By Larry Nager
The Cincinnati Enquirer

With Saturday's day-long rain and cool temperatures, UC's SpringFest 2003 felt more like FallFest. But seven hours of top-shelf music that culminated in blues-rock jam band the North Mississippi All Stars and the multistyle hip-hop band the Roots kept the soggy day feeling like a festival.

The rain delayed the start from 1 p.m. to after 4, cutting back two of the main stage acts, local bands Readymaid and 65 Hope Road.

After a short second-stage set by singer/songwriter Carole Walker, the main stage kicked off with Drums & Tuba. By then, a small crowd of several hundred was scattered over Budig Commons at the center of campus.

Got the crowd moving

The trio, which blends its namesake instruments with two guitars played simultaneously by Neal McKeeby (a trick he accomplished by keeping one suspended in a guitar stand), got the small crowd moving with a set of funk grooves. But the group sounded unfinished, like rhythm tracks created for a no-show soloist.

They were followed by the duo of organist Marco Benevento and drummer Joe Russo, who did a more melodic set that still lacked something. The original funk-jazz organ groups included a sax or guitar, and Benevento and Russo could have used another soloist.

Things finally heated up at the main stage with one of Cincinnati's best original bands, Homunculus. To get things back on schedule, the group played an abbreviated set that still managed to show impressive versatility, moving from the pop-rock of the new "Look What I Found" to jazzy homages to Frank Zappa and Steely Dan.

But it was the two headliners who made this an exceptionally ambitious student festival.

The North Mississippi All Stars feature the offspring of two certified living musical legends of Memphis and the Mississippi hill country just south of the city. Brothers Luther (guitar/vocals) and Cody (drums) Dickinson are the sons of producer/musician Jim Dickinson. Singer/guitarist Duwayne Burnside is one of several offspring of blues great R.L. Burnside. Bassist Chris Chew fills out the group.

The All Stars played 45 minutes of rocket-fueled blues, at times sounding like the Allmans, as Luther and Duwayne intertwined guitar solos. Some songs, such as the Delta standard "Shake Em On Down," were given a hyperactive pop-rock edge reminiscent of mid-'60s garage bands, while the Staple Singers' "Freedom Highway" found new life in the All Stars' groove-heavy approach.

But it was the Roots that the crowd of 3,000 showed up for. Anyone who thinks rap isn't real music needs to see this group perform. Lead rapper Black Thought is backed by six real, live musicians, including "the human DJ" Scratch, who simulates the sounds of scratching turntables with his mouth. Add guitar, keyboards, percussion, and star drummer ?uestlove and you have a world-class band, able to shift from hardcore hip-hop to dancehall reggae, old-school soul, salsa, P-Funk, even pop and rock.

And all of it in service to positive rhymes. The rain finally cleared as they opened with a bit of 50 Cent's "In Da Club" before sucker punching the rapper with a put-down of his and other gangstas' violent, materialistic raps.

Complete experience

From there, it was 85 minutes of non-stop Roots music, much of it from the band's new album, Phrenology. When it all came together, as on their hit, "The Seed," or "Rock You," the band was a complete musical experience, a great, funk-rock rhythm section, good instrumental soloists and tight, creative raps.

But as the show went on, too much time was given to lengthy solos by various group members. The best of these was a duel between DJ Scratch's vocalized turntables and the percussionists. But the solos went on for far too long, and by the end, the Roots' show, which had started so powerfully, simply sputtered out.

Despite that and the bad weather, SpringFest moved ahead several steps this year. If it's allowed to continue growing in 2004, Cincinnati will have added another major music festival to its calendar.

E-mail lnager@enquirer.com