Okeechobee 2017 (March 2-5, 2017)

It's happening guys! Can't wait for this shindig!

You're gonna be surrounded by trees, plenty of space to hang a hammock👍
Safe travels everyone! Can't wait to party with all you beautiful people!🤘🏼

Just got here. Or well, a hotel nearby. There were police everywhere already lol. Tomorrow should be fun.

For all you traveling mfs who need something to read, here it is. Derek and Pretty Lights is almost 180 from where they were with Analog Future. We caught both nights for NYE, and it was good although very different. Fwiw, apparently today Pretty Lights posted a couple dozen of the "flips" referred to in the article which is the current band with Alvin, Brandon, Borahm etc minus the EDM. You won't regret catching at least some of this set.

www.offbeat.com/articles/pretty-lights-looking-back-from-future/

My oldest texted me that they are about to hit camp. They got through check in and security but said South Florida was infested with tollbooths and hours and hours of delays. They left around 1am, and that's really an 11 hour drive at most. Glad I didn't get stuck in that shit. Arg. I guess it pays to have a Sun Pass.

Really enjoyed badbadnotgood and vulfpeck last night. Everything else I saw yesterday was pretty forgettable or disappointing. But I still had a great day, this venue is the fucking best.

Today is where the action is anyway - George Clinton, Solange, Sturgill and Usher. Have fun everyone!

Oldest hit me up: Friday was great. badbadnotgood was awesome, also Logic was good and wiz. Late night right by the camp we have a stage and it was GRiZ and 12th Planet.

Edit to say I'm watching the Bassnectar set, and it looks pretty cool. He's on Mind Tricks at the moment. Looks like a party. Dropping out of Immigrant Song. Haha. \m/. Hate orange, not brown people.

I'm not even sure Okeechobee deserved that Sturgill Simpson performance. Wow that was incredible. I felt a little embarrassed that he went out of his way to apologize that their "laptop guy couldn't make it and this was the best they got". He could see and hear all the wooks I guess. Apparently his grandfather went into the hospital right before the show, or so he said. You could tell he was a little shaken up.

Have to agree with you. He sounded great, but the performance was so disconnected, either because of his grandfather, his frustration with the audience/festival, or a combination of both. The whole experience was a bit underwhelming, but the guy is so talented. Definitely a bad fit for this festival.

Oh, and Solange is a fucking treasure. Anyone who is going to see her at some point this year is in for a treat.

I heard the Pow Wow was great. Someone said Steely Dan was there too, and I asked them if they were sure because it was Michael McDonald scheduled. They told me, "yeah, it was nuts."

From CBS 12 article, "Vibe Up, Arrests Down"

"We are calm and just monitoring here—that’s intentional. That is just the presence alone to let everybody here know we are here and to have a good time, but it's gonna be a good safe time and we are just monitoring," Sheriff Noel Stephen with the Okeechobee Co. Sheriff Office said. "We've had to duplicate our operations out here than what we have in town even more than we have in town."

With 50 deputies on each shift making overtime, the sheriff's office alone earns an extra $120,000 in detail pay.

"Everyone is all nice. No one is beefing with anyone or anything like that," said Matthew Czerny, from Cleveland, Ohio.

Inside OMF, there’s been no issues and no arrests. Outside the gate, the warning is clear.

"That is all by statute. There's sign before the amnesty box. It notifies everybody coming on the premises there's going to be a search for illegal narcotics and there's an amnesty box and then they get to the narcotics K9 and the officers for the search so they've got every ample opportunity," Sheriff Stephen said.

Deputies are told to arrest only those with large amounts of drugs, or those suspected to be trafficking, but to only confiscate the drugs from recreational users.

Tell us more about Solange live. I'm a big fan, but I know folks were not impressed with her live shows circa 2013. I'm hoping to catch her somewhere this year regardless--love the new album and her last one.

Just got back to work, and I don't really feel like working yet, so I'm gonna write about this festival...So what do I say? (Also excuse the rambling, my brain is still fried) The grounds are beautiful, the weather is perfect this time of year, and there's actually ART at this festival. You really do feel like you're walking into a different dimension when you're there and you're detached from the real world. It's perfect and fitting for a camping festival. Unfortunately after experiencing Okeechobee, you can really see what Bonnaroo lacks: great weather, a variety of late night and daytime options, a truly unique grounds, and the weather. I can't really stress how great the weather is. I was able to sleep in every morning and I didn't feel like I was walking through fire all day. I was actually able to not wear a hat 2 days out of 4!. The Jungle 51 stage is a work of art. I'm not really into electronic music, but that stage had me dancing all night long and just the layout and time it must of taken to set up that area. Just wow. Also, OMAR S was probably one of my favorite sets of the weekend. For those of you saying how great of a get he was, I totally understand now. But seriously, they did a great job with this stage. And that wasn't the only late night option either. The tea lounge had music all night, so did incendia, but that was mostly bass music and just reminded me of Kalliope.

Which brings me to what Okeechobee extremely lacks. The attendees. A lot of these people suck. I had multiple instances where people knocked into me very hard, twice knocking my drink out of my hand, and just not even acknowledging my existence. They're rude, obnoxious, and honestly if it wasn't for those people this festival would have been perfect. During Vulfpeck, some guy yelled out "these guys are boring." And like Jermy Jamm said above, the people at Sturgill were just crappy. Even during The Growlers, the singer asked the lighting guy to turn on the lights to see the crowd, and he immediately says "Shit, turn those off." Look, this is a EDM festival with sprinklings of really great stuff. There's no denying that. And honestly, I'd go back next year solely because I got front row for every single show I wanted to see. I had railing for Sturgill, Vulfpeck, Growlers, BADBADNOTGOOD, Okeechobee Gospel Experience, and TAUK. If all these indie shows are still going to be up against acts like Snails, Bassnectar, Wacka Flacka, and others, I will definitely go because the crowds for these shows will be easy to get rail for. I got my moneys worth being able to see most of my acts on the rail or up very close. (Also that Okeechobee gospel experience was incredible. Seeing the Blind Boys of Alabama was a religious experience)

Which brings me back to the good things this fest has...Those stages are spectacular. The walk between stages was easy and barely any sound bleed. There wasn’t any issues really, besides having to cut into 20 minutes of Solange for malfunctioning lights. Oh yea, Solange was fantastic. Her music really translates well live and she is a spectacular performer, but damn…She had the smallest crowd of the weekend. Which was to be expected tho. And sure, the late night options did lean electronic, I can’t stress enough how many options you had. At night at bonnaroo, you feel like the only things going on are the Kalliope and christmas barn, I know that wasn’t the case years ago, but it’s unfortunately a fact now. Yet at Okee, you can watch Beans on Toast or Jazz Deloreon in the tea lounge, dance your ass off in the jungle, or mess around with the countless art installations and experiences in Chobeewobee village. This fest really did go all out with it’s grounds and made very good use of the night time shenanigans. I never felt bored here.

So overall I really loved this fest and I will be going back next year, besides the one really big flaw, being the crowd. I know I might get shit for this, but if Bassnectar is not their next year, I can assure you most of the crowd issues will disappear. It seems like the fans that flock to see this guy didn’t give a shit about anybody except themselves, and it really did show multiples times over the weekend. Also, if they continue to book great acts like Vulfpeck, Solange, BADBADNOTGOOD, and the countless others like they did,I just know for all of us on inforoo that you won’t have a problem getting rail or super close for the acts you want to see. And does it suck for the artist playing that they have a small crowd? Sure! But in my opinion that really does make for an intimate performance and you know you’re witnessing something special with the folks that are there. There’s so much more to talk about but I need to get back to work. If there’s any questions any of you have, feel free to ask and i’ll answer them as honestly as I can. Overall this fest is pretty great and if they continue to book lineups similar to this year and last, I can see this fest really creating it’s on nitch in the fest scene. Just don’t bring back bassnectar next year.

Grounds: 10/10 Shows: 10/10 Weather 10/10 Crowd: 2/10 Overall 7.5/10

Yea i heard about this. Honestly the police presence at Okeechobee was almost none existant. There were no police checking vehicles on Thursday, and the only time I saw police was them riding in golf carts, or just hanging out by themselves. They were definitely their to keep the peace, not bust people. Which is the way it should be.

I was there and it was a great time, but he's not the one that runs the show. He has a pretty limited role where he sings a few lines, gets the crowd riled up, and then sits down in a chair while the band and other singers/rappers perform.

That's not to say it was bad or anything, the band was decent and they had everyone dancing and having a good time, but his low billing and time slot might be explained by the fact that he's well past his prime to say the least. Not to mention that Okeechobee is basically an EDM festival with some cool things sprinkled in as joeytmnd said in his post, and not too many people at the festival probably cared to see him.

I still think the early time slot was a shame, I'd have loved to see him at night with a nice light show rather than at 2 in the afternoon. By all means go check them out if you get the chance.