Okeechobee Music Festival officially returns in less than two months, and organizers are looking to bring local Florida talent along to celebrate the reunion.
Founded in 2016, Okeechobee Music Festival established itself as one of the premier events in the Southeast. The festival was able to recruit stars like Kendrick Lamar, Bassnectar, and Robert Plant to join festivalgoers from around the country at its oasis in South Florida, affectionately known as The Grove. Despite welcoming nearly 100,000 guests between 2016 and 2018, Soundslinger, LLC—the festival’s parent company—took a year off in 2019 to recoup the cost and expense of having a festival in Okeechobee County. While neighboring festivals and the annual Miami Music Week gave fans other options for the month of March, OMF’s absence from the early festival season was felt by many.
Destination Okeechobee
Crownz w/Grant Lee/Kerry Courtney/The Reality/Rohna/WD-HAN.
Thurs. Jan. 30, 7 p.m. $5.
Jannus Live, 200 1st Ave. N., St. Petersburg
jannuslive.com
In August, Soundslinger announced the festival’s official return in 2020, all at the hands of a new partnership with Insomniac (the same company who puts on EDC Orlando), from March 5-8 with headliners Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend, Bassnectar, and Rüfüs du Sol (stylized “RÜFÜS DU SOL”.)
Additionally, the festival announced the return of a fan-favorite pre-event, Destination Okeechobee. Hosted in Miami, Tallahassee, Orlando, Gainesville and St. Petersburg, the events pit top fan-voted acts against each other for a set at OMF 2020.
The St. Petersburg show—hosted at Jannus Live on January 30—lists artists as diverse as past Okeechobee lineups.
Leading the pack is Tampa group, Crownz. The five-piece alternative group recently played Tampa River Tower Festival, and combines a blend of synth-pop with EDM and rock while maintaining an ‘80s vibe.
Grant Lee is another Tampa act that combines electronic music with a bit of live instrumentation. The house producer has earned gigs at events like Imagine Music Festival by incorporating live guitar on stage, a rare element for a house DJ.
Playing in his “musical home” of St. Petersburg, Kerry Courtney is an act to look out for on this lineup. Courtney and his indie post-rock outfit have shared the stage with acts like Switchfoot and X Ambassadors, thanks in part to his introspective lyricism and heartfelt folk tunes.
Perhaps more at home in Suwannee Music River Park, The Reality is another band hoping to earn a spot at OMF. The funkadelic, jamtronica foursome is led on vocals by Dan Jones, who’s known for taking his multi-instrument talent all over Ybor City. The group flaunts fun as much as musicality, and will be sure to liven things up with its fusion of funk, disco and jam.
The remaining two spots are filled by Tampa rock groups, WD-HAN and Rohna. WD-HAN is a three-piece outfit that combines modern rock synths and pop beats with blues musicianship, earning them a Best of the Bay Reader’s Pick award for Best Local Band in 2018; Rohns helped lead the indie scene in recent years, and just wrapped up their own its tour.
Whether you dig rock, jam, blues, EDM, or simply want a preview of Okeechobee Music Festival, Destination Okeechobee looks to be a stellar showcase for our local talent.
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This article appears in Jan 30 – Feb 6, 2020.