Don’t Miss Thursday at Great Outdoors Jam!
Chances are you’ve already got your ticket to Great Outdoors Jam, which begins this Thursday, June 30, and runs until Sunday, July 3. Or you’re still contemplating this outstanding event.
Contemplate this: Don’t miss Thursday! The lineup is amazing!
We know, we know. Thursdays are tough. But you deserve a break. Celebrate the last day of the first half of the year at Fields of Renninger’s in Mount Dora FL, plus, of course, the next three days!
Need more convincing? Let’s look at the music schedule, which begins on Thursday at 4 PM.
The day starts out with Teen Girl Squad. If you were a fan of Strong Bad and Homestar Runner, you might be disappointed to discover that this band does not have stick figures of Cheerleader, So-and-So, What’s-Her-Face, and the Ugly one; actually, half of Displace, drummer Tucker Sody and guitarist Sam Dobkin, join one third of Future Vintage, Trevor McDannel on bass and Daniel Mandelman on keyboards (Ziggy Marley, Barrington Levy). Check out this tune:
From there, shoeless soul brings their “Prozac pop” to the fest; they’ve been playing tremendous sets every time out. They had an excellent performance at Orange Blossom Jamboree, and this past Saturday they played a brilliant show at Dunedin Brewery.
They began with some great originals and novel covers, including “She’s Not There” and “Abracadabra.” They saved their best for last, with “Obviously Oblivious,” “Smile,” and “Paving the Way.” The intimacy of DunBrew allows you to see and hear things you might not notice in a bigger venue.
Dave Gerulat was adding great harmony vocals all night in addition to his great drumming. René Schlegel is a great singer, and Matt Salvador was a beast all night on bass. They are primed and ready!
Funk You plans to do exactly that. They just played a great set at the beach at Purple Hatter’s Ball:
Then it was time for Funk You from Augusta. They too delivered a superb set of hot, hot funk. The entire band is great, and Gavin Hamilton is an engaging singer and front man. Check them out.
Joose is yet another project of Christian Ryan’s, this one playing fusion jazz. The band includes Meg Shannon, vocals; Christian Ryan (Leisure Chief, Holey Miss Moley, lots more), saxophones & flute; Taylor Gilchrist (Ajeva), bass guitar; Yral ‘datdudeondrums’ Morris (Come Back Alice, Holey Miss Moley), drums; and Mark Mayea, keyboards. They play jazz, funk, soul and more. Think Herbie Hancock fusion!
Voodoo Visionary (Atlanta) will channel their “improvisational funk and dance grooves” into a ‘70s set (they have a second set Saturday). This fine quintet/sextet played a great opening set at WMNF’s Little Manatee River Jam, and they had a great set at the recent Purple Hatter’s Ball:
We opted for Voodoo Visionary on the campground stage. We only made it for the second half, but it was excellent. This was the first time that band’s female vocalist, Vanessa Graniero, had made the Florida trip.
They were knocking out a great song with Savi Fernandez sitting in on guitar. He and Mike Wilson were shredding back and forth. Then a great surprise: Heart’s “Magic Man.” That is not an easy song to sing, but Graniero handled it very well, as did the band. The next song was “Harmony,” one of the band’s best tunes and with a great message. It was great hearing it with harmony vocals: Graniero and Scott MacDonald together. Jimmy Lynch had a particularly great set on bass.
Backup Planet from Nashville. These boys blew us away at Hometeam New Year’s Rally and at AURA Music & Arts Festival. They also have a second set Saturday. At AURA:
Up the hill to hear Backup Planet. Would they send me to nirvana again? YES! YES! YES! The first tune I caught was a bouncy rocker, then some straight-up funk, then another rocker (a Nick Jonas tune?). They proceeded to blow it wide open with “Stratus,” the Billy Cobham opus. Carson Brown was a beast on kit. They tore up the remainder of the set. WOW!
Free Range Strange gets the first workout on the Acoustic Stage, and that should put a great exclamation point on the opening day of GOJ. Consider resting up afterward. You’re going to need your strength the next three days!
I’m not a doctor, but you’re looking like you might be coming down with something. Better call in sick Thursday!
