Music fans are still buzzing more than a week after the last note was struck at the Hoochenanny Whiskey & Music Festival. Hoochenanny served up a perfect cocktail of comfort, fine spirits and good tunes. People who missed out want to know: will the Hoochenanny return or will 2025 serve as last call for the festival?
Festival co-owners Tommy Brunett and Sean McCarthy brought the kind of party you would want to have if money weren’t an issue and all your vast network of social media friends were invited. Hoochenanny served up a steady flow of adult beverages, great food, comfortable accommodations, and an eclectic mix of ear candy for music fans in the vast 14-acre backyard of Camp Eastman in the Town of Irondequoit.
People were overheard throughout the weekend expressing props for the effortless traffic flow entering and leaving the concert grounds. Plenty of port-a-potties and working bathrooms on-site kept the lines short, allowing festive drinkers to empty their bladders just as quickly as they could fill them. Attendees were allowed to bring camping chairs at no extra charge and filled empty water bottles at a fill station, which helped stretch their wallet to sample more of the vendors. However, music took center stage and was the star of the weekend, enhanced by a cocktail of fantastic weather and a well-organized event.
Day 1 Highlights
The first day of the Hoochenanny Whiskey & Music Festival saw the crowd filter in slowly after their work week wrapped up on Friday. It took some time for people to get the lay of the land with the festival moving to Camp Eastman for the first year. After seeing the many amenities and sampling the outstanding food vendors and refreshing libations, the crowd gradually filled in to see a night filled with rip-roarin’ musical fun.
Christina Vane appeared in Rochester for the first time. Despite her residence in Nashville, Vane alternated from ’90s indie and classic rock to blues and bluegrass with a banjo, slide guitar and electric guitar all successfully making the plane ride up north. The English Beat got people moving with their danceable ska, reggae, soul, punk and pop mix. Founding guitarist Dave Wakeling added vocalist Ranking Roger to create upbeat hits like “Mirror in the Bathroom” and select covers for a fun start to the weekend.
The alt-country rock band Old 97s turned out several longtime fans in band t-shirts and had concertgoers singing along to songs spanning back to the early ’90s with their energetic set. Despite the slow arrival of attendees on Friday, several rows of people staked out their territory almost three hours before Charles Wesley Godwin appeared in his headline slot.
Charles Wesley Godwin has frequently taken part in this year’s Outlaw Music Festival – appropriate, as he cites Willy Nelson and Kris Kristofferson as influences. While distinctly country, Godwin and his band rocked the festival in a pairing made in whiskey heaven and made the night a little warmer for the females adorned with cowboy hats.
Day 2 Highlights
The second day of the 2025 Hoochenanny started early with some regional acts deserving of attention on Saturday afternoon. Mike Powell and the Echosound kicked off the day, followed by The Medicinals. Both bands are large with a bigger sound, effectively blending polyrhythmic layers to create sonic bliss. The Isotopes were unapologetically bold and brash, incorporating crude humor and visual elements into their instrumental performance.
Saturday at the 2025 Hoochenanny Festival paraded out the star power. A creative marketer and concert organizer, Tommy Brunett took center stage on guitar with his All-Star Calvalcade of Scoundrels. A procession of heavy hitters took the stage for their moment to shine on this sun-soaked day.
Partner Sean McCarthy, Dennis Casey from Flogging Molly, and Eddie Nebula paid homage to the Ramones. Katy Eberts flexed her muscles and flashed smiles as she continued her miraculous recovery. Andy Kim still had a shake to his hips and plenty left vocally to perform his #1 hit from 1969, “Sugar, Sugar,” and then gave the crowd a sultry version of the 1975 chart topper, “Rock Me Gently.” Rochester hometown legend, Lou Gramm, belted out a trio of Foreigner fan favorites, “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” and “Jukebox Hero.” Gramm proved that he still has some magic left in his golden voice that came alive on Saturday night.
Grammy-nominated in 2016 for Best Contemporary Blues Album, The Record Company created a big sound for a three-piece band. Multi-instrumental frontman Chris Vos alternated between electric guitar, steel guitar, and harmonica. The Record Company delivered a high-energy performance that ended with a blues-infused version of “So What’cha Want” by the Beastie Boys and became a new favorite of uninitiated music aficionados in the process.
Trailblazer Joan Jett & the Blackhearts closed out the night with a tight set and delivered more energy than most people half her age. Joan talked passionately about the urgent need for activism and togetherness in today’s political climate. Music and the arts will lead the way, no matter how hard the powers-that-be try to silence voices. Jett’s set highlighted several songs from her first band, the Runaways, before finishing the night with her #1 hit singles, “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “I Hate Myself For Loving You” and crowd favorite “Bad Reputation.”
Day 3 Highlights
Music at the 2025 Hoochenanny found its groove on Sunday, when bands alternated stages for a full day of uninterrupted music. The acts seamlessly segued from one to another – one leaving the stage to the next one walking onto the adjacent platform – the hallmark of a jam band “can’t miss” Sunday show. Music fans responded, with the crowd anxiously floating between stages on Sunday, helping the festival claim the highest attendance levels of the weekend.
On tour with moe., Eggy arrived in Rochester as a trio but still left the early crowd hungry for more. Galactic arrived in Rochester for the first time since 2019, adding a new dynamic with Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph as lead singer. “Jelly” owned the stage and asked the crowd to transmit some powerhouse vibes and they delivered to help the band launch into “How Many Times” by Led Zeppelin. Many concertgoers commented that her voice was out of this world.
A towering spicy “Meat” club sandwich was served up next by moe., filled with “Water,” “Threw It All Away,” ”Giants,” then “Hi & Lo” and “Silver Sun” before we learned the meat of choice was pork with a highly anticipated “Buster”, which then deftly segued back to “Meat” to bookend the set.
Deadheads were in their glory. Several of them hit up two days of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead the previous two days — about 25 minutes away in Perinton — and then trucked up north to finish the weekend for two complete sets of perfectly executed jams from Grateful Dead cover band Dark Star Orchestra on Sunday. The epic weekend of music in Rochester closed with a majestic “Ripple” encore by the Lake Ontario shoreline.
Hoochenanny By The Numbers
30,000: Over $30,000 was raised to benefit charity partners Make-a-Wish Foundation, Lou Gramm Foundation, and Endless Highway
16,000: The World of Whiskey featured over 16,000 sq ft of air-conditioned comfort filled with whiskey tastings and libations
8,000: Over 8,000 happy people attended the 2025 Hoochenanny Whiskey & Music Festival
150: Over 150 craft whiskey and spirits were showcased with a whiskey tasting pass
30: 30 regional and national distillers were on-site to showcase their craft spirits
18: The three-day festival featured 18 regional and national recording artists
5: Saturday featured artists with 5 #1 hit singles from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s
3: Joan Jett, Andy Kim and Lou Gramm were the three songwriters with #1 songs
2: This was Year 2 for the Hoochenanny Whiskey & Music Festival
1: The sophomore festival was one huge smash hit, according to attendees and vendors alike
The last number is 2026. Hoochenanny organizers have already promised that more good times are on the horizon. They will run it back in 2026, with dates and artists to be announced at a later time. With all the positive feedback and enthusiastic word of mouth, you’ll want to treat yourself by getting tickets as soon as they are available.
Glowing reviews have flowed for the 2025 Hoochenanny Whiskey & Music Festival and positive accolades continue to pour in. On behalf of the thousands of attendees, we want to thank you for a real good time!
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