Sunshine Get Down Hosts Musical Fun In Florida With Andy Frasco, Big Something, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong & More

Sunshine Get Down happened from Thursday, April 10 through Saturday, April 12 at the simply incomparable venue that is Florida Sand Music Ranch. The weekend was sunny and pleasant, the crowd warm and enthusiastic, the music hot and diverse – something for everyone from bluegrass to folk to pure, unadulterated, face-melting jam.

Sunshine Get Down, now in its third year, was conceived by Turner Moore, a Sarasota musician. His connections to the Florida music scene run deep, and the festival’s lineups reflect that, with acts drawn from all over the state. There were also, of course, well known headliners with Big Something, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Andy Frasco & The U.N. topping the bill.

Florida Sand is a one-of-a-kind venue, run by folks who know exactly what music lovers want in a multi-day festival: a low key, hassle free environment; an idyllic camping area; and, a solicitous staff who recognize that their job is to create an exceptional experience. And once again, Florida Sand delivered. I’ve never been to a festival venue where the coveted all-access badge means as little as it does here. People are expected to behave and be respectful, and they did. This was my third festival there, and I simply cannot more highly recommend to make it a destination for any music fan.

Two stages were set up side by side: The Get Down Stage under the permanent pavilion and the Blueberry Patch Stage, sponsored by the art community oriented non-profit The Blueberry Patch, a Florida Gulf coast music scene fixture for nearly 40 years. The music never stopped, as the next band was introduced just as the applause for the previous act died out.

Thursday

Sauce Pocket from Jacksonville got the party started with a simply groovy instrumental set in front of a surprisingly large audience for a first show on a Thursday afternoon. Their music is full of tempo changes that go in unexpected directions drummer Riley O’Brien leading the way with a complex, often off-beat rhythm. The result was a full dance floor and a juiced crowd, primed for the weekend. My inquiries to guitarist Steven Rose about a setlist were met with a shrug: “There’s no planning, we just improvise.” The perfect jam band answer.

Sharing a love of the eclectic music of Django Reinhardt, Matt Frick and Ashton Farmer formed Western Gypsies, who played Thursday afternoon. Besides songs from Reinhardt, their set included some immediately recognizable numbers, gypsified as it were. Gypsy music just isn’t quite the same without a violin, and thus accompanying their guitar work were Kevin Aland on violin and Amor Aggari on cajon. It’s hard to believe that Aland was playing with Western Gypsies for only the second time; his timing and phrasing were perfect, as was Aggari’s percussion.

Big Something lived up to every ounce of hype they’ve earned on the jam circuit, where they are a persistent fixture. Nominally a “jam band,” with their penchant for extended improvisational sojourns, Big Something is truly a rock band. Jesse Hensley’s lead guitar is overwhelming, with annihilating power chords and soaring arpeggios. Matt Laird knows how to freak a bass. With the addition of Casey Cranford on sax and E.W.I., Ben Vinograd’s seismic drumming, and Nick MacDaniel’s powerful vocals, the result is a sonic tableau that is simply enormous.

When Big Something mounts the stage you know in your bones you’re listening to a BIG TIME act. They simply blew the doors off Thursday night: I glanced around at various times during their set and saw a lot of jaw-dropped, head-shaking, “holy shit!” looks of shock and awe. Their intense set closed out with their “Heavy” into “David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream,” at which point they were joined by Tire Fire's Dani Jaye on fiddle for “Amanda Lynn.”

The audience demanded an encore however, and was treated to a sweet and spacey “Bob and Weave,” closing Thursday and sending everyone back to their campsites talking up the show.

Friday

Sarasota’s Tuff Son got Friday morning started with a set of solid original material before a sparse morning crowd. Jeph Kerber’s gritty, gravelly voice accompanied his guitar and occasional ukulele while Mike Fender pounded out a steady rhythm on his kit. Michael Hoffman didn’t move much, but laid a foundational bass. While not a reggae band, about half of their set was island-inspired music. Their songs are full of sly humor, too, with numbers like “Strap-On” and “Taco Hell.”

The future of Florida music was put on notice when Iron Curtain took the stage. These kids (and kids they be – not one of them is over 13) play with abandon and a poise that belies their tender ages. They don’t just play covers either; their single “Wannabe” dropped on streaming platforms the day they performed. Soleil Truba (12) had style and range on vocals. Nora Widner (10, yes, 10) and Cyrus Layland (11) laid down a solid groove on bass and drums. , the old man of the group at age 13, was a lively stage presence on guitar.

Products of the Tampa dream factory that is the Sgammato School of Music, these kids are living out their ambitions, and what a thrill it must be for them to play a festival in front of an appreciative, supportive and enthusiastic crowd. A couple of hours after their set, I happened by the playground and saw the band, hanging on the monkey bars, spinning on the tire swing and looking like the little kids they are. It was touching.

The bluegrass form was properly repped by Sicard Hollow, making the trip down from Nashville. They gave the festival exactly what you’d want in a bluegrass set: lovely vocal harmonies, stringed instruments masterfully played and infectious toe-tapping rhythms. Their set featured the live debut of “High Up In A Tree,” and a cover of Phish’s “Sparkle” that blew through six gears of speed, each more breakneck than the one before until fingers were merely a blur.

There’s nothing like a Grateful Dead set to draw a festival crowd. Crazy Fingers played in one of the most heavily attended shows of the weekend, with some truly original takes on Dead standards. Their “Me And My Uncle,” for example, was recognizable only through the lyrics. But they also did traditional versions of songs from the catalog, well loved and intimately known by attendees.

“Toubab” is a somewhat derogatory West African term for a foreigner, usually white. Toubab Krewe‘s name might be tongue-in-cheek, but their skill in rendering a blend of rock ‘n roll with Afrobeat is simply inspired. Now in their 20th year, Toubab Krewe’s music is layer upon layer of complexity.

Justin Perkins’ mastery of the kora and the kamel ngoni (24 and 12 string lutes,) is complete, having studied and lived in West Africa. Played through some mild guitar effects, his instruments produced a dreamy sound atypical of rock music. Drew Heller’s incredibly versatile guitar ranged in styles that varied from Dick Dale to Johnny Winter. Luke Quaranta’s percussion was intricate and unusual while Justin Kimmel’s bass provided a reference point for the dancing crowd.

The result was the most singular musical experience of the weekend: amazingly sophisticated yet completely accessible as evidenced by their rendition of the traditional Appalachian folk song, “Cluck Old Hen,” the only vocal song of the set.

LaMP's set was a bit of a surprise, for this writer at least. I listened to their music extensively in my festival prep, and was expecting a true jazz/funk performance. But LaMP played a real rock show. Drummer Russ Lawton and keyboardist Ray Paczkowski are Trey Anastasio Band members, while Scott Metzger is guitarist for Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, so they certainly are no strangers to the rock genre.

Unfortunately, LaMP’s set was cut short just as it got cooking. A sudden Florida deluge had the crew scrambling to cover the equipment, especially Paczkowski’s classic Hammond organ, in the blinding rain.

The torrential downpour threw more than one spanner into the machinery Friday night. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong weren’t scheduled to take the stage until 10 p.m. But due to the general chaos – the wet crowd huddling under the pavilion – Pigeons graciously opted to start early, much to the gratitude of the audience.

PPPP is a universally fun show; if any band enjoys what they’re doing more, I haven’t seen them. Pigeons’ sound is characterized by Greg Ormont’s prominent un-effected rhythm guitar, which carries their music along and makes the contrast when Jeremy Schon begins his mind-melting shredding even more stark. Bassist Ben Carrey was not at the fest gig as he was busy welcoming his new son into the world (Congratulations, Ben!). Twiddle‘s Zdenek Gubb filled in, and did such an outstanding job you’d never know he wasn’t a full-time member.

Opening with a banging “The Town,” the band never took their foot off the accelerator. On “King Kong” into Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” Gubb and drummer Alex Petropulos got into a savage back and forth while Schon and Ormont knelt and watched with awed smiles. The set, and Friday night with it, ended with a sonic voyage into psychedelia with about a 45 minute jam of “The Hop” into “F.U.” into “Karma Police” into “Horizon” into “Poseidon” and finally back into “F.U.” at which point the crowd was hoarse from screaming.

It was just nuts. PPPP bounced off the stage with a joyous “A New Day” and the audience went home absolutely spent.

Saturday

The final day of The Sunshine Get Down started off with St. Petersburg’s The Jazz Daddy Os, who took a little perambulation around the Florida Sand camping area, playing their New Orleans style swing band music and alerting anyone still in bed that Saturday was underway. The band members have at least 100 combined years of experience and it certainly shows when they play.

In an unexpected placement early Saturday morning, Tad Cautious threw a Talking Heads dance party under the pavilion. Neil Cleary’s alter ego is famous in jam world for hosting The Bunny at Phish festivals and on SirusXM’s Phish Radio. I might not have even mentioned the set had it not been so well attended and thoroughly danced. But hey, who doesn’t know and love this music, especially when mixed into a throbbing dance groove.

Displace, out of Tampa and a consistent presence at Florida Sand, was also the victim of unforeseen circumstances. Chris Sgammato was recovering from not one, but two collapsed lungs. Obviously this meant no sax playing or singing. So Displace just decided to wing it, getting on stage and improvising. But these guys can jam, and not only did they pull it off, it was outstanding: 75 minutes without a pause as one loose interpretation of their songs flowed into another. Matt Weis, the guitarist from Antelope, was on the festival grounds and joined Displace for “Needles” at the end of the set, and it was one of the many fantastic moments of the weekend.

Purveyors of sacred steel – a roots gospel originating in the House of God denominational church – The Lee Boys brought their testimony and gave attendees a taste of music not often heard at a jam fest: traditional praise music and mix of secular classics. Led by Derrick Lee on vocals, and featuring Frank Owens on pedal steel guitar, The Lee Boys drifted through blues, funk, R&B and rousing gospel, covering immortals such as Bill Withers and The Staple Singers. Their set included a slow “Hey Joe,” Owens’ guitar weeping through the solos, and closed with “Don’t Let the Devil Rise” right out of church with arm raising and hand clapping.

“Manic” does not even begin to describe an Andy Frasco show; I’ve not seen such onstage insanity since Gogol Bordello. His act is so high energy that one wonders how it is even sustainable.

Not only is Frasco a wild man on stage, his band members embrace the madness as well with Sam Kelly hopping atop speakers to wail on his sax and Shawn Eckles leaping about while blaring out his lead guitar.

Starting their set off with typical high voltage on “Who’s Making Love With Your Old Lady,” the set never let up. About 5 minutes in, I had to stop taking notes: the act was so frenetic that to look away was a missed moment of craziness. Trying to piece it together a day later is like trying to remember a dream.

At one point Joe Cosas came up on trombone and Matt Cocuzza and Chad Cocuzza of Spoonfed Tribe joined The U.N. with parade drums and the lunacy was complete. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong tour manager Bret Peretz name happened to still be around and was rewarded by Frasco making him crowd surf and do an upside down shot of Jameson out of the bottle. This feat Frasco immediately replicated and then plunked down off stage and led the audience in the hora in honor of Passover.

By the time it ended, I felt exhausted just by watching.

Just in case anyone still had the energy to dance after the live music officially ended, Sunshine Get Down closed out with a “silent disco” helmed by Tad Cautious in a more traditional time slot. Under another pavilion, gorgeously lit and decorated with Planet Zuton’s amazing inflatables, dancers wore blue LED decorated wireless headphones and moved in silence. It was a beautiful sight and the perfect ending to three amazing days.

Credit to everyone involved in the production for the festival: Audio One Sarasota for running the boards, LaserFox for a great light show and, of course, the Florida Sand Music Ranch for hosting another fantastic multi-day camping music fest.