The Bear Creek Music and Art Festival took place from November 12 to 14 in Florida’s memorable Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. The weekend was filled with funk music and creative sit-ins with artists such as Umphrey’s McGee, moe., Lettuce, The New Mastersounds, Soulive and many more performing throughout the weekend. Seventeen of the bands on the lineup played two sets, which gave plenty of opportunity for collaborations.
Music started on Wednesday night, but the crowds really started rolling in on Thursday. The afternoon highlights mainly took place in the indoor Music Hall stages. Billy Iuso and the Restless Natives brought the energy early and got everyone singing along with a rousinging “Fire On The Mountain” encore. Reggae-infused John Brown’s Body took the stage later that evening for a more intimate setting, but the crowd was still dancing like crazy.
Thursday night’s feature was two sets from Umphrey’s McGee. Their warm up was an hour and fifteen minute set where they played Umphrey’s classics like “Cemetery Walk” and “Bright Lights, Big City.” After a quick thirty-minute break, the Umph returned with an hour and a half set that kept people dancing until 2 a.m. Midway through the set, the band broke out their Michael Jackson tribute with a “Everybody Wants to Rule the World/The Way You Make Me Feel” mash-up. The set came full circle when Umphrey’s broke out “Cemetery Walk II” for their last song before encoring with “All in Time.”
The daytime artists on Friday really brought the energy. Bouncing between the Porch Stage and the Amphitheater all afternoon was dance party after dance party. The London Souls from New York were fired up for their second set of the weekend. This got people excited for Big Sam’s Funky Nation, which immediately followed down in the shaded Amphitheater. John Brown’s Body came next, followed by Toubab Krewe back on the Amphitheater. Artist at large Chali 2na (of Jurassic 5) joined the band on stage for a funky, Afro-beat rap. While Toubab was playing, dance-y, electro jamband, Papadosio tore up the hidden Campground Stage.
Later that evening, Matt Butler’s improvisation project, Everyone Orchestra, took the stage. Butler conducted about a dozen of the weekend’s best musicians including Jennifer Hartswick, Joel Cummings, Fareed Haque, Kai Eckhardt, Jans Ingber, Jeff Mosier and more. The sound varied throughout the performance from a slow, chiming trance to an upbeat heavy jam and back again. Immediately following was Chali 2na’s DJ set. The rapper brought out some of his original works as well as playing some classic favorites like “What’s Golden.”
Umphrey’s third and final set of the weekend was filled with sit-ins. Artist at large Roosevelt Collier of the Lee Boys came out on slide guitar during “Women Wine and Song.” “Nothing Too Fancy” was next and Ivan Neville and Bernie Worrell gave Joel Cummings a break and double-teamed the keyboards. The final sit-in occurred during the last song. Jennifer Hartswick came onstage and took charge of lead vocals for a cover of Heart’s “Barracuda.”
While Umphrey’s was rocking out in the Purple Hat Tent, Soulive was keeping things funky at the Amphitheater with plenty of sit-ins. Throughout the set, the stage was graced with the likes of Chali 2na, Sam Kinninger, Pee Wee Ellis, Nigel Hall and Kofi Burbridge.
The New Mastersounds closed out the night with a late night dance party in the Purple Hat Tent where they were joined onstage by Jennifer Hartswick and Roosevelt Collier.
Saturday, or as I like to call it Eric Krasno day, brought on another full day of funk. George Porter made his weekend debut early Saturday afternoon with his band the Runnin’ Pardners. Following Porter’s set, the Nigel Hall Band took the stage inside the Music Hall. This set was one of the biggest shockers of the weekend. It took place on one of the smallest stages, but had one of the most sit-ins of the weekend. All of Soulive (Eric Krasno and Neal and Alan Evans) was up onstage with Hall; however, Krasno (who usually plays guitar in Lettuce and Soulive) played bass throughout the whole set. Also, making appearances during the set were Sam Kininger, Ryan Zoidis and Adam Deitch (all three from Lettuce), Kofi Burbridge and Neil and Alan Evans.
Maceo Parker, who played saxophone with James Brown, took over the Ampitheater stage in the early evening to keep the funk going. He welcomed fellow James Brown’s horn section member Fred Wesley to the stage to accompany him on trombone.
The funkiness level dropped a little when Perpetual Groove took the stage, but the energy level stayed high. They brought the womp and kept everyone dancing during their evening set and even played a P Grooved out “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” moe. took the stage next for their two-hour set that night. The band delivered a solid set and was one of the highlights of the weekend. They opened with the rocking “The Pit,” and then welcomed Mike Dillon on percussion for the second song, “Don’t Fuck With Flo.” Sam Kininger came out for the third song, “Happy Hour Hero,” but was the last guest of the night. The rest of the set was filled with moe. classics like “Spine Of A Dog,” “Buster,” “Yodelittle,” and “Brent Black.” The band encored with the extremely energetic “Seat Of My Pants,” that got every person in the packed crowd dancing.
Following moe., Krasno took charge of the festival once again with Chapter 2. This set looked like one of the most fun of the night to play in. All of Krasno’s friends were up onstage jumping from instrument to instrument. Nigel Hall and Neal Evans dominated the keys, playing together. Also making appearances throughout the set were Pee Wee Ellis, Ryan Zoidis, George Porter, Kofi Burbridge, San Kininger, Ivan Neville and Nigel Hall’s back-up singers.
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstajam came next, which was a party on and off the stage. Pretty much every artist at large sat in at some point during the set, as well as the members of Lettuce and Nigel Hall. This set was amazing to watch as it showcased all of the awesome talent of the festival. Krasno didn’t play in the jam but sat side-stage watching with a smile, before leaving to prepare for Lettuce’s late night show, which kept festival-goers up until 3:30 am. with funky jams.
Krasno continued his reign on Sunday with the highlight of the day being Lettuce’s set. Pee Wee Ellis, Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley sat in for the entire set to play lots of James Brown covers. Key moments include Fred Wesley immediately capturing and keeping the crowd’s attention and getting everyone dancing on lead vocals for “House Party,” the always favored “I Got You (I Feel Good)” that transitioned into “Shake Everything You Got,” and the finale “Super Bad.”
Other highlights of Sunday include Zach Deputy’s afternoon set down at the Ampitheater stage, where Roosevelt Collier joined him onstage, George Porter and the Runnin’ Pardners and the New Mastersounds, both of whom delivered solid second sets for the weekend, and the finale of the weekend, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk.
Overall, the weekend was a funky success. For those that missed out on this exciting weekend, do not worry, they’ve already announced a partial lineup for next year that includes Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood, the Funky Meters, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Lettuce and more!
