Spirit Fest Celebrates The JAM and Florida’s Amazing Music Scene
Spirit Fest is upon us, brought to you by The JAM Gainesville and Heartwood Soundstage. It was back in February that Heartwood debuted its brand-new facility at the Heartwood Music Festival. And music returns there in a big way this Friday and Saturday, September 22nd and 23rd, as three dozen of Florida’s and Gainesville’s best musical exponents explode onstage for a magical weekend.
Music runs each day on two stages — the Prairie Stage and the Cantina Stage. Let’s take a stroll through the schedule to see what you’ve got in store — and it is jam-packed for certain!
PRAIRIE FRIDAY
The Throws have the honor of getting the party started with their unrepentant rocking approach at 4 PM. The set features two stages at either end of the field, so when one band is finished, the other is ready to begin, and there is plenty of set-up time.
Then Idylwild brings their mix of roots, funk, soul, rock and blues to the stage, followed by Ricky Kendall and then some great reggae, rocksteady and ska courtesy of The Duppies. Fasten your seatbelts for the progadelic jam funk of Locochino; you’d better strap in tight!
Locochino is just the first of four of Florida’s rock royalty in a row, as the Savi Fernandez Band is up next with a kickass meld of rock, reggae and funk. Come Back Alice invades next with their amazing rock and roll and so much more, swamp funk, wicked blues, and a stunning band. Finally, The Groove Orient will finish the evening with their equally eclectic rock antics. These bands have been touring widely, and you’ll understand why they are all in such great demand.
CANTINA FRIDAY
Mama Trish vs. Godzilla opens the Cantina Stage at 6. How are you going to miss that? Flint Blade and Chapman stick are up next, followed by the adventure prog of Velocirapture. King Bada plays two sets with one by TriPow in between, and Aquanova’s psychedelic prog taps off the evening from 1 to 2 AM.
PRAIRIE SATURDAY
Noon is kick-off time, with OZona’s reggae/hip hop fusion. Then it’s NOLA funky, Meters-style, from Funky Miracle. Wax Wings plays a delightful mix of folk, swing, jazz, and more. Then Orlando’s Leisure Chief rocks the party with their jazzy fusion; they just played two post-Panic shows in St. Augustine.
Wester Joseph’s Stereo Vudu plays, well, ‘vudu rawk,’ and they kill it. Macca Reggae Samba is up next, then Juan Rollan, followed by Karl and the Lawnmower. (We hear that Karl and Co. are actually the band formerly know as Squeedlepuss!) Rollan and quartet will also play a special VIP set honoring John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.
It gets serious again with four more of Florida’s heavyweights, beginning with the delightfully double-entendre-twisted bluegrass of The Applebutter Express, so joyously delivered. Displace rocks out from Tampa with an amazing funk explosion. Again, all four of these bands have toured extensively, and again you’ll understand why they are in demand.
South Florida sends Electric Kif and their ‘post nuclear music,’ brilliant jamtronic goodness, and the night ends with the extraordinary funkinations of Holey Miss Holey, a ten-member juggernaut from everywhere, Florida. That is one killer lineup.
Not done yet. One more stage.
CANTINA SATURDAY
Supamoon begins at 12:45, then Robzilla. Whale Feral plays a fresh version of Americana, and Robzilla comes back for round two. (V)owels has the next slot, then Adikt, and just-added Mirage. Syzygy takes the stage, with Everybody Gaines after that, then Just Neighbors.
Les Voss entertains, then electronic duo Retrolux does their thing, and DJ Dillon Rose rocks the house. Finally, hosts Locochino come back to melt faces and blow minds one glorious last time.
So that’s the deal: great music this weekend. Dave Johnson has been intimately involved in Spirit Fest and Heartwood. Rather than attempt to excerpt his remarks, here is a link to his excellent history of The JAM and Spirit Fest from Gainesville Scene.
