The organizers of the McDowell Mountain Music Festival pulled together an incredible show this year. Nestled in the mountains near Scottsdale, AZ, the two-day festival caters to a jam band crowd, but this year they managed to book two of the most vital live bands performing today. Festival closer the Flaming Lips, as well as a man and his band who are taking over the world one concert at a time - Michael Franti and Spearhead.

The Flaming Lips stage setup was so involved technicians, and the band, spent most of the day constructing it. Tinkering in the background while other bands were on stage. It was all worth it as the band brought every shred of confetti, man-sized balloons and rolls of masking tape they are known for.

The Lips stuck to more recent songs like "Race for the Prize" and several tracks from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The show is a Japanese cartoon come to life with a triumphant soundtrack. The party after the pink robots are defeated and joy returns to the land. The set ended with a resplendent "Do You Realize??" marking the bittersweet moments of life, and also coming to the realization the show was over and we had to return to lives that are not as brilliantly colored. The joy in the Flaming Lips - and the stage show they have fine tuned to a cosmic spark - is to take that inspiration into the world. Blow our own minds. A phenomenal ending to a festival with several highlights.

Each night of the festival ended on incredible highs. Friday night Franti and Spearhead hit the stage at full speed and never let up. Very few artists create such an instant connection, regardless of the kind of music they are playing. Franti had the entire crowd moving and shaking. The man is on a different wavelength. Communicating with a passion that is undeniable. Special artists hit periods in their career when everything seems to click and they can do no wrong. Franti and Spearhead are clicking and now is the time to see them.

The two headliners were more than worth the price of admission, but there were several other festival treats to witness.

Few sights warm the heart as much as barefoot hippies dancing in the grass. Maybe barefoot hippie children. The flower power generation didn't change the world, but throw them in a field with a few jam bands, the love and music feels indestructible.

Local Phoenix, AZ bands earned the unenviable task of opening both days to about two dozen people and a long stretch of grass. One of the local bands stood out. The name is Delcoa, a funk/pop/jam thing with dueling male/female lead vocalists. An easy stage manner and infectious songs kept the crowd inching closer and closer to the stage with each song. A good sign when most of the festival-goers are more concerned with their first beer than the band on stage.

Two more Friday highlights included the New Riders of the Purple Sage and Hot Tuna. Jerry Garcia - patron saint of jam - formed the New Riders many years ago as an outlet for his country music passions. He is dead now but his friends have continued the tradition. The band has a rumbling country rock style that was a much much needed shot in the arm that led into Hot Tuna's mellow but well-received set. Hot Tuna is among the original jam bands, weaving country, blues and rock with memorable songs. This was a jam band festival, but Hot Tuna earns the honor of first extended drum solo of the event. Up to Hot Tuna, the festival was pleasing and hit on what you would expect a jam festival to provide. Then Franti and Spearhead appeared from another planet and made the festival their own.

Day two began with two more local Phoenix bands, but really took off during a high energy set from Celtic rock band Young Dubliners. The band mixes rock and folk with traditional Irish and Celtic tunes. Much like The Pogues, a band the Dubliners covered halfway through their show. The Young Dubliners were a blast of punk energy that led into two bands that would make liberal use of the jam band label. Both Indigenous and Railroad Earth - the former a heavy blues rock band, the latter a country folk rock acoustic band - laid into long songs with many extended solos to showcase each bandmember. The Indigenous highlight was some killer slide guitar work, while Railroad Earth was impressive by the sheer amount of instrumentation added to each song.

Matisyahu was a late addition to the roster and unfortunately only played a one hour set. This man is an incredible mix of opposites. He towers over everyone at well above six feet and fronts a bombastic rock band. He cuts a striking figure but with an incredible poise and humble demeanor. At only an hour his set was built for maximum impact and had the crowd begging for more.

Finally, the Flaming Lips put the finishing touches on their stage - members of the band milled about, tinkered with electronics or applied orange masking tape. It was nine years since the last Flaming Lips show in Arizona. We gobbled them up like rainbow candies at the bottom of a cherry Slurpee.