There was a different kind of energy at Topaz Farm on August 21. Just one night after Allen Stone and The Dip brought a wide-ranging, mixed-age crowd to the farm, Buffalo Traffic Jam arrived to a noticeably younger audience—and one that seemed ready to turn the concert field into a standing-room dance floor.
The day was much cooler than the previous night’s heat, with a comfortable breeze moving through the field as golden clouds gathered around the setting sun. The wildflowers that have been such a constant part of the Topaz Farm landscape throughout the summer are beginning to fade, but the changing season has its own beauty, with the late-summer light stretching across the farm as people settled in for the evening.
Opening the show was South Carolina singer-songwriter Elias Hix, whose music draws from his rural upbringing and blends folk and Americana with an intimate, deeply personal songwriting style. Hix has been steadily building an audience since releasing his debut album Thinner and has spent the past few years touring with artists including The Wood Brothers and The National Parks.
Hix’s set included “Father’s Coat,” “Helen,” “Ides of March,” “What Have You Done,” “As Far As,” Nick Drake’s “Place to Be,” and “Mud-Stained Dress.” He was joined by fellow musician Izzy Olsen on bass and mandolin, giving the songs an additional warmth and depth that fit perfectly within the Topaz Farm setting.
There was also a little unexpected entertainment happening above the stage. During Hix’s set, roughly 30 swifts circled through the sky together, swooping and turning above the concert field. With the golden evening light behind them, it was one of those small moments that seems uniquely suited to a concert in the middle of a farm.
Then Buffalo Traffic Jam took the stage, and the energy level changed immediately.
The Montana-based duo of Frankie Cassidy and Nathan Ross has been on a remarkable upward trajectory, building a national following around their blend of folk, Americana, and rock. Their songs combine big, memorable melodies with personal storytelling, and their live performances have quickly developed a reputation for creating an intense connection with their audience. A recent live review described the band as having a particularly strong command of dynamics, moving from intimate acoustic passages into fuller, more powerful arrangements.
At Topaz Farm, that dynamic came through in a big way. Buffalo Traffic Jam delivered a lively, Americana-tinged rock set that had the audience on its feet for much of the evening. They opened with “Strangers Now” and moved through “Comfort in Misery,” “Can’t Let Go,” “Luckiest Man Alive,” “Too Young to Die,” “Buyin Dirt,” “Forgot Your Roots,” “Hanging On Hope,” “Daydreaming,” “Older,” “Take Me Home,” and “Broken Love.”
The band has a knack for taking songs rooted in folk and country storytelling and giving them enough energy to work as rock songs without losing their intimacy. “Hanging On Hope,” for example, has been singled out in recent live reviews for the way it builds gradually from a warm acoustic beginning into a fuller arrangement.
Their version of “House of the Rising Sun” was another highlight. Rather than simply reproducing the familiar traditional song, Buffalo Traffic Jam put their own Americana stamp on it, pushing it toward a bluesier, more muscular rock sound. The song has a personal connection to singer Frankie Cassidy, who has said it was his grandmother’s favorite song and the first song he learned on guitar.
The crowd responded throughout the set, but the most obvious sign of just how quickly Buffalo Traffic Jam is building a following was happening offstage as well. The merchandise line was the longest I’ve seen at any of the Topaz Farm shows this summer, and by the end of the night the band had sold out of much of its merchandise.
That enthusiasm was visible in the concert field, too. Roughly two-thirds of the audience eventually moved toward the front of the stage, transforming the show from a typical lawn concert into something much closer to a standing-room show. The remaining third stayed farther back in lawn chairs, but up front the crowd was packed together, dancing and moving with the music.
Buffalo Traffic Jam closed the main set with “I Don’t Care” before returning for an encore of “Fool’s Gold” and “Rescue Me.” By then, the distinction between audience and performer had almost disappeared. The front of the stage had become a collective dance floor, with a young crowd fully invested in a band that is clearly reaching people very quickly.
What lingered after the final song was the sense that Buffalo Traffic Jam had made the meadow feel less like a concert venue and more like a gathering place. Their youthful energy, tight musicianship, and unmistakable affection for the music gave the evening a momentum that carried well beyond the stage.
As the last light disappeared over the farm, the crowd slowly began to drift away. Another Topaz Farm concert had come to a close, but this one left behind a particular kind of energy—the feeling of having discovered a band that may be playing much larger stages before too long. – Jason Felton