[See more photos from Wanee at the end of Page 2.]
Wanee, the legendary Allman Brothers Band’s festival, took place last weekend at Live Oak, Florida’s musical sanctuary, The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, and it was one of those rare times where the vibe, the logistics and the music all synched up to create the perfect festival experience.
Though there were many surprise sit-ins, some time slot curiosities and interesting substitutions, everything at Wanee worked amazingly well. Not to mention the fact that Saturday’s Allman Brothers Band set was undoubtedly the best I’ve ever seen.
The festival, whose production was taken over by Live Nation last year, extended past its traditional two days with the addition of an official third day, although music at the park began much earlier in the week.
[FIND news, downloads and more information on Wanee on the festival's website.]
In order to back up the most expansive of the six years of Wanee, the festival booked some big name headliners (in addition to the Brothers) like Widespread Panic, Robert Plant and The Band of Joy and The Steve Miller Band, which drew in large crowds.
This year’s lineup was also more varied than in years past, including some electronic acts – like Big Gigantic, Lotus and DJ Logic – in addition to the mellow blues and funk bands that the typical Wanee is known for.
Although the festival technically began on Thursday, music and activities began Tuesday night with Standback Band, Cope and Crazy Fingers playing to the dedicated festivalgoers who started their Wanee experience early.
[FIND Allman Brothers Band tour dates, news and downloads on the Southern rock band's website.]
Music continued throughout Wednesday as people trickled onto the grounds. Because camping started early in the week, traffic flowed smoothly into the park, which made for a pleasant, stress free arrival.
The park itself, in my opinion, is the best festival grounds on the East Coast. Wanee’s setup contained two stages, the main Peach Stage located in an open field in the center of the grounds and the amphitheater-style Mushroom Stage.
The Mushroom Stage is nestled in the forest that surrounds the park with a psychedelically painted stage backdrop, gnome and mushroom cutouts scattered around the trees, ribbons and decorations dangling from above and hammocks scattered throughout; the Mushroom Stage was a truly magical spot. The surrounding grounds are shaded and sandy, making for breezy, comfortable campsites.
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Music started at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, but the highlights of the day came much later with Melvin Seals and JGB, followed by The Radiators.
Wednesday’s night featured a two-and-a-half hour Dumpstaphunk show tribute to James Brown. It was a huge crowd for a Wednesday night of a festival with people at Dumpstaphunk stretching all the way up the hill at the Mushroom Stage. The energy was high as Dumpstaphunk played some of their originals before delving headfirst into James Brown classics like “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine.”
The Phunk closed out the set with popular favorite “I Got You (I Feel Good)” leaving the crowd yearning for more long after the band had left the stage.
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Sound filled the park at the early hour of 10:30 a.m. on Thursday morning as the soothing sounds of the Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio echoed throughout the forest. Bobby Lee opened each day of the festival with a wake-up set.
Next up, Dangermuffin played a teasing thirty-minute set at the Mushroom Stage before the weirdly timed noon set for DJ Logic at the Peach Stage. It was a bit disorienting to hear heavy bass at this hour, especially at Wanee, which typically has very few electronic acts.
Devon Allman’s Honeytribe also had an early set in the festival, but you couldn’t tell it by his impressive performance. The young Allman was full of energy, jumping and rocking around the stage as he tore through originals and some great covers like “The Weight.”
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Later that afternoon, Big Gigantic took over the Mushroom Stage for a daylight dance party. Even though they had an afternoon set, Big G played like it was late-night, tearing through favorites like “I Need A Dolla” and even surprising the crowd with a “Black and Yellow” remix. There wasn’t a sedentary soul in the crowd.
The North Mississippi Allstars’ bluesy croon on the Peach Stage was the perfect atmosphere for right before the jazzy funk party the Dirty Dozen Brass Band threw down at the Mushroom Stage. Wanee was truly a back and forth event running between stages for all-day amazing performances.
Thursday evening’s headliner, Widespread Panic, delivered two-and-a-half hours of pure Southern rock rage. It was lead singer John Bell’s birthday, so the Spreadheads were fired up repping signs and shouts of “Happy Birthday.”
[FIND complete lineups, ticketing information and analysis of all your favorite festivals in our 2011 Festival Guide.]
Panic opened with “Travelin’ Light,” immediately satisfying the crowd, then blew through twenty songs in this high-energy set. Highlights included “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues,” where Panic was graced with North Mississippi Allstar’s guitarist Luther Dickinson and a drum solo towards the end assisted by Cody Dickinson on the washboard.
Following Panic, Lotus delivered the late-night dance party everyone’s come to expect from this electro quartet. Though no huge surprises, their set was solid, opening a short sound check set with “Tip of the Tongue,” and continuing throughout the night going through classic favorites like “Hammerstrike,” “Sunrain,” “Spiritualize,” “Flower Sermon” and “Wax.” Their two-hour set kept everyone dancing until two in the morning, proving that the band is doing just fine without a percussionist.
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Friday afternoon really got going when Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe played the Peach Stage, dueling Mushroom Stage performers Oteil Burbridge and the Lee Boys. Both groups put on an excellent show and it was hard to decide which to watch. I decided to get down at the funk fest that the Lee Boys were throwing and got the chance to see Nigel Hall and Kofi Burbridge make appearances on the stage.
Immediately after, another two great acts performed at the same time: the soulful Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings serenaded at the Peach Stage, while Keller Williams took control at the Mushroom Stage.
Keller was his usual goofy self and played a dance-worthy set which included a slower, reggae-like version of “Freeker By the Speaker” and a sit-in with Roosevelt Collier of the Lee Boys. The performance was unique, however, in that Keller played bass for the whole set with a band backing him, instead of his usual looping tendencies.
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One of the major highlights of Friday afternoon was the official debut of The Warren Haynes Band (a version of the group performed at the Christmas Jam). In addition to Warren Haynes, the band features Nigel Hall on keys, Ron Holloway on saxophone and the soulful, Aretha-like voice of Ruthie Foster. The highlight of the set was a cover of “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley.” For a song that has become synonymous with Phish, Warren did an excellent job making it his own and adapting it to his bluesy, gravelly voice.
Headliner Robert Plant and the Band of Joy was next on the Peach Stage where they performed for the largest crowd of the day so far. Security was tight as photographers weren’t even allowed in the photo pit and a waver had to be signed to catch a shot of the famous singer, but the set was solid as Plant tore through some Zeppelin favorites in addition to some of his originals.
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Continue reading to hear about the two amazing Allman Brothers Band performance including one that completely floored the entire festival.
