The Wanee Family Gathering is Alive and Well, Thank You!
Photographs by kind permission Of David Lee / Gypsyshooter and Brian Hensley Photography
In the run-up to the Wanee Music Festival, there was an unending torrent of questions, speculations, angst, and doomsday predictions about the present and future of Wanee.
I know. I was smack dab in the middle of some of it. Is this the last one? Who are the standard-bearers? Where are the women? What does it mean that Warren Haynes would no longer be hollerin’ “Wa-NEEEEEEE!”? What if? What if? What if?
And then we arrived home — at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park — and all of that nonsense just drifted away like dust in the wind.
We were home. We were with family. And the music was going to be incredible. In case I’d engendered any self-doubt about any of that, I can assure you it’s gone now.
Wanee is alive and very well, thank you very much.
There are certain issues in need of improvement, to be sure, but Wanee once again spread its magical arms around all of us and gave us an encouraging embrace.
WEDNESDAY
The Wanee Wednesday Happy Hour might seem parochial to some, featuring music from the Sunshine State (plus one who got away, sort of), but again this year it was a full-on party with great music start to finish. All sets were on the Mushroom Stage with half-hour breaks in between.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Wanee without having Big Mike’s barreling voice welcome us with “WANEE! YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!” as he walked out on the stage for the first (official) time.
Bonnie Blue had the honors, opening Wanee 2018 with a fine set drawn in part from their fine new album No Lookin’ Back. They opened with new tune “No Place to Call Home,” Isaac Corbitt sitting in on harmonica. After two more songs, they got to “Shovelin’ Coal,” the first of six more new tunes. “Blood for Gold” then segued into “Memphis Belle.” Bassist Adam Kenneway handled vocals here, with Willis Gore and Bradley Churchman on guitar solos and one from John Wilson on keyboards. Wilson took vocal duties on “Wagon,” and then Gore sang “Trigger,” Kenneway with a sweet bass solo. A great jam emerged as they slid into “Gypsy Woman” with an “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” tease and another appearance from Corbitt. They shut the first Wanee set down with a rousing “Delta Lady.”
Miami’s JUke came to throw down the blues, and they delivered on that promise. Eric Garcia and company stomped through a great set of harmonica-centered blues. They got the party started with “Get to Heaven” and never let up. “Hold This” and “Everything I Play” rocked in the middle of the set, followed by the accurately titled “We Just Want Your Soul.” They started in heaven and ended in “Burnin’ Hell,” flames all around.
Ben Sparaco is a Florida product (Stoneman Douglas HS, by the way) who is making a name for himself now in Nashville. This was Sparaco’s fourth Wanee and first with his new band, The New Effect. At the ripe old age of 21, Sparaco is one of the new wave of superb young musicians helping to redefine the Wanee experience.
They came out blazing with the band’s single “There is No Them,” an anthem never more timely than now. There was a brief quote from “Volunteered Slavery” at some point, and Jim Lehman guested on guitar on “Who’s Gonna Follow.” Sparaco had a great solo, and Adam Discipio lit this one up. “Too Alright” was very jazzy à la “So What” and featured Mike Weberman on flute and Sparaco on that Jerry Garcia horn effect. The band took “Season of the Witch” uptempo, leading to a free jazz segment I certainly enjoyed.
“Come and Go Blues” blew up huge with guests Adam Gorman (guitar) and Chris Arnold (vocals), after which Sparaco offered a sincere shout-out to Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman. There was a killer version of “Wooden,” title track from Sparaco’s previous album. “Walk On the Levee” was followed by the first Dead reference of the festival with a great “Cryptical Envelopment > Cypress Hotel.” Finally he called up Melody Trucks Dugger (who should have been on the bill, with lots more women) to sing “The Thrill of It All” to great crowd response.
The next set turned out to be one of the most remarkable of the entire fest. Crazy Fingers, another South Florida musical exponent, filled two hours with a head-spinning mix of tunes, starting with “Help On the Way > Slipknot!” that rolled into “Let It Grow,” a 20-minute blockbuster opening. “They Love Each Other” and “Row Jimmy” were lovely and allowed the band to gear up for the incredible sequence about to begin.
“Saint of Circumstance” featured an exceptional jam, and then the fireworks exploded: “China Cat Sunflower > Viola Lee Blues > Powderfinger > Henry > Viola Lee Blues > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider.” 40 minutes of pure bliss. There were half-dozen time changes, some great swing blues, and the jam totally off the hook (well, that’s what my notes say). “Henry” was offered in shitkicker style, the jam completely amped up. There was a great exchange between Bubba Newton on bass and Pete Lavezzoli on drums.
Then came the bouncing “Universal Dance,” which led into a fabulous Santana mix called “Baba Jingo,” with “Soul Sacrifice” teases, of course. They really knocked us out with a surprising “I Am the Walrus,” and the set closed with “Slipknot!” into — what else? — “Feel Like a Stranger.” DAMN!
Roosevelt Collier and friends had the last word with their Jimi Plays Funk tribute, opening with a strong “Power of Soul.” Rick Lollar handled vocals and guitar duties. They took “Manic Depression” at an interesting tempo, followed by “Who Knows,” first way up, then almost silent. Isaac Corbitt (harmonica) and Bobby Lee Rodgers (guitar) joined in the fun. “Little Wing” was given the proper ballad treatment, with “Foxy” roaring afterward.
Things got wild during “Them Changes,” Matt Lapham huge as always on bass. Big Tez Sherard was propelling the funk jam from his drum kit . And the massive encore highlighted solos from Lollar, Collier, and Rodgers on “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”
THURSDAY
Crazy Fingers got a second shot, opening the Mushroom Stage at 11. This was appropriately more subdued but no less wonderful, beginning with mellow groove that included “Eyes of the World” and another “Slipknot!” tease. They called up Bobby Lee Rodgers and Ben Sparaco for “Big River” in a shout-out to the Suwannee River, with solos from Sparaco, Josh Foster on keyboards, Rodgers, and then Rich Friedman (guitar). “Don’t Expect No Help At All” was a blast. There was a long, slow, mellow jam on “Estimated Prophet,” and they shut down the set with “Simple Seed.”
It was great to see Berry Oakley’s Indigenous Suspects on stage. After opening with “Shine” and “Backdoor,” they ripped up a huge “Hot ’Lanta,” two guitars expanded to three with the addition of Vaylor Trucks. Oakley then offered: “We’re gonna play a pretty song,” and out came “Used to Be a King,” a lovely slow ballad. “Keep On Walking” was a bouncing uptempo shuffle, followed by the reggae tune “Stepping Ravon” (love that title). Finally, Oakley called up Vaylor and Melody Trucks for a powerful “Whipping Post.”
Next up was the Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio, the hardest-working band at Wanee every year (they opened the Peach Stage Friday and Saturday and hit the Traveling Stage both days as well). “Ike Stubblefield” led into a great song called “(I’m Gonna Elect an) Electronic President.” Rodgers made sure we knew that it was Rob Somerville (Kung Fu, Deep Banana Blackout) on tenor sax, sounding awesome. Rodgers’ playing is deep-rooted in jazz, so this pairing was pure dynamite. Somerville totally tore up “California Shorts,” and the Brians — Tate on bass and Lang on drums — had a great exchange before Rodgers closed the set with “Victor the Snake Man.”
I often have an issue with sound quality and volume at shows and concerts. This year at Wanee, the sound for the most part was excellent, with the prominent exception of bass levels at the Mushroom stage. My love of bass is well documented, but at the point when the bass overpowers the vocals and other instruments in the band, we should be able to recognize that. I have no idea what the sound crew was hearing most of the festival, but I was sitting within 50 feet of them for every set, and there were occasions when the bass truly marred the performance. I know it’s not going to change; I just feel badly for the musicians pouring themselves out on the stage only to have the sound crew spoil that effort. Rant over — for now.
BIG Something made a triumphant return after their 2016 Wanee debut with an incredibly mind-bending set. They slammed immediately into “Megalodon” with their funky rock, followed by “Tumbleweed.” The latter featured Casey Cranford on EWI and the first of many scorching solos from Jesse Hensley, a truly monster guitarist. The band then offered two tracks from their new album The Otherside, set to be released the next day (4/20). The first, “Wildfire,” had a great synth intro and solo courtesy of Matt Mufflin. The song twisted and turned into killer prog rock (see: Hensley).
The second was “Plug,” a really funky rocker. And then BIG Something destroyed the Mushroom with a huge “Echoes” that turned into pure space and “Waves.” “The Curse of Julia Brown” had a brilliant false ending, and Cranford blew out his alto sax on the “Volcano” finale. All the while, front man Nick MacDaniels was masterful on vocals and rhythm guitar. Doug Marshall on bass? Of course he crushed it!
It was time once again to “put it in the Dumpsta!” Dumpstaphunk was back with another special set, this time covering the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They opened with an hour of the band’s own tunes before doing the RHCP thing. Gloriously, they began with “I Wish You Would,” Tony Hall on guitar. They had trumpet and trombone in tow, and those two threw in a brief “Flashlight” quote. The mixing was out of whack; it wasn’t that the bass was too loud; Ivan Neville’s vocals were too low in the mix on “Let’s Get At It.” “Do Yo’ Thing” featured both Nick Daniels and Hall on bass. Ivan Neville was all over the clavinet and organ; Hall’s bass was too loud. There was a drum feature, followed by Ivan Neville on synth, then Nick and Tony on duelling basses. The clavinet drove “Dancin’ to the Truth” into the band’s signature tune “Justice.”
Then it was Chili Peps time, announced as Dumpsta Sugar Phunk Magic, and that’s what they did, selecting nine of the songs from the iconic RHCP album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, largely in order. For those familiar, it was a success; for others, less so. As Ivan would point out in the middle of it, “This stuff is hard. There are a LOT of words!” This was a challenging set for anyone to attempt.
“Power of Equality,” “If You Have to Ask” and “Funky Monks” got the action going. The refrain for “Suck My Kiss” was, appropriately, NOT “suck my kiss!” As the set wound down, Dumpstaphunk also played “Mellowship Slimy,” “My Lovely Man” and “Sir Psycho Sexy” before grabbing everyone for a singalong on the finale, “Give It Away.”
Last year was the first time any Thursday music took place on the Peach Stage, as Dark Star Orchestra did their thing with the Baron Hall concert. They returned for another superb set of Grateful Dead music. “The Music Never Stopped” was the perfect opener, with a great jam and fine piano work from Rob Barraco. “Railroad Blues” was followed by “Passenger,” with great vocals from Lisa Mackey. Barraco again shone on “Cold Rain and Snow.” Bass player Skip Vangelas was extraordinary on “Hard to Handle,” and that led to a great “Good Lovin’” and more piano. They shut down set one with a lovely “China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider.”
DSO also took the “Help On the Way > Slipknot! > Feel Like a Stranger” route to begin set two with a deep jam. “Bird Song > Easy Wind” allowed the band to catch its collective breath before the fury to follow. “Truckin’” had a huge jam that led into a carefully constructed percussion duet from Dino English and Rob Koritz, then “Space > The Other One > Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad > Wharf Rat > Alligator.” It was massive, with a brief “We Bid You Good Night” tease before that great “Alligator.”
“When was this set performed by the Grateful Dead? NEVER!” we were told, although Deadheads sharper than I had already deduced that. The encore was “The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion.”
It was time for the trek back to the Mushroom for the much-anticipated Pink Talking Fish: Tied to the Whipping Post. This one’s worth looking at the setlist first to see just how they wove in an out of P, T, “F” and ABB:
[PTF: Elizabeth Reed > Crosseyed and Painless, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Maze, Jessica, Psycho Killer, Elizabeth Reed > Dogs, Free > Midnight Rider > Free (reprise) > Dogs, Naive Melody, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Whipping Post, Once In A Lifetime, Harry Hood > Elizabeth Reed]
This was simply fabulous, as they seamlessly worked the Allman Brothers classics into their normal repertoire. “Liz” was the perfect place to begin. There were so many amazing jams and transitions throughout the set. “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)” was particularly face-melting, and they played a magnificent “Whipping Post.”
The “easy” days were done. On to the challenges, overlaps, decisions, and exhaustion.
FRIDAY
15 hours of music lay ahead. And I was lying in my bed too long, missing most of the opening set from Midnight North, who had a great vibe and a two great female vocalists. I heard much of the set from campsite, but that’s not the same. They offered really solid jams. Next time, Midnight North.
So now the bouncing began. Music was taking place on both the Peach and Mushroom, often simultaneously. Hustling over to the Peach, I caught part of the short Bobby Lee Rodgers set, which included the Grant Green gem “Jan Jan” and two tunes with vocalist Lamar Williams, Jr.: “Yield Not to Temptation” and “Outer Space.”
Thank heavens for Jaimoe and his Jasssz Band, the most important link to the band that founded the Wanee and Peach Festivals. Junior Mack was again fronting the band on guitar and vocals with a fine “Leavin’ Trunk” and “Blue Sky.” Mack was featured again on “Born Under a Bad Sign,” which segued into “Mountain Jam” with great solos from the horns, a brief “Who Knows,” and then into “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More,” with Lamar Williams, Jr. They ended the set with some swing blues and finally “Black Cat Bone.”
There was great anticipation for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and he and the band did not disappoint, leading off with “Boppin’ the Blues.” Things got busy early with “High Is Not The Top,” “Vibration and Light,” and “Venus in Chrome.” And “New Cannonball Rag” was a great way to finish off the set.
Both days saw the Travelin’ Stage deliver music from the Canoe Post to Spirit Lake. JUke had the early shift, with the Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio later in the afternoon.
If there is a young man destined to be the face of the Wanee Music Festival, it is certainly Marcus King. His meteoric rise is 100% earned, based on his raw talent, his ability to absorb the oeuvre of blues, funk, jam, rock, jazz, soul, and swing music, and his ineffable personality. He is, simply put, the real deal. This set and his numerous sit-ins would again cement his place in the Wanee firmament.
The ability of King and band to work in bits and pieces of songs into their set is sure to put a smile on any music fan’s face. After “Where I’m Headed,” they threw a great P-Funk vamp in the middle of “Life is a Song,” with both Stephen Campbell and Jack Ryan tearing it up on bass and drums, respectively. Sound issue: King’s guitar was under the mix much of the set (!!!!); the horns were louder than his guitar.
After an up blues song, they played a “totally stupid” jazz segment (again, blame my notes) that was built on melodies like “So What” and “Comin’ Home Baby.” Justin Jones stood out on trumpet. Then the 22-year-old offered up his first-ever love song, titled “Homesick.” The “Self-Hatred” that came next had a dynamite solo straight out of the Frank Zappa wah-wah school. A very reggae-ish “Fire On the Mountain” yielded to a powerful “Dreams” that feature poppa Marvin King on guitar.
King (Jr.) settled things down a bit with a fine rendition of the great Marshall Tucker Band tune “This Old Cowboy.” The band then launched into an asskickin’ blues rocker. I jetted over briefly to check out St. Paul and the Broken Bones (see below) but made it back for a huge “Plant Your Corn Early” that was again, in the vernacular: stupid.
And, at this point King observed that it was 4:20 on 4/20.
“If you’re inclined to make some bad choices, this might be a good time.”
The “Virginia” that ensued included a wild “Jungle Boogie” and a great Bernie Worrell-like synth solo from Deshawn Alexander.
Back to St. Paul and the Broken Bones on the Peach. This was solid blue-eyed soul, very jazzy, very sexy. The band is ultra-tight, and his falsetto soars to the heavens. I look forward to seeing them again.
This was my first opportunity to see veteran bluesman Walter Trout, who gleefully announced “I’m a Bluesman!” The set included “It’s a Long Road to Heaven,” a tribute to B.B. King, and “Say Goodbye to the Blues.” Their closing “Goin’ Down” was hot and heavy.
It was time for night one of Phil Lesh and the Terrapin Family Band. The first set sparkled, with “Cream Puff War” and “Cumberland Blues” in the first part before Neal Casal joined the band on guitar for the remainder of the set. Great versions of “New Minglewood Blues,” “Ramble On Rose” and more poured out. The jam during “The Music Never Stopped” was heavenly, and the “Scarlet Begonias” jam just as good.
The band returned after a short break with “Estimated Prophet.” There was a massive jam in the 18-minute “Unbroken Chain,” and “The Other One > He’s Gone > The Other One” sandwich was totally jazzed up, really gorgeous. Jason Crosby had a fine keyboard solo. “Morning Dew” was almost funereal, but the band recovered with a bouncy stand-alone “I Know You Rider.”
The Main Squeeze was raging on the Mushroom Stage. Corey Frye and company were in full-on mode when I arrived after Phil was finished, in the midst of “In a Funk.” The set had a great vibe with some great deep bass from Rob Walker before they drifted into “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” “Whiskey, Women and Cocaine” was a really heavy tune with a spectacular guitar solo by Max Newman, and that led to “Dr. Funk.” So this fabulous funk band closed the set with a massive “Have a Cigar” and delivered a ripping “War Pigs” for their encore.
Time to Panic.
Bluesy “Taildragger” kicked off one of the best Widespread Panic sets I’ve ever seen, nearly three hours of bliss. The ensuing “Chilly Water” was huge, with a great jam, short percussion break and JoJo Hermann soaring on piano. “One-Arm Steve” and “Holden Oversoul” were deluxe surprises, and Hermann took the opening to “1×1” at half-speed. “When Cotton was King” was all funked up, and they rolled into some great space stuff afterward.
The massive sandwich was “Driving Song > Disco > Porch Song > Drums > Jam > Greta > Space Wrangler > Driving Song > Blight.” Hermann’s piano stood out on “Disco,” with an interesting segue into “Porch Song.” And “Porch” included a Sonny Ortiz/Duane Trucks duet on percussion, then an astounding jam, Hermann’s clavinet working into “Greta.” Luther Dickinson (up next for the late-night set) was called up for the first tune of the encore, “Smokestack Lightning.”
The North Mississippi Allstars were fired up from the word GO for their late-night set at the Mushroom. After “Need to Be Free,” they tossed a number of teases into “Rollin’ and Tumblin’.” There was a fine medley of “You Got to Move” and “It Hurts Me Too” before fan-favorite “Shake ’Em On Down.” JoJo Hermann joined in on “Turn On Your Lovelight,” as Luther Dickinson dedicated the set to Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, Col. Bruce Hampton (Ret.), and Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland.
A bit later, Jason Crosby (Terrapin Family Band, The Invisible Whip) played keyboards on “Deep Elem Blues,” followed by a bouncing “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad.” “Little Red Rooster” rocked, as did the washboard tune. Vaylor Trucks blew up “MI.”, and then Marcus King helped tear up “Crossroads.” Berry Oakley joined King with NMAS for “Back Black Train” before the closing refrains of “Miss Maybelle” and “We Wish You Goodnight.”
Three days down, one to go!
SATURDAY
This was my 12th Wanee (I missed the first two), but it took me a bit to latch on to The Yeti Trio, whose past early Saturday performances have been prog heaven. This year’s set was better than ever. Technically, there are five songs listed on the setlist, but everything just melted into one titanic performance. Vaylor Trucks is a superb guitarist, and he and bandmates Brooks Smith and Eric Sanders make a great power trio, all three in perfect sync. Somewhere after they began “The Sandwich Remark,” Trucks had a shout-out to jazz great Sonny Sharrock with some great jazz prog.
Drummer Sanders was playing straight out of the Joe Morello School of Prog, a perfect cross. Then there was a song about a guy who made Loonie Tunes, with Trucks really abusing his wah-wah pedal in the midst of a full-on three-man jam. A “Norwegian Wood” tease blew through, and Brooks Smith had a great keyboard feature. They closed with a nearly-normal “Chuck Jones.”
Bobby Lee Rodgers was back in action with another killer half-hour set to open the Peach. Then it was back to catch The New Orleans Suspects, always a blast on the Mushroom. There was a very ABB-like jam, a “Liz Reed” tease, a fine percussion jam with ‘Mean’ Willie Green on drums, and a fine tenor solo courtesy of Jeff Watkins. “She’s Got It All” and “You Got the Fire” were pure New Orleans.
After zipping away to see Sonny Landreth, I returned to find Roosevelt Collier tearing up “Them Changes” with the Suspects’ Jack Eckert on guitar. The bass was MUCH too loud. Watkins had another great solo. The finale rolled up Professor Longhair and Earl King and “Fire It Up, Burn It Down” and more.
Landreth was demonstrating his amazing slide talents on the Peach. He began with acoustic guitar, including his realization that it was “time for a depressing song.” Fortunately, that was brief, and he strapped on the electric and jumped into “Walkin’ Blues” and “It Hurts Me Too.” He allowed as how he would rock out one time, then played a song for “those who love moonshine or some such with “Cherry Ball Blues” (Skip James).
Bonnie Blue and friend Isaac Corbitt were zipping around on the Traveling Stage, Bobby Lee Rodgers again later on.
For many, the biggest conflict/overlap of the weekend involved Chris Robinson’s As the Crow Flies and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. Some did one, some did the other, and many tried to split time between the two sets. And you can find people who will swear that each one of those was the best set of the weekend. Such a delicious dilemma!
As the Crow Flies was the opportunity for Chris Robinson to embrace once again his Black Crowes roots, with a set that featured 14 Black Crowes songs, drawn from the first four albums, from Shake Your Moneymaker to By Your Side. He had substantial assistance from Andy Hess on bass, Audley Freed on guitar, Adam McDougal on keyboards, Tony Leone on drums, and the ubiquitous Marcus King as designated guitar slinger along with Freed. The setlist will bring back great memories:
[ATCF: Remedy,Sting Me, Twice As Hard, By Your Side, Nonfiction, Sister Luck, High Head Blues, Good Friday, Almost Cut My Hair, Wiser Time, She Talks To Angels, Thorn In My Pride, My Morning Song, Jealous Again, Hard To Handle > Hush]
Robinson looked great in his salmon-colored shirt, channeling Steve Marriott vocally. They wailed through some blues, King absolutely on fire. There was a nice piano intro from McDougal into “She Talks to Angels.”
Pigeons, hereafter referred to as PPPP, created a huge buzz on Jam Cruise in January and continued to impress here with a superb set, “Too Long” and a reggae-ish “Julia,” with a huge jam, bassist Ben Carrey enormous. After a new Pizzazz track, “Something for Ya,” “Time to Ride” simply exploded. My notes remind me that my “mind is exploding.” Jeremy Schon shredded, then the band steered into some serious jamtronica, which morphed into “Cantina Band,” jam funk, and “People say I’m crazy” before returning to the head.
The huge jam “Walk Outside > Am > Slip Breaks > Kashmir > Walk Outside” soared with more jamtronica and “Smoke On the Water” and “Heartbreaker” teases. Eventually, “Space Jam > The Hop” rolled into the sing-along “F.U.” There was even a brief “I Got You (I Feel Good)” before they shut it down with “The Liquid.”
Next on the Mushroom, George Porter, Jr., and the Runnin’ Pardners were funking things up, as usual. Early on, they ran through “Cissy Strut” and “Love the One You’re With,” Michael Lemmler on Hammond B3 and then guitarist Brint Anderson soloing. There were big jams leading into “They All Asked for You.” There was a nice “Lovelight” and a ballad-style “Eyes of the World” (bass too loud again — sorry, George).
At this point, I observed to friends that this was “enjoyable but not essential,” and Porter clearly heard me (from back behind the sound booth), because he immediately blew that shit wide open with the best jam yet, Anderson in wah-wah heaven. A great jazz tune followed with Porter on walking bass before “Be Careful Who You Idolize,” bass solo in the mix.
“Talkin’ ‘Bout All My Old Friends” led into a Latin-flavored New Orleans tune that became “Sing a Happy Song,” and Porter shut it down with “I Get High (Every Time I Think About You)” and his interpretation of “Sugaree.”
The first set by Phil Lesh & Co. began with “Bertha” and a surprise “Sweet Jane.” Marcus King was amazing on “West L.A. Fadeaway > Samson and Delilah” before the first set closed with “Box of Rain.” After a lovely “Tangled Up in Blue” opened set two, the set amped up with “Help On the Way > Slipknot!” and “a fine “Uncle John’s Band.”
Then Lesh and friends blew everyone away with a massive sequence beginning with “China Cat Sunflower” (recall the stand-alone “I Know You Rider” the night before) into “Mountain Jam,” then a blessed “St. Stephen,” with a “Franklin’s” tease and a killer “Whole Lotta Love.” Then it was back to “St. Stephen” before yielding to “Not Fade Away” (with a “Blue Sky” jam). The encore of “Throwing Stones > Ripple” was the perfect ending to a great set.
When I got back to the Mushroom, The Soul Rebels moved from a drum feature into “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” six horns blazing. There was a nice cover of Anita Baker’s “I’m in Love,” a really funky “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” and a beautiful “Human Nature.”
Panic Round Two was a fascinating set — totally disjointed, no flow, brilliant performances. When “Love Tractor” appeared third in the set, we knew all bets were off. It’s as if the set were designed by dart board, and that’s not a complaint, just a fact. A powerful “Pigeons” and “Goodpeople” were up first. I’m not sure what happened night one, but the woman who signs for WSP was in front of the left Wanee banner in the spotlight, signing away. It was clear by “Goodpeople” that this would be a JoJo clavinet night (always a good thing).
“I’m Not Alone” was, ironically, alone. “Big Woolly Mammoth” got very spacey, and Duane Trucks was just killer. A great set of tunes followed, with a great jammy “Rebirtha,” Hermann on piano with Jimmy Herring percolating on guitar. That moved into “Blackout Blues” with lots more Hermann on piano before it drifted into a massive “Second Skin” featuring Jason Crosby on violin. He and Jimmy Herring battled back and forth with some stunning prog.
Piano night continued with “Pilgrims” before Marcus King came out for “Bowlegged Woman.” I am praying that somebody got video of the signer woman when she got to the “bowlegged” and “knock-kneed” parts. King also guested on “One Kind Favor.” It seemed like the massive “Fishwater,” with Crosby joining Hermann on keyboards, could have been set’s end, but no! Crosby picked up violin again to help out on The Meat Puppets’ “Lake of Fire” and finally “Ain’t Life Grand.” And yes, it was!
After “Expiration Day” (really don’t like that song), WSP playing a wonderful “Papa’s Home” and closed their 2018 Wanee with a rollicking “Mr. Soul.”
There were a few doubters who felt that Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe was not the right choice to close down the Mushroom Saturday night. You won’t find any of those now. This set was brilliant, the perfect capper to four magical days of music. By the time they hit “Trouble No More,” it was ON! Seth Freeman on slide guitar and DJ Williams on guitar nailed the whole set. “Nobody Left to Run With” yielded to “I’m Your Biggest Fan.”
KDTU sent “Dreams” skyward, with a great “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” after that. “Sunshine Superman” featured Chris Littlefield on flugelhorn, and Chris Stillwell had a solid bass solo as well. “In Search of Elizabeth Reed” was just brilliant, Kenson on flute, David Veith on keyboards, and both guitarists in the groove. Did we mention that drummer Zak Najor was paired up with the one and only Stanton Moore? DAMN!
Denson also played flute on “Melissa” with a lovely long solo. Veith was all over his clavinet to jump into “One Way Out,” and they saved the best for last, a ginormous “Whipping Post” to bring Wanee 2018 to a magical close, as Big Mike came on stage to wish us a Merry Wanee, safe trip home, and an invitation to return next year.
People will whine and moan next February or March in the run-up to Wanee 2019. I’ll know better that to pay attention now.
