Slightly Stoopid brings laid-back groove to Beak & Skiff

For much of Sunday, the threat of rain hung over Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards. Dark clouds lingered above the hills in LaFayette, but aside from a few passing drops, the weather mostly cooperated as Slightly Stoopid brought its Road Trippin’ Summer Tour to Central New York.

The San Diego band headlined the orchard’s outdoor stage Sunday night with support from DENM and Bumpin Uglies, bringing a mix of reggae, rock, punk and hip-hop to one of the final weekends of Beak & Skiff’s summer concert season.

Bumpin Uglies opened the evening as concertgoers continued filling the lawn, setting an easygoing vibe for the night. DENM followed with a similarly relaxed energy, leaning into the sun-soaked, Southern California sound that fit naturally alongside Slightly Stoopid.

Rather than pushing the pace, his set settled into a laid-back mix of reggae, hip-hop and beach-town grooves that felt right at home on a cool August evening.

By the time Slightly Stoopid took the stage, the lawn had filled in with fans ready for the headliner, the earlier rain threat now little more than a memory of a few stray drops beneath a dark gray Upstate New York sky.

Slightly Stoopid has spent more than two decades building a sound that moves freely between genres, and that looseness translated naturally to the stage.

Rather than relying on one sound for long, the band shifted between reggae grooves, heavier guitar-driven stretches, hip-hop influences and extended instrumental moments. The changes rarely felt abrupt. Instead, the set moved with the relaxed confidence of a band that has spent much of its career on the road.

That ease carried into the crowd, with fans near the stage dancing and singing along, while farther back, groups spread across the lawn and settled into the music.

Clouds of smoke drifted through seemingly every corner of the crowd, something each of the night’s bands seemed more than happy to encourage from the stage.

It added another unmistakable layer to the laid-back atmosphere, matching a lineup whose music and culture have long been intertwined with that kind of easygoing summer haze.