Wanee Festival @ Spirit of Suwannee Music Park – April 18 – 20

Words and Photos: Rex Thomson

True artistic expression comes from within and, like the music of the Allman Brothers, Widespread Panic and their friends on the lineup of this year’s Wanee Music Festival, stands the test of time.

[All Photos by Rex Thomson]

In our modern world we have been trained by the continual replacement and updating of our electronics, knowledge base and even our food (Try our new BLUE tacos! They’re X-TREME!) to the point where anything more than a year old gets a suspicious eye towards its merit. Some things, however, can not be denied, such as the raw emotion evoked when the first guitar strains of In Memory of Elizabeth Reed cut through to your very core. The tens of thousands of visitors to the annual party hosted by the Allmans and some of southern rock’s heaviest hitters know what they like, and once again left with their socks rocked straight off by massive walls of dueling guitars, heavy organs and funky horn blasts that echoed in their hearts long after the last encore.

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Friday was an afternoon and evening of endless sit-ins at the Wanee Festival in Live Oak, Florida. There were guest spots galore, especially on the main Peach Stage. Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule brought out John Bell, Dave Schools, Jimmy Herring and JoJo Hermann of Widespread Panic for an incendiary, set-closing version of Neil Young’s Cortez The Killer. Widespread Panic was up next and returned the favor by bringing out Mule keyboardist Danny Louis for a cover of JJ Cale’s Ride Me High and later ended their set with Warren guesting on covers of Jesus Just Left Chicago (ZZ Top) and Maggot Brain (Funkadelic) as well as Chilly Water.

[Photo via Widespread Panic Facebook]

For the evening’s finale, Wanee hosts the Allman Brothers Band welcomed Panic’s John Bell for Can’t Find My Way Home, former member Jimmy Herring for In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and North Mississippi Allstars Luther and Cody Dickinson for One Way Out.

Watch Mule team with Herring, Bell, Hermann and Schools for Cortez The Killer…

Here’s a look at the Mule, Panic and Allmans’ setlists from Friday night…

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The Wanee Festival kicked off last night at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida and goes into full gear today. Our friends at SiriusXM’s Jam ON channel have just announced that they will broadcast sets from HT faves the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Gov’t Mule, Widespread Panic and the Allman Brothers Band live from Wanee on Friday and Saturday as part of their “Wanee Weekend.”

The simulcast starts tomorrow afternoon at 4:30PM ET when Gov’t Mule takes the stage and will continue late into the evening with sets from Widespread Panic and the Allman Brothers Band. Then, on Saturday, Jam ON will air sets from the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Widespread Panic and the Allman Brothers Band starting at 4:30PM ET.

Here’s the full rundown…

Friday, April 19th:

430-6pm Gov’t Mule
630-830pm Widespread Panic
930-12am Allman Brothers Band

Saturday, April 20th

430 – 6pm Tedeschi Trucks Band
630 – 830pm Widespread Panic
930 – 12am Allman Brothers Band

I’ll be a guest on tomorrow night’s broadcast and can’t wait to see what collaborations the bands involved have cooked up for this “Wanee Weekend.” You can find Jam ON on Channel 29.

Now that the weather is getting warmer and the calendar has turned to April, the festival season is in full swing. Next weekend the Allman Brothers Band and Live Nation bring their Wanee Festival to Live Oak, Florida’s Spirit of Suwannee Music Park for three full days and four nights of sets from a slew of HT faves and up-and-coming acts.

The action kicks off on Wednesday night, the 17th, with an afternoon and evening of music from the likes of Cope and Dumpstaphunk before Wanee gets in full swing on Thursday. We preview the festival with five things to look for / questions that will be answered by the time the final band leaves the stage at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park early on Sunday morning.

1. Will the Allman Brothers Band pick up where they left off at Beacon run?

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The lineup for this year’s Wanee Festival has just been released and features the Allman Brothers Band and nearly every Allmans’ related band. Widespread Panic, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Leon Russell, Tower of Power, Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang, Hot Tuna (Electric), North Mississippi Allstars, Galactic and Friends, The Greyboy Allstars, The Lee Boys and Maceo Parker are also among the acts set to play The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida on April 18 – 20.

Here’s the full initial lineup for the 2013 Wanee Festival…

Both Widespread Panic and the Allman Brothers Band will perform on Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th. Tickets for Wanee go on sale this Saturday at 10AM.

Another installment of the Wanee Music Festival has come and gone, leaving the fortunate attendees with echoes and memories that will last a lifetime. The annual gathering hosted by the Allman Brothers Band at the Spirit of Suwanee Music Park has swelled to over 20,000 rabid music fans, all eager to hear blues-tinged southern rock played by masters of the form. From the phoenix like Furthur, rising from the Dead, to guitar legend Buddy Guy, new acts such as Trigger Hippy and Flannel Church, the jam roots of the Allmans was reflected heavily in the lineup alongside some very dense dance music courtesy of groups like Particle and the duo EOTO.

[All Photos by Groove Street's Rex Thomson]

Throughout the rain-dappled weekend there was a sense of import in the air and a feeling that this was a weekend for the ages. Feeding those thoughts were rumors swirling about Gregg Allman’s health status. Having missed the last show-and-a-half of the band’s traditional Beacon run in New York, along with a variety of scares over the last few years, cast a shadow across the proceedings like the sun slowly setting over the horizon.

“It’s impossible to question Allman’s love for music, as he has continued on through tragedies and obstacles that would have stopped many a lesser man. But continue on he has, to the point of pushing himself to fight exhaustion and pain to simply do what he loves most, play for the people. “

Having experienced trials and tribulations well documented over the decades, Allman has lived a life that would have obliterated most men long ago. It’s been said that rock star years are like dog years, and heaven only knows that analogy fits Gegg Allman. With uncertainty swirling, many fans were there simply to give thanks and show respect for a lifetime of making music that has been the soundtrack to their lives. To hear the Allman’s influence, go anywhere in the country and tune in their local “Classic Rock” station. If it takes more than 45 minutes to hear an Allman Brothers song, you must have just turned on the radio as one was ending.

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The Allman Brothers Band’s annual March Madness run at the Beacon ended on a somber note last month, with Gregg Allman sitting out the last show and a half with health issues. However, the legendary jam act will return to the stage this weekend at Wanee and have just announced a pair of Boston shows at the Bank of America Pavilion on August 7 and 8.

The group’s return to Boston will take place just before the kick off of the inaugural Peach Music Festival on August 10 – 12 in Scranton, Penn. Tickets for both Boston shows go on sale Monday, May 7 at 10AM ET through LiveNation.com.

As far as Wanee, for those who can’t make it down to Live Oak this weekend, SiriusXM will simulcast a number of sets live from Spirit of Suwanee Music Park on Saturday. Here’s a look at which sets will be broadcast and which stations will air the performances…

 Saturday April 21st:

· 3:15-4:45 Gov’t Mule LIVE on Jam On (Channel 29)

· 5:30-8:30 Furthur LIVE on the Grateful Dead Channel (Channel 23)

· 9:30-12:00 The Allman Brothers Band LIVE on Deep Tracks (Channel 27)

Expect more Allman Brothers Band summer dates to be announced soon.

UPDATE: Another bit of Allman-related and SiriusXM news courtesy of our pal Jon Hochstat. Deep Tracks, Channel 27, will air Town Hall with Gregg Allman on May 3 at 2PM ET. The show will feature Gregg answering questions about his career from an intimate audience moderated by legendary DJ Meg Griffin. We’re hoping fans ask about some of the more controversial aspects of Allman’s career, since this is basically a promotion for his new book, My Cross to Bear, which addresses such topics as his relationship with Dickey Betts and the circumstances of the group’s mid ’70s breakup.

Next weekend the Allman Brothers Band will welcome a slew of their musical friends to gorgeous Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida for the Wanee Festival. Tickets are still available for under $200, but the price jumps once the gates open. Earlier this week the event’s schedule was released, so we thought we’d point out a handful of sets you need to see.

1. Allman Brothers Band (Friday and Saturday at 9:30PM)

Not only is the legendary rock band the host of Wanee, but the focus is on the group after the way the Beacon run ended. Gregg Allman has supposedly recovered from the back issues that forced him out of the final Beacon show. Considering the ties between nearly every act on the bill and the Allman Brothers Band, we can only imagine the tough choices ABB musical director Warren Haynes will have in picking guests for sit-ins during the band’s two sets. Stay tuned!

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The Wanee Festival returns to Spirit of the Suwanee Park in Live Oak, Florida on April 19 to 21 boasting a lineup that features hosts the Allman Brothers Band as well as Furthur, Buddy Guy, Bruce Hornsby, the Mickey Hart Band and Hot Tuna. A number of Allman family bands are also on the bill such as Gov’t Mule, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band and Devon Allman’s Honeytribe. Furthur and the Allmans will perform on both the 20th and 21st.

Here’s the full initial lineup announcement…

Allman Brothers Band • Furthur • Gov’t Mule • Tedeschi Trucks Band • Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band • Buddy Guy • Bruce Hornsby • Mickey Hart Band • Hot Tuna Electric • Ray Manzarek & Roy Rogers Band • Leftover Salmon • North Mississippi Allstars • Trigger Hippy (Joan Osborne, Jackie Greene, Steve Gorman, Audley Freed, Nick Govrik) • Soja • Conspirator • Eoto • Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk • Particle • Devon Allman’s Honeytribe • Zach Deputy • Matt Schofield • Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio • Big Sams Funky Nation • Charles Bradley • Bonerama • Jacob Jeffries Band • The Yeti Trio • Bonnie Blue

Tickets are currently available through the festival’s website.

With so many of their friends and side bands on the bill, it must’ve been hard for the Allman Brothers Band to figure out who would sit in with them at the Wanee Festival. Luckily one of the musicians they invited to the stage was Taj Mahal who led the band through Leavin’ Trunk and Statesboro Blues on Saturday night. Here’s a killer clip of Leavin’ Trunk…

Allman Brothers Band w/ Taj Mahal – Leavin’ Trunk

If you purchased the Wanee Festival webcast package from Moogis, you might want to make other plans this weekend. Yesterday, a scant three days before the festival kicks off, Moogis sent subscribers, who already paid for the event, a note saying the company will not be webcasting Wanee…

Webcasts are extremely expensive events to produce and bring to the viewer. Moogis uses the same equipment as a high definition television production in order to bring the highest possible production values to our subscribers.

Moogis priced subscriptions for the 2011 Beacon run and Wanee Festival so that we could webcast both events based on the assumption that we would have the same number of subscriptions as last year. Unfortunately, we fell 300 subscriptions short of the number necessary. As a result, we have to regretfully notify you that Moogis is not going to be able to webcast Wanee this year. We have explored every possibility to see if there was any way to make this happen but we have run out of options and time.

At the moment, Moogis is in a negative financial position. But once we get new funding, we will either refund the cost of Wanee to subscribers who want a refund or apply their Wanee payment to the next Moogis pay per view event.

For those who leave their payments with us, you will get a 20% discount on all future Moogis pay per view events.

We are very sorry that we have to do this, but we have no other choice at this time.

Considering webcasts from nearly all the major festivals this summer are available for free, this announcement is a hard pill to swallow for those who shelled out money months ago to watch Wanee on Moogis. Not only will subscribers miss out on watching Wanee as it happens, but they aren’t even getting an immediate refund.

Angry fans lashed out at Allman Brothers Band drummer and Moogis founder Butch Trucks on various forums leading him to respond on the Moogis.com message boards. READ ON for Butch’s response…

The Wanee Festival returns to the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL on April 14th – 16th, boasting a lineup that mixes old favorites and a slew of unexpected newcomers to the long-running event. Of course, festival hosts the Allman Brothers Band will headline aided by last year’s co-headliner, Widespread Panic.

Festival newcomers include the Steve Miller Band, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy as well as Ween, the Mike Gordon Band and Hot Tuna. The Allmans keep it all in the family by welcoming the Warren Haynes Band, Derek & Susan’s Band, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band plus Oteil Burbridge and The Lee Boys. Festival favorites KDTU, Dumpstaphunk, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Big Gigantic and Keller Williams are also set to perform at Wanee 2011.

All in all, Live Nation has put together a fantastic lineup that far exceeds previous offerings. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, January 22, at 10AM EST through WaneeFestival.com and LiveNation.com.

Here’s the full list of bands…

The Allman Brothers Band, Widespread Panic, Robert Plant & Band of Joy, Steve Miller Band, Warren Haynes Band, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, Ween, Stephen Marley, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Mike Gordon, Hot Tuna, 7 Walkers Feat. Bill Kreutzmann, Galactic, Taj Mahal, North Mississippi Allstars, Keller Williams, John Popper & The Duskray Troubadours, The Radiators, Wanda Jackson, Rusted Root, Oteil Burbidge and The Lee Boys, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Big Gigantic, Melvin Seals & JGB, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, New Deal, Lotus, Tea Leaf Green, DJ Logic, Toubab Krewe, Devon Allman’s Honeytribe, Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio, Soul Rebel’s Brass Band, Guitar Shorty, Dangermuffin, Honey Island Swamp Band, Kevin Hammond, Death on Two Wheels, The Yeti Trio, Jacob Jeffries Band and Griffin Anthony

The Wanee Music Festival returned to the Spirit of Suwanee Music Park down in Live Oak, Florida this past weekend where the Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic each delivered guest spot-laden sets in front of huge crowds on Friday and Saturday nights. Also joining in the action over the course of the weekend were ABB family bands Gov’t Mule, Chuck Leavell with the Randall Bramlett Band, Oteil and Kofi Burbridge with the Lee Boys and Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi’s new band.

On Friday, Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman teamed up with former Furthur percussionist Jay Lane for a Scaring The Children set that contained a number of Grateful Dead classics (Loose Lucy, Friend of the Devil) along with a smattering of Dylan covers (Maggie’s Farm, When I Paint My Masterpiece) and The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows.

Panic followed on the main stage with a high energy set before the Allmans kicked things off with Mountain Jam. For their first set of the weekend, the Allmans welcomed Dave Schools on bass for You Don’t Love Me, John Bell and Sunny Ortiz for Guilded Splinters, Luther Dickinson (NMAS, The Word) and Danny Louis (Gov’t Mule) for Statesboro Blues and The Same Thing as well as Jimmy Herring and JoJo Hermann for That’s What Love Will Make You Do. Gov’t Mule got into the guest spot act during their late night set when Dickinson joined them for 32-20 Blues right after Kofi Burbridge added some flute to Sad and Deep as You.

Saturday featured more of the same with individual performances from music legends Dr. John, Ivan Neville (w/ Dumpstaphunk) and The Funky Meters giving way to Widespread Panic  who welcomed Luther Dickinson for Slippin’ Into Darkness and Warren Haynes for a set-closing North. Later, blues guitarist Johnny Winter came out with the Allmans for The Sky Is Crying. The Brothers’ set also included guest spots from John Bell on And It Stoned Me, JoJo and Jimmy on Good Morning Little Schoolgirl and Dave Schools on Dreams before ending their final performance of the weekend with a Midnight Rider, Mountain Jam > Dazed and Confused > Mountain Jam.

Unfortunately, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings were unable to make it to Wanee for their scheduled set on Saturday due to the Volcanic Ash Cloud that kept the group grounded in Europe. Jones’ absence was one of the few problems on what seemed to be an extremely successful weekend in Florida.

Head to Jambands.com’s Box Scores for setlists from Wanee.

• Wanee Audio Torrents: North Mississippi Allstars, Scaring The Children (Weir, Wasserman & Lane), Stephen Stills, The Word, Widespread Panic – Night One, Widespread Panic – Night Two, Derek Trucks/Susan Tedeschi Band, Oteil and Kofi Burbridge w/ the Lee Boys, Gov’t Mule, Chuck Leavell w/ Randall Bramlett Band, Black Keys, Dr. John, …
  

Earlier today we filled you in on the musical acts you can catch on TV as part of our Televised Tune column. As a reminder, you can also keep up with the goings on at this weekend’s two major festivals – Coachella and Wanee – through their respective webcasts. You can access Coachella feeds on MySpace and Facebook through the Coachella Webcast Page. As far as Wanee, many performances will be webcast live on Moogis.

While there aren’t too many gigs played in January, you can always count on the first month of the year to be filled with festival announcements. Just this week alone we’ve had three major announcements. Let’s recap…

The Spirit of Suwanee Park in Live Oak, FL hosts two major festivals, Wanee and Bear Creek, both of which announced their initial lineups this week. The Allman Brothers Band present the Wanee Festival on April 15 – 17 and will be sharing headliner status with their new BFFs, Widespread Panic. Both bands will play on two evenings. Stephen Stills is an unfamiliar name on the lineup circuit, so it’s nice to see the Allmans bring him to Wanee. The rest of the bill includes Dumpstaphunk playing a set of Sly & the Family Stone covers, RD3, the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band, Gov’t Mule, Dr. John, The Black Keys, Hot Tuna Electric, the new project from Bill Kreutzmann & Papa Mali, the funky Meters, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.

[Photo by Myke Scaffidi]

Bear Creek doesn’t kick off until November 12, but the promoters of the three-day event have already lined up George Porter’s Runnin Pardners, Dumpstaphunk, John Brown’s Body, Soulive, Lettuce, Toubab Krewe and  Break Science. Early-bird tickets are only $99 if you buy them soon. Look for more Bear Creek artist announcements to surface over the next few months.

Finally, Wakarusa seems to be thriving after moving from Kansas to Arkansas. Among the acts schedule to perform at Mulberry Mountain on June 3-6 in Ozark, AK are STS9, the Disco Biscuits, Blues Traveler, Zappa Plays Zappa, Slightly Stoopid, EOTO, Lotus and ALo. A number of bands get two sets at Wakarusa including Railroad Earth, Boombox, Trampled by Turtles and JJ Grey and Mofro. Head to the festival’s website to purchase $129 tickets.