Suwannee Hulaween is fantastic annual jam and electronic festival at the beautiful Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL. It’s held close to the Haloween weekend and this year it was threatened by the Hurricanes which hit the area just three weeks earlier. The organizers, park, local team and volunteers worked tirelessly (well probably very tired) to clean up the part and prepare it for this festival that gets about 20,000 attendees. This recap has to start with a huge amount of gratitude to the team for pulling this off and to the organizers Paul Levine and Michael Harrison Berg for putting such an incredible lineup and awesome schedule together. This was my ninth Hulaween and I had an incredible experience which I’ll recap here. Shout out to the team at the ticket booths and security checks for an absolutely silky smooth entrance on Thursday morning and I was off to see the wizardry and magic that makes Hulaween so special.
Thursday
The HeadTones kicked off the entire fest on Thursday at the Amphitheater Stage and they gave an interstellar performance. In fact they kicked off with the Star Wars theme while sporting individual character costumes. I managed to capture the bulk of their set and you can feel the fun that they and the crowd are having. This Tampa funk band has an excellent horn section, (trumpet and sax), catchy lead and group vocals and stellar guitar work from the newest member Stephanie Perez. It was so good to be there for the opener and thanks to the scheduling lords, I was able to spend the bulk of the day at this OG stage.
Mike Dillon and Punkadelick was up next on the Amp stage. Mike is a brilliant vibe and percussionist out of New Orleans. Punkadelick includes the fabulous Nikki Glaspie (The Nth Power, Kamani) on drums and Brian Haas (Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey) on keys. The set was so much fun between the outstanding music, a cross between jazz and punk, with Mike’s super high charging voltage, his wild lyrics and the fabulous interplay between the three of them. The whole set can be seen in the video but I have it cued to a section where all three are playing the vibraphone. Totally insane!
Say She She, the throwback vocals group were up next in the Amphitheater. The soul band is fronted by Piya Malik (El Michels Affair, Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham and Nya Gazelle Brown. They are each great lead singers and alternated for most songs while also melding beautiful harmonies together. It was their first time in SOSMP and they really seemed to enjoy it and I’m sure the audience did as well – so many turned out for this great dance set.
Lettuce, today’s funk royalty returned to the Amp stage for an evening set for the first time in 5 years and it was a fantastic set. It was all I could’ve hoped for, a deep funk set including Yearnin’ Learnin’ (Earth, Wind and Fire), Moksha (which I haven’t heard for a while) and a brand new tune, The Matador, which the video is cued up to, and was an absolute knockout. It was the set I was hoping for and more and capped off a great day in the Amp for me.
Friday
Friday was another amazing Hulaween day where I probably saw the most music of any of my 9 Hulas due to scheduling of great acts in succession on the Meadows and Hallows stages oppositie each other. If you haven’t been to the festival, these two stages face each other and alternate between having a band on them. Scott Hopkins of MusicFestNews.com and I set up our command post under the “H” in Hula midway between the two stages and were there for the duration.
TAND started off on the Meadows (the biggest stage) under a blazing hot sun. This South Florida band delivered some very funky jams, excellent vocals and eminently danceable tunes.
Ajeva, the funk/rock band from St. Petersburg, FL, was up next on the Meadows stage, and they sounded great. This was a well-deserved move to a larger stage, and they delivered for all that were up and about.
Karina Rykman brought her prog rock, bass-first, in-your-face set to the Meadows stage, and she delivered. She announced that she just heard that Phil Lesh died, news that shocked her and the fans who heard it first here, and dedicated the set to him. This also set the stage for what was to come for the remainder of the fest. Karina’s energy is amazing; she does laps around the stage during the entire set, looking like she was enjoying the heck out of her set and making the most of it. Everyone was pumped up by this killer set—totally infectious energy from start to finish.
Dumpstaphunk, the legendary New Orleans funk band were up on the Meadows stage next. They are slightly reconfigured following the untimely death of long-time bassist Nick Daniels III with the great vocals of Viveca Hawkins. They are an OG band of the Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival in Suwannee and they are alawys terrific live.
String Cheese Incident then played their first set of this Hulaween and it was another standout. I don’t typically get the set lists for SCI, but I know a lot of the stuff they play, especially the covers, and am always amazed at their versatility in playing almost any style or genre.
Mildlife is an Australian psychedelic jazz-fusion band that is right in my wheelhouse. They were my #1 “new” band that I wanted to see and they somehow exceeded my expectations. I’d put them as a cross between three of my favorite bands – Lotus, Jungle and Snarky Puppy – as improbable as that sounds. In fact, Lotus actually covers their tune Automatic which was the last tune of this set. They have infectious rhythms, tight grooves and at times, some jazz-flute mixed in which was fantastic to watch and hear. There were some dedicated repeat fans up front but I think for a lot of Hulaweeners, this was thier first set and they were converted new fans.
Cory Wong followed Mildlife on the Hallows stage, after another SCI set. Cory delivers a big band performance with a 5 piece horn section, the best in the business right now for its size. Cory’s blistering guitar playing, high energy and stage presence pumped up the crowd. This was definitely a highlight set of the day (sorry I didn’t get some vid).
Black Pumas were the Friday headliner on the Meadows stage and they were fantastic. Their “psychedelic soul,” was a great nightcap for me. The weather was perfect, the sound was great and the whole field was packed. As it turns out, I ended up seeing 9.5 artists that day including 1/2 of Tipper at the very end — it was a helluva run.
Saturday
Sauce Pocket started off my Saturday for my first venture over to the Spirit Lake stage. The sun was hot and bright coming over my shoulders and I was questioning my sanity as I guzzled water to stay hydrated. But the band delivered big time with their excellent funk fusion set that was amped up with the addition of dynamic vocalist Jessica Jones. It was definitely worth the trek and the sweat to hear the sweet Sauce Pocket jam. I had to sacrifice hearing The Honey Hounds who were just preceding this set on the Meadows stage and I heard they tore it up – I’ll make it a point to catch them next time.
Andy Frasco and the U.N. was up on the Hallows stage by the time I got back to the field and they always are an all out crazy party. Andy is a master at getting the crowd involved and this time he led a Saturday afternoon “Hora” dance in the middle of the field.
The rest of Saturday was again spent under the “H” for the String Cheese Incident + Umphrey’s McGee Relay Marathon. The Saturday theme set was Weird Science, an all SCI set and that was a bit different than the last few years. Umphrey’s McGee, the jamband powerhouse, was quite fierce on the Hallows stage for their two sets as well.
Sunday
Holly Bowling started off Sunday with a solo set and it was exquisite. I’ve always enjoyed her playing but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a solo set and I was blown away. It was a absolutely stunning way to start the day
The Aint Sisters up on the Meadows stage followed Holly and they kicked it up several notches. They delivered a hard driving jam-folk set that was quite powerful. They were followed by Greensky Bluegrass back on the Hallows stage. They were consistent with the Sunday folk and bluegrass theme in the big field and we staked our position under the “H” again for much of the day.
The Bobby Weir Incident was planned as the main event for Sunday. The unexpected passing of Phil Lesh brought extra meaning to these sets. Bob Weir teamed up with Cheese for two sets on The Meadow stage. Naturally they paid tribute to Phil as shown in the video “Box of Rain” where they implored the crowd to sing along. The whole day was quite poignant and turned out to be a once in a lifetime event.
The New Mastersounds closed out the entire festival with an all-time favorite set. I believe they were original scheduled for 1.5 hours but due to some schedule shakeups, they actually played 2.5 hours, by far the longest set of the fest, and longest I’ve ever seen from them. They were albe to roll out more than 25 of their classics, old and new. I’ve got to reexamine the list to see exactly what was played and what order but it was amazing. NMS are one of my fave bands of all time and I see them every chance I get. Thye play the best retro funk music and for me this set actually seems more futuristic than others. They somehow jumped the shark into new psychedelia sections with Joe Tatton hitting with some heady synth riffs and Eddie ripping guitar next to him. They rhythm section of Simon Allen on drums and Pete Shand on bass is absolutely one of the tops in the world. When Eddie and Pete drop back into a duo grooving along, they are unmatched. If you every are curious about what true funk masters sound like, watch this set in its entirety. Somehow, I managed to make it from the very first set of this festival to the very last and I’m proud and happy to make the full marathon. Again, it was a monumental momentous festival and I so much appreciate the organizers, the artists, the staff and the fans that were so helpful, supportive and friendly along the way! Till next year Hula!
