jump, with Northern California legend Mike Farrell doing everything but making love to his own guitar on stage.

Obo Martin came from the Sierra Nevada mountains to play a truly unique style of music that blended many elements of music and story-telling.

At the end of his performance, Martin left the audience asking for more.

"I'm a far-out folk-rock focus-ing-er," Martin said regarding his classification of music, adding that he enjoyed playing in Woodland "under the beautiful sunset."

The true beauty of the show, according to its creators, was to embody the freedom that music is supposed to represent - a freedom that could be getting lost in today's era of pre-fabricated bands and molded celebrity images.

"It's supposed to be diverse and eclectic," Boyle said.

And that it was.

New Rock Syndicate and LSD March from Japan hypnotized the audience with a blend of jazz/rock/psychedelic melody; The Trashies came from Seattle to show Woodland exactly how trashy "trash-rock" can be; and the prolific Michael Hurley took a stop in the city of trees to bless the audience with a ride on his freight train of folk.

Perhaps the most surprising, energetic and well-loved performance of the day was from Woodland's own hip-hop group, Big Sammy and Whoduk.

On a set list that was mostly rock n' roll oriented, Big Sammy, Jake Uno and DJ Adrian G could have been billed as the underdogs of the evening. However, once the enigmatic group hit the stage, all boundaries were broken and their stunning performance won them a spot among the day's top performers.

Punks with tattoos, girls with satin dresses, hip-hop fans, and the most devout indie-rockers had no choice but to turn the grass field into an all-out dance party once Big Sammy and his crew started their show.

After the performance, a physically huge and visibly excited Big Sammy said he was happy to have such an impact on the audience.

"Someone told me that you just gotta' be you wherever you go," Big Sammy said after his performance, adding that he was impressed by many of the rock acts that preceded him.

The rapper's statement about individuality was something the creators of the event had in mind when they coined the term "Maximum Freedom." After all, they worked hard to bring diversity and boundary-crossing music to Woodland.

However, the freedom didn't last long as Yolo County Sheriff's deputies showed up as hip-hop act Third Sight was setting up their equipment.

The show was cut-off well before headliner Kid 606, an electronic artist from the bay area, could make his musical splash on Woodland.

After the police came and broke up the party because of a report of a complaint of loud music, Boyle, visibly upset, was forced to get on the microphone to tell the audience the show could not continue.

"It seems illogical," Boyle said. "The reason we started this was that house shows were shut down; there needs to be a space where we can do this."

He left the crowd with a final suggestion.

"Raise your voice," he said. "Get your opinion out there."