String Cheese Incident "Ghoul Train" dancers. Dave Vann photo.
Truth be told, festgrrl is still trying to piece together
all the spectacular-ness that happened at Suwannee Hulaween 2015, and she is sure
she is not alone.
Roller-skating disco dancers. Fire-breathing iron sculptures.
Primus thump-bass craziness. Head –spinning, hand-springing break dancers.
Giant stilt walkers “anointing” fans’ foreheads with orange cheese stickers
from a grocery store dairy department. Burlesque ladies twirling on trapeze
beside hard-charging British funk band The New Mastersounds in the wee hours. A big swingset
shaped like a jellyfish. A giant monster that Danish artists built in the
cypress forest out of recycled construction pallets. And, as has been the case
during the last two Hulaweens, truly inspired Halloween costumes from the
wackiest of fans (A whole CROWD of full-on giant Muppets!)
festgrrl photo.
One of those wavy figures you see at car lots! festgrrl photo.
Gorgeous Earth Mama. festgrrl photo.
festgrrl photo.
This Hulaween was the biggest festival to ever hit the
Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla, with attendance reported at 21,000. In
comparison, about 7,500 people attended Hulaween 2014.
Before you say: That’s too big! Let me tell you, it worked
out just fine. Yeah, the lines to do stuff were a little longer. And yeah,
there were a lot more people moving to and fro. But this is a big park with
nice sightlines to all the stages, and I never felt “boxed in,” and even if I
had to stand way in the back sometimes, I could see and hear the shows.
An artist paints at Spirit Lake. festgrrl photo.
Creating a dreamcatcher pyramid. festgrrl photo.
Magical campsite. festgrrl photo.
Stilt walkers everywhere! festgrrl photo.
And
Hulaween has one thing no other festival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park
has: the amazing “Spirit Lake” psychedelic forest, which dozens of artists work
hard to create for our pleasure and amazement. I spent many happy hours in there,
swinging on the jellyfish swings, chilling in one of the many available
hammocks, watching the professional light show swoop its way around the park’s
gorgeous cypress lake and wandering among the inspired art installations, some
of which were interactive.
Building the Spirit Lake monster. festgrrl photo.
The finished monster! Josh Timmermans photo.
Spirit Lake. Keith Griner photo.
Spirit Lake entrance. At night, a projector animated it. festgrrl photo.
Saturday night’s “Ghoul Train” (a Halloweeny-twist on the
classic 1970s, dance show, Soul Train) set by The String Cheese Incident was
one of the coolest, best executed, and creative performances I’ve ever
witnessed at a festival.
Not having any idea of what was in store, we arrived for
String Cheese’s second set of the night in the Meadow to see GHOUL TRAIN lit up
in lights in the Soul Train font above the stage. Then we noticed that they had
put staggered risers in place with Solid-Gold style dancers in glitter outfits flanking
the band.
Dave Vann photo.
Break dancers came out.
Keith Griner photo.
And roller skating dancers.
Dave Vann photo.
CRAZY! The String
Cheese Incident band members were unrecognizable in their Disco costumes as
they launched into an infectious retro-licious ‘70s dance party that made it
impossible to sit down for even a single minute.
Michael Kang of String Cheese Incident. Keith Griner photo.
GZA of Wu Tang Clan acted the
part of Soul Train’s emcee, the late Don Cornelius.
GZA of Wu Tang Clan (right) was emcee. Keith Griner photo.
Check out this groovy
classic hits set list:Brick House, Got To Be
Real, Dancing In September, Pick Up The Pieces, I'm Your Boogie Man, Car Wash,
Lady Marmalade, Cold Sweat, I Want To Take You Higher > Dance To The Music. Confetti and bubbles showered the dancing masses.
Dave Vann photo.
Thanks to our great and selfless taper, Sober Goat, you can
see this amazing set for yourself right here:
The fest kicked off with a badass dance pre party on
Thursday night, with New Orleans’ Ivan Neville showing up in a creepy clown
mask for Dumpstaphunk’s hard-charging party set.
Ivan Neville of Dumpstaphunk! Dave Vann photo.
The Dumpstaphunk set featured a cool cover of Led Zeppelin’s classic “Ramble On.”
You can see that
cover here:
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead hit the stage next, turning out a two-and-a-half
hour show full of high-energy, feel-good Grateful Dead covers. They turned a
packed ampitheater stage into a grinning boogie communion that started us all
off right. Thanks to our wonderful tapers, you can see that set right here:
Hulaween did a nice job of mixing genres: Plenty of
thump-thump for the hordes of enthusiastic electronic dance music fans in
attendance (who raved about the Pretty Lights, Odesza, and GRiZ shows, in
particular,) plus funk, bluegrass, prog-rock, reggae, folk, and a couple of
mixed genres that defy description.
Pretty Lights. Photo by Josh Timmermans.
Dave Vann photo.
An intricate Spirit Lake art installation. Chris Monaghan photo.
The String Cheese Incident continues to be stunning, turning
out seven sets over the weekend that each managed to be its own stand-alone
kickass show. You can call this band versatile, and the label fits, but it
hardly touches the intriguing variety these Colorado players produce. From the
afore-mentioned Ghoul Train set to the intricate Sunday afternoon bluegrass set
with guests Sam Bush, the Shook Twins, and Elephant Revival to Sunday night’s
face-melting closing improvisational jam, String Cheese showed plainly why they
are one of the top jam bands touring today.
The Shook Twins. festgrrl photo.
There has been a lot of talk about how this the “last year”
for Hulaween, but our hosts, String Cheese Incident, say they’ll be back with
bells on next year. You can read all about it in this great interview with
Cheese guitarist Bill Nershi by Livefor Live Music.
Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds in "Back to the Future" costumes. Josh Timmermans photo.
Some of the Hulaween shows you just can’t explain with words. Check out this Primus
set:
Festgrrl stayed at the park until the bitter end Sunday, and
by the looks of things, so did most fans. The field was packed for the final
String Cheese shows and the ampitheater was packed, too, for Boston power-funk
band, Lettuce. You can see their Sunday night show below, as well as the
Sunday night show by STS9.
festgrrl photo.
If you missed Hulaween this year, I’d advise you not to make
the same mistake next year. This fest is happening.
The promoters did a great job picking bands, keeping on schedule, and
creating an intriguing, whacky world for all of us to escape to for a weekend. This
is the life, peeps, Get it
while you can.
Here's Sunday's STS9 closer set at The Meadow Stage:
Keller Williams doing "Grateful Gospel." festgrrl photo.
Starting with the first few notes of the Lee Boys’ sacred steel guitar throw-down on a blue-sky Thursday afternoon, and ending with the
swaying love-fest for Donna the Buffalo Sunday night, MagnoliaFest 2015 delivered
memorable performances from an nicely eclectic Americana lineup.
MagnoliaFest happens at the nicest time of the year, when
Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park struts its fall colors. It’s still warm
enough for a dip in the Suwannee River at the park’s beautiful beach in Live
Oak, Fla. The nice weather seems to make everybody play with a little more
verve.
Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. Josh Webster photo.
Friday night headliners Tedeschi Trucks Band seemed to stretch out some, bracketing their hard-charging blues songs
with improvisational jams that bent the mind.
To call Derek Trucks a great guitar player is a massive understatement, and
anyway, it doesn’t seem to quite capture it.
He and wife Susan Tedeschi and the band have mad soul chops and an infectious
emotional energy that felt just right under the domed, starry sky of the park’s
Meadow Stage.
The Motet's Jans Ingber getting down. festgrrl photo.
We’d already been treated to some fine performances Thursday
night by headliners Lake Street Dive, and by the bands that went before,
including the Ivey West Band, Band of Heathens, Parker Urban Band, The
Congress, The Corbitt Brothers, The Motet, and Nikki Talley. A fine night of music, indeed, with The Motet
presiding over a massively funky dance party that set the weekend mood. Singer Nikki
Talley had a tough job, following that party-time. But she took the porch stage
with her husband, Jason, and, with a clear, strong voice, showed us all what gorgeous
mountain music is all about.
Rebirth Brass Band. festgrrl photo.
The soulful Parker Urban Band out of Jacksonville
gave another great showing, continuing their inspiring rise. The indie-rock band
The Congress was new to me, and Woah! – I was blown away by the vocals of
Jonathan Meadows, a bearded ginger-haired fellow who had a sound like Wilson
Pickett. More show-stopping vocals came from Lake Street Dive’s Rachael Price.
I saw this band at Floydfest in Virginia when they won the “Bands on the Rise”
award several years ago – now they are headlining to adoring crowds.
On Friday, I caught The Applebutter Express, a bluegrass
band out of Tampa with an infectious groove, a great lead singer in Shannon Bliss,
and a sly sense of humor. Berry Oakley’s Skylab, which has lineage from
the Allman Brothers, rocked the ampitheater stage before The Lost Bayou
Ramblers got folks funky-stepping.
Col. Bruce Hampton. festgrrl photo.
Quirky Col. Bruce Hampton drew the faithful together
for a solid set before two bluegrass powerhouses, the Steep Canyon Rangers and
the Del McCoury Band, played on (unfortunately) competing stages.
Del McCoury Band. Josh Webster photo.
The night rounded out with another set by The
Congress, Quartermoon, The London Souls, Doyle Bramhall II, the Travelin’
McCoury’s with steel-guitar star Roosevelt Collier, the afore-mentioned
heavenly Tedeschi Trucks Band, followed by another balls-to-the-wall funk set
by The Motet late-night.
festgrrl photo.
Saturday morning (OK, it was noon) opened with a wonderful
ampitheater set by Steve Pruett’s Back from the Brink, a really good bluegrass band featuring
mandolinist Steve Pruett and his daughter, fiddler Lindsay Pruett. One highlight was their killer bluegrass version of Bill Withers’ “Use Me Up.”
Dad Steve, daughter Lindsay Pruett. festgrrl photo
I always love a set by Wisconsin bluegrass originals Sloppy
Joe, who graciously host the late-night campfire picking venue, Slopryland,
each MagnoliaFest. They performed in the Music Hall
Saturday afternoon, even though it was awfully hard to be inside ANYWHERE with
the stellar fall weather. Folk artist Whetherman (the nom de plume of Nicholas
Williams) hit the Porch Stage, this time bringing a band along with him and
turning out tight harmonies and thoughtful lyrics.
Whetherman. festgrrl photo.
Jerry Joseph and the
Jackmormons then set the stage on fire with aggressive electric guitar. Bluegrass
duo Grits & Soul and Americana legend Jim Lauderdale rounded out the day in
the Music Hall. Jeff Austin, former
mandolin player (and co-founder) of Yonder Mountain String Band, kicked off the
evening’s entertainment on the Meadow Stage.
Unfortunately, I had to miss this set.
The Quebe Sisters. festgrrl photo.
I caught the
angel-singing and fiddle playing of the Quebe Sisters and the brass blast of
New Orleans’ Rebirth Brass Band, the fast-as-hell picking of Grandpa’s Cough
Medicine and the funky power of The New Orleans Suspects before Friday’s
headliners, The Avett Brothers.
The Avett Brothers. festgrrl photo.
I am an Avett Brothers fan from way back, and I have seen a
lot of Avett shows, and this one was a straight-ahead gift to the faithful. The
band was in turns tender and folky, funny, punk frenzy, boy-band harmonizers,
and even a nod to Arena rock. Fiddler Tania Elizabeth, formerly of The Duhks,
did a haunting solo French Canadian fiddle and vocal song. The Avetts played
some of my very favorite tunes, and came back for two encores -- one during which they played a very cool
old-time instrumental rag.
Donna the Buffalo's Jeb Puryear. festgrrl photo.
The rootsy New York state jamband with a Cajun flair, Donnna
the Buffalo, took the ampitheater stage late night for a wonderful show. Jeb
Puryear’s guitar playing is complex, soulful and just plain magical, and the
band kept the groove high, turning out a passel of favorite songs to a packed,
continually dancing crowd. Their music just makes me feel so good, and I love
the energy from the dancing fans. Being in that crowd is one of my very
favorite things in life.
On Sunday the fest always telescopes down to a smaller, more
intimate experience. All the music acts happen on the same stage, the beautiful
Spanish-moss draped ampitheater. Again, we had another picture-perfect day,
blue skies, mild temperatures and puffy clouds. As most people packed up in the
campgrounds, the rest of us grabbed beverages and hammocks and settled in. Big
Cosmo, Grandpa’s Cough Medicine, and Jim Lauderdale entertained all afternoon,
and at 4:30 Keller Williams Grateful Gospel took the stage.
Keller brought
along luscious lady backup singers, and they moved nicely through Grateful Dead
covers during the afternoon.
Then it was time for the traditional closer, Donna
the Buffalo’s Sunday evening set. One more band, one more dance-fest, and it
was time to be on our way home, until the magic starts again next year. Lucky us.
Pensacola Nov. 4
Ponte Vedra Nov. 5
St. Pete Nov. 6
Tallahassee Nov. 7
Orlando Nov. 8
If you've never seen these pioneers of "Poly-ethnic Slam-Grass," you owe it to yourself to grab your dancing shoes and catch one of these shows. With sly humor, serious musical chops, a tilted approach to the genre and a general attitude of good cheer, Leftover Salmon never disappoints.
Check out this performance of "Aquatic Hitchhiker." (And don't be lulled by the slow beginning, 'cause these boys RAGE.)
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