2008 Woodie Awards
Langerado '08
Brandon Bouchillon
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Features
Mounds and mounds of blood-thirsty fire-ants, 30 or so panthers that still roam this particular stretch of the Everglades, and of course, the toothy alligators: such hazards make up a gonzo reality at the Langerado Music Festival.
But for the 25,000 fans in attendance March 6 through 10, the stellar lineup easily outshone any potential fire-ant hazards. Having Phil Lesh, the Disco Biscuit and Sound Tribe Sector Nine on the bill translates smoothly into south Floridian speak-as one nondescript fan put is so well, yelling during a particularly good set: "Alligators Schmalligators!"
This year marked the sixth annual Langerado Music Festival, but the first year for the weekend's new home, the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reserve.
It seemed like a thriving wildlife refuge. Cranes stretched lazily in the midday heat, and the occasional seagull found itself too far inland, wafting astray in the steady ocean breeze. At night, the boggy marsh echoed with choruses of bullfrogs belching in the moonlight.
"This ain't your daddy's festival," says John Brasfield, an accountant from west Tennessee who trekked down for the weekend. "The everglades are literally alive all around us and set to the perfect soundtrack. Who could complain?"
Madison House, the purveyors of this big-slash-little festival, really changed the weekend's atmosphere from years past. Gone are the nights where music grinds to a halt at 10 p.m.
This year, a handful of cherry-picked sets even slid past the 4 a.m. watermark. With such spastic late nights, Langerado '08 flaunted a feel like "Pleasure Island" for adults. Anything goes, sans curfews.
So fans did just that: Go.
"Honestly, what didn't I do this weekend? I began my Thursday dancing to Les Claypool beside this guy in a full-blown yellow banana suit, and wouldn't you know, I ended up next to him for Phil Lesh on Sunday, too," says Jarred Rosen, a Pennsylvania student on spring break. "Two encounters with a dancing banana? That's a full-circle festival, my friend."
But for the 25,000 fans in attendance March 6 through 10, the stellar lineup easily outshone any potential fire-ant hazards. Having Phil Lesh, the Disco Biscuit and Sound Tribe Sector Nine on the bill translates smoothly into south Floridian speak-as one nondescript fan put is so well, yelling during a particularly good set: "Alligators Schmalligators!"
This year marked the sixth annual Langerado Music Festival, but the first year for the weekend's new home, the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reserve.
It seemed like a thriving wildlife refuge. Cranes stretched lazily in the midday heat, and the occasional seagull found itself too far inland, wafting astray in the steady ocean breeze. At night, the boggy marsh echoed with choruses of bullfrogs belching in the moonlight.
"This ain't your daddy's festival," says John Brasfield, an accountant from west Tennessee who trekked down for the weekend. "The everglades are literally alive all around us and set to the perfect soundtrack. Who could complain?"
Madison House, the purveyors of this big-slash-little festival, really changed the weekend's atmosphere from years past. Gone are the nights where music grinds to a halt at 10 p.m.
This year, a handful of cherry-picked sets even slid past the 4 a.m. watermark. With such spastic late nights, Langerado '08 flaunted a feel like "Pleasure Island" for adults. Anything goes, sans curfews.
So fans did just that: Go.
"Honestly, what didn't I do this weekend? I began my Thursday dancing to Les Claypool beside this guy in a full-blown yellow banana suit, and wouldn't you know, I ended up next to him for Phil Lesh on Sunday, too," says Jarred Rosen, a Pennsylvania student on spring break. "Two encounters with a dancing banana? That's a full-circle festival, my friend."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Vollie
posted 3/20/08 @ 2:08 PM CST
Helloooooooo?!?! What about REM? Only one of the biggest headliners of the festival!
Joe
posted 3/22/08 @ 1:10 PM CST
Umm REM is awful, and they put on one of the worst sets of the weekend. Not even worth mentioning. Scheduling bands like REM really throws off an otherwise "jammy" festival. (Continued…)
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