“It’s me, Dave!” Another Version of Wanee Toast/Toasted

At music festivals you run into the craziest people.Face painters, guys in tutus, girls thinking they’re fairies. Then there’s Dave.
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Dave is a guy that found us on the second day of the Wanee Music Festival. He came right up to my husband and said that we were the coolest people at Wanee. He went on and on about how cool we were and he had an infectious laugh. He wandered off only to come by our spot in the grass hours later. He grabbed John’s arm and said urgently, “It’s me, Dave.” As If we wouldn’t remember him. He desperately wanted us to remember him. We cracked up laughing and that line, “It’s me, Dave” became our go to line to blurt out when the moment struck.

The dude was wasted at one point (he’s actually asleep in the photo above), but he managed to hang all night, frequently stopping by our chairs and getting all fanboy about John and how cool he was.

We saw him the second night and he again reiterated that we were the coolest couple at Wanee and I took his picture with John. Dave wandered away after that and we didn’t see him again.

Maybe next,year when we return to the Wanee Music Festival, a guy will come up to us and say, “it’s me, Dave” and we’ll know it going to be another crazy fun weekend.

Wanee 2014: A Toast to Music

Here’s to another great time at the 2014 Wanee Music Festival in Live Oak, Florida.

The lineup was amazing and exhausting. Our musical adventure started on Thursday night at the Mushroom Stage (an intriguing venue under a canopy of trees) with Hot Tuna Electric. As usual, Jorma and Jack did not disappoint. These gentlemen live and breathe their music and their passion is evident. This was our fourth time seeing them in three years. Yeah, we love these guys!

Jorma and Electric Hot Tuna

Friday began our 12-hour music day with a huge surprise…probably my favorite event of the festival. First let me tell you that we weren’t sure who Galadrielle Allman was so we showed up thinking it’s another Allman kid that was going to sing. Turns out she is Duane Allman’s daughter and she was there to do a reading from her new book, Please Be With Me, A Song for My Father Duane Allman. I went to a music festival and got to hear a reading from an author. BONUS!!

Gregg Allman surprises his niece Galadrielle Allman onstage during her reading.

As she and Butch Trucks were speaking, her uncle, Gregg Allman, appeared onstage. She was totally shocked and for the 50 people who were standing in front of the stage, so were we! Gregg, Butch and Galadrielle shared stories about Duane, stories about the band and joked with each other. It was such a treat!

Discussing Galadrielle Allman’s book, Please Be With Me, A Song for My Father Duane Allman.

Friday afternoon, once I recovered from the excitement of seeing Gregg Allman five feet in front on me, continued on with Bobby Lee Rodgers, Ziggy Marley, and Umphrey’s McGee. Heatstroke nearly overtook me (we had absolutely gorgeous weather with sunny skies and no rain, but being in direct sun for more than 30 minutes makes me a bit loopy). By the time Lynyrd Skynyrd hit the Peach Stage, our chairs were in the shade. Skynyrd was great! The last time I saw them was at Nassau Coliseum in 1976 (before the plane crash). They played every hit song and really worked the crowd. After Lynyrd Skynyrd, we watched the Trey Anastasio Band while eating corn dogs (more on Wanee food in another post). Way past 9:30 that night, The Allman Brothers finally took the stage. They played for two hours, some of their hits but mostly jams. By the time we got back the the VW Westy, we were exhausted! It was a long day of dancing.

Saturday was another full day that started at the Mushroom Stage for Pink Talking Fish, a cover band that plays Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish songs. We headed over to the Peach Stage next for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood (there’s history here with my husband working security at Chris’ s wedding to Kate Hudson and rescuing Goldie Hawn’s dog, Peanut). We were not impressed with his new band because they didn’t seem to fit into the Wanee vibe. Last year Michael Franti & Spearhead played and they were amazing and really fit into the Wanee atmosphere (bring them back, Wanee people!).

John Poppa and Blues Traveler

The act we were really looking forward to was Blues Traveler. They were awesome. John Poppa rocked and has to be the best harmonica player out there.

We took a quick break before heading back to listen to Tedeschi Trucks Band. Earlier that day there were fans carrying giant heads of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, which were funny yet freaky at the same time.

The giant Tedeschi Trucks heads were dancing around the festival all weekend.

It wouldn’t be Wanee without Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule. It was the first time in three years that Gov’t Mule didn’t get rained out. It was nice to finally hear their whole set. Warren kept popping up and playing with other bands throughout the weekend.

Our night wrapped up with another show by The Allman Brothers and this time they played more hits, but Gregg didn’t sing lead on all the ones he usually sings on so that left us wondering…