Yes, thanks Sang ! Glad the rain stayed away too.
ZPZ plays Whipping Post, nice
Frank used to play Whipping Post on occasion too.....There's youtube clips from various performances of this tune. Here's one:
Today started out weird...their was a bright orange orb in the sky....
Checked out Bobby Lee Rodgers again, then off to Butch and Friends. They played mostly ABB songs, with a blues song thrown in. They were actually really good, just a few missed queues. I then went over to JJ Grey and Mofro, and they were good. Saw part of Dragon Smoke, and I really liked them - pretty funky. Off to see Cheap Trick, who are from Rockford (90 miles from Chicago). I enjoyed their set, but it rained lightly through most of it, and the sound really sucked. Then Gregg and Friends came on a little late - but they had the good sound system. They were great, and they got the only encore of the weekend (except Panic). Then over to see Yonder Mountain String Band.....first time I've seen them and they were great - the crowd was really hopping. Went over to see Panic and had the same reaction as the night before....do they know any songs? Played about 4 songs all together for about an hour...no real separation between songs - just one big long jam. I like many of their albums and have seen them live before and enjoyed them, but the long jams weren't doing anything for me.
So I headed back to the Hilton and did a few jello shots and had a lot of laughs with some good friends I only see once a year or so...along with a few new ones....
So after all the worries about the weather, there was very little rain the 4 days I was there. It was mostly overcast the whole time, which didn't bother this pasty white midwesterner..... 
Thanks for the updates Mike ... vicarious enjoyment for those of us unable to make the trip ...
I'm glad the weather held out for you and you had a great time ... how could you not - it's Wanee!!!
How was the Butch and Friends set? Not being snide - just looking for a report!
Sure wish I could have seen the Zappa Plays Zappa set! That was bound to have been a highlight!
Big crowd at the Mushroom stage for it. A lot of good ABB songs so the crowd was into it. Jaimoe was backstage but didn't play. How can you go wrong with Butch, Oteil and Marc....Lamar Williams did a great job singing.....Bruce Katz was on keyboards. Vaylor and the other guitarist did a really good job. Don't remember all the songs, but they did Dreams, Liz Reed, Midnight Rider, Whipping Post, Trouble No More, and a blues tune that Oteil sang that had to do with needing a payday......
The crowd was really into hearing all the songs....like I said, their were a couple missed cues, but they recovered quickly...
THANKS Sang for the updates!
I also thought Lamar Williams jr. was a revelation. Great singer with loads of soul. The Zappa Plays Zappa set didn't do much for me setlist-wise. A shame as I was psyched to see them again. Same thing happened with the Mule. While there was some high points, I just wasn't crazy about the setlist.
High points for me were the Butch set, the Nth Power's Steely Dan set, Jaimoe, the last half of Dragonsmoke, and parts of the Gregg set. I always dig BLR at Wanee, and I must have been in the mood for some Dead as I enjoyed Crazy Fingers quite a bit (JGB not as much).
We dodged an incredible bullet with the rain this year as it started out not looking great.
I guess there's 361 days till, next year. We renewed our site before leaving.
Blooby
Thanks for sharing your Wanee weekend with us, Sang! I sure wanted to be there. Did you take any pics, by chance?
and a blues tune that Oteil sang that had to do with needing a payday......
Cool. Probably the ARU tune Payday that Oteil and Bruce wrote:
I only took a few pictures of Helen's Hilton.......... just got home about 4:45 pm after 2 days on the road in a lot of rain.......... but it's good to be home...............
They are not allowing backpacks in the festival period. Empty, camel bag, or full of your supplies to keep your baby clean and happy. Doesn't matter, no two strapped bags.
Other than this, how was the security? Any different than any other year?
They are not allowing backpacks in the festival period. Empty, camel bag, or full of your supplies to keep your baby clean and happy. Doesn't matter, no two strapped bags.
Other than this, how was the security? Any different than any other year?
I didn't notice anything different with security. They were pretty lax through out the afternoons, at least the entrance by the side of the Peach Stage. At night they were a little more thorough, but no complaints here. My girlfriend got her bag a quick once over, no big deal.
I was really expecting this year's Wanee to have a different vibe without the Allmans, but I guess we are being weened off slowly with so much of their music present from morning to night. I always find it hard to see everything I want to catch throughout each day, but there was some great stuff this year - I think Gregg's set was the highlight for me, even though I've seen him a fair amount. Butch's set was a really nice surprise, I didn't really know what to expect, and maybe they didn't either - Lamar sounded great. I never get tired of hearing Jaimoe's band, they always blow the roof off. Mule was meh for me, the slowed down dub version of "The Joker" seemed pretty fratty to me. TTB was missed, but they will be here in NYC next month, so I'll get over that.
It was great to see some of the other acts that aren't usually on the bill like The Word and Yonder Mountain String Band. It was interesting for me to not have the day build to The Allmans, as we usually take a dinner break and recoup while Panic played the early evening slot. I enjoyed the second night of Panic, but it was exhausting - I don't recall them being so intense.
All in all, another great Wanee in the books and great to see so many faces again. I've already started the count down the Wanee 2016.
They are not allowing backpacks in the festival period. Empty, camel bag, or full of your supplies to keep your baby clean and happy. Doesn't matter, no two strapped bags.
Other than this, how was the security? Any different than any other year?
There was definitely more show. The entrance by Lake Road (or whatever it is called) had 20 police cars there on Wednesday night after JGB. I counted because it seemed so out of the ordinary.
The gate folks stopped me with a mesh backpack, so I switched to a garbage bag the next three nights and never thought about it again. The packets of booze were toxic, but saved $8 per cocktail. I mention this merely in passing.
Blooby
A great time for me at Wanee. Wednesday, I saw only Cope and Crazy Fingers but enjoyed them.
Thursday was a good day. Jacob Jefferies was good, Bobby L. . Rodgers was as good as ever, Royal S. brotherhood was better than I hoped (Devan proposed to girlfriend), I really enjoyed Raw Oyster, Hot Tuna was great as usual but could have been louder, I missed Pink as Aikens had enough.
Friday. Highlites were for me: Jimmy Herring killing it with Panic. This was the best of the weekend for me. The Word was great even though Robert Randolph could only use two fingers on his hand . Mule was good but not as good as last year. Zappa plays Zappa was good but I missed a good bit of it. I not that into their Mother of Invention sound effects.
Saturday: Panic great. Did I say Jimmy Herring. Butch and Friends were excellent. They had a few misses but over all great. Lamar can really sing. Gregg was better than I expected and I enjoyed him. I split JJ Grey and Dragon Smoke and liked both of them.
Great four days with Kay, Aikens, and Cher.
Good to see Sang and hang with him some. Bluedad good to see you.
Great music at Wanee even without ABB....
Melvin Seal, EWF, Butch and Friends, JJB, Twiddle, Chris Robinson, GA, The Steely Dan Cover Band. No lack of great music. The Hilton was outasite as usual....
Hope Slammer, Don, Heidi and Peg will make it back next year !!
Good to see you Billy.... 😉
Aw, thanks bluedad! I sure miss that annual trek to Live Oak. Don't think I've been there since 2010. It's nice to be missed. My sister and I both lost our jobs that year and although I've recovered, she hasn't. I'm glad you enjoyed the music. Wanee is such a magical place!!
Interesting shot of our beloved music park in Live Oak:
Cool pic Don. Can you post that on facebook? I'm technologically challenged or I'd do it.
Interesting shot of our beloved music park in Live Oak:
Look at all the smoke surfacing above the tree lines.
