Bear Creek: Saturday
Words & Photos By Amy Pania & Joe Davidson
I felt the ache of covering six stages when I woke up to the frigid morning. We hung out at camp for a few hours listening to the morning sets from Saltwater Grass and Rubblebucket. After lounging for a while we gathered our gear and made our way to the stages.
George Porter & the Runnin’ Pardners were at the Amphitheater playing an afternoon set. I loved the overall energy of the band, especially George. The good vibes were flying around as the three o’clock sun was shining through the Spanish moss covered Live Oaks.
He played a Djembe for most of the
The presence of Maceo was second to none.
I felt honored after the leaving the show, as if I had just matured musically.
The band started with “The Pit” which slowly gained speed up to the climax of heavy guitar solos and strobe lights encompassing the entire stage that were close to giving me seizure. I tried to take two shots in the chaos of the strobes and decided to wait it out.
After conditions were back to “normal” there was a five minute xylophone solo that was completely mesmerizing, reminiscent of Zappa. I wedged myself in front of the bassist, got the shot I was after and surrendered, I couldn’t take the pit anymore.
Once we made it out of the gate we were faced by the insane number of people that were in the amphitheater and decided to walk up to the top and sit down.
I was so drawn into the Moe. set that I almost missed the set from the Bonobo Live Band. I was surprised to see such a large crowd at the tent because of the huge group at the Amphitheater. I made my way up to the front and sweet talked my way up into the photo pit because the three song limit was long gone. I was told that I could have one minute and had to be out. As soon as got into position the lights turned bright red and were pointing straight at my lens, covering the shots shot with a glare. I looked at my test shots and laughed to myself thinking, oh well. My minute was up and I had nothing. The sound coming from the stage was amazing, it sounded better than the recordings I’ve heard by him. A beautiful soundscape was created and the female vocalist was a real treat.
Amidst the cacophony the band was still able to be clear and precise with their jams. The band broke into a fast jam early into the first song of the set and created a spark early.
Communication between the group was fun to watch, each member looking at each other with great smiles and occasional shouts.
Cope from Tampa, Florida has been gaining momentum the last few years and were happy to throw their local touch on the festival.
The result was a swampy sound similar
The crowd was treated to a set from Lettuce to close out the night of music. With the funk bouncing all around the tent, the energy of the show was unparalleled all weekend. The crowd, mostly decked out in costumes, was nonstop the entire set, as was the band.
It is obvious how deep the roots run for this band while observing the chemistry between the group. Being lifelong friends, the members build upon each other to create a powerful sound that can’t be denied.
The straight funk was a great way to prepare for the chaos of Saturday night, and chaos it was.
As the stages were shutting down the party moved to the camping areas and didn’t stop all night. I went to camp after Lettuce, sitting down and not moving for a couple hours due to the wave of tired that swept through my body. I could hear the insanity of Saturday night going off all around me but wasn’t able to get the energy to go explore. Zach Deputy played an unscheduled show on top of his U-Haul in the early morning hours in the vending area. I could hear him but still couldn’t find the motivation to wander. We lounged by the blessing of the fire for a while longer and finally surrendered to the exhaustion with madness ensuing all around.
www.bearcreekmusicfestival.com
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