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Blackwater Music Festival 2011 Review

On a sweltering late September weekend, Suwannee Music Park hosted the 2nd annual Blackwater Music Festival to throngs of Southeastern ragers, college kids, families, and wooks alike. Big IV Productions partnered with local Jax promoters to throw a summer-season ending party that entertained a few thousand festival goers for three days.

A veritable monsoon engulfed those who arrived for Thursday’s kickoff, but they were still treated to a four-pack of favorites, beginning with Jax Beach badasses Greenhouse Lounge. Later, Suwannee special son Zach Deputy crooned for the drenched and drunk people. After Perpetual Groove’s set, EOTO closed things out with their ever-changing assortment of live electronics.

Friday was chock full of great vibes, an epic setting, and a boatload of different types of music. On the beach, rising star Whetherman unveiled new material from his forthcoming sophomore record, and invited Rachel Murray onstage for duets, as well as members of Saltwater Grass, who later delivered a set of their own budding styles. Local legend Nate Holley also crushed a set by the beach, while the punky-reggae-party that is The Movement furthered their rep as ragga for the ragers. Tornado Rider amused the crowd with their typically demented, zany selves, as the Caucasian Cali-bro reggae cartel started their weekend invasion, beginning with Passafire and Iration. Indoors, the CRUNCHAY  COMPOUND welcomed resident dancefloor slayers Vlad the Inhaler and Sir Charles, amongst others to pump merciless beats into the beaddie-eyed banditos prowling the Music Hall. The night concluded with an extremely strong, if monotonous set from rising stars ZOOGMA; roots n’vibes drenched, up-tempo rockers authentic reggae steez from EASY STAR ALL STARS; a visual voodoo electro-asteroid séance from the very entertaining  GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY; and then a gluttony of mashups, ass shaking and a gumbo of a jukebox, somewhat underwhelming GIRL TALK. Through the night, the sounds of classic rock dipped in indie psychedelia, Big Something, reverberated throughout the campgrounds.

Saturday was a blur, a whirlwind, and a far more enjoyable itinerary save for the Beach gigs on Friday. That 1 Guy’s wackiness, the new and house-fueled Greenhouse Lounge artillery,  POGO’s Disney mind-fuck, The Flaming Lips’ Floydian psychedelic pop circus, Vlad The Inhaler’s punishing take on Alborosie’s ‘Herbalist’,  the Cali-bros reggae lite of The Expendables and Pepper; even Riverside skinny-jeans types crawled out from under rocks to tweak out to Sunbears! and BLORR. But these were all the undercard for the one-two punch that was a definitive juxtaposition; Buckethead into STS9. What a combo!! The masked axe-surgeon has little left to prove, his guitar wizardry virtually unmatched in today’s marketplace. Bucket delivered his standard single set show, with thrash-meets-funk metal at the forefront, complete with metal-medleys, of course the nun chucks pop-n-lock b-boy dancing to 808 breaks, a bag of toys and figurines for fans up front, nasty slap bass grooves, and the still mind-numbing guitar acrobatics that leave jaws on the floor every time he takes the stage.  A tough act to follow.

But if there was a band up for doing it, STS9 once had what it would have taken. To each their own when it comes to the 9, their magic, and the trailblazing legend,  so much can be said and written about then and now. I’ll just be happy that all five are still making music, actively touring, and still turning young people on to a music, style, and ethos that they helped create and once defined. I am thrilled to see Murph healthy again, still doing his thing, and helping out his fam in Up Until Now. I still treasure the once-in-a-luma-sunrise Velmer mindwarp breakbeat, we got a couple flourishes on this night. We took nostalgic pride in that these dudes will celebrate 15 years of making love thru music. It may never be what it was, but at least it still IS; and these days I’m grateful we have our favorite bands still making music. The quality will forever be debated, and this was indeed a very average Tribe set, but it was a Tribe set, at Suwannee. Nuff said.

Thanks again to the Freebird crew and Big IV for making it happen. It was definitely worth the weekend in the woods, no doubt about it, and served as a “Training Camp” for the super bowl of festivals, the upcoming Bear Creek 2011.

By B.Getz – The newest member of the Florida Music Blog family.   (Courtesy of JAMBASE.com, and The UPFUL Life & Times)

Photos by MANNY CORTEZ

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