Jackson Hole Underground

“Wyoming, are you feeling the dance?” Michael Franti shouted near the end of his show Saturday at the Jackson Hole Mountain Festival.

Were we ever! Slipping and sliding in the Teton Village parking lot, a crowd of perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 grooved beneath the stars as Franti closed out a joyous evening with his dance anthem “Everybody Ona Move.”

“We don’t stop,” he sang. “And we don’t quit.”

No, Franti and Spearhead would not relent, much like a winter that has brought 550 inches of snow to the Tetons. Dreadlocks flying from beneath his cap, the towering singer and guitarist bounced across the stage as if flying down the Alta Chutes. His set spanned 20 songs and more than two hours.

The most indelible image I have from the night: wisps of steam rising from Franti’s head each time he stepped to the microphone.

We’ll have much more to report from Saturday’s Mountain Fest as well as a preview of Franti’s documentary, “I Know I’m Not Alone,” which is showing at 7 p.m. Monday at Center for the Arts.

Check back Monday for more photos and a cool video by Tony Birkholz.

Despite the cold, wind and snow outside, I’m holding out faith for the skies to clear and calm by the time Michael Franti and Spearhead take the stage this evening at Teton Village. If not, we’ll be dancing in the storm.

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At last, it’s time to get psyched for Saturday’s Mountain Festival at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, featuring Michael Franti and Spearhead with an opening set by The Radiators. (Let’s hope the weather will be markedly improved from the slush falling outside right now.)

We are going to take the music one step further. JH Underground, in partnership with the Art Association and Center for the Arts, will present a screening of Franti’s acclaimed documentary, “I Know I’m Not Alone,” on Monday, March 31.

“I Know I’m Not Alone” is the story of Franti’s trip to Iraq, Israel and Palestine in 2004, when he and a group of friends flew into Baghdad armed only with video cameras and a guitar. Franti discovered an Iraqi heavy metal band, jammed with Palestinian hip-hop artists, strummed through the streets and generally met peaceful people wherever he went.

The film views the conflicts through a humanist lens. Franti wrote the songs for his powerful album Yell Fire! during the journey and while editing footage afterward.

The movie will be shown at 7 p.m. in the Center for the Arts theater. Doors will open at 6, and pizza and beer will be available for purchase. Tickets cost $10.

Proceeds will benefit the Middle East Children’s Alliance, a charity Franti supports that is working to treat victims of war in Palestine and Iraq.

Here’s a chance to take Franti’s message to heart and not just make a great party but help make peace as well.

“Revolution never come with a warning,” booms Michael Franti on the title track to his last album, Yell Fire!

In this instance, Franti is giving two months’ notice.

The dreadlocked rocker and his band, Spearhead, will make their highly anticipated return to Jackson Hole on Saturday, March 29, performing a free outdoor concert at Teton Village as part of the Jackson Hole Mountain Festival.

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The first time I saw Matisyahu, at last year’s Austin City Limits festival, there were at least 30,000 people in the crowd. And the side of the stage was packed with many of the other artists from the festival, straining to get a glimpse of him.

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