Review of the Wanee Musical Festival 2011

The 2011 Wanee Festival was an incredible music festival held in Live Oak, Florida . The festival offered a lineup featuring great jam bands, rock, music history and basically some kind of music for everyone. Bands were playing in the morning to the wee hours Wednesday through Saturday on two stages. The park setting was wonderful for camping and other outdoor activities.

The Venue

The Wanee Festival takes place in the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida . Life Oak is located in North Florida nearly halfway between Jacksonville and Tallahassee . There is room for RV's but most people choose to partake in the primitive camping which is plentiful throughout the park. Music is played on two stages the smaller Mushroom Stage and the larger Peach Stage.

The Bands

The bands are what makes or breaks a music festival. The bands did not disappoint at Wanee Festival 2011. It is The Allman Brothers Band's party and they did not disappoint putting on two prime time sets. They made room for their related bands too. Devon Allman's Honeytribe rocked the midday sun on Thursday, April 14^th playing his mix of rock and blues. Devon was joined on stage by John Popper of Blues Travelers fame on a couple of songs during his set. On Saturday April 16, Derek Trucks played with his wife in the Tedeschi Trucks Band. It would be a long night for Derek as he returned later to play a long set with The Allman Brothers Band. Derek was not the only Allman Brothers Band mate playing double duty. The Allman's drummer Jaimoe played with his Jasssz Band on Saturday as well.

Besides the Allman Brothers and related bands there were other Southern Jam Bands as well. The Radiators on their farewell tour helped start kick things off on Wednesday night. Warren Haynes showed off new solo material during his set on Friday April 15. There was also the North Mississippi All Stars Dou who played on the main stage on Thursday and the traveling stage on Friday. The flavor of New Orleans was represented with sets by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Galactic. Galactic closed out the festival with a guest appearance from Living Colour's Corey Glover. No one could forget Widespread Panic's primetime set on Thursday night.

The rest of the Jam Band world was represented as well. Phish's Mike Gordon had his own set as he is touring in support of a solo album. Rusted Root, Tea Leaf Green, Lotus, Toubab Krewe, and Particle all had their sets as well. John Popper and the Duskray Troubadours and Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk brought out their jams as well. The spirit of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead was also alive at Wanee. Melvin Seals and the JGB helped kick the festival off on Wednesday. Hot Tuna played a set on Thursday. Bill Kreutzmann and his 7 Walkers band played late night on Friday.

New Southern Rock was demonstrated by Dead Confederate and Ween rocked the Peach Stage with their brand of Rock. Classic rock was represented with Steve Miller. Rockabilly was represented by Wanda Jackson. The blues were represented by Guitar Shorty and Taj Mahal. Reggae was represented by Stephen Marley. Robert Plant and the Band of Joy represented classic rock royalty, folk music all stars, having a blast doing their new songs. Keller Williams, DJ Logic, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings all added to the festival as well. There were several other bands as well as the Wanee Festival continues to grow.

The Vendors

Wanee Fest had plenty of vendors offering everything from candles, paintings, hammocks, t-shirts and more. They also had plentiful food vendors. Beer was also available supporting many local charities. The food and beer vendors were great when one did not want to go back to the campsites for a beverage or food. A camp store and restaurant was also available near the concert stages as well.

Other Activities

The camping areas offered fans a chance to mingle with other festival goers. The park had plenty of places to hike or bike. River access meant a place to swim. Kayaks and canoes were available for those more adventurous souls. The river and lake were also available for fishing. If I get the chance to go to Wanee again, I will add at least another night of camping to enjoy more of the activities the park has available.