The Spirits That Moved Us On Hulaween’s Spirit Lake
At the end of October each year, the four-day bacchanal that is Suwannee Hulaween features loads of heavyweight musical acts that draw thousands of revelers to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. But the heartbeat of this festival is often found in the magical nooks and crannies of places like Spirit Lake, where interactive art installations mesmerize participants and where the smaller stages showcase bands, known and unknown, throwing a wide net of soul-shaking musical discovery.
Named for the small lake nestled among towering old growth trees dripping with Spanish moss and the spirits that dance around them (verified by anyone who’s been there), Spirit Lake is a place of discovery and wonder. It’s a place where the sights and sounds will stop you dead in your tracks. Before you know it, minutes or even hours have passed without you realizing it with your feet rooted to the same spot because you’ve been hypnotized.
So this is just some of the magic that moved us on our wanderings among the spirits.
Gargoyles and Ghosts
Two giant gargoyles spewing streams of water from their grinning, fanged mouths flanked the main entrance to Spirit Lake. The combined effect of these towering winged figures along with the 3-D ghostly images projected on the walls surrounding them sent just the slightest cold shiver down the spines of those passing beneath. If it wasn’t obvious before, you quickly realize you’re entering a haunted forest with many more thrills and chills to come.
Arachnid Nightmares
What would a haunted forest be without a giant spider – one of the many colossal wood sculptures (much of it made from local reclaimed wood) that revelers have come to expect from Spirit Lake. This was a great spot for a creepy group photo, as long as no one in your crew suffered from arachnophobia.
DJs On Fire
While Spirit Lake has always featured unique spots for DJs to spin in the woods, this year showcased a jaw-dropping, fire-spitting stage known as Incendia where underground electronica ran all weekend long. It was also a great spot to stay warm with overnight temperatures dropping into the 40s.
A Living Room For Hobbits and Wood Nymphs
I literally tripped over this space tucked away just beyond the Campground Stage and half expected to find woodland fairies resting on the antique couches surrounded by chandeliers made of cutlery and tea settings. In fact, I did see fairies lounging there. I was also delighted to find a small stage where musicians of all sorts practiced their spells on an exceedingly chill crowd laid out on a soft carpet of moss.
Photo Credit: Jess Phillips
Spirit Lake
There is absolutely no better place to cool your jets and zone out than on the banks of Spirit Lake itself. Holographic images projected onto a screen of water drawn from the lake and lasers working the surrounding forest make for a dream-like environment where it’s easy to lose yourself, which I most certainly did.
Music
Oh, yeah. There was music in the woods – lots and lots of music completing the overwhelming — and sometimes disorienting — sensory experience of the lake. Here’s just sampling of a few of my favorites:
The New Mastersounds
It’s odd to find a guitarist as dapper as Eddie Roberts in the middle of woods in swampy north Florida. But there he was, in his trademark suit, along with his three band mates who make up the British funk and jazz outfit The New Mastersounds ripping through blazing renditions of “Zambezi,” “Green Was Beautiful,” “In Da” and “Drop It Down.”
This was the band’s second time at Hulaween, having played these woods in 2015, and this set was no less mischievous and just plain fun.
Photo Credit: Jess Phillips
Dressed in matching pink sequin capes, drummer Simon Allen and keyboardist Joe Tatton were all grins and giggles playing late Friday night before a large and hugely enthusiastic Spirit Lake Stage crowd. It was especially sweet to have a clearly fit Pete Shand back on bass after a debilitating spinal operation earlier this year. This powerhouse quartet happily fed the appreciative audience just what they wanted – tasty grooves that had the whole forest bobbing and weaving to funky beats.
Photo Credit: Jess Phillips
Voodoo Visionary
Atlanta funk masters Voodoo Visionary tore up the Campground Stage Saturday night to the raucous delight of a large contingent of fans boogieing down to fire-breathing tunes like “Jangalang,” “People Say” and “The Heathen,” which morphed into “Sexy MF” with teases of Spottieottiedopalicious. The latter featured killer trombone played by Daniel Wytanis of The Heather Gillis Band.
Now this is a band that sets off the little guy in your head who talks to you when you’re in the grocery store. But in this case, instead of making you recite out loud the list you forgot, he/she is screaming this: “Dance, dummy! Shake that ass! Raise your fists and bang your head! Get your feet moving like they’re burning on hot coals! Just get up and dance!”
Voodoo Visionary Percussionist Jose Rivera
That’s exactly what the crowd did with Martin Anderson on sax, Dennis Dowd on keyboards, Jimmy Lynch on bass, Scott MacDonald on vocals, Ben Otieno on trumpet, Jose Rivera on percussion, Mac Schmitz on drums and Mike Wilson on guitar egging them on in a celebratory explosion of funk. And the little guy in my head kept yelling, “Dance faster, stupid! Dance faster!” I was happy to oblige.
Goldfish
I was first introduced to Goldfish, a South African genre-bending, electronic dance duo, by hamsters – two to be exact. Back in 2010, Kia featured the hit song “Fort Knox” in a hilarious commercial starring two pudgy rodents bopping down the road in a Kia Soul blasting the song. I’ve been devouring eccentric electronic beats ever since. Sunday’s packed daytime set at The Spirit Lake Stage only wet my appetite for more.
Glee was the order of the day — glee radiating from Dominic Peters and David Poole, a.k.a Goldfish, and glee lifting a rapturous crowd off its feet. With Dominic on keys, upright bass and bass guitar and vocalist David on saxophone and flute, the duo pumped through favorites like “Fort Knox,” “Hold Tight” and “Washing Over Me.”
I swear these skillful DJs were having a better time than the impossibly ecstatic audience as they wowed and confounded with musicianship that incorporated jazz, house, pop and African music into their synth beats. They left us hungry for more, but I can almost guarantee these guys will be back.
The Jaden Carlson Band
One of the beautiful things about Hulaween is stumbling on the unexpectedly great. The Jaden Carlson Band was that discovery for me when I came across this Colorado-based funk-fusion outfit on the Campground Stage on Sunday night. Headed by guitar phenom Jaden Carlson, the quartet also features the talents of Chris Beck on keyboards, synthesizer and talk box; Danny Davis on bass; and Eric Imbronciano on drums. At the tender age of 16, Jaden has been honing her skills on the guitar for a decade. With four albums under her belt and a stint at the age of 11 with Michael Franti and Blues Traveler at Red Rocks, she’s also added producer, vocalist and synth killer to her resume at an age when most young people are barely learning to drive.
Keyboardist Chris Beck, Jaden Carlson and drummer Eric Imbrosciano
Jaden’s prowess on the guitar and synthesizer soared on the band’s jazzed-up, funky deliveries of “Mudflip” and “Last Chair.” Things got seriously funky when Colorado rap and hip hop artist JuBee joined the band for get-off-your-butt-and-dance versions of “Daylight,” “Heart On My Sleeve” and “Lovestruck.” I suspect Jaden, as great as she is now and not even out of her teens yet, will be exploring new and innovative areas of the fan-freakin’-tastic for years to come. I can’t wait.
David Shaw
I can’t think of closing out this festival in any better way than a solo acoustic set by David Shaw, the charismatic lead singer and rhythm guitarist for The Revivalists, whose raw, silky vocals wrap around your soul and won’t let go. After nearly four days of nonstop raging, David’s set, which opened with an emotional “Shoot You Down,” was a beautiful way for the ginormous crowd at The Spirit Lake Stage to decompress.
As is often the case with Revivalist fans, the set became one long sing-a-long with David leading the crowd in a jubilant call and response with “Keep Going, ” and with voices raised for “Soulfight,” the audience melted into one, big, sighing wave. Later, a storm trooper from Star Wars brandishing a guitar joined Shaw on stage for a fierce, bluegrass and flamenco tinged version of “Wish I Knew” where the two traded smokin’ guitar licks. The errant trooper turned out to be Brooks Hubbert, a psychedelic, bluesman and country rocker from Gulfport, Mississippi.
Clearly touched by the outpouring of love and affection from the crowd already saturated from experiencing the most other-worldly festival on the planet, a humbled David Shaw gave effusive thanks to all there and the powers that make Hulaween possible. And I want to thank them too.
Thank you Silver Wrapper and Purple Hat Productions for putting together another mind-expanding, love-inducing, life-changing Hula. We’ll be looking for you and all the beautiful souls on Spirit Lake next year.