Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Bear Creek Festival: 10 Things To Know Before You Go


1. There’s a silent disco for late nights – everyone wears headphones at this all-night dance space, near Rees Lake in the campground, so as not to disturb sleeping campers or the park’s neighbors. It kicks off Friday night, when you’ll be dancing to the sounds of Skerik and Freekbass starting at 2 am.


2. Bear Creek has a special attribute that most other fests at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park lack: a stage in the campground on cypress-lined Rees Lake. This is great for a number of reasons, the first of which is that you can bring your own beverage to this stage. To get to all the other stages in the park, You have to go through a checkpoint and you are not allowed to bring in your own beverages, other than water. 

The campground stage
3. The white sand Suwannee River beach is not to be missed. Be aware that the river is a long walk from the fest site -- grab a bike, a ride, or a golf cart. Sooooooo worth it. 

Beach on the Suwannee River

4. Sunday night is awesome for those lucky enough to stay around for it. The musicians are loose and happy, the fest workers are loose and happy, there’s only two alternate stages running during the day (no decisions to make), then Dumpstaphunk and Lettuce (yes!!) close out the weekend in a funk frenzy. Plus, if your feet are all played out, you can chill in a hammock. The informal rule is you can use anybody's hammock until they get back. 

Hammocks in the Ampitheater

5. There's a giant bat house! It is just beyond lake camping in the field. At sunset, you can grab a beverage and go watch incredible numbers of bats fly out! Be aware, the people sitting closest to the bat house get sprayed with bat piss, so back off a bit. “Sprayed with bat piss” is a sentence I never expected to write. I also never expected to be sprayed with bat piss in my life, which is why I am warning you now. Back off a bit and enjoy the amazing bat show. 

The bat house
6. The on-site Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park restaurant has a good breakfast buffet. They have nice bathrooms. Also a really cool hand-painted mural of local wildlife. You can also get liquor drinks and good food from the restaurant while watching shows in the Technaflora Music Hall Stage.

7. This year, there are free, handy Bear Creek phone apps with schedules, maps, and other info.

8. The bathhouse on the road that says “Special Persons Camping,” just past the Purple Hat Meadow Stage, usually has the most hot water in its showers.

9. It can get chilly at night in North Florida, so don’t skimp on sweaters and blankets. We have been known to call this festival Brrrrrrr Creek. Fleece and ample firewood are your best friends. Bring your funky warmies -- the costume theme for Saturday night is “Warm and Fuzzy.”



10. There's an emu living at the park, back behind the horse camp. He's a freaky bird!


Monday, November 5, 2012

New Bear Creek Phone App - Handy dandy


Wonderful Wild Rumpus replica painted by Beth Hutchinson.
Get the Bear Creek App and Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!!

I don't know about you, but I have a great capacity for losing my printed fest program about six seconds after I arrive at my camp site. I usually find the program when I am packing up to leave -- then take it home in pristine condition for my vast collection of fest memorabilia.

So I am thankful to the folks putting on Bear Creek Music and Art Festival this week at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla. Because now the schedule and other info will be on my phone, which I do a better job keeping track of, since I use it as a camera and to blog (if I remember to) during the weekend.

So here is where you can get this wonderful app:

Apple users can download the app here 

Android users can download the app here

And here's a video to get us all psyched up for this weekend!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Riverhawk Festival near Tampa

Such a sweet stage and venue!
Bluegrass, folk. and roots music rein at the Riverhawk Festival, which happens at the lovely Sertoma Youth Ranch in Brooksville, Fla., outside Tampa Nov. 8-11 (Unfortunately for many music fans, it's the same weekend as Bear Creek at Spirit of the Suwanee Music park in Live Oak, Fl, but hey, the more the merrier when it comes to fests.)

The lineup looks great:

FRED EAGLESMITH TRAVELING SHOW

Sertoma Youth Ranch is a super-chill venue that is very family-friendly. There's a neat stream running through the rolling property, nice bathhouses, and everything is close together. There are scheduled activities for kids. And you can bring dogs!
Sertoma Youth Ranch entrance

A 3-day ticket, which includes primitive camping, is $110 at the gate. Click here for more ticketing options, including extra days, etc. Water and electric sites are sold out at this point, and if you want to bring in an RV and camp in a primitive site, its an extra $60.  

If you can't make Riverhawk, consider String Break at this venue April 11-14.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Bear Creek Next Week!

The Groove Patrol

The funk fantasia that is Bear Creek Music and Art Festival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl., is almost here -- it happens Nov. 8-11.

If you like the funk, this is the place. Funk players from all over the world convene for this throw-down in the moss-draped woods, and you will see shows you will talk about for years.

It's hard to put your finger on what, exactly, makes one festival good, or even great, and another festival Epic. Bear Creek has that Epic Something. There's the smiling fest family vibe, the New Orleans joie de vivre,  the booty-shaking atmosphere everywhere you look, and the kick-ass performances.


The musicians are there to get down, the crowd is there to get down, and it's all good right there in paradise. This is what we're supposed to do in life, right?




Da Bear
All tickets include primitive camping. A 3-day pass is $165 online now. Thursday tickets cost another $50. Sunday's music lasts til 8  pm or so, and it's always a great night filled with collaborations, so plan on taking Monday off work if you can swing it.

Everybody loves the bear!
You can see the full schedule here. And click this link for a rundown of the performers we'll be shakin' it to.

See you soon!

Reese Lake camping


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Put A Spell on You: Voodoo Experience in New Orleans This Weekend

Neil Young and Crazy Horse headline Friday night

New Orleans hosts an all-star lineup for The Voodoo Experience this weekend -- Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Metallica, Jack White, The Avett Brothers, Skrillex.... and lots more, as you can imagine in this musical city. A 3-day weekend pass is $175, day passes are $90. Some 80,000 people are expected to attend over the 3 days.

This extravaganza takes place in New Orleans City Park, and this year marks the first time that there is camping available for an extra $150-$215 charge. You can't camp next to your car, though, and once you're in, you're in. All sites are primitive. No open fires allowed -- not even tiki torches or grills.

Our friends at Fuse TV have a handy guide to all you need to know for this festival, and the folks at NOLA.com have lots of great info as well.

Here is a look at the lineup:
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
The Avett Brothers
Kaskade
Gary Clark Jr.
Bootsy Collins
JFK of MSTRKRFT
Die Antwoord
Nervo
The Pimps Of Joytime
Say Anything
George Porter Jr. & Runnin' Pardners
Delta Rae
Supagroup
Thomas Dolby
Infantree
Skerik
Mike Dillon
Johnny Vidacovich
CC Adcock and the Lafayette Marquis
Beverly Skillz
Andy Suzuki
Big History
COYOTES
TBC Brass Band
Force Feed Radio

Monday, October 22, 2012

Magnolia Fest 2012 Delivers Great Performances


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!

All-star jam with Emmylou Harris in the center
Jeff Mosier raging at the all-star jam
My crazy friends
All star jam


AJ Ghent, KILLER lap steel player for Col. Bruce Hampton
Slopryland pumpkin!
Kip Kolb of kLob. This guy is WILD
Sloppy Joe from Wisconsin -- absolutely wonderful