Arts & Entertainment

Check Out Mill Valley Filmmaker's Teaser for June 22 Mount Tam Jam Music Fest

Seven-hour show features sets from Cake, New Orleans funk band Galactic featuring Living Colour frontman Corey Glover, Taj Mahal, Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue and San Rafael-based Danny Click and the Hell Yeahs.

Over the years, Mill Valley photographer and filmmaker has trained his lens on a wide variety of local subjects, from a dazzling doc from the Gardner Fire Lookout on the East Peak of Mount Tam and the restoration of Miller Grove to the Greenwood School's Memorial Day Parade float and an array of stunning views of and from Mount Tam.

Three-plus weeks out from Mount Tam Jam, the June 22 day-long music festival that is a benefit for Mount Tam State Park and is the first major concert at the Cushing Memorial Amphitheater on Mount Tam since 1967, Yost has unveiled a teaser for the event, featuring music from Sacramento alt rockers Cake, one of the bands slated to perform.

New Orleans funk band Galactic featuring Living Colour frontman Corey Glover, blues legend Taj Mahal, Nashville’s Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue and San Rafael-based Danny Click and the Hell Yeahs are all also on the bill of the 7-hour event, which benefits Mount Tam State Park's ranger and maintenance services, equipment for trail and bridge restoration and improved emergency response. 

Organizers of the event, led by the Mount Tamalpais Conservation Club, say that additional funding for rangers and emergency services also will benefit users of Marin’s other state parks: China Camp, Olompali, Samuel P. Taylor and Tomales Bay.

Mount Tam Jam is being produced by Mill Valley resident Michael Nash. It will be the first major concert in the 4,000-seat Cushing Memorial Amphitheater (aka Mountain Theater) on Mount Tam's East Peak since 1967, when the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival drew more than 20,000 people over two days in June 1967 to hear the likes of Jefferson Airplane, the Byrds, the Doors and Steve Miller.

The massive turnout for that event sparked much stricter regulations that virtually barred amplified music at the amphitheater. The Mountain Play, which kicks off its 100th season with The Sound of Music May 19, has been the only consistent event ever since.

A number of smaller concerts have been held in the amphitheater since then, including an unrelated show in 1982 called Tam Jam, which featured George Winston and had a poster depicting a piece of toast with a silhouette of Tam made out of jam, according to Nash.

Organizers hope to raise $200,000 from the event, though how much it generates for the park itself is up in the air. Nash said he hoped the event could eventually expand to two days.

“Marin County’s state parks need an annual, sustainable revenue source," Nash said.

The 411: Mount Tam Jam is Saturday, June 22 at the Cushing Memorial Amphitheater on Mount Tam, from noon to 7 p.m. Gates open at 10 a.m. Galactic, Cake, Taj Mahal, Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue and Danny Click and the Hell Yeahs are slated to perform. Tickets are $25 (kids under 12), $50, $75 and $100. Click here to buy tickets. Galactic is playing at the Tam Jam Afterparty at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley at 10:30 p.m.


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