One For Butch: 2017 Wanee Festival – Review, Photos & Video
By Scott Horowitz May 1, 2017 • 2:11 pm PDT
Words by: Scott T. Horowitz
Photos by: Joey Pye / Staged Right
Videos by: CHeeSeHeaD PRoDuCTioNS (Except Where Noted)
Wanee Festival :: 04.20-22.17 :: Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park :: Live Oak, FL
Check out a gallery of Joey’s photos as well as videos captured by CHeeSeHeaD PRoDuCTioNS after the review.
Butch Trucks was the point of the spear which led to the Wanee Festival taking shape. Since its inception, each year for more than a decade thousands have made pilgrimages to Wanee at the treasured grounds of the Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park for musical revelry, community, exaltation, celebration, and to dwell within the magic of The Allman Brothers Band songbook. But, in regards to that last point, Wanee is in a bit of a metamorphosis. The Allman Brothers Band haven’t played since 2014, Wanee’s prodigal son Derek Trucks hasn’t played the festival in just as long, for the first time since 2008 Gregg Allman was unable to perform due to his waning health, and following the tragic loss of drummer, Wanee-envisioner, and ABB founding member Butch Trucks, Wanee would begin in mourning.
How long would the somberness and sadness last? Not Long. A little before midnight Wednesday, from the crowded Mushroom Stage, settled at the bottom of a natural amphitheater enshrined by trees dripping with Spanish moss, Butch’s daughter, Melody Trucks, addressed the congregation.
“I’m so humbled by what comes from all of you,” she said. “This is exactly what my father saw when he thought that this would be a good idea to begin with. You guys made his dream come true. Thank you. We Love you.”
And in the light of Melody’s brave and graciously spoken incantation, Butch’s Freight Train Band cranked up “Hot’Lanta” and the revival known as Wanee 2017 went into full swing.
Butch’s son, Vaylor Trucks, shined throughout the set and Melody would rejoin the band throughout the night singing backup on songs like “Trouble No More” and “Ophelia” and holding her own when leading on “Statesboro Blues.” Joining the band was Luther Dickinson, who didn’t have much space for flexing his guitar prowess but seemed more than grateful and happy to play in Butch’s band alongside brother Cody Dickinson, for whom Butch Trucks had much reverence for as a drummer and a person. After a raucous “Compared To What,” Luther Dickinson declared, “In my humble opinion this is the greatest musical community and the greatest musical festival. It is my favorite. And thank you to our forefathers for inspiring us all and bringing us all together here.” From there the exponential ascension into the evenings finality was set in sequence: “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed” > “Whipping Post.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Brothers & Sisters from Philadelphia made their Wanee debut. Rooted by the lyricism and voice of Hannah McCarthy and her brother, guitarist Conor McCarthy, Brothers & Sisters ran through classic rock ‘n’ roll hits like The Band’s “The Shape I’m In” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” as well as original compositions featuring fat danceable grooves accented by tastefully swelling, modern indiepop-esque special vocal effects during choruses. The day also saw Ben Sparaco’s young career continue to gain traction within the Wanee community before The New Orleans Suspects threw down a cajun boiled set culminating with an onslaught of “Cocaine Jane,” a “Liz Reed” jam, the Fred Tackett & Paul Barrere-penned tune “Dixie Highway” and a finale of NOLA culture hymns “Big Chief” > “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” – all while being bolstered by the backbeat nastiness that is Willie Green behind a drumset.
Thursday would welcome Wanee staple the Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio with Bobby Lee later joining Leftover Salmon for “Down By The River.” Salmon ran through Neil Young songs highlighted by “Cowgirl In The Sand” and “Out On The Weekend,” featuring augmented lyrics, “Think I’ll pack it in and camp in a pickup / take it down to Suwannee” and, “She’s got pictures on her tent / they make me look up from her inflatable bed.” Later, Blackberry Smoke showcased a psychedelic set of rock ‘n’ roll as thick as a Florida swamp and as rolling as north Georgia hills and saw Devon Allman joining in on a harmonious rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Thursday night, Dark Star Orchestra opened up the Peach Stage by rolling through a re-creation of the Grateful Dead’s Cornell ‘77 performance. For the weekend’s first true midnight set, DJ Logic sent late night revelers into an absolute frenzy. Starting things off right with the Dead’s “The Music Never Stopped” and Kool & The Gang’s “Spirit of The Boogie,” the next near two hours was a cavalcade of deep house and nu-styled grooves accented by timeless musical bangers like The Dixie Cups’ “Iko Iko,” Kool’s “Jungle Boogie,” P-Funk’s “Atomic Dog,” Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and Naughty By Nature’s “OPP.” After a sweat drenched exhibition in dance aerobics and twerking, the late night faithful sprung into the woods with an extra hop in their step before the first full day of both stages.
Friday morning at 11 a.m. was viewed by many as an unjust time slot for emerging musical behemoth The Marcus King Band. In response, the good people of Wanee assembled in seemingly record numbers by packing the Mushroom Stage with more people for an 11 a.m. set than ever before. His early start to the day would prove a blessing in disguise as a few hours later he played on Wanee’s traveling stage from the Suwannee River to Spirit Lake and found himself fully marinated in the Spirit Of Wanee for when the night would find him cooking with the masters of his craft.
Matisyahu and North Florida native J.J. Grey each offered sets on the Peach Stage, though the sun made it difficult to beat the heat. Meanwhile, in the shade of the Mushroom Stage, Turkuaz displayed their blend of new age space funk rooted in having fun. Thanks to a friendly water balloon fight in the crowd, the hot and high vibes got even cooler. During a cover of “Don’t Do It,” the super stylin‘ singing duo of Sammi Garett and Shira Elias went full throttle with their symbiotically dynamic style echoing foremothers of soul like Bonnie & Sheila.
Bob Weir’s first set of the weekend began with a few solo acoustic songs including Little Feat’s “Easy To Slip” and the title track to his recent solo album Blue Mountain. The Campfire Boys joined him for a mix of cowboy songs and Dead tunes like “West L.A. Fadeaway,” “Cassidy,” a “China/Rider” finale and “Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” encore. The Campfire Boys proved to be a reliable, faithful and selfless band for Weir to lead. They all play with respect for him and respect for the songs while taking fresh approaches to how the tunes are played, relying more on service to the essence of the songs and less on emulation of how other bands have sounded.
Widespread Panic’s single night performance at Wanee this year kicked off with “Ain’t Life Grand” and wove its way through a spellbinding set. Toward the end of “The Last Straw,” Marcus King emerged on stage for his first time sitting-in with WSP. Duane Trucks’ rolling drums began The Allman Brothers epic twist on the timeless Donovan theme, “Mountain Jam.”
King was perhaps a bit too busy on rhythm while Jimmy Herring peeled through his first solo, though John Bell’s musicianship gave Marcus the space to work it out and find his place. After handing the leads off to keyboardist JoJo Hermann, Herring laid down a spacious rhythm part which King quickly caught on to before launching into a string of soaring runs from his guitar. Not just playing over changes but throwing the whole of Widespread Panic on his back, calling the peaks measures before, and daring the band to meet him there, King nailed every one. Following a drum break and a nasty bass solo from Dave Schools, Herring and King immediately dove into a freewheeling duet. The main riff returned, “Mountain Jam” came to an end, Marcus left the stage, and Panic continued on with a monstrous closing sequence of “Impossible” > “Big Wooly Mammoth” > “Christmas Katie” > “One Kind Favor” > “Saint Ex” > “Imitation Leather Shoes” before a “Blackout Blues” and “End Of The Show” encore.
Duane Trucks worked hard on Friday night, heading immediately to the Mushroom Stage to play in place of his uncle alongside Jaimoe for Les Brers’ midnight set. Les Brers opened up Wanee’s most sacred song book and set it on fire. Lamar Williams Jr.’s voice is a tremendous offering to Gregg Allman vocal parts when supported by the steadfast rhythm section including Oteil Burbridge and Marc Quinones. Pat Bergeson shined with both his guitar and phenomenal harmonica playing. Jack Pearson’s versatile playing saw him nail both the powerfully precise melodic parts of Dickey Betts and the unbound ethereal sonics of Duane Allman. Pearson is an unabridged badass. After a few ABB classics, Pearson fronted his own tune, “I Can Fix It” with a world class level of showmanship. Quinones moved to drum set in relief of Jaimoe for Bruce Katz’s “Just An Expression.”
Following a victorious “Blue Sky,” Jaimoe returned and the band kicked into a half-hour excursion of “Dreams” and “Jessica.” The former culminated in a psychotic explosion from Pearson’s guitar. In “Jessica,” after Katz and Bergeson took their turns soloing, again Pearson pushed the band to a new height – the phrase “hitting the note” comes to mind. “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’” was as greasy and as funky as one could ever hope for. Marcus King, having played the Mushroom Stage about 14 hours earlier in the day, came aboard for runs through “Hold What You Got” and “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed.”
Again, Marcus King rose to the occasion and threw an exclamation mark on what, in historical context, may turn out to be a legendary day at Wanee as the years roll on and King’s bright star continues to rise. After “Liz Reed,” Pearson thanked Dickey Betts and gave a shoutout to Gregg Allman before playing “Come & Go Blues.” Finally, Oteil’s opening riff to “Whipping Post” lit the fuse of what would be the night’s final blowout. After the sweltering solos, the jam’s final coda moved to a beautiful gospel progression – somewhere between “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” and “Amazing Grace” but not quite either. A heartbreakingly beautiful moving of spirit before the final words “…Good lord, I feel like I’m dying.”
Living legend Dr John and his band The Nite Trippers took to the early afternoon heat on the Peach Stage highlighted by a “Guilded Splinters” > “Gris Gris Gumbo Ya-Ya” and the usual hits “Right Place, Wrong Time” and “Such A Night.” To Commemorate Earth Day, Gov’t Mule set out with an opening sequence of “World Boss” > “Mother Earth.” Warren Haynes belting out his sermon “I don’t give a damn what your worth / When it all comes down / You’ve got to go back to Mother Earth.” Between “Eternity’s Breath” and “Forsaken Savior” was a poignant “St. Stephen” jam. Mule bought some time during a jam while the crew got Pearson’s amp setup for a sit-in. Once everything was locked in, he and Warren set the stage ablaze going back and forth like two heavyweights on Jeff Beck’s “Freeway Jam.” The set ended with a haunting medley of tunes: “When Doves Cry” > “Beautifully Broken” > “When Doves Cry” > “Effigy” > “Hey Joe” > “Effigy.”
Trey Anastasio came to town sharp as a knife and with his Trey Anastasio Band totally in tune with his direction while being accented by the percussive wizardry of Cyro Baptista. Trey seemed fully engaged and genuinely excited to be playing. The crowd was attentive and ready to boogie despite the relentlessly warm day. Trey went above and beyond in recognizing and honoring the stage he was on and the state of Wanee and mood of its festival goers. He even went so far as to share a personal story of his first hand revelation of the power of Butch Trucks’ drumming and its significance within the tapestry of sound that is The Allman Brothers Band by recalling his time in 2014 sitting in with the ABB at Wanee. Trey, while telling the story, spoke with a shaky voice sounding as though he may burst into tears at any moment. He held it together better than most in the crowd. And the tears continued throughout the crowd during the Butch Trucks dedicated “O-o-h Child.”
The rest of the set was a celebration of the now and not unlike a parade following a jazz funeral march – highlighted by new song “Everything’s Right,” whose lyrics read like a lost Martin Luther King Jr. speech transcript. The set closed with Jennifer Hartswick fronting the band on Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed & Confused.” Jennifer would kick into a gear belting out notes and right when she’d seem ready to breathe or back off, she’d dig deeper and soar higher. I have never witnessed an exorcism, but this writer could feel a direct relation between Hartswick’s vocal runs and the relinquishing of evil in the minds and hearts of humanity.
Bob Weir’s second set of the weekend began again solo with “Two Djinn” > “Corrina” > “Two Djinn” before inviting Anastasio to join him. Though marred by some sound problems, the novelty of the moment shined through. After Dead repertoire tunes “Deep Elem Blues,” “Friend of The Devil” and “Bird Song,” the duo took Trey’s “Miss You” out for a spin. And, a surprising choice, but amazingly well done, was Lady Gaga’s “Million Reasons.” After Trey departed, Weir demanded patience and concentration from the crowd. Though, having just experienced a 45 minute acoustic set and then a few standardly slow paced cowboy songs, the crowd was growing a bit restless. After a short setbreak, Weir and The Campfire Boys returned for a set of Dead tunes that included “Dark Star,” “Playing In The Band,” “Eyes of The World” and “The Other One.”
The last chance to dance came in a tribute to Prince and David Bowie: a superjam featuring members of Kung Fu, Pink Talking Fish and Turkuaz, all of whom performed earlier in the day on the Mushroom Stage. The trio of “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “Let’s Dance” and “Let’s Go Crazy” gave way to a brief reprieve in “Space Oddity” but before you knew it, you were stepping through the door and floating in a most peculiar way. And then Prince’s “Sexy MF” ignited the Wanee massive into one final frenzied dance session before the reflective and heroic songs “Heroes,” “Purple Rain” and “All The Young Dudes” capped off the weekend’s music.
Saturday night the campgrounds exploded with camaraderie. Gatherings around campfires augmented by boomboxes and acoustic instruments, dance offs and sing-alongs. Freaks and weirdos from across the country cross pollinating ideas and music, and co-creating friendships which will last lifetimes. Eventually the crescent moon and Venus found their way into the morning sky, quickly followed by the Sun and the packing up and traveling homeward commenced.
The Spirit of The Suwannee Music Park is truly a treasure of a venue and one is hard pressed to find a better time of year than the spring to be there. Though the winters of this planet can be cold, so too can the winters of our lives. And though there may be more dark and cold days ahead for those who love Wanee and The Allman Brothers Band family, springtime always comes. Loved ones may pass away and precious memories may fade further into the distance of the past. The faint hope of revisiting or recreating such memories may give way to the certainty that it’s over, done with, and will never happen again. But, at Wanee, love is in the air, the people feel it, and, like springtime, revival is inevitable. And with the light which Wanee brings into our lives, may we shine it across this world until next time.
Photos by Joey Pye/Staged Right
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”527″ gal_title=”20170420 Wanee Pye”]Videos captured by CHeeSeHeaD PRoDuCTioNS
Playlist Tracklisting (As Of 5/1): Gov’t Mule – Eternity’s Breath > St. Stephen jam, Gov’t Mule w/ Jack Pearson – Freeway Jam, Trey Anastasio Band – Sand > Soul Rebel > Money Love & Change, Trey Anastasio – Butch Trucks Dedication > O-o-h Child, Trey Anastasio Band – Push On Til The Day > Clint Eastwood > Dazed & Confused, Bob Weir & Trey Anastasio – Deep Elem Blues, Friend Of The Devil, Bird Song, Miss You, Millon Reasons, Bob Weir & The Campfire Boys – Shakedown Street > New Minglewood Blues > Jack Straw, Bob Weir & The Campfire Boys – 4/22 Set Two, Pink Talking Fu-Kuaz – Young Americans > I Wanna Be Your Lover > Let’s Dance, Pink Talking Fu-Kuaz – Space Oddity > Sexy MF
