Brainquility Brings Deep Funk to Suwannee

Brainquility Music and Arts Festival 2019 Mural by @MastroNYC

Brainquility Music and Arts Festival in Live Oak, Florida has proved that the art of music is alive and well within funk and electronic dance music. Brainquility Music and Arts Festival hosted its very first year in 2018 in Safety Harbor, Florida and cultivated a full immersive experience - filled with yoga, music, and other activities - within a twenty-four hour period. Though the festival was short and sweet its first year, attendees and curators at On Tap Music were left craving the full multi-day festival experience. In 2019, the festival expanded to included two full days of music, activities, and art at a brand new location. By moving the festival to a venue that hosts numerous music festivals throughout the year, curators have opened the door to endless possibilities for future expansions of the festival landscape.

Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida is a world class music festival venue and campgrounds nestled in the trees of Northern Florida. Between the Suwannee River, Spirit Lake and the infamous amphitheater stage, the landscape of the grounds could not be most picturesque. Throughout the years the park has hosted several music and arts festivals that will go down in history as some of the best live music and art curated events. From Bear Creek to Suwannee Hulaween, the park has developed its own fan base and family comprised of Festy Family who frequent the park throughout the year. Many attendees of Brainquility 2019 compared the overall vibe of the festival to an early Bear Creek or the very first Tipper and Friends - the crowd was kept to a minimum, but the good vibes radiated from every corner of the venue. Curators designed an intimate experience by utilizing the main amphitheater stage along with The Porch Stage that is a short walk from the main stage. By sticking to two small, intimate stages they were able to achieve a level of intimacy that festivals such as Suwannee Hulaween have far surpassed. The attendees were able to relax and roam about the main area with ease. Curators were able to carefully place craft food, beverage, and clothing vendors in between the two stage to keep attendees engaged with the good vibes every step of the way. Brainquility takes immersive activities to the next level with their full-day yoga schedules, glass-blowing workshops and a silent-disco schedule that goes into the early hours of morning. As curators adopt this new location as their home, the possibilities for future expansions to the festival are looking bright.

Brainquility kicked off the weekend bright and early on Saturday, February 16, 2019 with a funky EDM set from Side Trakd. To keep the funky vibes alive, attendees had the pleasure of seeing Dan Fester play with himself. No, seriously. Dan Fester Plays with Himself took to the amphitheater around mid-day on Saturday and proved that you don’t need a full band to put down some seriously funky music. Arms with his keyboard, a mixer, a microphone, a drum pad, and his guitar - Dan Fester hands down had one of the best sets all weekend. Between Dan Fester, El Dub, and Zach Deputy, Brainquility Music and Arts Festival had a one-man-band revolution.

As the sun began to set and the attendees began to come out of their camps in droves, the vibe began to shift from funky toward EDM. Flamingosis took to the Porch Stage to get the dance party started for the night. His deep bass mixed with retro-disco vibes had the crowd ready to boogie for the rest of the night. His energy had the entire venue shaking with good vibes as attendees knew this was just the beginning of a funky good time. From Flamingosis, the crowd migrated over to the amphitheater stage where they settled in for the first set from Boom Box. The duo boast an eclectic sound that mixes backbeat funky house with soulful, almost bluesy rock n’ roll. The sound is absolutely indescribable - it can only be experienced. Do yourself a favor and see Boombox as soon as you can. From Boombox, attendees boogied back towards the Porch Stage to get down to the artistic stylings of Russ Liquid. Russ is another jack of all trades who builds a full symphony of sound onstage. From flute to trumpet, and then heading over to his mixer to throw some heavy wubs over it - the man is an absolute musical mastermind. Though attendees had been dancing since early in the day, as Opiuo made his way to the main stage they followed suite and boogied over that way. The electronica, funk-house stylings of Opiuo kept attendees dancing well past midnight, and the folks who couldn’t get the boogie out of their step continued through the night at the silent disco.

As the sun began to peak through the clouds on Sunday morning, the vibe had become a bit more relaxed. Sunday had all the makings of a typical lazy Sunday at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park - lounging in a hammock at the amphitheater and enjoying the sweet, funky vibes of all the musical talent that would pass through the amphitheater throughout the day. The day kicked off with the fresh and funky vibes from the The Headtones. The Headtones played their very first live-set at Brainquility 2019, and they are sure to be seen on more festival lineups throughout the year. They are some fresh faces in the funk scene that everyone should look forward to seeing this festival season. As the day chugged along, Boom Box took to the amphitheater stage to crank out another disco-house set sprinkled with bluesy, rock n’ roll vibes. From there, attendees migrated over to the Porch Stage where they would lounge for back-to-back sets from Lespecial and Chachuba. Lespecial boasts a very old-school, almost grunge vibe that’s mixed with funk, while Chachuba gets down with their deep bass funk. As the day began to creep towards closing time, attendees began settling into the amphitheater to have their minds melted by the funky stylings of Lotus. As Lotus has made a name for themselves as one of the number one jam-tronic, funk bands in the music festival scene, they were hands down the soundtrack to this lazy Sunday at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park.

The overall vibe of Brainquility 2019 was tranquil, relaxed, and intimate. Rumor has it that curators are looking to nestle into their new location and plant their roots. Not only could Brainquility Music and Arts Festival begin to call Spirit of Suwannee Music Park home, there is also the possibility of adding another full day of shenanigans to the lineup. As Brainquility has concluded its second full year, attendees are left craving the funky good vibes that come to life when attending any festival at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park. Curators at On Tap Music have proven themselves as capable of re-organizing the festival after just one year - so imagine what they could do once they plant their roots and call Suwannee their new home! As the festival continues to expand and morph into a beautiful representation of funky Festy Family vibes, attendees are left on the edge of their seats anticipating the announcements for the 2020 festival. Until then, check out our full review of photos here on our website, on our Facebook, and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on the latest Concert Hopper happenings. As always, we hope to see you at a festival very soon.