Splintered Sunlight On The Suwannee: A Look Back At Hulaween 2024 [B.Getz on L4LM]
photo: Aaron Bradley
originally published on Live For Live Music
With a festival industry reeling on the heels of numerous cancellations, then not one but two massive hurricanes storming the southeastern U.S. inside of one month, Suwannee Hulaween was fortunate to survive these economic and environmental conditions to once again thrive in 2024. From October 24th–27th, Florida’s famed psychedelic Halloween carnival returned to the glorious environs of Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in its 11th iteration and provided another magical mystery tour of these sacred grounds that few present will soon forget.
Driving eastbound and down from outside Tallahassee en route to Live Oak, we could not help but notice the countless downed trees and assorted remnants of destruction from Hurricanes Helene and Milton just a few weeks ago. The copious trauma, stress, and unimaginable hardships of so many people in this area of the country were not lost on us as we approached this precious music park that’s been the site of so many treasured experiences dating back decades.
As such, the attitude was total gratitude for Suwannee Hulaween 2024, and it became crystal clear on arrival that this mindset—and energy—was widespread and contagious. Entering the gates, the towering live oaks and trademark Spanish moss that define this supernatural space beckoned us into their familiar bosom, and jubilant Hulaginz were soon again frolicking as far as the eye could spy.
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Weekend headliners Black Pumas and Sublime, as well as white-hot Aussie band Mildlife, saw the festival spread wings wider this year, initiating new fans culled from beyond both the jam-o-sphere and electronic worlds that typically populate this large-scale gathering. Hulaween is still hosted by founding veteran Colorado jamband The String Cheese Incident performing six sets – including their Saturday night Halloween throwdown, a.k.a. The Shebang. A pair of Sunday frames as The Bobby Weir Incident in the tailwind of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh’s passing proved a fortuitous booking, given the massive waves of grief that engulfed fans upon receiving Friday’s terrible news.
Though a late cancellation from Tash Sultana disappointed many fans looking forward to their long-awaited Hulaween debut, the musical undercard spread across smaller stages, raging renegade sets in the woods, and random experiential outposts really made this festival as stupendous and rewarding as ever.
Headed up by Creative Director Justin Bolognio in his second year at the helm, Spirit Lake remains the crown jewel of Hulaween, a true unicorn in a sea of homogenized events. A spooky, kaleidoscopic universe all it’s own, boasting sound art of all types til four in the morning. 2024’s theme Spirit Lake Escaped! was highlighted by an expansive light-and-sound show projected atop the lake that told a story emanating from beneath it.
A 360 experience around the water, by day Spirit Lake was home to eclectic activities at Oasis Tent, which welcomed various yoga practices and enlightening educational workshops. The opulent playground transformed into a psychedelic wonderland in the night, with dancing stilt walkers, fire dancers, immersive big art, vibrant subcultures, and delightful detours that boggled the noggin.
Suwannee Hulaween boasts five music stages spread across the scenic venue: The Meadow (main stage) sprawls over to The Hallows across the field; the legendary Amphitheater Stage, a.k.a. The Amp, remains the park’s heartbeat; and the smaller Spirit Lake stage. 2024 saw the introduction of the brand new DEF Off Limits, an electronic-focused stage that was “in the round,” replacing the old-school Campground Stage in the same location in Spirit Lake.
Throw in copious art installations, workshops, renegade late-night ragers, and inevitable homie hangs, across the four blistering hot days and decadent disco nights there was so much on offer it was impossible to experience even a third of the official itinerary—far too much to conceivably recount within this forthcoming reflection. What follows is merely an overview of my own lived experience, and just a few of my favorite things from Suwannee Hulaween 2024.
Thursday 10/24
After rolling in just after midnight and setting up camp in the RV loop, which appeared fairly full for night zero, we awoke to a blazing sun and intense North Florida heat. Almost immediately, there was a logjam mid-afternoon. West Coast faves Moontricks offered their earthy organic-electronic on the Spirit Lake stage, while Mike Dillon and Punkadelic, featuring drummer Nikki Glaspie and keyboardist Brian Haas, got wild, wacky, and polyrhythmically weird on The Amp. Meanwhile, returning bass queen A Hundred Drums was hammering The Hallows with low-end thunderclaps, previewing a few unreleased cuts along the way.
More hard decisions followed when electro-cowboys Dirtwire took over Spirit Lake. At the same time, the sassy, sultry, and supremely funky vocal trio Say She She wowed The Amp as the sun began to set, getting pointed and political with members of SoCal stalwarts ORGONE diligently holding the ladies down. Day one’s crucial conflicts continued into the evening, as two hot DJ/producers on The Hallows—ATL king Daily Bread followed by NorCal’s Of The Trees—both went head to head with Suwannee legends Lettuce, who returned to their longtime throne The Amp for an extended set after dark.
The future funk-hop veterans have a storied history on this stage and at this park. The sextet launched the journey with “Silence is Samba” before unspooling a lysergic “Insta Classic” that segued into an ambitious “Purple Cabbage”. Optic Tempo projected trippy visuals behind the band as they oscillated deep into the abyss. Other LETT highlights included an unreleased banger in the blaxploitation-scented “The Matador”, a trunk-rattling, inverted “Trillogy”, a subterranean “Vamanos”, and a “Chameleon” (Herbie Hancock) > “Blast Off” combo to land the spacecraft and spike the football with authority.
We swiftly hustled over to The Hallows intent to catch the last half hour with Of The Trees. As he was signing off, the wildly popular NorCal producer let it fly that he’d be throwing down later that night at Spirit Lake. Since we missed the lion’s share of his main performance, we were keen to catch Of The Trees go b2b with Eazybaked at DEF Off Limits in Spirit Lake.
Curated by the female-led DEF collective (Define Everything Future) and stage managed by SOSMP OG Lindsay Cottrell, it was clear from our first experience at DEF Off Limits that this potent addition to Spirit Lake was already a very welcome upgrade. Longtime late-night hosts Incendia supplied appropriately timed fire blasts and an aura of familiarity at the new spot. Once they iron out proper speaker-stack positioning and Spirit Lake works to minimize sound bleed, the sky is DEF Off Limits.
Celebrated French world-bass sorceress CloZee followed Of The Trees on The Hallows with a headline set that leaned heavily on her more recent work. CloZee is a Hula vet several times over, and she maintains a fervent fanbase at this festival who turned out en masse. Her ancient/future glitch and melodic soundscapes were complimented by projection-mapped visuals courtesy of L!ghtbrush, a.k.a. Moe Angelo, a digital creator who traces his own humble beginnings back to SOSMP.
Meanwhile, ATL rap legend Killer Mike returned to The Amp with his Mighty Midnight Revival in tow, a high-energy performance that got personal, political, spiritual, and emotional. The Run the Jewels emcee injected dope elements of crunk, trap, backpack rap, and gospel with his trademark vitriolic, give-no-f*cks, bully braggadocio spittin’ front and center. Killer Mike peaked with a three-song run of Purple Ribbon’s “Kryptonite” and his verse on Bone Crusher’s “Neva Scared”, followed by Mike’s gripping “Motherless”, a soulful meditation on his mom’s passing.
Friday 10/25
Friday began with more blazing Suwannee sun, along with the crushing news that Grateful Dead bassist/co-founder Phil Lesh had transitioned from this earthly plane. The rest of the day, and really the entire weekend, was colored by this monumental loss for the culture; Phil’s name, likeness, legacy, and songs would begin to fill the air for the remainder of the festival, as fans and artists alike shared their respective reverence for a true godfather of the scene.
Day two’s jam-packed itinerary kicked off with a fresh find in Elephant Proof, who came recommended by peers and delivered a groovy, inspired hour with some very danceable vocoder cuts in the mix. SCI’s Jason Hann sat in on percussion for the majority of their set, clicking together nicely with Elephant Proof drummer Ben Atkind, who thoroughly impressed with his new band. I raced over to The Meadow to catch the second half of festival fave Karina Rykman, who was rocking the main stage for the first time in an oppressive midday sun. An instrumental romp through Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” segued neatly into some searing sludge metal as the bassist got her Cliff Burton on proper. This was Karina’s seventh time performing at Hulaween, the most she’s appeared at any festival (four times with Marco Benevento, and this was her third performing as a solo artist.)
Across the way on The Hallows, Dumpstaphunk detonated a massive “In This World” to start, calling back to the glory days when this krewe would rock Bear Creek every November. Optic Tempo handled visuals, flashing larger-than-life photographs of late Dumpsta bassist Nick Daniels III—who passed away last spring. We darted across the dirt road to The Amp for SOSMP prodigal sons of womp, MZG. Duval County’s famed monozygotic twins Zach and Charles Weinert long ago decamped to Denver but still call Suwannee home base. They stuck to mostly original tunes and remixes, bravely closing with a brand new joint they’d sparked just moments earlier in the green room right before taking the stage.
A breath of fresh air, Melbourne, Australia’s buzz-bin band Mildlife came highly recommended and did not disappoint on The Hallows. Playing together since high school, the quartet’s undeniable chemistry and collective cool was on display despite the dank humidity, their original music reminiscent of late ’60s psychedelic garage funk, spiked with Polish jazz and Italian disco from a decade later, plus Krautrock basslines, smooth synth pop, and nuanced contemporary electronica accouterments.
Gainesville, Florida-based Soukii has also built a bit of a regional buzz, too. At sunset, the DJ drew a large crowd to DEF Off Limits, stopping passers-by in their tracks while impressing a gang of new fans. Going berserk behind the decks as he forwarded eclectic edits, Soukii mixed U.K. garage, jungle, halftime, heavy bass, and breakbeats into a burly witch’s stew, flipping everything from Justin Timberlake (“Sexy Back”) to Belinda Carlisle (“Heaven is a Place On Earth”).
After a few cuts of subdued, emotional soul from Austin’s Black Pumas on The Meadow, it was time to get crunk with U.K. drum and bass institution Chase & Status on The Amp (only one of the deejays performed, the norm for their international tours). Packed all the way back to the road, flashing lasers and lights made for a sensory overload situation as the teeming natural amphitheater got rowdy to thundering rollers like “Baddadan”, “Backbone”, “Disconnect”, and “Liquor & Cigarettes”.
With word of his impending 2025 retirement having made the rounds, Dave Tipper’s primetime slot at The Hallows was nothing short of must-see TV. This park is pretty special to him; SOSMP hosts his annual Tipper & Friends Rendezvous in the spring. The genius Englishman who’s been reigning supreme over psychedelic bass music for two decades made a triumphant, terrific return to Suwannee Hulaween for the first time since 2018. His sonorous sound art was paired with eye-popping visual accompaniment courtesy of DRO!D.
Melting more sonic colorways than Crayola, mind-bending bass frequencies and ferociously funky breaks got sizzled and drizzled with the alien’s patented “Tweak Sauce”. Forwarding faves like “Jello”, “Can I Get?”, “Angry Wet Scribbler”, “Tip Hop2”, “It’s Like”, “Chrome Splat”, and a smattering of VIPs and unreleased IDs, Dave dialed up a colossal collection of bombastic and hallucinogenic—a steady stream of neck-throttling nuggets that kept both our feet and the frontal lobe working overtime for the duration of Tipper’s 75-minute session.
Late-night at Spirit Lake, Connecticut’s hottest jamband Eggy delivered a 90-minute barnburner, highlighted by a cheeky cover of Paul Simon’s “Call Me Al”. Meanwhile, out in the woods at Camp Reddit, MZG would take the renegade decks after fellow Floridians Future Joy, and pour pure lava all over the dancefloor. Eschewing their own material for bottomless, genre-fluid digital DJ crates, the Weinert bros went felony arson on the spot, oscillating from turnt trap to future bass, Hall & Oates to Deep House, and tossing a barrage of heat rocks for nearly two hours. Twinzies all-timer, no question about it, and Camp Reddit renegades are a professional operation.
Saturday 10/26
Saturday was again hot enough to enjoy the mighty Suwannee river, or you could explore other arenas of art and interest besides bouncing from one music stage to the next. At the Deliberate Creation Station, curious folks learned leatherworking with SOSMP OG Lost Sailor Leather, who taught newcomers how to make their trademark souvenir keychains. Bodypainting, wire-wrapping, and other artistic pursuits were also on offer in this quaint spot in the cut.
As for Saturday’s music, it was a local’s afternoon as North Florida funksters Sauce Pocket tore up the Spirit Lake stage in the midday sun, later South Florida faves Guavatron did more of the same. Across the way, Jax deep house specialist Charlie Hustle went b2b with Crspy at DEF OFF LIMITS. After nightfall, Justin Jay b2b Nala proved a dynamic duo as they dealt a particularly potent power hour of tech house on that very same stage.
Due to Tash Sultana’s last-minute cancellation on The Hallows, Umphrey’s McGee’s two frames were shifted til later. Andy Frasco & the U.N. also got bumped one slot. Spafford, who already were slated to play Spirit Lake’s late-night session, also opened up The Hallows Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Hula regular Manic Focus cooked up his traditional Hula showcase on The Amp before ceding to the spaghetti-laced insanity of Liquid Stranger’s sonic assault.
The String Cheese Incident, always the gracious Hula hosts with big ears and huge hearts, jammed out six sets as is their customary tradition at the festival they first founded. Their famed Halloween party on Saturday night—a.k.a. The Whole Shebang—revealed a “HoWeird” theme in 2024, though the music stuck to the SCI catalog instead of a jukebox of covers. Read more about Cheese performances at Hulaween, courtesy of Rex Thomsen here.
As the evening wore on, our curiosity was piqued so we soaked up some Sublime on The Meadow. Like a youthful spark plug firing up a rusty muscle car, Jakob Nowell proudly belted out his late dad’s hits, while the reconstituted reggae-punk trio got pretty silly—and a little sloppy—on that giant stage.
Toubab Krewe brings a scaled down lineup to Hula to perform with a conclave of fire dancers on the banks of Spirit Lake. It’s not advertised on the schedule, but heads in the know were again treated to a celestial collaboration with an emotional quotient woven into the ether. With SCI’s Jason Hann sitting in, Toubab Krewe unspooled an ornate take on the Grateful Dead’s “The Other One”, a canonical piece of the GD songbook that prominently features the late Phil Lesh. Turns out, they only decided to try this number while riding in the van from the airport to the festival, at the suggestion of bassist Justin Kimmel. A beautiful expression of respect and reverence, percussionist Luke Quaranta later explained that the vamp’s time signature lent itself easily to the West African rhythms Toubab traditionally explores.
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Late-night at DEF Off Limits, Ravenscoon—who rocked The Amp earlier that afternoon—slayed an enormous, vibey crowd with a juicy “downtempo” transmission that still bordered on ratchet-town sounds. Even later, Camp Reddit hosted human beatbox wunderkind Honeycomb. Proudly pushing forward an elemental tradition Rahzel laid down decades ago, the microphone mutilator stunned a sizable crowd with multi-faceted soundscapes he created with his mouth and adulterated with technology.
Just before 3 a.m., our crew rolled over to the (new) Silent Disco at The Amp just as PR!NTS was finishing up. Vlad the Inhaler, a godfather of the Jax club scene, took over the decks with a masterful display of deejaying in his eleventh year holding it down at Hulaween. With a cheering section of hometown homies hyping him up, Vladimir was in full tastemaker mode, brilliantly blending U.K. grime, underground hip-hop, liquid dnb, and juke like a smooth operator. This dude even found a way to work in Thundercat’s “Them Changes” in supremely organic fashion.
Sunday 10/27
Sunday at Suwannee, the pace slows our roll a little bit, just by nature. Afternoons, Spirit Lake’s Oasis Tent was the hotspot for getting your head filled with goodness. Programmed and coordinated by Hulaween lifer Joan Isaac and Beka Poland, at Oasis Tent there were various daily yoga disciplines on offer, meditation, embodied dance, tea and cacao culture, among a plethora of other interesting options. Burners Without Borders’ Ryan Rising—a mainstay on the West Coast festival scene with Permaculture Action Network—made his Hula debut with two fascinating workshops that cracked me wide open: Eco Social Design and Regenerative Disaster Response. The latter was chased by Scott T’s illuminating annual talk that digs into archaeology, history, traditions, and memories of all things Spirit of Suwannee, a well-attended and interactive gathering of park devotees.
For me, Sunday’s tunes began on The Meadow with The Ain’t Sisters, Atlanta’s androgynous, rockin’ folk squad fronted by Arrie Bozeman and Barb Carbon. Their fun-yet-fierce set was chased by Sam Grisman Project on The Hallows, who held us all close with reverential readings of “Sitting Here in Limbo” and a set closing “And We Bid You Goodnight” that welcomed pianist Holly Bowling, who performed a couple hours earlier on the same stage.
Later that afternoon and into the evening, there was simply no denying the magic—nor magnitude—of the Bobby Weir Incident’s two sterling sets to close out Suwannee Hulaween 2024. With the legend and legacy of the dearly departed Phil Lesh in the air, the loss still fresh and wound raw, SCI understood the assignment. Cowboy Bob Weir steering the herd like a grisly warrior-troubadour, Cheese rose to the occasion, providing precisely the prescription the people needed in that moment. The seven musicians coalesced to collectively create a container, allowing fans to properly celebrate, mourn, weep, sway, hug, and dance, inducing several teary-eyed, throaty singalongs with the greatest American songbook. From a gossamer “Crazy Fingers” to a buoyant, breezy “Eyes of the World”, the songs that filled the air offered a medicinal salve to soothe our grieving souls, serenading our beloved bomb-dropping bassist on his way home. Bobby and these “boys” built us a “Box of Rain” to ease the pain. Through sobs, hugs, and unwavering smiles, for two fantastic frames we were unequivocally grateful, and saw one another through.
For more on this instant classic Bobby Weir Incident, go here
As we headed towards the finish line, there were a few more tricks and treats to be had in the Sunday night lights. A Suwannee favorite since the early days of Bear Creek, cherished U.K. rare-groove maestros The New Mastersounds made a triumphant return to Hulaween, drawing hordes of fatigued but enthusiastic fans and throwing down a 150-minute, multi-hued marathon on Spirit Lake to close out the festival. However, for this writer something a bit darker beckoned, and so I ambled over yonder to House of Lost.
For the past three years, I’ve always looked forward to Sunday night’s sordid affair at House of Lost to properly shut down the Hulaween rage. This year would be no different. The brilliant brainchild of St. Petersburg, FL’s Lost Creations art collective, House of Lost is an immersive experience within Spirit Lake that sucks you into their occult-tinged, spiritualized space that resembles a medieval church of the Dark Arts. House of Lost hosts colorful, avant-garde performers that span musical genre and global geography, among other social gatherings/events throughout the festival weekend. From weddings, celebrations of life, poetry readings, regional artists that run the gamut, and even South American punk rockers Zeta, no holds are barred at House of Lost.
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Sunday night, the place transforms into a debauched, anachronistic, genre-fluid swirl with searing sounds provided by resident badass DJs Hwoofer, Capybara (f.k.a. Rogerthomas), as well as Elikenagi and Post Physique among other crucial contributors. Across four hours equal parts torrid and turnt, these talented selectahs detonated a flurry of demonic, thunderous bass bangers, hard-charging jungle breaks, and pedal-to-the-metal dnb, while traversing myriad points between. At various junctures, Capybara even saw fit to jump on the drum kit to augment the soundscapes and intensify an already serious situation, sending everybody present into one final diabolical dithers.
words: B.Getz
Special Thanks to FunkCity.net, Optic Tempo, & Cody Crouch for the videos.
Click below to view a gallery of photo highlights from Suwannee Hulaween 2024.
