My WANEE 2006 EXPERIENCE/JOURNEY! Articles / Music Posted by Krishna on May 02, 2006 - 06:32 AM By: Krishna Cecil What a WANEE 2006!! I didn't think that it could've topped last year's WANEE festival,but I was wrong! First of all,if you haven't been to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak,Florida....then go as fast as you can!(Your spirit will thank you for it!) There is something beautiful about North Florida in the springtime!You can almost feel as if you're transformed into a magical land,where lil nature pixies are shaking the Spanish moss from their wings under the moonlight glow! The atmosphere is wonderful! My husband,Scott,& I travelled 12 hours from Northern KY/Cincinnati area,starting at dawn on Thursday! I love road trips,I always have...I guess that it's a kickback to my younger Grateful Dead "lot kid" days! Although,it's actually even better now,because there are no worries about selling enough burritoes to get to the next show! We drove pretty much straight through our journey....it's amazing how many things that you can do to keep busy in a van for 12 hours! We arrived at the SOS park around 7pm & we could already see that the turn out was going to be MUCH bigger than last year! We finally found our campsite on River Rd,where our friends(Ayla & Tom) were already there & had set up a great camp/compound!("Terrapin Tom's Station") We were set up directly across from the backstage/bus lot!(about 40 ft & a chainlink fence) And believe me,THAT helped for ALOT of really cool encounters throughout the whole weekend!(At various points of the weekend,we had some of the Wailers AND the Dirty Dozen Brass Band hanging out in our campsites hammocks!) What was really cool was that ALOT of our ABB/HTW family were "strategically" placed all around us,in both directions! (And WHAT a family that we have here!) There were alot of late night sit-in jams that took place at our friends,Mark & Cat's, happenin campsite/commune!("Hoot & Annie's Halfway House") Thanks for letting everyone gather & hang all weekend,guys! Some of our other "brothers"(Dave & John) brought all the hook-ups,ampa,guitars/basses,to let the music be heard! Miss Terry brought her voice....Mac brought his harmonica! Scott sat in on congas/djembes,along w/ Mark all weekend....Dave & Tom traded off bass w/ Craig & a couple of other people. John(& Kevin & a couple of others!) sat in on guitar with a prodigy named,Tony Tyler,who is 19 yrs old & is managed by THE legendary,Willie Perkins. Man,Tony can play guitar & sing like nobody's business! The late night Saturday Peach Family Jam was the coolest,though!It was directly after the ABB performance!(The "official" last jam of WANEE 2006!) Pedro Arevalo & Devon Allman showed up and jammed with everyone for about 2 hours! This was just a hopeful "possibility" amongst all of us Sisters & Brothers, all weekend! To walk around the corner of the tent,at the local jam spot, and to actually see it taking progress.....THAT was a BIG highlight of the whole weekend for me!! Watching these guys perform w/ Tony & the drummer from Shak Nasti(Rion Smith),was very cool! Rion sat in on this stripped down 3 piece drumkit....very jazzy,very cool! And then to watch Scott get down on his djembe(along with Mark on his)at the base of the jam,in the sand,right in front of the fire....WOW!What an experience! Thank You to Pedro & Devon for stopping by & making the end of WANEE just as amazing as the beginning! Thanks to Chris Musgrave for being very cool in helping bring this improv jam together! I even bought ANOTHER Pedro cd,just to have one for him to sign!(My original one was all the way at home in NKY!) And what a cool cat Pedro is.....very down to earth,very cool! It was so surreal... at one point I looked around at the crowd during the jam & there were ALOT of REAL legendary ABB/HTN family members checking out the music! I was in complete ZEN,to the highest power! Look at me....going on & on....and not even mentioning the MAIN festival bands yet!(Which is why we were all there in the first place,anyway!Right?!) Both Friday & Saturday were incredible,full days of amazing music! Highlights for me for Friday were: * Dirty Dozen Brass Band kickin out a killer version of the Meters "Fire on the Bayou"! *MedeskiMartinWood educating the masses at the main stage on improv jazz at it's finest! *Oteil & the Peacemakers always give a fine performance and are always a crowd pleaser! I do feel that the lil stage in the woods,on Saturday, was a better atmosphere for a Peacemakers show....more intimate! And Oteil seemed to be more happier & relaxed on the smaller,shaded stage!(He was more in his "O-zone!") We talked to Paul Henson before their show and he was laid back & cool as always!(See ya in Cincy in May!) We also ran into the always delightful,Kofi Burbridge,before the Peacemakers show on Saturday! He is so excited to be working on HIS album while Derek is on tour with Eric Clapton in Europe! I am so excited for Kofi,too!(I just know that he will put together one helluva album!) Jaimoe walked over to Kofi while we were talking to him.He was eating,so Scott kept his cool & restrained himself from imposing on him for a picture opportunity!(Jaimoe is one of Scott's idols!) We just said,"Hello" and went on to enjoy the great music of the Peacemakers! Now on to GOVT MULE! Everyone who knows me....knows that I am a Warren/Mule freak,but I don't know how I feel about Govt Mule & festivals! Don't get me wrong,both days shows were great...but I prefer MY MULE after dark! It's hard to pick up on the power & strength of Govt Mule, when it is daylight & you can't feel the vibration of the music from the stage! The highlights of Friday's MULE performance were: *"John the Revelator" with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band is always a treat!(I hadn't seen them all on stage together since the MULE's 10th Anniversary NOLA performance,co this was VERY SWEET!) *"I'm a Ram" was hard & groovin.....Andy Hess gave GREAT bass!(And I really wanted to hear this one alot!) *"About to Rage" was so hard & kickin!(There was a wonderful breeze starting to blow throughout the dusk air RIGHT when Warren said,"the storm's about to rage!"The BRIGHT lights kicked in right then,too...VERY nice!) Saturday's MULE show: * They nailed a killer version on "Living Loving Maid" by Zeppelin!(w/ us all screaming along!) *The Grateful Dead's "Loser/Terrapin" cover was placed perfectly in the set & everyone was REALLY feeling that one! *When Warren belted out the first couple of verses of "Maybe I'm Amazed"......well,Baby,I WAS amazed!!(Thanks for that,Warren!) *"Thorazine Shuffle/Matt's kickin drums" always gets the crowd screaming! *And the "Soulshine" sing along/lovefest was the perfect encore! And now for the KINGS of the festival....the Allman Brothers Band! The guys were on FIRE!! Both nights were fantastic,but Friday was Derek's show/sendoff....Warren stepped back alot & let Derek shine like the gold he is! ALOT of great guests on both nights....it's hard to place ONE favorite! Friday night ABB highlights: *"Born Under A Bad Sign" w/ Floyd Miles sittin in on vocals.....excellent! *"Into the Mystic" was just beautiful.....left me speechless! Saturday's ABB performance was really good,but different. No Derek....but LOTS of guests & Warren really picked it up alot in his absence! But that "tone" was still very much missed! I really loved the extended Drum Jam during Saturday's performance in the middle of "Liz Reed"! I felt that it really took the opportunity to highlight each individual drummer to the fullest! I always enjoy the drums,and if you are one of the people who would rather get a drink or have a bathroom break during the drums....then you are really missing out! The ABB is very lucky to have the power of the "Amazing TRIO" and they definitely know how to bring out the inner primal soul rhythm that lies inside of each & every one of us! Don't be afraid to let it out! If you don't "feel" the power & the force behind the ABB drums/percussion......then you are missing a BIG part of the picture,my friend! And,finally....drum roll.....the Friday Latenight Jam w/ the Derek Trucks Band! THE outstanding highlight of the whole WANEE stage experience for Scott & me....it was simply incredible! It must've been the power & the energy,up in front of the stage...blending with the power of the dTb! I think that Derek shined like I have never seen him shine before...& the whole band just keeps getting better & better each time that I see them! Derek totally transcended me to a totally new level of contiousness during that show!(Really!) It was really cool,because we ran into alot of our ABB/HTW family members,up front! Alot of guests sat in,later on....but each member of the dTb shined like the sun during their performance! Highlights for me: *The "Wanee Soul Stew/Everything is Everything" with Luther Dickinson sittin in on slide.....so tight & mind blowing! *Miss Susan sittin in on vocals for "the Weight"....very Aretha & Duane-ish! *"Feels so Bad" with Floyd Miles singin with Miss Susan T and her mean guitar! Man!The guitar love/sexual chemistry between Derek & Susan when they perform together on stage is beautiful! Such a turn on...at least for me,anyway! After the show,a bunch of fans were wishing Derek"Safe Travels" and to"Amaze Eric like you always amaze us,Derek!" It was very special! WOW!What a Wanee 2006! I vote for more than one Wanee a year....a whole year is just too long to wait! How about a HARVEST Wanee?!!(How 'bout it,Butch?!) Thanks again, to the whole Allman Brothers Band for throwing such a great party for all of their fans! Thanks for keeping all of our SOULS SHINING brightly!! Please,don't ever stop! This article is from Hittin' The Web with The Allman Brothers Band   https://www.hittintheweb.com/ The URL for this story is:   https://www.hittintheweb.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=521