Get On the Good Foot with Voodoo Visionary
I was so taken with Voodoo Visionary the first time I saw them, at Crowbar in Tampa in 2015, that I went to see them the next night at a dinky little bar in St. Petersburg. And I invited them to play live on WMNF’s In the Groove show when I did a guest slot the next year. More recently, the boys crushed two sets at Funk Fest Punta Gorda in February.
These Atlanta funksters have always brought their A-game but perhaps never as powerfully as at the inaugural Suwannee Rising Music Festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in April. At the time, I opined:
That crushing set (The Fritz) was followed by another from Atlanta funkateers Voodoo Visionary. They too jumped on the opportunity, coming out to “Testify” (by the light of the moon!) Scottie MacDonald is an engaging front man, cheerleading and singing all the while. Drummer Mac Schmitz kept his foot on the gas, driving the band through a tremendous set, including “Off the Ground” and “True Colors.”
Their set on the Porch stage became incendiary first when they delivered a fine Prince medley: “I Wanna Be Your Lover > Controversy.” And the last dozen minutes or so might be the best performance I’ve ever heard from the quintet: a simply fabulous take on “The Heathen” from their first album, Spirit of the Groove. Bassist Trent Gilson blew it up first, followed by Mike Wilson on guitar in George Benson mode. Then Marcus White threw down a dynamite keyboard solo, and Wilson came back for a straight-up Frank Zappa solo. DAMN!
After a brief break, Voodoo Visionary are back on the road, stomping from North Carolina to the southernmost tip of Florida (three days at The Green Parrot in Key West). This run starts Friday, May 31, at the aforementioned Crowbar with more great funk music from Ajeva, the great Gulfport, Florida, quintet. The show is presented by Moongoddess Entertainment and Brokenmold Entertainment. Saturday, the show in Orlando at Will’s Pub also features Chuck Magid and Friends. They will also reprise their excellent Songs in the Key of Purple at Hill Country Live in Washington DC, performing the music of Stevie Wonder and Prince.
If you’ve already heard VV before, then you already know. So tell your friends already! Get on the good foot!
VOODOO VISIONARY
05/31 Crowbar | Tampa FL w/ Ajeva
06/01 Will’s Pub | Orlando FL w/ Chuck Magid & Friends
06/07 The Hummingbird Stage & Taproom | Macon GA
06/08 Barrelhouse South | Savannah GA w/ Uncommon Legends
06/13 Bull’s Tavern | Winston-Salem NC
06/14 The Backstreet Pub | Beaufort NC
06/16 Songs in the Key of Purple | Hill Country Live | Washington DC
06/20 Gate City Brewing Company | Roswell GA
06/21 Southbound Smokehouse Central | Augusta GA
06/22 Sierra Nevada Mills River | Mills River NC
06/23 Hilton Head Island Music Festival | Hilton Head SC
06/26 Guanabanas island Restaurant & Bar | Jupiter FL
06/27 The Funky Biscuit | Boca Raton FL
06/28 The Green Parrot | Key West FL
06/29 The Green Parrot | Key West FL
06/30 The Green Parrot | Key West FL
07/13 Summer Jam | The Blue Room | Statesboro GA
07/27 Sigh in July | Athens GA
VOODOO VISIONARY
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