At  Suwannee Hulaween, the bluegrass juggernauts of Greensky Bluegrass gave eager crowds a healthy dose of their brand of psychedelic mountain music. During the festival, Greensky performed two awe-inspiring sets: one to close out the festivities during Thursday night’s festival-opening pre-party and another mid-afternoon the following day on Friday. Check out our thoughts on Greensky’s Hulaween performances, plus watch select videos from their performance below!
The Best Things We Saw At Suwanee Hulaween 2017
Thursday, Late-Night
Unlike many bluegrass acts that are frequently sequestered to exclusively daytime sets at larger festivals, Greensky Bluegrass closed down the surreal playground that is Spirit Lake on Thursday night. During Thursday’s late-night performance, the band offered a selection of longer-than-usual jams and edgy and dark murder ballads.
Fans of all genres came together despite their standard musical preferences, in awe of the wall of sound produced by the band and particularly the plucky bass of Mike Devol. Between his bone shattering tone and Anders Beck‘s swirling flourishes on the drop steel guitar, it was easy for patrons to lose themselves in the set. Beck even shared a story of an EDM fan’s confession of falling in love with their music last year after hearing only a snippet of Greensky’s set last year.
Another bonus feature of a late-night Greensky set is the stunning light work by the band’s stellar lighting wizard Andrew Lincoln. His work has evolved alongside the band into one of the most perfectly symbiotic relationships on the scene, period. Somewhere between the whirling sounds and rolling lights, the show transcended what was expected, instead entering a realm where anything is possible. Check out clips from their wild and woolly first show, and then we’ll take a look at how Greensky Bluegrass greeted the sun the next day!
“Windshield”
“Living Over”
“Old Barns”
“Breakdown>Bring Out Your Dead”
Friday, Afternoon
With the sun high in the sky the next day, the guys in Greensky Bluegrass took to the Meadow Stage in shades and smiles on Friday afternoon. Mandolinist Paul Hoffman powerful vocals evoked deeply human emotions from joy to sorrow, truly captivating all listeners within earshot. Michael Bont and his magic fingers flew up and down his banjo’s neck, while Dave Bruzza strummed chords and leads with power and purpose. In stark contrast to the exploratory mayhem of the night before, Saturday’s day set was littered with happy tunes that, while still stretched out to heady lengths, retained a simple, irresistible joy. Take a listen for yourself below, but especially to Greensky’s pumping cover of Paul Simon‘s “Gumboots”.
“Dustbowl Overtures”
“Jay Walking > Gumboots”
“Past My Prime”
[Photo: Keith Griner]