TBT: Bear Creek Music and Art Festival 2013 (the “Warm” One)
[In 2013, I was just writing these reviews and then sharing them on Facebook. It wasn’t until May of 2014 that my son gifted me a music blog, Tie Your Shoes Reviews, so that I could post these articles. This one was actually five (maybe six) separate posts which I have cobbled together here. And I recently posted my review of the final Bear Creek on November 13th, the first day of the 2014 edition. In February of 2015, I was blindsided by an offer to join MusicFestNews, not understanding the depth of this glorious rabbithole. So here, in all its rambling madness, is my review of BC 2013, while it’s still November, and chilly, too!]
THE OVERTURE
Apparently, I do not understand much about physics. I was certain I would read today’s paper, confirming my suspicion that the earth had indeed swung off its axis and was hurtling toward the sun. How could that NOT happen when 99.99% of all the funk in the world was concentrated in just one 500-acre park in north Florida the past four days?
The Bear Creek Music and Art Festival just wrapped up four days of the most incredibly, astoundingly, amazingly delicious funk, R&B, jazz, rock, disco and you-name-it. The music just cascaded over everyone in the park in unseasonably warm weather (given the past three years). Every concert-goer has his or her own concert experience, of course, and with a festival of this ambition, with 63 acts (some played two different days) plus a dozen silent disco performers, the experiences are even more diverse.
But I plan to give you my take on the four days. There is so much to say, I plan to split my ravings into four posts, one per day. YOU CAN ALWAYS DELETE!
But I will get this piece out of the way right now. My least favorite act was the Roots. Set your flame-throwers to “IMMOLATE.” Their music was great; I, 62 years into the experience, am just not a hip hop fan. That’s on me, not the music. That aside, I have never heard so many outstanding performances. I plan to fill up my hard drive with shows.
See you tomorrow.
BEAR CREEK 2013, some explanation (Part 2)
For those who may not know, the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida (off I-10 just west of I-75), is heaven. It is heaven to music-lovers of all ilks. They have numerous events throughout the year, with camping and vending and MUSIC! There are country shows, bluegrass and Americana roots events, the Allman Brothers’ Wanee Festival, the new (and future?) Hulaween with String Cheese Incident, numerous Frisbee disk golf jams, the AURA jamtronica blowout, and Bear Creek, AKA, the funk fest.
This marked the 7th Bear Creek Festival, plus three previous Down on the Farm events in Quincy, so we’re counting this one as #10. Every year I attend (this was my fifth BC), I leave thinking that Paul Levine and his magicians simply cannot pull an even better rabbit out of the hat the following year.
And every year I am wrong.
This was epic. It was non-stop, and when you were certain that the music could not possibly take you any higher, it did. Over and over again. I’m not a surfer (well, not THAT kind, anyway), but I imagined catching a monster wave that simply kept growing beyond all comprehension.
Four other items before I slam into the Thursday lineup. I am, usually, very social by nature. I know that most Bear Creekers really enjoy time at the campsite, chatting, singing, imbibing, and appreciating each other’s company. But at Bear Creek I am so focussed on the music that I did not make much time for the many brothers and sisters we contact regularly through various social media. My sincere apologies (but I did look – in vain – for the red VW and Shortcut camp). I lucked into Home Team several times, fortunately.
I obviously enjoy writing about this stuff, and about soccer, and about the Birmingham Airport, but you can always check your e-mail or Facecrack or whatevs and say, “Oh, not another Hopkins post! DELETE!”
Having said that, let me express my sincere thanks to Mike Coe and Trevor McDannell for encouraging me to write MORE! Those remarks were extremely kind. And don’t blame them. I would do this anyway, but it’s great to do it with encouragement!
Finally, if Paul Levine runs for KING, I’m volunteering for his campaign committee. That is all (for the moment).
THURSDAY 11.14.13
For me, music festivals are marathons. I try to cram as much music into each day as possible. It means I flit back and forth from stage to stage to stage, trying to maximize my experience. I’m not recommending it, just explaining it.
Every year for me at Bear Creek, the first band I heard truly sets the tone for the rest of the weekend. It was true about Shak Nasti, the Heavy Pets, London Souls and Savi Fernandez Band (last year). This year was no different. I got in and was setting up camp within earshot of the Amphitheatre, then rushing down to see Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes wailing away. Best set I have ever seen from them, highlighted by an amazing “Hey, Little Mama;” Johnny explained that those were all the words of the song! I may have heard music I liked better during the weekend, but I heard nothing delivered more powerfully.
The Malah, a live-electronic trio, filled the afternoon air with its brand of jamtronica. I have never heard them sound better. It was a nice brief respite before the insanity that would follow the remainder of the day.
I have always enjoyed the Pimps of Joytime, but this set as daylight faded away was positively deluxe. They were simply on fire and full of funk. I was apparently in the right place!
Now decisions had to be made, and by comparison Thursday was easy, given the madness of the schedule for Friday and Saturday. But I knew I wanted to check out Ron Haynes and the Game-changers in the Music Hall. I might not have gone, but I saw, thanks to the BC bios, that Haynes formerly played trumpet in one of my favorite bands – Liquid Soul. Great decision! His hard-hitting band featured trumpet, saxophone and trombone up front, and the entire band delivered big-time. Sounds ran the gamut from “Salt Peanuts”-inspired bop and Jazz Messenger precision to nasty P-Funk-style throw-downs.
From there, I ambled back to the porch stage to see Toubab Krewe, always a favorite of mine, and they too played an inspiring set of their unique blend of Mali music melded with jam and percussion and numerous other influences. It was time to catch my breath just a bit, and good thing, too, because I could not have envisioned the massiveness of the next five plus hours to come.
It turns out that I was sitting at dinner with The New Mastersounds, although I did not figure it out right away (OK, let’s see: four guys with Brit accents. Hmmm…). At one point, keyboard player Joe Tatton came back and announced to his mates, “I’ve been over at the Motet table stealing ideas!” (More on New Mastersounds coming.)
So I got up, walked over, and said, “Is this the Motet table?” They smiled and said yes. I explained that I had been trying unsuccessfully to see them for nine years, ever since I heard “Music for Life,” my 2004 album of the year. They were great, and Joey Porter (I think that was Tele-Porter – he was EVERYWHERE as an artist at large) introduced himself. I mentioned I had seen him with Juno What? at BC a few years back.
It was worth the wait. They were simply superb. It was an even funkier set than I had anticipated, driven by Jans Inger’s great vocals. As a matter of fact, their Friday set is downloading as I am writing this!! Where could this go from here?
Back to the Porch Stage for Kung Fu, of course. I had seen Kung Fu several times and always liked them, but they played Tampa in September, and we were completely destroyed by their knockout performance then. How would this set compare? They opened with a tune so strong, so amazing, that I could not imagine how they would follow it, but follow it they did. Every time I would try to focus on one member of the band, the other four were raging so hard that I just had to let the music carry me away.
Oh, those poor boys from the New Mastersounds. How were they EVER going to take the stage after Kung Fu? Masterfully, it turns out. You may have had the experience where you have SEEN a band, but you’ve never really HEARD them before. That would be me and tNMs. They were absolutely, positively amazing. The sound of funky jazz and jazzy funk from the quartet was thrilling, and I was drawn most to Eddie Roberts’ work on guitar. But forget that for a minute. If there was a contest for the coolest cat at Bear Creek, everyone would be competing for second place. Eddie Roberts wins hand down. His appearance – straight out of the late Sixties – and his banter make him the champ. [Ed. note: I discovered years later that drummer Simon Allen is the bigger cut-up.] His guitar work reminds me of Grant Green and Phil Upchurch and other jazz greats.
So at this point, I am 8 for 8: eight A-quality performances. I mention to nobody in particular that, if I had to leave right now, I’d already got my money’s worth. So I headed back to the Music Hall to see some guy named Space Capone, or maybe that was the name of the band? All I remember seeing from his bio was that he does some singing falsetto. I remembered a late-night Music Hall experience two years ago, escaping the cold to see a group called Rubblebucket. That was a jaw-dropping performance, so unexpected and so delightful. So I had my hopes up.
OMG. OMG. OMG. Some of you know I am a huge disco funk fan. I love Los Amigos Invisibles and Tortured Soul and that sort of gleeful approach. Space Capone was all that and more. In fact, I would say that, for me (and this is all for me in my subjective little world), I enjoyed both Space Capone sets (I saw them again the next day) as much as anything I saw the entire festival.
Space Capone is Aaron Winters’ band, and I’d nominate him as cool cat number 2. He can deliver that amazing falsetto; on record it sounds similar to Michael Jackson, but not so much in concert, but he can also throw down heavy Rick James funk and everything in between. His band is astounding, notably the guitar player. Disco funk is usually a black-and-white issue. You either love it, or not. I loved this set, a perfect cap to a perfect day.
And three days left! Yikes!
FRIDAY 11.15.13
This is insanity. There were 23 sets of music on Friday, and I hit 19 of them. Again, NOT RECOMMENDED, but I cannot seem to help myself. Eight groups were playing again after performing on Thursday, all so good I wanted more, more, more.
Ron Haynes and his Game-changers opened the festivities at noon, delivering another excellent, kick-ass set of jazz and funk in equal measures. From there, I got to see the Austin band Brownout briefly. I definitely want to see them again. Then it was back for another dose of Toubab Krewe, again sending their sweet African-influenced vibes into the air.
I also caught bits of enjoyable sets by Flow Tribe and the Revivalists before heading back for another disco funk extravaganza with Space Capone, confirming my late-night suspicion that these guys were right up my alley. I did not get to see the Werks this time but will certainly look forward to their two sets at AURA, and I missed Jennifer Hartswick’s band, but I made up for that omission on Sunday.
I enjoyed seeing the soul revue of Lee Fields and the Expressions before heading to get a second shot of Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, again slamming it hard Nawlins-style.
The first band I saw at Wanee last year was Monophonics, and I have opined that it was my favorite set of the festival (and I wrote an Amazon review of their superb CD). They did not disappoint. Kelly Finnigan again starred on organ and vocals, and I learned he is the son of Mike Finnigan, the organ player on Electric Ladyland. Their psychedelic soul sound harks back to the early ’70s. And it was P-Funk day a day early, as Monophonics covered “I Got a Thing.”
Next up was a second helping of the Pimps of Joytime, again rocking the Music Hall in fine fashion, followed by a great set from Antibalas with a beautiful full sound filling the Amphitheatre.
I was so thrilled to get a second shot at the Motet, and again they brought the funk and jazz and then some more funk. And by this time artist-at-large Roosevelt Collier “The Dr.” had popped in on numerous sets. Roosevelt can match up with anybody (which was fully proven Saturday!). Second dose of P-Funk: an amazing cover of “Getten’ to Know You.”
I ventured back into the Music Hall for more from the Malah, and, as promised, this was an even funkier, more danceable set than Thursday’s. From there I headed back to the Amphitheatre, where Galactic was blowing it up. They have been on fire the past year or so for me, and this was no different. They closed with “When the Levee Breaks,” and it seemed like they were finished, but I knew they weren’t, because Stanton Moore had not done his stand-up drum thing, which knocks me out every time! Wow!
Greenhouse Lounge, a great electronic trio, were having a great time on the Porch stage, and then it was back inside for a second helping of Kung Fu melting faces as they just killed it. Tim Palmieri is truly unsung as a guitar player, but every member is a monster. And one more P-Funk tune: “Sexy Ways.”
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe held sway at the Purple Hat stage for some late-night magic, with numerous guests and his vocals and tenor soaring into the night air. Meanwhile, Bonobo with a full band was topping off the evening, or so I thought. By the time I got back to the music hall, I wasn’t expecting much from Robert Walter’s 20th Congress.
Wrong again. Walter and his band were perfect for the real late-night slot, with jazz and funk expertly intermingled. Walter’s work on the B3 is superb. Somehow, I managed to make it to the end of the set and back up the hill to the silent disco.
For those unfamiliar with the silent disco concept, each audience member gets a pair of headphones. You can control the volume, AND you can choose from two DJs or bands on stage. The eerie experience is taking your headphones off and watching all the heads bobbing up and down in (near) silence. Jeff Randall was pumping out a nice DJ set, but I was attracted to Squeedlepuss, a great jazzy quartet and a perfect fit for this extremely late-night slot.
Music raged on until 5:30, or sun-up, or something. I did not.
SATURDAY 11.16.13
If I thought I’d had my money’s worth after Thursday, I certainly knew it after Friday’s performances. In fact, throughout the entire weekend, I never saw one band I wouldn’t want to see again. How would Saturday unfold?
Through the oddity of the schedule, the two biggest events for Saturday, to my mind, were early. Bootsy Collins was scheduled for 5:15, and fellow Funkateer Bernie Worrell led off at noon! Bootsy is certainly more identifiable, but Bernie Worrell is one of the chief architects of the Parliafunkadelicment Thang, often overlooked for his contributions and his massive talent. Recently, he had been touring with Steve Kimock in a killer quartet setting.
Worrell came out with a solid band and sounded great, if not spectacular. That changed, however, when Freekbass stepped on stage as Bernie tore into the only P-Funk tune of the set, “Red Hot Mama.” Freekbass committed murder. He absolutely KILLED it. I acknowledge I am an unabashed fan, but even so. [Hey, support his Kickstarter project already!] Emotionally, this was a peak for the festival for me.
Then it was, once again, decision time. George Porter, Jr., or CopE, the hometeam (Home Team) favorites? I just HAD to see CopE bust it out at the Porch stage. Right decision. I have seen them 20+ times, but this was truly incendiary. For the Home Teamers, the best part was hearing so many first-time CopE admirers raving about the set. Their shows are stuffed with originals, but a marvelous cover of “Money for Nothing” with Roosevelt Collier on his lap steel was stratospheric. DJ Williams of KDTU and Clay Watson of the Legendary JCs also sat in. And the new secret sauce? Michael Garrie on drums! CopE used to run on jet fuel; now they run on rocket fuel. That man is SICK!
From there I hustled over to catch the remainder of George Porter’s set, magical as always. Fortunately, I would get to see him in phenomenal form on Sunday. I then zipped up to the campground stage to check out the Resolvers. Need to see them again, too. Then it was time for more Galactic.
Galactic turned in another superb set at the Amphitheatre, with guests, and a dynamite set-closer “Gimme Shelter.” By this time, everyone was thoroughly funk-drenched. Perhaps some needed a moment of relief, a smile, something completely different.
Enter the Mike Dillon Band. You can call it what you want. Ever since I witnessed him with the Dead Kenny Gs, I dubbed it punk-metal-jazz, at 78 speed (for you old folks). Dillon is a manic visionary, a genius on percussion, and he had the best song title of the entire festival: “I Saw George Porter Playing Punk Rock on the Jam Cruise Pool Deck.” His whirling dervish, Carly Meyers, played percussion and trombone and danced like a woman possessed throughout the set. Things got even more manic when Garage a Trois bandmate Stanton Moore of Galactic jumped on the drumkit for “Omar” and the Stooges’ “1969.” The latter tune also featured uberman Roosevelt Collier, who also played on the set closer, “Carly Hates the Dubstep.” WHEW! Speaking to Roosevelt later, he said, “I’m a punk rocker now!” with a huge smile on his face. He really CAN do anything!
I slide over to the Purple Hat for another dose of Robert Walter, and again he and his bandmates nailed it, a great performance, what I managed to see. And then back to the Amphitheatre for Bootsy. Bear Creek runs like clockwork, Paul Levine and his crew be praised, so why Bootsy was channeling his inner Sly Stone I don’t know, but it was an awesome entrance, even if 25 minutes late.
The Funk Unity Band filed on stage first in white astronaut outfits – with helmets. Must have been a dozen (as if I could count by this point). After an introductory tune, the head Funkateer arrived in stunning costume. I saw the first Bootsy’s Rubber Band tour in 1976; this was equally great. And Bernie Worrell joined his former mate for a few tunes. And he played “Rubber Duckie!”
I missed Ghost Owl (again, but I get to see them next week) as I went to check out number one cool guy Eddie Roberts and the New Mastersounds again. This was a magical set featuring a dozen guests and lots of superb vocals on “Who’s Making Love,” “Sweet Dreams,” and “Treasure” (Space Capone!). And I knew Roberts had to be a Grant Green fan, but any doubt was erased with a long take on Green’s “Flood in Franklin Park.”
Almost everyone crowded into the Amphitheatre area for the marquee stars, the Roots. As I stated earlier, I am just not a hip hop fan, but that did not prevent me from enjoying their superb instrumental talents. Of all of the sets and musicians I saw, this was for me the least compelling, and yet I would like to check them out again.
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe was having another great night on the Purple Hat stage. Tonight featured more flute work from Karl, which I always enjoy, and lots more from DJ Williams on guitar. By now, the schedule was a bit off because of the late Bootsy entrance, so I caught all of the Dopapod set on the Porch stage.
Dopapod only came on my radar screen 18 months ago, but this jamtronica quartet is superb, and they really did themselves proud for this set with a new drummer/fill-in drummer(??). You would never have known; it was seamless. I am really looking forward to a double-dose of Dopapod at AURA in February.
What followed next was extraordinary. The Bear Creek All-Stars were slated for the next two-and-a-half hours. How would that work out? It was anchored by Dumpstaphunk and Lettuce, so you knew it was going to be great, but, I mean, what could they do to top off this day? Plenty, it turns out, and all credit goes to the rhythm sections. No matter what else was shaking, the bass and drums were absolutely incredible. It was positively hypnotic, it was so powerful. That started with Dumpstaphunk’s Nikki Glaspie on drums and their dueling basses, Tony Hall and Nick Daniels. Others likely popped in and out (it had been a loooong day), and I’m certain Adam Deitch and Jesus Coomes from Lettuce were in the mix, probably closing it out.
The set featured a spirited “Bop Gun > Dr. Funkenstein” and one of my favorite Meters’ tunes, “You’ve Got to Change (You’ve Got to Reform),” at that point with George Porter, naturally. And speaking of shaking, the set closed with “Shake Everything You Got” and “Africa.” Pure heaven.
That sent everyone scurrying back to the music hall to check out rumors about a new collaborative project, the Nth Power (a math name!!!). Nikki Glaspie (Dumpsta) and Nigel Hall (Lettuce) lead this new supergroup, and they earned that title with a dynamic show, highlighted by the incredible guitar work of Nick Cassarino, who also plays with Jennifer Hartswick.
As I made it up the hill toward the silent disco, who was there tucked in the trees with an impromtu really late-night set but Zach Deputy, who had sets Friday and Sunday. But I was anxious for another one of my Bear Creek highlights, a third year of Skerik and Freekbass together on the silent disco stage. And then it got even better! They had Dennis Stadelman of CopE adding guitar colors to their set. It was like something out of a dream. My dream, anyway. And then to bed, but only after a ride with Dennis back to visit with the HomeTeam first.
One other highlight of the day: watching Savi Fernandez flash that Savi grin when he spotted me wearing my Savi Fernandez Band shirt!
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
SUNDAY 11.17.13
Which brings us, finally, to Sunday. First: full disclosure. I have never made it to Bear Creek Sunday night. And I know what you’re thinking: IDIOT! Missing the Dumpstaphunk and Lettuce rave-ups is a BIG mistake. The problem is this: missing two days of a school as a teacher is difficult; missing three days is exponentially worse. I don’t want to miss Thursday, that’s for certain. I need to retire. This job thing keeps getting in the way (read: Jam Cruise). [Ed. note: retirement came 01/01/16. And YES Jam Cruise!]
Sunday morning started early, as Eugene Snowden and his band of madmen (and women), the Legendary JCs (Joint Chiefs), kicked out the soul gospel jams with “I’ll Fly Away > Save Me > New Man > Lifted Me.” Took us all to church. Eugene is an incredible frontman who… [I was going to make an age-ist comment. Not necessary. Just incredible.]. The JCs also feature Clay Watson on trombone, a BC artist-at-large, and great vocals from Katie Burkess. [Watson, by the way, also has another new collective: Paddington Ambush. Check ‘em out!]
I was focused on Skerik’s Orchestra At Large. I’m not sure where I put Skerik in the saxophone hierarchy before this show, but I certainly know now. I have hundreds of records by Coltrane, Dolphy, Bird and others, so I know what I like. And Skerik belongs in the conversation. The set started off with Skerik on solo tenor, incorporating sounds and reverberations from his sax mike. He was joined by Dead Kenny Gs/ Garage A Trois bandmate Mike Dillon on traps, and it started to explode. It appeared that Freekbass was going to start on bass, but he courteously let the senior statesman George Porter, Jr., step up instead. I’ve seen George lots of times, but this one was, for me, legendary. What started as sort of Afrobeat (I have not listened to the download yet) continued to grow and expand into this 40+minute extravaganza, as a slew of horn players paraded on stage. Then Freekbass came out, and more insanity ensued. It was stunning.
Although I definitely wanted to make it to the Gospel Surprise, I could not imagine what could still grab what was left of my brain. I spoke earlier about seeing a band or performer before but not REALLY listening. Shame on me. Again. I have SEEN Jennifer Hartswick before, but apparently I had not REALLY listened. I love her trumpet playing, but what a spectacular set of pipes she has! She is one of the best female singers I have ever heard. Her set Sunday, like Friday’s, featured original tunes and massive covers. My favorites were Jennifer Paige’s “Crush” (WOW) and Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody” (WOW squared). I guess I just needed a bigger 2×4 to the head.
With everything packed up and ready to head back to Tampa, I walked one last time down to the Amphitheatre to see the grinning tandem of Roosevelt Collier and Nigel Hall (and their bandmates). These guys popped up so many places I am convinced there must be underground tunnels somewhere. When you start with “Shaky Ground,” how you gonna lose? It was deluxe, perfect for this late-afternoon set that covered “Higher Ground” (a Hall specialty), “Uncle Remus” (the George Duke-Frank Zappa collaboration), and “Spirit in the Dark.” AMEN.
It got me home, safe and sound. Music, friends, the park, the weather. That’s close enough to planet alignment for me.
So I’m thinking. How can Paul Levine and friends POSSIBLY top that? I know just one thing: Only a fool would bet against him!
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And that’s why so many of us still revere Bear Creek as THE best festival… and why we miss it so.
[Great thanks for the great videos from Adam Firtel, The Funk It Blog, The Sober Goat, Michael Allen, Funktopia, Eric in Bel Air, and Chris Rogers.]