Furthur comes to our neck of the woods next week, with shows in Atlanta, Orlando, and Boca Raton. I know there are still tickets available online for the Orlando show at the UCF Arena.
The show they put on last year in Orlando (at the Hard Rock Live in Epcot, of all places) was one to remember. It wasn't some oldies Dead show. This was a chance for Grateful Dead players still at the top of their game to strut their stuff with some fine younger additions and take us along for the long strange trip. Phil Lesh anbsolutely KILLED it with his hellaciously jazzy-jammy bass lines.
Some people I know make fun of Deadheads for being grandparents and great grandparents by now. Well screw that noise. How beautiful to see all those ages mixed together at the show, grooving together to some very tasty tunes. To build a community in the 1960s and have it stil vibrant in the 2000s, well, that's a prodigious feat, and one to celebrate.
festgrrl will be celebrating at the Furthur show (with floor seats!) Sunday night at Atlanta's Fox Theater, oh yeah!
festgrrl is hitting the road this weekend to see sublime musicians The Punch Brothers at the Florida Theater Friday night in Jacksonville. If you haven't bought their album Antifogmatic, you really ought to.
I thought we could warm up with this choice little tune by these seriously talented lads:
The longtime bluegrass festival was run for the first time this year by Big IV Productions, the team of Paul Levine and Lyle Williams. The duo produce a number of music events and festivals, most notably the funkified Bear Creek festival held at Spirit of the Suwannee in the fall.
There were a lot of worries among the crowd last year that the Suwannee Springfest would change when longtime bluegrass promoters Beth and Randy Judy bowed out. But the worries were for naught. Beth and Randy were present this year, with big smiles. Both hit the stage as performers themselves.
Levine and Williams added a fresh sensibility to the lineup. They had bluegrass legends Larry Keel, David Grisman, Joe Craven, and Jesse McReynolds. They preserved festival faves Donna the Buffalo, Dread Clampitt, Jim Lauderdale, Ralph Roddenberry, Sloppy Joe, Tornado Rider, and the Mosier Brothers.
They also added hot newgrass acts -- The Avett Brothers, Emmit-Nershi Band, The Honeycutters, Danny Barnes, Steep Canyon Rangers, Josh Phillips Folk Festival, Cornmeal, Greensky Bluegrass, and Trampled by Turtles.
The new twists came with kick-ass danceable additions like the funky horn-heavy Motet, the high-energy Holy Ghost Tent Revival, and the absolutely astonishing avant-garde Surprise Me Mr. Davis. Surprise Me Mr. Davis is a super group with singer Nathan Moore, the members of The Slip and pianist Marco Benevento. They delivered, hands down, the best shows of the weekend, and some of the best music I have heard at a festival - period.
What is beautiful is to watch this event grow in new directions while elegantly honoring the traditions that make people return year after year to see their fest families and their favorite acts. Once again, we managed to build a beautiful, loving paradise among the live oaks along the Suwannee.
You can catch some great videos from the weekend here and here and here
Here is a great song by Surprise Me Mr. Davis. Enjoy!
Let's say you procrastinated and didn't get your advance tickets for Suwannee Springfest this weekend in Live Oak, Fl....
Well, providence is shining on you, festivarian, the gate price has just been cut by $30 for two-day weekend passes. The Sat/Sun pass, which includes two nights of camping, is just $115. On Saturday, music starts at 10 am and runs until 9 pm Sunday.
Verlon Thompson is one of the best performers at Suwannee Springfest this weekend, if you ask me. He's just a straight ahead fantstic singer and songwriter, without a lot of extra flash and hullabaloo.
Here's a little video to get you ready for the show!
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