Page McConnell, The Avett Brothers and The Bluhms Join Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Photo by Dean Budnick

Last night Grace Potter & The Nocturnals closed out their Grand Point North festival at Burlington’s Waterfront Park. The band‘s set put an exclamation point on a day that also saw rousing music from the Avett Brothers, Galactic, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers and Waylon Speed. Over the course of the GPN performance, which featured music that spanned the group’s career, Potter repeatedly offered thanks to the hometown crowd. Midway through her set, she then brought a fellow Green Mountain State resident to the stage as Phish’s Page McConnell appeared on keyboards for a cover of ZZ Top’s “Tush.” Shortly after the song, Potter queried the various band members as to how many Phish shows they had seen. Scott Tournet answered 19, Grace herself said 40 and Benny Yurco responded he had seen too many to count. A while later the evening closed out with a sing-along take on the Beatles “All You Need Is Love,” in which the group was joined by the Avett Brothers, Nicki and Tim Bluhm, former bassist Bryan Dondero and eventually many of the band’s friends and family. Potter also told the audience that the event would return for a third installment in 2013.