Notes & Personnel Info |  | The Power to the Peaceful Festival began in San Francisco in the late 1990s and has since become an annual tradition. Each year, headliners and founders Michael Franti and Spearhead welcome a diverse group of likeminded artists to the stage in Golden Gate Park. In 2005, Franti and company were joined by punk revivalists Anti-flag, slam poet Saul Williams, and Marie Daulne of Zap Mama. This digi-pak box set includes an eight-track audio CD as well as a full-length film DVD documenting the festival. | | In an age where bootleg tapers post shows to the Internet the day they're taped, and where companies like Instant Live -- a company Michael Franti has dealt with -- offer you a CD of the show as you're actually leaving the concert, it's strange that Power to the Peaceful 2005 was made available in 2008. Even if it is a nice package, it's not a "three years in the making!" project, and besides some exciting tracks from festival guests Anti-Flag and Saul Williams, there's little here to separate the title from the numerous other live albums Franti has given loyal audience. All that said, the tracks are well chosen, the performances are all top-notch, and the positive vibes and socially aware lyrics present in every track hold the album together thematically. There's an argument to be made that a double-disc would be even better since this feels more like snapshots of the political music festival than something immersive, but it's a solid souvenir or good "you should have been there" sampler. The bonus DVD sweetens the package with some well captured live footage. ~ David Jeffries |
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CD
