By GainesvilleScene’s Cole Klein and Marlee Taylor.
On my way home to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, the sun was blazing over me and the wind was rushing past my car windows. All I had in mind was the family and friends that were waiting for me.
Returning to Purple Hatters Ball is like celebrating holidays with the family.
It’s a commemorative gathering where love and light is spread in honor of a fallen angel, Rachel Morningstar Hoffman.
Thursday kicked off the festival, opening the ears of festival-goers to the diverse range of tunes issued on the bill for the weekend. The Gainesville-based experimental rock group, Flat Land, took the Uncle Charles Porch Stage and showed off their exceptionally tasteful “cosmifunkpop” sound. Lead vocalist and violinist Fae Nageon De Lestang brought soul to the stage complimented by her gritty edge that rang harmoniously throughout the entire park.
The boogie kept on going on the Porch Stage with Cure for the Common’s electro-funk dance party, which featured an incredible cover of “Ghost Song” by The Doors.
It may as well have been Jim Morrison himself on stage when Frank Douglas sat in for vocals.
CFTC knew just how to get everyone really moving as they dove into a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.”
Photo by Marlee Taylor
The rest of the night featured Space Capone’s disco funk, Colorado’s own Elephant Revival’s string pickin’ and grassy folk and to close out the night, Dubconscious had everyone rockin’ to their groovy fusion of dub-reggae.
The pre-party was epic. The music and campgrounds were open for play, and the party refused to die even as the music ended. Campers shared laughs and booze with their neighbors; flow artists gathered in the pine fields to spin fire; and musicians gathered for some late-night noodling on their acoustic instruments.
The heart of Suwannee was beating and flowing through the park, evoking the artistic talents that exist off stage.
Purple Hatters Ball was in full motion on Friday. My crew had arrived, and I watched other campers reunite with theirs as everyone cheerfully set up tents.
It’s always great waking up to Suwannee; nothing beats the early morning tunes of earth’s natural melodies.
There is a blissful serenity in the forests of Live Oak, beginning each day by embracing the pleasant harmonies of birds chirping and warm sunrays beaming through the tall trees.
Just when I didn’t think it could get any better, Suwannee allowed for another pleasant surprise. As I unzipped my tent to hear the vibrations of “Shakedown Street” pumping through the paths. New Earth Army’s early-morning Grateful Dead cover kicking off the day from Momma Margie’s Forest Stage.
Photo by Marlee Taylor
The iconic visionary artists, authors and teachers Alex and Allyson Grey graced the amphitheater stage with their presence Friday evening. Captivating the attention of numerous bystanders, the divine couple spoke on their beliefs of Vajrayana Buddhism and the entheogenic induced “sacraments” they practice to harness their transcendental artistic style.
Just after the couple’s short conversation with the audience, Alex and Allyson Grey joined musician, Random Rab, who we had a chance to interview, on stage. The fluidity of Rab’s music ran through the fingertips of The Grey’s, controlling the delicacy of their brushes and connecting all who were present. There was a moment in which a cluster of people joined together to bond in a massive lovable embrace as onlookers smiled witnessing an exceptional moment of harmony and compassion.
The amphitheater packed up to the brim as Nahko and Medicine for the People took the stage. Everyone gathered for the enlightenment Nahko Bear shares, preaching the movement and direction we as a community and society need to embrace. The chants and rhymes of his acoustic reggae feel reached out to open ears and brought light to the night.
The Werks robbed the late night slot at the amphitheater and threw down one hell of a jamtronica set! The show was explosive; guitar ripping through the keys to be picked up by upbeat bass lines and rattling snares!
Soon, the darkness shifting through the wooded music grounds drifted to dawn as black skies transformed to dusty pinks and purples, and light began to swarm the sky greeting Saturday. All too quickly the Florida sun had boldly revealed itself and before I knew it the faint sweat beads settling a home across my forehead proved that the river was calling my name for an invigorating swim.
Via: Marlee Taylor
On the beach stage, talent unraveled, one after another, generating fresh and unique angles of experimental sounds. All the tunes from Jacksonville’s fire-sign band, Lava, down to Gainesville’s very own, Bells and Robes, were inventive and collected the ears of all the festival-goers enjoying their time on the river.
Leaving the beach was tough, but I made my way back to the venue just in time for Mama Margie’s speech. She beautified the amphitheater stage with her edifying words as the sun began to tunnel its way into the distant skyline around six o’clock Saturday evening.
The speech was brief, but her echoing words were everlasting. She confidently mentioned that, “the fight isn’t over.”
Releasing hundreds of beautiful butterflies, Mama Margie brough Rachel’s spirit to life. She added that the core of her strength was within the energy of the annual Purple Hatters Ball weekend.
She praised PHB, mentioning that, “it gets [her] through the year” and “always gives [her] something to look forward to.” Her message was honest and tugged at the heartstrings of each and every person in the audience. She left off by declaring that we are all her children.
Two particular performances on Saturday evening blew me away.
Tauk put on an astounding electro-jam set; the connection between the four-piece band is impeccable. The precise licks lead guitarist Matt Jalbert threw down and the beautiful tone of his hollow-body rig had me bouncing around on my toes.
Photo by Marlee Taylor
Later, on the Momma Margie’s Forest Stage, the Parker Urban Band carried the rhythm and blues/funk onto the stage getting so rowdy that John Parkerurban energetically bent the strings off the neck of his guitar until they were about to pop, while female vocalists Juanita Parkerurban and Myrna Lynn Perry Stallworth belted out some serious soul!
The weekend had fallen into place so cohesively, and the timing was perfect as an effervescent energy pulsated throughout the park as the schedule narrowed in on Lotus. The vigor was high as music junkies stood anxiously awaiting the band to tackle the stage.
The performance platform had transformed, packed with Lotus’s equipment and inclusive lighting system. The crowd boomed as Lotus’ members strolled onto the stage and the illuminations ignited. Opening with one of my personal favorites “Suitcases”, Lotus smoothed the mood, floating through funky riffs into some severe flow, gushing from the instruments on stage into the movements of the crowd. I felt an enormous rush from the synths shock in the bridge of the song “Behind Midwestern Storefronts” and couldn’t help but feel the overwhelmingly optimistic ambiance flowing.
Lotus took a step off the psychedelic trance-y side and dove into a set everyone could jump around and bounce to.
They left the stage to come back for an encore you’d only hear once in a lifetime literally, doing a phenomenal cover of the Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime”.
On Sunday, the grounds went barren, but the life that had previously thudded throughout the grounds over the weekend resulted in an exuberated but exhausted aftermath. The river was packed and the music continued as Rosie Collier brought it all together with a classic Suwannee Jam.
The weekend couldn’t have been any better. The family, the music, the art, the experiences were perfect examples of Suwannee’s empowering and refreshing energy that drives the community and keeps all of us coming back time and time again.
Feature photo courtesy of Marlee Taylor
