Inaugural Sunshine Get Down GOT DOWN at Florida Sand Music Ranch!
By any standard you’d care to employ, the inaugural Sunshine Get Down at the recently renamed Florida Sand Music Ranch in Brooksville was a smashing success. Many, many people heaped praise upon the production team of Alan and Anna Marie Gilman, Jillian Grant, Turner Moore, and Harry Popick. Matt Hillman offered this eloquent summation:
WHAT HE SAID.
I was able to attend Friday, May 19, for the festivities and will share my review here. Blessedly, there were numerous photographers on hand as well. Mitch Levine posted galleries of every band performing, and we have shared all of those. We also shared a gallery of Friday performers from Cristin Garrie. We will share some of each of their shots here.
Above all, thanks go out to all who decided to support this brand new venture, including event sponsors The Blueberry Patch of Gulfport, the Will McLean Foundation, GoTonight.com, and The Ale & the Witch of St. Petersburg. AND TO EACH AND EVERY PERSON WHO CAME TO SHARE IN THE COMMUNITY, THE MUSIC, AND THE LOVE.
FRIDAY, MAY 19
Legacy Orchestra Collective
Sean “Legacy” Maloney had once again put together an all-star band for the opening set, including Austin Llewellyn (Row Jomah, Road to Nowhere), keyboards, synths; Dave Gerulat (shoeless soul, Road to Nowhere), drums, percussion; Caleb Bone (The Reality), bass; and Austin Eunice, tenor saxophone. Normally, there would be a lead guitar player, but he was unable to make it, which left Legacy as the man. He stepped up big time, aided superbly by Llewellyn, who mimicked a guitar on his synth!
They opened with an incredible jam with a familiar refrain; almost all the band’s music is composed by Legacy. Everybody stepped into “Dirty Shoes” before another excellent jam spilled out. Llewellyn had a great organ feature, and they romped into a crowd favorite: “It Ain’t Right” (or possibly “Shit Ain’t Right”). Bone and Gerulat were on fire, driving the funky jams. Llewellyn had a tremendous lead synth solo, with some sparkling work from Eunice on tenor. Never miss a Legacy Orchestra Collective set; you never know who will be there or what they’ll play, only that it will be fire!
Dead Set Florida
Christian Walker’s brilliant Dead Set Florida works so hard to represent, playing shows and festivals (Rock & Roll Revival is this weekend at Florida Sand Music Ranch) and hosting events such as Florida Grateful Gathering, DeadFest St. Pete, and St. Pete Summer Jam June 23-25 at Cage Brewing. As that ad says, “They’re everywhere you want to be.”
So of course they were at Sunshine Get Down. The band was in truly fine form, easing into the set with a luxurious “Wang Dang Doodle,” Tucker Waud featured on organ. Rhythm guitarist Michael Pandiscio took lead vocals on “Hell in a Bucket,” which gave us the first great torrents of guitar from lead guitarist Paul Wolf. Walker sang “China Cat sunflower” to Pandiscio’s “I Know You Rider.” Waud sounded great on electric piano for “Jack Straw.”
After “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo,” Matt Hillman, man of many talents, was invited up to play harp on “Mr. Charlie,” and — YES — we got to hear him sing, too! “Brown Eyed Women” was on point, and Walker and drum master Michael ‘Thunderfoot’ Garrie together kept the ship on a reasonably even keel for dynamite versions of “The Music Never Stopped,” “Terrapin,” and “Playing in the Band.” “Shakedown Street” and killer encore “Beat It On Down the Line” kept everyone dancing.
Road To Nowhere
Road to Nowhere is a Talking Heads tribute which developed out of Row Jomah’s inclusion of Talking Heads tunes in their setlists. Joe Roma and crew made it a tribute project, and it gets better and better every outing. And this was the first time I had seen them do a full two hours. The addition of Ms. Robyn Pack, vocals, and Dave Gerulat, vocals and percussion, gives this project great versatility.
“Psycho Killer” just seems like the perfect way to get started, and everybody was cooking. By the time they got to “Wild Wild Life,” Austin Llewellyn had a fine organ solo, and guitar shredder Mel Walsh ripped a terse solo, his first of many. Llewellyn got some weird synths effect while Walsh scratched the strings during “Making Flippy Floppy.” Walsh tore it up again during “The Great Curve” before the percussion feature, Gerulat on bongos and Dylan Chee-A-Tow on drums; Chee-A-Tow was so rock steady all set long. And right in lockstep with Chee-A-Tow was Vinny ‘Tina Weymouth’ Svoboda on bass, this time sporting a fuchsia wig.
Pack and Gerulat work so well with Roma vocally, soaring here and there in support and often out front. Llewellyn was superb on keyboards as Gerulat took lead on “Naive Melody.” This long set was a treat, because it included some deep cuts as well as the popular tunes.
Laura Freed made a great observation, which applies to all live music but especially to Talking Heads. “You don’t notice the complexity of the music on radio compared to seeing all the pieces fit on stage live. There is just so much going on.” WHAT SHE SAID.
Finally, the band rolled up to the finale, their brilliant cover of “Crosseyed and Painless,” with vocals from Ms. Pack rattling the rafters, so wonderful. MC Ed Greene (WMNF’s The Freak Show host) brought them back for an encore (and my prayer was delivered!): “Slippery People”! Magnificent!
[RTN: Psycho Killer, Born Under Punches, Once in a Lifetime, Wild Wild Life, Girlfriend is Better > Making Flippy Floppy, Swamp, The Great Curve > Drums > Nothing But Flowers, Burning Down the House, Naive Melody, And She Was, What a Day It Was, Road to Nowhere, Take Me to the River, Crosseyed and Painless; E: Slippery People]
SATURDAY, MAY 20
Greg Roy
Vision Crystal
Dani Jaye (vocals, fiddle, guitar, mandolin), Savannah “Savii” Lee (vocals, fiddle, guitar, mandolin), and Justin Davis (upright bass, banjo, guitar, mandolin, backing vocals) with guest Arrie Bozeman, guitar, mandolin
The Applebutter Express
Shannon and Kyle Biss with Zach Rogers, bass, and
Boxcar Hollow
Matt Weis, guitar, vocals; Jack Pieroth, bass; Christopher Barbosa, violin; and David Gerulat, drums!
The Joint Chiefs
The Joint Chiefs (St. Petersburg): John Zias (Unlimited Devotion) on guitars, Greg Koerner (Gent Treadly) on bass, and Dan DeGregory (Unlimited Devotion, Uncle John’s Band) on drums. Everybody sings.
Rich Sheldon Band
Uncle John’s Band
Oh, and they have MORE up their collective sleeves. Mark your calendars: