GrooveFest was Groovy - Sunday August 30, 2009 at Skipper's SmokeHouse

Pulling up to Skipper’s Smokehouse Sunday August 30, 2009 just a little after 3pm, I was bombarded with the sounds of the first annual WMNF GrooveFest already in full swing. Shak Nasti opened up what would be seven hours of jam-bandish fun in the sun. The greeters and ticket sellers were in high spirits and there wasn’t a single patron sitting still, whether they were getting food or drinks, chatting or swaying to the beat.
For a moment I actually forgot where I was. If it weren’t for the humidity and the menu chock-full of eastern seafood, I would have thought I was back on the west coast at a reggae festival, or at the Oregon Country Fair. The dreadlocks, tie-dye, friendly faces and audience members from the ages of about 2 through maybe even 92, were like something straight out of Eugene or Portland. I felt silly for not sporting my hand-made batiqued dress and Birkenstocks.
Shak Nasti rocked their reggae-funky sounds as people trickled in on the not too hot, partly cloudy gorgeous Tampa afternoon. The heavy bass lines and melodic wanderings of the guitar made Shak Nasti’s music stand out. They finished strong and loud as if to alert the following bands they had an act to follow. The crowd was relaxed but ready to jam alongside the musicians. The whole place was buzzing from the afternoon throughout the night and the energy never faded. This wasn’t the type of show to just sit and watch; you had to at least recognize the beat in some way, whether it was by the tap of a toe or the shimmy of a shoulder or two.
I looked up and did a scan of the crowd in between sets and quickly noticed that the number of people nearly doubled. The members of Soulshine meandered onto the stage to get ready for their set, both of whom, I realized, had just been watching Shak Nasti from the audience. It was then I noticed a fan with a “Shak Nasti” band shirt, near another man with a shirt that read “Grateful Dad.”
Soulshine set up many instruments including congas, bongos, and chimes with a flute, guitar and harmonica; a lot for just the two band members. Heavy on the drum beats, the sound managed to become seemingly soft as the lead repeatedly sang out “Just trying to find my soul some satisfaction,” with a few audience members mouthing the words along. Soulshine’s music brought more people out to dance by the end of the set and left the audience wanting more.
Next up was Middle Rhythm Session, a 5-piece band who took the groove up to a whole new level. With keyboards, bass, electric guitar, a full drum set, a cowbell and other various percussion instruments they enticed new dancers to the floor in front of the stage. Their sound was filled with rock and jam-band essences but a lot of great tones melting together all at once. The lead singer’s stage presence was very animated, which drew your attention directly to him. They had a more new alternative or rock sound than the other bands but won the audience nonetheless, and even got the tiny tots on the dance floor to bop around.
Three down, three to go, Earth Bombs Mars came out to belt out something very reminiscent of the classic jam band tunes, very Grateful Dead-esque and what every GrooveFest needs. At times their transitions and long musical phrases were something of the folk or country genres, but had a more calm feel than the Middle Rhythm Session. Still, it made you want to dance to the simple bass lines and soothing guitar riffs. It was during this band that the sun started to go down, but it wasn’t until after the sun set that the jamming intensified. Earth Bombs Mars kept listeners interested and the dancers moving with some hard rock melodies to spice things up until they slowed things down to end their set.
The Burnin’ Smyrnans were up next and while they set up, the WMNF representatives took over the stage to thank the crowd for coming and encourage people to enter the raffle and check out the various jewelry and craft vendors that had scattered themselves in the Skipper-dome. The five members of the Burnin’ Smyrnans took the stage with a saxophone, two guitars, a bass and drums in tow. It was as the band gathered to begin playing that not a single band had a female musician amongst them, but they certainly had many female fans.
Beginning with an upbeat tune, with a very ska/reggae resonance, they really amped up the pace following Earth Bombs Mars and the Burnin’ Smyrnans drummer was rockin’ the skins. The dance floor was packed, a first thus far, and the amazing melody with the singers’ harmonies were solid and projected a kind of Caribbean sound. It was hard for anyone to sit still, so I finally caved and got out on the dance floor to put my Eugene-grown moves into action, to which my husband commented, “You danced ridiculously in unison with the rest of them.”
The entire line-up of bands put their hearts and souls into every breath and every beat making each song better than the last and left each group raising the bar higher and higher. Burnin’ Smyrnans finished on a high note, loud and proud leaving the crowd ready for the headliner, Cope.
The composition of the vocals of Cope was amazing. The way each voice complimented another was soothing, but powerful. There was a hint of sounds like those of The Allman Brothers Band, another t-shirt found within the audience, and Cope possessed the most eloquent lyrics of the day. The synthesized keyboard sounds, dance beats and transitions mirrored so many different genres making Cope’s performance the epitome of the first annual GrooveFest.
An entire day of “Groove” in the heat had the possibility of being exhausting, but the crowd participation, epic people watching, overwhelming sense of community and the killer line up of bands made the day one of the best Sundays I’ve had in Tampa. At one point a young girl was dancing with a hula hoop doing things I never knew you could do with a hula hoop while keeping in perfect time with Cope’s rhythms. I was mesmerized by that, among many other things throughout the day but all, fell into the whole scene perfectly.
To end the evening Cope brought various members from the preceding bands onto the stage for one hell of a finale. There must have been nearly a dozen people on that stage for one last jam to close the mother of all GrooveFests. For the first one, it was absolutely wonderful and WMNF was well represented. If it’s going to be an annual event, 2010’s bill will have quite the act to follow.