Unicorns Unite a Small but Powerful Outpouring of Love and Positivity
Two short weeks after spending a glorious weekend in the woods with 20,000 like-minded individuals at Suwannee Hulaween, I was again in the woods — just barely — with 200 like-minded individuals at the inaugural Unicorns Unite event in Lutz, Florida. I didn’t even take a notebook.
Glory Road Gardens was the home for this new event, one block and a million miles from the outside world. The several (half-dozen) houses in the area have created themselves a wonderful little paradise with a lovely common area and a really nice musical performance stage — and a great treehouse sort of affair attached!
Unicorns Unite was put together by Este Loves and Trey Miller out of a deep love and respect for our local musical family. The plan was to gather together musicians and friends who would all contribute in some way or other to the success of the event. That old A-Team saying comes to mind: “I love it when a plan comes together!” Especially in the land of food! What a great feast!
There was music most of the day Friday, all day Saturday, and then Sunday well into the evening. Most of the bands and performers, such as Chris Sgamatto, Jenelle Bean, and K2theC, were from the Tampa Bay area, but there were also those who travelled to help make UU1 a marvelous success from as far as Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, and even Tucker, Georgia.
We caught the evening action Friday and much of the day Saturday. I had no notebook because, as usual, I assumed I wouldn’t be writing a review. You’d think I would know better by now. The music was superb.
And the much of what we heard was centered around four pairs of sisters.
We arrived just as the band from Tucker, The Ain’t Sisters, got on stage. As the name might suggest, Barb Carbon and Arrie Bozeman are not, in fact, sisters… of the biological sort. But they are absolutely sisters of the musical sort, and this was a remarkably fresh and innovative set of indie rock from the quintet. Their Facebook description is spot-on: “dynamic, intelligent, and fun with zero regard for your boundaries and boxes.” You bet I purchased their new album Marrow!
Next up: Flow Sisters. Alexa and Bella Toro have truly honed their craft, creating gorgeous harmonies that fill their positive and uplifting original material, especially from their recent self-titled EP. Their voices soared through the trees, truly captivating the attentive audience. Ben Levinson’s guitar work with the band is perfect, and together this quintet is simply a delight. And I think Adam Horwitz played percussion most of the night.
And now, finally, I was going to get to hear Trey Miller’s new project, Blübop Fandango. The band really took shape earlier this year and travelled to Colorado and played shows between there and Florida. They call themselves “post-grass,” but this was just a fine set of music that crossed numerous genres without complaint. Miller sings and plays banjo, keyboards, and harmonica.
If I have my facts correct, when the band emerged, they were joined by Chris Barbosa, the viola player with Boxcar Hollow. I’ve opined before that he is my favorite musician for hundreds of miles. He firmed up that opinion with a brilliant ten-minute romp with Miller and the band, an instrumental (I think).
This set, too, was an uplifting, thoroughly enjoyable set of music, as everyone agreed. Dani Jaye of Come Back Alice was at the party and sat in for much of the set. Ubiquitous drummer Riley O’Brien sat in all set, with Sherry Turansky on vocals and Josh Minucci on the upright bass.
We missed a number of the early performers Saturday, including Pollyessence, Rony & the Superdelights, and young guitar phenom Stephanie D’Angelo, although we would get to see her perform several times later in the day.
And we missed Jenelle Bean and Friends, a band loaded with talent!
shoeless soul, the outstanding quartet from Dunedin, was on stage as we arrived. We’ve had the pleasure of hearing this band more than a dozen times, but I liked this one best, perhaps because of the intimacy of the location and also because they poured their hearts out. Rene Schlegel’s voice is so distinctive, which really gives the band’s lyrics great pop and depth. His guitar and Mike Ratza’s tenor sax surfed atop the fine pulse provided by bassist Sladjan Vidic (rocking his Zappa shirt) and drummer, percussionist and vocalist extraordinaire Dave Gerulat. Schlegel’s elusive praise at set’s end bespoke how much they put into that hour of music.
Colin Christopher was debuting for us his new project Joy Wagon. In many ways, it did fit the mold of his previous group The Happy Campers. The music was eclectic and very well performed. Although I don’t have any of the names straight, there were players sitting in for missing band members all weekend, and, once again, it was so seamlessly done that nobody would have known — except they kept thanking (appropriately) those who were filling in. Christopher’s guitar work really sparkled.
Next up were Dennis Stadelman and Friends, or Mostly Sonic Stew, with some additions. I’m sure I will blur some details between this set and the next, but for certain Sean Hartley was killing on bass. Stadelman’s music always seems personal, and that is a great thing. MC Nook was there, too, as the band powered through a fine set of originals and some nice covers as well, including the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down.”
And this set also featured another pair of musical sisters. Dani Jaye played most of the set. (Tony Tyler also sat in — on drums — for a song.) Then they invited Stephanie D’Angelo, a young guitar slinger we first learned about at Orange Blossom Jamboree. Jaye and D’Angelo had some nice back-and-forth exchanges.
And then it was time for the queen of the event, Este Loves. On Sunday, she would present Este’s Church of Love, so there’s no telling how many people got on stage. This was the stripped-down version, plus numerous guests throughout the set. Este Loves’ music is filled to overflowing with positivity and hope — that’s the church aspect whether with big band or small.
As many times as I’ve heard Este Loves perform with her sister, Carly Lingenfelter, I had never truly appreciated just how brilliant their vocal harmonies are. Again, in this most intimate of settings, we heard it in all its gloriousness. That was really the operative word for the weekend. And, to start off the set, Este and Carly were joined on stage by Mom (Joy), and as a trio they sang some really silly little ditty that was just plain wonderful. Heavenly. (And we got to met Mom and Dad earlier!)
The setlist included almost every one of Este’s most outstanding compositions, especially “When the Water Meets the Land,” “A Little Life Under the Moonlight,” and “I Just Want to Come Inside Your Mind.” Dani Jaye was up for much of the set, and once again Stephanie D’Angelo also played, and Este added her excellent acoustic guitar to the mix. Sean Hartley sat in on electric guitar and killed it, as usual.
I say with assurance that this was not a on-off. It’s clear that Glory Road will again be our destination for some heavenly sounds in this haven just off the beaten path.
Thank you to all of the residents of Glory Road for allowing Unicorns Unite to… unite! And thanks to Este Loves and Trey Miller for their commitment to our community.
