Okeechobee Music Fest reveals PoWoW! lineup
The OkeechobeeMusic Festival’s signature mashup concert called PoWoW! will again make strange musical bedfellows, this year uniting the talents of Doobie Brothers singer-songwriter and keyboardist MichaelMcDonald, DJproducer GRiZ, Grammynominated R&B singer Gallant and members of Grammy-winning jazz innovators Snarky Puppy, among others.
PoWow! is designed to set loose the diverse creative ideas of artists of different genres and eras on old-school classics, injecting themwith modern music and technology. Yes, you’re supposed to dance to it. Other performers assigned to help include members of the funk quartet Vulfpeck, with their frequent collaborator, R&B singer Antwaun Stanley, and Eric Krasno of Lettuce and Soulive.
Krasno took part in the original PoWoW! at the 2016 OkeechobeeMusic Festival, when Rock and RollHall of Famer John Oates ofHall& Oateswas the bandleader for a performance that included Arcade Fire’sWin Butler, Grammy-winning R&B vocalist Miguel, saxophonist KamasiWashington, theMeters’ George Porter Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste, andDJ Chris Karns.
This year’s PoWoW! takes place 10:15-11:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4, a challenging drawon the schedule, as it overlaps performances on other stages by popularDJ Bassnectar (9:30-10-45 p.m.) and Americana poet Sturgill Simpson (11p.m.midnight).
The second annual OkeechobeeMusic Festival takes place north of the lake, on 800 acres at SunshineGrove, March 2-5. Along with Bassnectar and Simpson, thewildly diverse lineup includes Kings of Leon, Wiz Khalifa, Pretty Lights, Usher and the Roots and Flume. Also onboard: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Sleigh Bells, Rae Sremmurd, Waka Flocka Flame, Mike Posner, the Lumineers, Solange, Anderson .Paak and the FreeNationals, Cold War Kids, Snakehips and the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Four-dayOMFpasses are on sale for $279 at OkeechobeeFest.com. Three-day passes are sold out.