Before even getting into the music, a big shout-out needs to go The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park. It is such a beautiful and well run festival venue. Upon entering the park, you a see dense forest of large trees dripping with moss and many nooks to set up camp. Then when going into the festival grounds you are greeted by some of the kindest staff I have ever encountered at the music festival. Very rarely did you find yourself waiting for the lines for security or bathrooms. The park has lots of experience with festivals and it clearly shows.
The first night being Halloween, The String Cheese Incident was going to play three sets with one special set in the middle, of afterlife themed covers. They started the weekend with a very powerful “Restless Wind,” and it was clear that Cheese came to throw down. With a mix of classics and newer songs they played with incredible energy and excitement. With the entire crowd in costume, Cheese finished their first set, and stated they would be back, in more appropriate attire. During the set break the crowd was treated with a spirited set from Shpongle to get everyone’s blood pumping.
Cheese came back on stage dressed in white suites and faces painted as if they were skeletons along with Rhonda Thomas and Tony White on vocals and The Antibalas Horns that includes Martin Perna on Baritone Sax, Flute; Jas Walton on Tenor Sax; Jordan McLean on Trumpet; and Jeff Pierce on Trumpet, Trombone. This big band sound really stepped up the energy for this special set of music. This set included covers such as: “The Ghost Busters Theme”, “Stairway to Heaven”, “Live and Let Die”, and was finished with an unbelievable “Thriller.” During “Thriller,” the place went crazy, on top of pyrotechnics, confetti, huge inflatable skulls bouncing in the audience, and ghosts flapping on stage; an enormous rendition of Michael Jackson began to rise up from the back of the stage. His shoulders started moving back and forth to Jackson’s famous dancing and then inflatable arms came up as if a monstrous Michael was dancing with the crowd. What an incredible way to celebrate Halloween, String Cheese Incident sure knows how to throw a dance party! After all that insanity, Cheese came back for another set which included favorites such as “Miss Brown’s Tea House,” “Rosie,” and “Just One Story.” If all that wasn’t enough the night was finished off by another mind-blowing set, by Beats Antique with their full cast of amazing dancers, very fitting being that they had many costume changes and different ethnic dances. To end the evening, Thievery Corporation put on a wonderful (and thankfully) somewhat mellow set for everyone to groove too. It was great to see everyone in the festival dressed up in elaborate costumes with great family energy.
The next day, having more time to explore the venue, it was clear that Cheese went all out to make the park a very special place. The Spirit Lake area is usually used as camping but they turned it into another stage with some amazing artwork throughout the dancing area. Huge metal sculptures of creatures, which became fireplaces at night to keep warm, a Jellyfish dome with swings to play on, and the lake was filled with lighting to create a mythical atmosphere, as well as many stages for acrobatic performances. During the day there were many great performances from bands such as Strung Like A Horse, The Heavy Pets, and especially Keller Williams and Friends, which included Nicky Sanders from Steep Canyon Rangers and Reed Mathis from Tea Leaf Green, who decided to call themselves Awesome Sauce. For Sting Cheese that night, the crowd was treated to some classics such as “Black Clouds” and “Resume Man” with some rather new songs sprinkled in such as “Let’s Go Outside” and “Sweet Spot” all performed to perfection. On top of that, Nicky Sanders sat in on fiddle, and longtime friend of Cheese, Keller Williams, came out to help with vocals on “Resume man” and took lead on “Alligator Ally” and “Franklins Tower”. To top everything off Dominic Lalli from Big Gigantic sat in on sax for their always epic rendition of Whether Report’s “Birdland”. As for the late-night shows, they were nothing but amazing. Following Cheese was The New Deal who brought their spacy dance party forest in on the Amphitheater Stage. To finish the night on the Main Stage, Boulder, CO-based duo, Big Gigantic hit the main stage with a very lively set ending the night with a bang.
The last day of Hulaween had some incredible early performances. Suenalo was the first to play that day, they are a Miami based Latin Funk band that ending up drawing a rather large crowd for the early set. They played a funky “Another Brick in the Wall” that really surprised the audience. After them, The Soul Rebels Brass Band from New Orleans played a powerful set getting everyone moving. The atmosphere for the last night of Cheese was very much family, lots of hugs from the entire crowd and many thanks to Cheese for putting on such an amazing weekend. They played many oldies but goodies including “How Mountain Girls can Love,” “MLT,” and “’Round the Wheel.” They also reworked the intro to the Talking Heads Cover of “This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)” that was really special. They closed the festival with a tribute to all who traveled long distances by playing “Texas”. Following Cheese, was a super energetic and spacy performance from Future Rock. EOTO came onto the main stage next with some technical problems. They played a song then had to continue to work on the tech issues. They decided to continue without some of their equipment and proceeded to put on one insanely fun and intricate set. It just goes to show how versatile EOTO can be even when they do not have everything going exactly their way. To close out the festival Joe Russo’s Almost Dead took the stage in the amphitheater. They was very well received by everyone and seemed a perfect way to end a weekend of such close family and incredible music. Hulaween will return next year to The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park and it should not be missed.
Check out more photos from Suwannee Hulaween.
.jpg "Michael Kang and Billy Nershi | The String Cheese Incident")
As with other festivals hosted by The String Cheese Incident, the lineup of musicians is very talented and extremely diverse. Festival goers will be able to experience Bluegrass, Rock, Funk, Electronica, DJs, as well as many unannounced collaborations between these artists. The String Cheese Incident will perform seven sets that include a special Halloween themed set with a theatrical show that will immerse the audience into the music. 
What set’s Suwannee Hulaween apart from other festivals is, by far its surroundings. Set in Live Oak, FL amongst 800-acres of Spanish moss draped oak and cypress, The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park is easily one of the most beautiful music venues in the country. On top of the natural beauty of Suwannee, the Spirit Lake Experience takes the multi-day music festival to a new level. Full of lighting, pyrotechnics, art installations, performance art, and music, this interactive space creates a community atmosphere that encourages festival goers to engage with the surroundings and each other. This year The Spirit Lake has been expanded to create an even larger, more immersive experience. It does get cold at night and The Spirit Lake provides heated art installations to keep warm between the few overlapping sets..jpg "Suwannee Hulaween (2014)")
The Suwannee Hulaween celebration is becoming one of the premier music festivals on the east coast and even the country. The String Cheese Incident, Silver Wrapper, and Purple Hat Productions, along with The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park are pulling out all the stops to make this year’s Hulaween Festival the biggest Halloween party yet. For an unforgettable four days of music and experiences, The Suwannee Hulaween Festival should not be missed..jpg "Kyle Hollingsworth | The String Cheese Incident")
So come and celebrate Halloween with The String Cheese Incident at this incredible music venue.
Thursday was the pre-party for those who wanted to get into the venue early and loosen up before the main festivities begun. The night included sets by EOTO, Dumpstafunk, and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD). EOTO brought the energy with an amazing, always improvised show, followed by Dumpstafunk bringing their New Orleans funk to the amphitheater getting everyone warmed up for the nights headliner JRAD. JRAD came out guns a blazing with a powerful array of Grateful Dead music with no breaks in between songs. The set included “Dancing in the Streets,” “Eyes of the World,” “The Music Never Stopped’” and a “Help-Slip-Franklin’s”/ “China-Rider” medley that was an extraordinary way to kick off the festival.
The first official day of Suwannee Hulaween started off a bit slow. There were long lines of cars and people trying to set up camp, but everyone were in high spirits for the weekend. The first shows of the festival offered a wide variety of musical choices such as, the soulful sounds of Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, the jam-style DJ The Polish Ambassador, new-grass rockers Railroad Earth, and the electronica band Papadosio. No matter what your musical taste, there was something great to get your weekend started. The String Cheese Incident (SCI) hit the stage with the title track of their new album, “Song In My Head,” followed by a couple of instrumentals such as the guitar driven “Indian Creek,” and the foot-stomping “Valley of the Jig.” SCI also brought out Todd Sheaffer and Tim Carbone from Railroad Earth for “Sometimes a River,” which is actually a collaboration between Todd and SCI’s bassist, Keith Moseley. Set two included many festival favorites like “Mouna Bowa,” and “Shantytown,” as well as a new song, “Stop Drop Roll.” They finished up the night with a long time played Led Zeppelin cover of “Ramble On.” The night went on with epic bass playing of Les Claypool and his legendary band Primus. With huge inflatable mushrooms on either side of the stage, Primus rocked out many classics. The night ended with the sensational DJ Pretty Lights closing out the main stage.
Halloween had finally come, and it kicked off with positive vibrations with some great reggae acts such as Stick Figure Reggae Band, and the ever popular California based Slightly Stoopid. The day continued with some impressive acoustic acts such as John Stickly Trio, and The King of Telluride, Sam Bush and his band. Sam Bush was a great crossover since he has been notorious for taking bluegrass into the realm of reggae; they did this by playing the Bob Marley cover, “One Love.” As everyone began to arrive decked out in their Halloween gear, SCI took the stage for the first of their three sets of the night. To open the Hulaween party, SCI went straight to work on an energetic “Dudley’s Kitchen.” They continued the set with a couple of new songs likes Moseley’s ballad, “Sweet Spot,” and Kang’s powerful, “Beautiful,” both played as if they have been in rotation for years. SCI also brought back a classic originally called “SKAT” but has now been renamed “Xai Xai,” based on a style of African music on which the song is based. SCI finished their first set, and the crowd moved to the amphitheater stage to get pumped up with the electric-rock trio Future Rock, before SCI came back for a very special Halloween set. This year’s theme was Ghoul Trail, a tribute to ‘70s funk, based on the television show Soul Train. The band came out in bellbottoms and afros along with a troop of dancers, a neon Ghoul Train sign lit up and then GZA, from The Wu-Tang Clan, came out and announced he would be the MC for the evening. This was a huge surprise for everyone and just goes to show how versatile SCI can be when it comes to different genres of music. The Ghoul Train set really brought the ‘70s alive with amazing covers of “Brick House,” “I’m Your Boogie Man,” “Cold Sweat,” and “Dance to the Music.” GZA even got up with the boys and rocked some freestyle, easily one of the coolest surprises of the weekend. After the Ghoul Train steamed past, SCI returned to the main stage for their final set of the night, keeping the party raging with a powerful “Bollymunster” opener. The crowd was also pleased to get some amazing SCI staples such as, “Desert Dawn,” “Search”, and the classic, “Black Clouds.” The Ghoul train made one last stop, as SCI played a two song encore that included, “Sign, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours,” and from The Kool and the Gang Incident show at Lockn’ Festival, “We are Family.” As the hosts of Hulaween left the stage for the night the party kept on rocking with the Seattle based duo ODEZZA, the funk band The New Mastersounds, and the hip-hop based band Chance the Rapper and the Social Experiment. What a Halloween party! After all the remarkable music of the day there is only one word to describe it: WOW!
The final day of Suwannee Hulaween started out with some mellow acoustic sets with The Shook Twins and longtime friends of SCI, Elephant Revival. Towards the end of Elephant Revival’s set they invited the Shook Twins up on stage and they played four songs with them including, “Drop,” and “Rouge River” featuring the iconic vocals of Bonnie Paine. SCI took the stage a bit earlier than the other nights for what they dubbed as, “The Hangover Cure Set.” This was an all bluegrass, acoustic set featuring the legendary Sam Bush on fiddle and mandolin, and Charlie Rose (Elephant Revival) on banjo; Keith Moseley even brought out his stand-up bass for a super special “Blue” Cheese afternoon Incident. Songs included bluegrass standards familiar to Cheese fans such as “Deep Elem Blues,” and “Catfish John,” and also some rarities sung by Sam Bush like “Sunny Side of the Mountain,” and “Nine Pound Hammer.” The set did include one original song, the uplifting Caribbean jam “Lester had a Cocoanut,” and ended with all of Elephant Revival and Sam Bush playing the Gospel inspired “Will the Circle be Unbroken.” In between SCI sets, was one of the biggest parties of the weekend with DJ GRIZ, in a packed amphitheater. The final set of SCI started with a song from their new album, the Kyle tune “Let’s Go Outside,” followed by some classics such as “Little Hands,” “Windy Mountain,” and “Outside and Inside,” which featured Florida native, slide guitarist Roosevelt Collier. The final set of SCI finished with “Colorado Bluebird Sky,” and encored with a Bob Marley cover “Could You Be Loved.” Cheese thanked all of the performers, production, and the fans for making another Suwannee Hulaween a success, with a huge response from the crowd. Although this was the last set from SCI, Hulaween was not over, Boston based funk ensemble Lettuce took the amphitheater stage keeping the groove going. To close out the Halloween festivities, STS9 took the main stage with their unique style of electronic jam-rock sound. STS9 closed out Suwannee Hulaween with an energetic performance with many classic jams such as “Oil N Water,” “Kamuy,” and finished up with the crowd pleasing “Instantly.” As the festival came to a close, there were smiles all around and many high-fives on the way back to camp.
This year’s Suwannee Hulaween was a huge success not only due to the music but also the beautiful surroundings. On top of the natural beauty of The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park, this year’s Spirit Lake area was over the top. Not only did they make this magical space larger, but they added another stage and a silent disco. After the festivities on the main stages ended, many would wonder into Spirit Lake for late night music and to be immersed in the incredible art installations, take swing in the Jelly Dome, or just chill out to the amazing light show over the lake. Much like The Sherwood Forest at Electric Forest Festival, Spirit Lake takes the music festival to a whole new level. Though the festival is based around music, Spirit Lake allows artists of all kinds to be seen and heard. Many of the installations were interactive so people not only were able to see art but experience it too. Suwannee Hulaween is the biggest most elaborate Halloween party in the country and should not be missed next year.
