Saturday, November 16, 2013 went down as a huge day in Bear Creek Music & Art Festival‘s history. The main stage lineup at the Big IV Amphitheater was STACKED for nearly 14 hours. Opening at noon with the Bernie Worrell Orchestra (as seen in the videos below) and proceeding with a strong set by Galactic (including a Bernie Worrell sit-in). Elsewhere at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, festival-goers were treated to mid-day sets by George Porter Jr. & His Runnin’ Pardners, Robert Walters’s 20th Congress, and the Mike Dillon Band.

Bernie Worrell Orchestra (Part 1 of 2) 11/16/13 Bear Creek Music Festival:
So Uptight (Move On), BWO Is Landing

Bernie Worrell Orchestra (Part 2 of 2) 11/16/13 Bear Creek Music Festival:
Red Hot Momma (with Freekbass)

As the sun set, Bootsy Collins & The Funk Unity Band took to the Big IV Amphitheater and funked and rocked us till the sun went down, as you can see and enjoy in the video clips below.

Bootsy Collins (Part 1 of 3) 11/16/13 Bear Creek Music Festival:
Ahh…The Name Is Bootsy, Baby (inc. Bootsy? (What’s the Name of this Town), Bop Gun & Give Up The Funk), The Mothership Connection Is Here > Psychoticbumpschool > The Pinocchio Theory

Bootsy Collins (Part 2 of 3) 11/16/13 Bear Creek Music Festival:
Swing Down Sweet Chariot (with Bernie Worrell)

Bootsy Collins (Part 3 of 3) 11/16/13 Bear Creek Music Festival:
Roto-Rooter, I’d Rather Be With You (inc. What’s A Telephone Bill? & Everything Good is Nasty)

Bootsy Collins: bass, vocals
Erik “Elastic” Hargrove: drums
Mike Cobb: bass
Keith “Sun” Cheatham: guitar
Joel “Razor Sharp” Johnson: keys
Rashon “RaMu” Murph: keytar
Randy Villars: saxophone
Scott ??: trumpet
Candice “Candi-Yam” Cheatham: vocals
Dani “Razzberry Hershey” Cox: vocals
Zachary “X-Zac” Adams: vocals
Gary “Mudbone” Cooper: vocals, tambourine
Patricia “Peppermint Patty” Collins: dancer
Frankie “Kash” Waddy: announcer / master of ceremonies

Guests:
Bernie Worrell – keytar, Moog

After Bootsy finished his 90 minute set, the crowd looked both exhausted and invigorated (if that’s possible), and clearly ready to explore and party into the rest of the night. Only a few feet away at Uncle Charlie’s Porch Stage, the always salient and superlative MC Chali 2na hit the stage with his House of Vibe Band (albeit with Nikki Glaspie subbing on the skins). Videos right here.

Then it was right back to the Big IV Amphitheater for a contender for one of the absolute best sets in Bear Creek history, The Legendary Roots Crew. The Roots proceeded to burn it down for 100 minutes without pause, as evidenced in the videos here.

After The Roots, the evening continued for no less than 5 more hours with sets by Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, The Bear Creek All Stars (aka the annual Dumpstajam featuring members of both Dumpstaphunk and Lettuce), and a late night set by The Nth Power.

If you haven’t been to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park or Bear Creek Music Festival to experience an exhilarating day such as this, all I can do is highly recommend such as an experience.