Fool’s Paradise – Spotlight On Florida Talent
Fool’s Paradise, the massive funk-fueled Festival taking place this coming weekend in beautiful St. Augustine is anchored by festival giants such as Lettuce, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Dumpstaphunk, The Motet and more.
This year, Florida artists will get a chance to shine both with pre-parties and after-parties. This is a great chance to see some of the best rising stars out of the state of Florida.
The Pre-Party will take place Saturday at The Elks Lodge right next door to the Amphitheater. The Lodge will be open starting at 1 pm and will have a full bar and plenty of space to get your crew together before heading over to the main Amphitheater. The Pre-Party is open to all festival ticket holders, and admission is included in your existing ticket price.
First up on Saturday at 1pm is Ajeva. This six-piece group based out of St. Petersburg has been crushing sets all over Florida and beyond for a while now. With a blend of funk, jam, rock and even a little acid jazz, they are poised to really start breaking out. The band is made up of Reed Skahill (lead vocals/guitar/keys), Skyler Golden (lead guitar), Mark Mayea (lead keys), Taylor Gilchrist (bass), Dean Arscott (percussion/keys/guitar/band artist), and Travis Young (drums). You may have seen Mayea sitting in with bands like Come Back Alice and Holey Miss Moley. Gilcrist has also been spotted with Come Back Alice as well. And both Mayea and Gilchrist play in a superb fusion band called Joose.
Ajeva has been playing for a few years now, and while they have one CD out (Evolve) it was recorded when the band was a quartet. With their expanded six-piece sound, they have been able to really dial in their sound and will be hitting the studio at the end of April to cut a new album. The band has played in St. Augustine previously as well as having done shows with fellow Pre-Party act Herd of Watts and have attended the festival as fans before. This, however, will be their first time playing at Fool’s Paradise itself. Said Reed Skahill, “Paul Levine and the Lettuce crew really put together an awesome experience for music fans.”
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Next at 2 pm is The Groove Orient. The five-piece out of Orlando have been forging their own unique sound, and it’s been paying off. The band is Harry Ong (Bass), Tommy Shugart (Keyboard), Chuck Magid (Vocals), David Vanegas (Percussion), and Aaron “Bucky” Buckingham (Drums). Orlando Weekly named them Best Jazz Band of 2015 and Best Experimental Band of 2014 as well as giving them nominations for Best Rock and Best Pop Band for both years. They released their second EP Generation Y in 2015.
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Rounding out Saturday’s pre-party are Ben Strok & The Full Electric who go on at 3 pm. The band includes Ben Strok, guitar, vocals; Matt Strok, keyboards, vocals; Sean Thomas, bass, vocals; and Eric Bailey, a classically trained jazz drummer. All except Bailey were members of Herd of Watts. They play funk, jazz and rock. The Friday show will be original material and some funky surprises (Strok will expand the band to a dozen for an April 22nd Stevie Wonder tribute in Jacksonville, so you never know)!
Ben Strok says, “It really centers around the music, period. All the spokes of this wheel can interchange, and the thing just rolls along. That’s the real ethos around it. There were a lot of passion projects I wanted to do, and thought, You know why doesn’t it all just become one thing!? And here it is, the love child of experience and imagination, Ben Strok & The Full Electric.”
Fool’s Paradise has official After-Parties at the Elk’s Lodge both Friday and Saturday night. However if, after getting your face melted from the killer sets on the main stage at the Amphitheater you want to keep getting your local talent fix, head over to Planet Sarbez, which is less than two miles away from the Amphitheater, for more local music. The two-night event is being called ‘Fool Moon.’
Friday night things kick off with Ben Strok & The Full Electric doing a set here before their Saturday Pre-Party set mentioned above. They will be doing a Bill Withers Tribute set which should be a unique and interesting set.
Leisure Chief will take the stage next. This music collective based out of Orlando has a core of five members but very frequently will include many, many more depending on what project they currently have going. Members include Derek Engstrom (Drums, Vocals), Chris McMullen (Bass, Vocals), Keegan Matthews (Synth, Organ, Rhodes, Vocoder), Christian Ryan (Alto, Bari Sax, Vocals), Jordan Garno (Guitar). Christian Ryan will be on tour with Holey Miss Moley and won’t be able to make this event, but the band will bring a sax player with them. Blending funk, soul and jazz fusion, they are just as comfortable throwing down on a crazy, funky instrumental as as playing gorgeous, lush lyrical masterpieces. They have one release out titled King of Nothing and are currently working on writing their next album.
Saturday night Fool Moon will keep going with sets by both Ajeva and The Groove Orient, both bands pulling double duty from the Pre-Party earlier in the day. I’ve been told to not be surprised to see a lot of collaboration between the two bands and lots of extended, high-energy jamming going in. It’s sure to be a powerhouse of a night.
Finally, as if all that Florida talent wasn’t enough, in the Courtyard of the main Amphitheater on Saturday we will be treated to the music of El Dub. This one-man reggae-funk band will be playing during all three set breaks. I’ve been able to catch him playing several times and I can say he is an incredibly upbeat, funky, beach-y vibe that generally has people from three years old up to 90 years old all dancing and smiling.
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