Wanee with Levon

For the last 4 Aprils, I have gone down to the Wanee Music Festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. It's a music festival organized and headlined by the Allman Brothers Band with all of the band members' "other" bands on board (other than Greg Allman and Friends, he saves his voice for the main act). So, in addition to Oteil's Peacemakers, Gov't Mule and Derek Trucks Band, you get great acts like the North Mississippi Allstars, The Radiators, Medeski Martin Wood, Keller Williams. You get 3 days of camping with the ticket but me and my buds always get the camping upgrade to be a little closer to the stage and have access to power and a shower. I'm getting too old for camping in the woods without power during concert festivals. It's not the normal camping scene and the wookies are scary in the woods :-)
I have been talking about moe being at the festival as a perfect fit since the beginning, nice to see they took my word for it ;-) My friend, Kevin from Portland, Oregon, is flying into Atlanta and we are going to stop off in Macon and eat at Mama Louise's diner (feed the Allmans back in the day and tons of ABB memorabila on the walls) plus I'm gonna show him Duane and Berry's graves in the Rose Hill cemetary on the river there in Macon. Should be a treat and it's always good in Macon.
But, the biggest thrill of all for me is going to be Levon Helm at the Wanee this year! I have been a fan of The Band since my freshman year at Clemson. Levon has been the voice of Robbie Robertson's words that have taken me to other worlds and other times with a smile on my face or a lump in my throat. Speaking of throat, Levon has amazed us all and survived a major battle with throat cancer and is still in great shape vocally. I have looked forward to hearing him LIVE for a long time. If you don't have Rock of Ages, The Band's live album from New Year's Eve 1971 in NYC, then do yourself a favor and pick up one of the best American albums of all time. Here's a review on All Music Guide: Rock of Ages.
I'm thrilled about Levon and hope we get the chance to hear him do "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" with the Allman Brothers (they covered that tune on the exceptional Endless Highway tribute to The Band in 2006.) It's giving me chills just thinking about it.

This year is going to be one of the best line-ups yet at the Wanee, take a look...

Wanee Festival 2008 line-up to date:
The Allman Brothers Band
Gov’t Mule
Bob Weir & RatDog
moe.
Oteil & the Peacemakers
Levon Helm
JJ Grey & Mofro
Larry McCray Band
Scrapomatic
Bonobos Convergence
Little Brown Peach
The Frequency
Inca Maya
and many more to be announced!
Special Saturday Midnight Set With Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival

On a personal note, our pastor Donny is back at home and doing well. No surgery will be needed and we are looking forward to having him back 100% real soon. Prayer works!

WNCW also read my email about Missed Concerts on their "What It Is" segment this morning. It's a M-F segment when they talk about music and its various threads and topics. Here's my email on that "Missed Concerts"...enjoy the laugh on me!

Joe-
My wife and I made plans to catch the Cowboy Junkies on my birthday in November 2000 in Jacksonville, Fl for a 1 off benefit concert that was just Margo, Mike and Jeff Bird. It was part of a festival to raise money for the St. John's river conservation. It was windy, misty and cold, not the usual Florida night.

So, we decided to wait for the opening acts while getting a bite to eat in a local cafe with our friends from Jacksonville. We just knew we had plenty of time. There was no printed schedule so we thought there was a few bands to go until the Junkies. Well, once we got back about 1 hour later, we hear the Junkies on the stage as we get out the car. We sprint to the stage by the river to hear the last part of the last tune. They wave goodbye and get in the cab and head back to the airport and Canada. They even played the request I had asked for my birthday and announced from the stage the request "Powderfinger" by Neil Young. Little did they know but I was off eating egg rolls and drinking beer in a warm cafe down the road. We later laughed about that missed opportunity when I caught up with the band the next year at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach. It's a running joke with my friends in Jacksonville any time we talk about music and concerts. I learned a lesson and will sit in the cold and rain and wait, especially if I drive 4 hours to the show. I stay parked and enjoy the opener :-)


See ya!