Zac Brown Band
After two days soaking in the Florida sun, you’d probably be ready to find some shade. As luck would have it, the DeLuna Fest has got that covered as well. From the great food vendors, some of whom provided covered seating, to shaded hammock stations from ENO, it wasn’t too hard to find some respite from the late summer heat. NBC Sports Group also had a big tent with multiple TVs set up that gave the football faithful something to cheer about throughout the weekend. Between the music acts, gamers could also get their fix at the huge mobile PS3 truck brought in by Sony. But, it was the music that we were all here for, right?
Walking toward the festival grounds, my ears were already being attacked by the overdriven fuzz guitar attack of Bob Mould. After joining the Foo Fighters onstage the night before, the former Hüsker Dü/Sugar frontman stuck around to show kids that the older generation can still bring the rock. Did I mention it was LOUD?
The Wallflowers
The Wallflowers kicked things off on the main stage. The crowd was not the most excited they’d been this weekend, but on the final day of a weekend-long festival, that’s often to be expected. Keyboard player Rami Jaffee was the most animated player on stage and he gave the audience something to clap for. Did you know founding Chili Pepper and one-time Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons is now in this band? Yeah, neither did we.
Over on the GoPensacola stage, The Corin Tucker Band whipped the crowd there into a quiet frenzy. Tucker, of Sleater-Kinney fame, has developed a more mature sound, adding keyboards into the mix. Even though she’s making “middle-aged mom” records now, she’s also not afraid to let the Riot Grrrl out.
Superchunk
Fitz and the Tantrums
Chapel Hill, NC indie stalwarts Superchunk picked up where Bob Mould had left off on the second stage. They continued the 90’s alt-guitar attack, opening with “Learned to Surf” and not slowing down at all with “Crossed Wires” and “Hello Hawk.” Meanwhile, on the main stage, LA’s Fitz and the Tantrums picked up the audience with their unique brand of soulful indie funk. You can’t help but shake it a little when the horn section is doing their thing.
Florence + The Machine
Just as the sun set over the horizon, Florence + the Machine took to the WindCreek stage. Once the band had taken their places in front of a very enthusiastic crowd, a roar came forth as Florence Welch gracefully glided onto the stage. As they began with “Only if for a Night,” we knew that it was true. And as high energy as this band was, along with the wonderfully responsive audience, the short festival set went by even faster than anyone here would have liked. Florence gave the weekend’s largest crowd for the second stage an hour to remember. Every move she made seemed deliberate and calculated, but not cold.
It was apparent that we are all worshipping at the altar of Florence and her machine, who were also in fine form, to be sure. The thundering drums of “No Light, No Light” and “Drumming Song” filled the white sand beach with such an almighty sound. And as the piano bangs out the opening chords to “Dog Days are Over” many found themselves wondering, for the second night in a row, why the final act on the second stage wasn’t playing on the main stage.
Florence + The Machine
Florence + The Machine
Sunday night however, belonged to country music as The Zac Brown Band was the headlining act. This is the South after all, and the screams coming from the fans at the front of the stage made it well known who they were here to see. And while the standard country radio fare, of which he’s put out eight chart-toppers, may have fully satisfied his fans, the band was ready to show they had a lot more cooking in the kitchen.
After mixing Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” into their own hit song “Free”, the band hit the crowd with a pretty spot-on version of Nirvana’s “All Apologies.” Do you think the screaming tweens up front know who Kurt Cobain is? Later, Brown and his group also covered Charlie Daniels’ classic “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” a song that they do pretty much every night, and as a result, they do a really good job of it. A cover of John Mayer’s “Neon” combined with Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely?” also goes down well.
Zac Brown Band
An encore with a version of “America, the Beautiful” would have been an end well befitting this festival held in the Southern United States, in a town with a long military history. But the Zac Brown Band wasn’t done, and he warned the parents in the audience that there was a lot of cursing coming up in the next song. A minute or two, and another warning, later came the familiar four crashing chords followed by the lone thumping bass line that starts Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name of.” The band played this pretty much note-for-note perfect, even Fiddler Jimmy DeMartini did a great Tom Morello impression with his solo. With the classic “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” refrain thundering down the beach, one thing was for certain. This was how you close out a rock festival with a country band. DeLuna Fest 2013, don’t miss it.
All Photos Credited To Barbara Sheridan Photography
