Purple Hatter's Ball Was a Ball For All

Sweeties!

Monarch butterflies fluttered through the campground at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida on Saturday afternoon at The Purple Hatter's Ball. The magical butterflies were released on the ampitheater stage by Rachel Morningstar Hoffman's friends and family in a memorial service to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the Florida State University graduate's tragic death.

Spirit of  the Suwannee was one of Rachel's favorite places, and in the years since her death, friends and family have gathered together to listen to the live music she loved. And wear the purple hats in her honor.

This year's fest was a raging dance party from start to finish, capped off by a blistering 3-hour set by Colorado power-funk masters The Motet on Sunday night.

Rachel's' mom, Margie Weiss, in the 2013 memorial

Rachel Hoffman

Rachel  was stopped in Tallahassee in 2007 for a traffic violation and arrested for having pot. Police convinced her to be a confidential informant to avoid jail and a criminal record. For her first assignment, the Tallahassee Police had her buy guns and drugs from two big-time drug dealers.The police lost track of Rachel during the sting and the drug dealers shot Rachel to death.

After her death, Rachel's family advocated successfully to change the confidential informant law.  “Rachel’s Law” is now in place to protect others from the same kind of coercion by authorities. The family also won a wrongful death suit against the City of Tallahassee.

And now, every Mother's Day Weekend is Purple Hatter's Ball. It is a small,  intimate, friendly festival with a kind vibe, good food, nice wares and a great crowd.

Rachel's mom and friends

This year the fest started early with a Thursday pre-party. On Friday, folks started strutting their purple outfits while a host of bands took to the stages. A funk band out of Atlanta, Cherrry Royale, played Friday afternoon and was among the best bands of the weekend. Friday featured the reggae band Trial by Stone, jammers The Heavy Pets, newgrass pickers Grandpa's Cough Medicine, electronica acts The Fritz, Greenhouse Lounge and Emancipator Ensemble, and New Orleans R&B group The Nth Power.

Cherry Royale

Like I said, people came out with some FINE finery:

Saturday was another packed day of music. Standouts included the newgrass band Applebutter Express, reggae band Dubconcious, and North Florida sex-rock band, Catfish Alliance.

Applebutter Express

Dubconcious

The progressive Appalachian groove band, Rising Appalachia, gave a spellbinding performance at happy hour in the ampitheater.

Rising Appalachia

Rising Appalachia

Rising Appalachia

Another Saturday standout; Space Capone, kickin' it disco style and shaking the booties. If you like to dance, don't miss this band.

The Mind-Officially-Blown Award goes to Beats Antique. I don't even know how to describe this show, but I will try: Balinese dancers dancing inside flames projected behind the stage, acrobatic shadow dancing, a GIANT inflatable Cyclops monster with psychedelic lights projected on it jumping out of the stage and over the crowd, a Vaudeville-themed "game show" film running behind the musicians -- just an amazing spectacle set against Middle-Eastern inspired electronica beats. This is the wildest stage show I have seen outside of The Flaming Lips. I'm sorry I did not get any pictures that would even begin to show how wild it was.

The Floozies out of Lawrence, Kansas delivered a solid jam/dance show and British funkateers The New Mastersounds rounded out the night with a dance frenzy just when we thought we couldn't dance anymore.

Sunday was a special day of music, with many bands from festgrrl's hometown of Tallahassee on the bill. The Avis Berry/Scott Campbell and Friends show was a gospel/folk/blues/Americana wonder. Here are some pics of that marvelous performance:

The amazing Avis Berry -- goosebumps

Guitarist extraordinaire Scott Campbell

Tallahassee jamband Stillwood ended a long hiatus with a solid performance on the porch stage.

 Stillwood's Danny Goddard brought out the purple guitar

Stillwood's Danny Goddard and Brian Durham

A group I had never seen before but definitely want to see again was the Miami Latin dance band Locos por Juana. Just when we thought we couldn't dance anymore, they sparked it up

Locos por Juana

And then it started raining ever so gently, enough to cool us all off but never enough to be bothersome. Surprise, The Motet started early, and powered through a 3-hour killer set to bring Purple Hatter's Ball to a close.

The Motet

Purple Hatters Ball, Y'all

Rachel Hoffman

Update: Go to the festgrrl Facebook page to check out photos and coverage of the The Purple Hatters Ball -- as long as the cell signal holds out!

The Purple Hatters Ball  happens this coming weekend (May 9-11) at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla. This sweet little fest, in its seventh year,  honors the life of Rachel Morningstar Hoffman, a festgoer who loved to sport a purple hat. Rachel senselessly lost her life during a drug string botched by law enforcement. Her death sparked changes in law. Rachel's parents and friends gather each year to remember her and listen to the music she loved in the place she loved.

A three-day weekend ticket (which includes primitive camping)  is $100. A ticket to the Thursday night pre-party is $20.

This is a smallish fest, and it tends to skew toward younger college and post-college folks. Very sweet crowd and danceable music all weekend long. The excellent Colorado funk band, The Motet, closes out the festival Sunday night.

The lineup:

Beats Antique • Emancipator Ensemble • The New Mastersounds • The Motet • The Floozies • The Nth Power • Space Capone • Rising Appalachia • The Heavy Pets • The Fritz • DubConscious • Greenhouse Lounge • Catfish Alliance • Avis Berry & Scott Campbell Band • Locos Por Juana • Grandpa’s Cough Medicine • Applebutter Express • Stillwood • Ketchy Shuby • Trial By Stone • Cherry Royale • Shoes and Laces • S.P.O.R.E. • Herd of Watts • Parker Urban Band • Squeedlepuss • Jason Lamar & The Rig • Jacksonvegas • Love Chunk • Stereo Vudu • DJ Ruby • Morning Fatty • Flat Land • Antique Animals • Hail Cassius Neptune • Universal Green • Bells and Robes • MSNRA • Parker Robinson • Yankee Slickers • Famato

Bruuuuuuuuce!

The Boss

Bruce Springsteen doesn't tour the South much, but he plays two dates in Florida this week -- the BB&T Center in Sunrise on Tuesday, May 29, and Tampa's Florida State Fairgrounds on Thursday, May 1. Then Bruce heads off to play the second weekend of New Orleans Jazzfest on Saturday, May 3.

Back in Florida this weekend, we've got the Big Guava Festival in downtown Tampa and the Gamble Rogers Festival in St. Augustine.

Big Guava is not a camping fest, it takes place at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. They will have amusement park rides, food trucks, and four stages with a slate of national acts, including Outkast, Vampire Weekend, Cake, Foster the People, Slightly Stoopid, and more.  It's $75 for a single day and $191 for the weekend. If you bring five non-perishable food items to the Will Call window you can get a free Big Guava poster created by artist David Lebo.

The Duhks

The Gamble Rogers Festival honors one of Florida's folk legends, the late Gamble Rogers, and has a host of rootsy acts, including The Duhks,  Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band, Pierce Pettis, Gatorbone and more. This is not a camping festival, it takes place  in various venues around St Augustine, including the municipal marina and  the large outdoor St. Augustine Ampitheater (which is adjacent to the campground at Anastasia State Park.) Friday tickets are $15,  Saturday tickets are $35, and weekend tickets are $45.

Here's a head's up on some fests coming right up:

Purple Hatter's Ball at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. May 9-11
Great South Music Festival at Picker's Paradise Park in Ochlockonee, Ga.  May 8-10
Shaky Knees, in downtown Atlanta May 9-11
Hangout Festival, Orange Beach, Alabama may 16-18
Orange Blossom Jamboree, Brooksville, Fla May 15-18

Whodat? Jazzfest, Baby!

Here it comes people -- the biggest fest in the Southeast. 

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival  kicks off Friday, April 25, for 10 days of constant performances. About the lineup --  Who ISN'T playing? Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Phish, Chaka Kahn, Public Enemy, Arcade Fire, The Avett Brothers, and on and on. 

A good place to start wrapping your arms around Jazzfest is NOLA.COM  and WWOZ.

And don't forget to visit the incomparable Maple Leaf Bar, which celebrates its 40th Anniversary with a  Funk N’ Stay Up concert series beginning at 3 am after the 11 o’clock shows end and proceeding on till the sun light comes shining down on Oak Street. Check out who is playing and get Maple Leaf show tickets here 

 

For those not hitting the Big Easy this weekend, the Counterpoint festival happens this weekend at Kiingston Downs, Ga. (near Rome, Ga.)  This is an electronica festival, headliners include Outkast, Pretty Lights, Foster the People, STS9, Big Gigantic. $180 advanced. Single-day tickets, $90.

Wanee's 10th One For the Record Books

Derek Trucks (left) and Warren Haynes. Josh Webster photo

The Allman Brothers Band in its current configuration may (or may not) be winding down at the end of this year, but one thing is for sure -- the band came out raging at the 10th annual Wannee Music Festival April 11-13..

Gregg Allman. Josh Webster photo. 

We had picture-perfect weather all Wanee weekend at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl., a large but laid-back crowd, and stellar performances. As for the Allman Brothers, they delivered a hard-charging set Friday night, and followed up Saturday with a more laid-back, ballad-y  set that picked up plenty before it was over. Gregg Allman, who has suffered from some recent health problems, sounded great. Since Gregg hurt his wrist during the weekend,  Kofi Burbridge played keys Saturday night.

First off, here are the the Allman Brothers Band setlist stats from our friends at Jambase:

Friday night:

Statesboro Blues, Midnight Rider, No One To Run With, Feeling Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home, Jessica, Who's Been Talking w/ Trey Anastasio & Jennifer Hartswick, Franklin's Tower w/Trey Anastasio, The Sky Is Crying, You Don't Love Me, Soulshine w/Duane Trucks, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed w/ Kofi Burbridge. Encore: Southbound.

Saturday night:

Set (w/ Kofi Burbridge): Don't Want You No More > It's Not My Cross to Bear, Don't Keep Me Wonderin', Revival, Dusk Till Dawn, Come And Go Blues, Trouble No More, Seven Turns, True Gravity, That's What Love Can Make You Do w/Eric Krasno, Stand Back, Blue Sky, I Walk On Guilded Splinters, Whipping Post. Encore: One Way Out w/Roosevelt Collier & John Popper.

Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. festgrrl photo. 

Some great Wanee performances came from the Honey Island Swamp Band out of New Orleans and Florida jam band Cope on Wednesday night; a sunny, happy reggae meadow set Friday afternoon by Ziggy Marley; a super funky set by Trey Anastasio Band  in the meadow Friday evening with some bad ass vocals by Jennifer Hartswick; a Talking Heads-Phish-Pink Floyd mash-up cover set by Pink Talking Fish Saturday afternoon; Blues guitarist Matt Schofield's Saturday afternoon throwdown followed by world-beat rockers Rusted Root; an inspired set for the Grateful Deadheads in the crowd Saturday evening by Melvin Seals and JGB; and a bluesy afternoon set by Chris Robinson Brotherhood,

Trey Anastasio sits in with the Allmans. Josh Webster photo.

Trey Anastasio, festgrrl photo. 

Rusted Root. festgrrl photo.

Rusted Root. festgrrl photo.

Matt Schofield. festgrrl photo.

I had to miss Thursday altogether due to other commitments, but I heard great reviews of the Blind Boys of Alabama, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Hot Tuna electric and, especially, Soulive's late-night closer set.

Soulive. Josh Webster photo.

Ziggy Marley. Josh Webster photo. 

I also missed the moe. show, but fan Reed Cornelison reports: "Fresh off the plane from a two week tour of Europe, moe. shared their love of Suwannee with a nice ten song set of tunes. Of course, the day would not be complete without the Allman-esque guitar riffs of their classic, Mexico."  

moe. Josh Webster photo

Here's the moe. Wanee setlist: Okayalright, Recreational Chemistry, Silver Sun > Puebla, Akimbo, Not Coming Down > Wormwood > Mexico, Buster, Godzilla.

Ivan Neville presiding over the Dumpstaphunk Zeppelin show. Josh Webster photo.

One of the best shows of the weekend was the spot-on, blistering Led Zeppelin cover set by Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk Friday night; Here's the off-the-chain great set list: Rock & Roll, Black Dog, Dancing Days,Custard Pie w/John Popper (harmonica), Houses of the Holy, Nobody's Fault But Mine w/John Popper (harmonica) , Misty Mountain Hop, What Is & What Should Never Be, Wanton Song, Good Times Bad Times, Trampled Under Foot, Out on the Tiles, Dyer Maker, The Ocean w/ Warren Haynes (guitar), Fool In the Rain w/ Warren Haynes (guitar), Ramble On w/ Warren Haynes (guitar), Whole Lotta Love w/ Warren Haynes (guitar) encore: Immigrant Song.

Seriously amazing.

Saturday night, the crowd packed the meadow to see the Allman Brothers family of bands trifecta -- Tedeschi Trucks Band, Warren Haynes' Gov't Mule, and The Allman Brothers Band.  The Mule set featured (thanks mule.net) Hammer & Nails, Going Out West, Whisper In Your Soul, Gameface with Mountain Jam Tease,Captured Stoop So Low (Outro 1,) If Heartaches Were Nickels,Stratus with Derek Trucks,Scared To Live,World Boss, Mule > Whole Lotta Love > Mule.

Jam-rockers Umphrey's McGee closed out Saturday late night with their "All Night Wrong" set comprised completely of covers. Again, thanks to Jambase, here's a look at the tunes Umphrey's absolutely killed in that late-night slot.

Umphreys McGee. Photo by Josh Webster. 

"The band kicked off the "All Night Wrong" set with their "Life During Exodus" mash-up and a take on Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains The Same." Next, a cover of The Clash's "Rock The Casbah" led into the first guest spot as John Popper played harmonica on The Rolling Stones's "Miss You." UM's version of "Hey 19" by Steely Dan segued into The Police's "When The World Is Running Down..." featuring Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge. Following a dub version of Pink Floyd's "Breathe," Umphrey's brought out Adam Deitch and Eric Krasno for John Scofield's "A GoGo." Haynes then emerged for "Immigrant Song" (Led Zeppelin) and "Black Water" (Doobie Brothers). The set came to a close with the trifecta of The Who's "Baba O'Riley," Hendrix's "Power Of Soul" and ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses." Umphrey's returned for a two-song encore of Van Halen's "Runnin' With The Devil" and a cover of The Beatles's "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" featuring Krasno on guitar."


There was lots of chatter all weekend about whether this will be "the last Wanee." With all the talent that's graced this excellent fest over the years, I'm going to bet the fest will be back next year and for years after that. Lucky us.

Allman Brothers Band. Photo by Josh Webster.