BY MATTHEW RECCHIA

The second annual Bear Creek Music Festival at the Spirit of Suwanee Music Park brought out the tie-dyes, hemp necklaces, and bongos for one more party to close out the 2008 music festival season. Paul Levine and Lyle Williams, the main coordinators for this fantastic music community-building platform, put together an amazing lineup featuring old-school and new-age funksters alike, with Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Everyone Orchestra headlining the bill.

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Thursday:

The sounds of guitars and drums rang out as soon as the clock struck six Thursday afternoon as Tallahassee's Brother Bean started things off, followed up by Athens reggae stars Dubconscious and middle-eastern influenced beats from the Philly trio Telepath. After a brief technical issue with a monitor, The Motet and ex-String Cheese keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth stole the day with a high-energy, Latin-jazz combination that shattered the expectations of the lucky thousand or so folks packed inside the Music Hall. Vicious horn sections fused together with rhythmic guitar solos and matching drum-soaked patterns kept the music building throughout the show. Showcasing Hollingsworth's String Cheese days after cheese-head paraphernalia appeared on the Hammond Organ, the group brought on a wild rendition of Cheese's "BAM!" followed by the Talking Head's classic "Cross-eyed and Painless". Perpetual Groove finished up the night with their patented psychedelic-trance music, spacing the minds of listener's with spot-on festival favorites "Teakwood Betz" and "Decepticon Structure".

Friday:

Warming up the grounds for what was sure to be a hectic, funk-filled afternoon, the Afromotive started the day off by yielding the first potentially deadly dose of Afrobeat-funk fusion to a small crowd in front of the Big IV Stage.  Zach Deputy, whose act often draws similarities to Keller Williams, followed that up with a set rooted in R&B that lasted most the afternoon. The change in music from his frantic, electronic-based set the night before showed off his musical versatility and warmed the crowd up for what was to come.

As the sun began to disappear along the tree line, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band filled the stage and provided the best example of old school, New Orleans horns all weekend. Joined by a few guests, the Dirty Dozen touched on everything from Saints football to the new President-elect Obama. By the time Everyone Orchestra had a chance to play, it was clear the audience was worn out, but in good spirits and keeping the energy level as high as possible, they chanted along with composer Matt Butler's dialogue and cheered as the band made their way through a psychedelic journey in the world of jam. The show encouraged audience participation, creating a circle of music around Butler that seemed to spin in time as the band raged onstage. Special guest appearances by Michael Kang, Jon Fishman, guitarist Eric Krasno, Kofi Burbridge, and horns players from bands throughout the day made Everyone Orchestra one of the most distinctive and flavorful performances of the weekend.  

The beginning of  a double-header from Thursday, Perpetual Groove continued from where they left off, delivering a mind-blowing, hard-rocking set different to the funkadelic masterpiece put together by previous bands for most the afternoon. The rain that had been threatening to fall all weekend poured down as the band began to play, continuing sporadically throughout the night. Dubconscious dedicated their set to the loss of extremely close friend Rachel Hoffman. Following up the emotional reggae ride, featuring a cluster of Rachel's friends in purple hats dancing onstage, was a swirling mix of funk and soul from Lettuce inside the Music Hall.

Saturday:

Saturday started off with some homebrewed Tallahassee talent at the Campgrounds stage followed by Tim Reynolds & TR3, who brought out his slide and showed off his ability to display raw blues mixed with a hard rock rhythm section. The Robert Walter Trio, put together by Robert Walter from The Greyboy Allstars, toned down the energy a bit with a leisurely blend of organ-packed leads and funky rhythms, drawing some comparisons to Medeski, Martin and Wood. Walter's roots in the world soul music shined during the set, even as the sun dripped down and lights came on.

The temperature may have dropped close to freezing, but the music was just beginning to boil as the Yonder Mountain String Band took the stage to the screams of a rowdy audience. Celebrating their tenth anniversary as a band, Yonder pulled out all the stops and delivered the first particularly dazzling exhibit of raw bluegrass all weekend, along with a strange explanation to why our asses may be on fire. The lesson of their finger-blistering banjo-mandolin solo-trading set: beware of anthills, mushrooms, and crazy bluegrass! 

While wandering up to the Big IV stage, rumors began flying that Derek Trucks had been spotted practicing during soundcheck with Lettuce, and sure enough, his amp and guitar were sitting on the stage, waiting to be turned up. The set did not disappoint, with Trucks' signature slide guitar ringing through Lettuce's funky onslaught of guitar and horn solos over a rhythmic phrasing from the organ and drum sections. Following Lettuce was the most anticipated show of the weekend: The Bear Creek Dumpstaphunk Jam. Craziness and funktastic music was the only thing on the audience's mind as musicians made their way on and off the stage randomly during the set. Some songs featured as many as fourteen musicians at one time, with up to four guitarists switching leads and creating chaos among the audience. The list of guests at the SuperJam included Derek Trucks, Eric Krasno, Kofi Burbridge, Neal Evans, and horns players from bands earlier in the day.

By the time Pnuma Trio took the stage the temperature was beginning to drive people back to the campgrounds or indoors for some heat. The New Mastersounds, a band based out of Leeds, brought a British style of funk to the house and had the crowd dancing till they shut the place down.

Sunday:

Sunday, the temperature stayed below sixty and most of the camps had packed up before the music started. John Brown's Body delivered a rocking set of southern funk, followed by Tampa group Tishamingo and southern blues rockers JJ Grey & MOFRO. By the end of JJ Grey, most of the campsites had been abandoned while the few campers left behind exchanged their names and numbers for future endeavors into the world of music.

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BLURT's Four Stars of the Festival:

1. Paul Levine and The Bear Creek Crew - They worked hard all year to put on an amazing festival for everyone. I saw Paul trying to shake everyone's hand this weekend, making sure their festival experience was the best possible.

2. Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk (pictured, above) - Neville delivered funky-rocking jams during both their Friday and Saturday night performances, and always seemed to invite as many folks as possible to join in.

3. Eric Krasno - Krasno played on every stage Friday and Saturday night, exemplifying his taste for funk and soul-based psychedelic jams.

4 Derek Trucks (because we had to)- Trucks made the most of his guest appearance by sitting in with three bands on Saturday night. Trucks, who also participates at Wanee Festival every year with the Allman Brothers and Derek Trucks Band, mingled around the grounds for most the afternoon, talking with folks about the festival and his future plans.