festgrrl is just back from a lovely Magnolia Fest at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla., where the vibe was a bit different this year than past Magnolia Fests -- a bit less bluegrass and more soul, rock, blues, and pop. The mix was lovely, and the musicians brought their best to the beautiful park.
Fest stalwarts Donna the Buffalo, Col. Bruce Hampton, Tornado Rider, The Mosier Brothers, Jim Lauderdale, The Lee Boys, Quarter Moon and Sloppy Joe were all represented. But promoter Judy Van zant used her rock n' roll connections to bring in some big guns -- Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, the Jimmy Herring Band, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, the Del McCoury Band, and Little Feat alums Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett. She also brought lots of folks from her hometown of Jacksonville -- the fantastic, bluesy kLob, and JJ Grey and Mofro, to name just two.
Bonnie Raitt put on a stellar performance Saturday night under a clear sky. The sound was absolutely perfect, and Raitt delivered soulful renditions of new and old tunes with her kick-ass band. As my friend said: "She didn't just sing her hits tonight, she SANG."
The Jimmy Herring Band blew all the guitar-heads' minds in a stirring ampitheater set which featured a spot-on cover of the Beatles' "Within You Without You."
The Honey Island Swamp Band out of New Orleans continues to deliver killer sets, and -- most appreciated by festgrrrl -- they prepared completely different sets for their two performances of the weekend.
JJ Grey and Mofro have grown up a lot since their first days at Suwannee, and the now silver-haired JJ Grey owned the main stage early Saturday night with a fat horn section and a glitzy stage show that had the crowd roaring.
With all that talent, there were fantastic all-star jams both Friday and Saturday late-night; and, of course, picking 'til dawn in the campgrounds.
The whole fest was well managed and easy to navigate, smiles all around, a nice crowd in a beautiful place. We are so very, very lucky.
Here are some pics!
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| All-star jam with Emmylou Harris in the center |
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| Jeff Mosier raging at the all-star jam |
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| My crazy friends |
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| All star jam |
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| AJ Ghent, KILLER lap steel player for Col. Bruce Hampton |
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| Slopryland pumpkin! |
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| Kip Kolb of kLob. This guy is WILD |
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| Sloppy Joe from Wisconsin -- absolutely wonderful |
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3 comments:
We didn't attend this year but did get good reports. We just couldn't get too excited about the lineup. It didn't inspire our "jam grassy" hearts. Glad that you were there for it. I'm looking forward to another killer Springfest. See you there. Hometown Hiker.
I completely agree with you about the music Chuck; however, had I known the weather was going to be that gorgeous, I would have gone for the friends, fun and the party.
My first MagFest...I feel like I've been missing out for years by not checking them out sooner. Saturday night after the performances was a blast at the drum circle. I was pounding on the djembe until the sun came up; looking forward to next year (and other festivals on that note!)
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