Review by
Brandy Cline
Photographs by Michelle LaRose
It was a beautiful day in Central
Florida for the annual Starke Bikefest. Motorcycle enthusiasts
of all ages were present anticipating the arrival of Gator
Country. Gator Country is Molly Hatchet alumni and titled
themselves after Molly Hatchet’s infamous Gator Country hit. The
State Fairgrounds were filled with t-shirt, food, beer and
leather vendors as well as a myriad of motorcycles.
Physical Graffiti, a Zeppelin tribute
band opened the festivities. Gary Ireland was impressive as a
Robert Plant look-a-like/sound-alike and John Bradford emulated
the master himself Jimmy Page right down to playing the guitar
with a bow.
As the evening settled in, Gator Country
took the stage. Fans from across the fairgrounds rushed to the
front of the stage. The fans were whistling and hollering as the
band opened with Bounty Hunter. Lead guitarist Linni
Disse was not only smoking a cigarette but he was also smoking
on the guitar. Towards the back of the crowd conversations with
beer food and smokes filled the night air.
The band continued as they rolled in to
the Rolling Stones tune It’s All Over Now. Front man
Jimmy Farrar points to the crowd as the four axe-men rock in
unison.
Jimmy introduced the third song by
saying, “This next song is about a state of mind we are in or
for some of us a state of confusion.” The band rips into
Gator Country. Linni bounces across the stage and Riff West
concludes the song with a ripping bass finish.
The next song was a crowd pleaser;
Whiskey Man. Jimmy traversed the stage as the crowd went
wild.
The highlight of the night was the next
song, Dreams. Jimmy introduces the song as a tribute to
the late great Duane Roland. “I’d like to say that last year,
almost to the day, we lost a member. We miss him but we know
he’s in a better place than he was here. We would like to play
this song in memory of him.” Riff West raises his hands in the
air and starts clapping as the rest of the band and the crowd
follows in unison. All five lead-men held a unified front in
reminiscing their lost friend. Linni blew kisses to the sky a
couple of times. Towards the end of the song Jimmy introduced
drummer Bruce Crump’s son Bradley. Bruce relinquished drumming
duties to his teen-aged son who finished out the set like a
seasoned pro. Bradley’s proud grandmother could be seen beaming
and taking photo’s on side-stage.
The band then proceeded to roll into
their first single Oh Atlanta. Bruce Crump commenced the
tune with thunderous drumming as a harmonica player was added to
the lineup.
 
Jimmy introduced another crowd favorite
short and sweet, “This is the title song from our first album. I
hope you like it. I still do.” The band rips into Beatin’ The
Odds as the crowd roars.
The band segues into Crossroads
playing and seeming as if they were close family members.
The set was concluded with one of Molly
Hatchet’s biggest tunes, Flirtin’ With Disaster. Jimmy
starts the song exclaiming, “See if you remember this one.” The
guitars taunted and teased the crowd with the first few notes of
the song then stopped. The crowd roared. Again, the guitars
taunted and teased then stopped. The crowd explodes. The crowd
finally receives satisfaction as the song erupts into its
entirety. The song ends as the band exits the stage. The crowd
is screaming and thumping for more.
As the crowd continues to scream and
thump the band reemerges. The crowd rages. Jimmy exclaims, “Awe,
you talked us into it!”
The band completed the evening with
Boogie No More as their encore performance. The evening was
successfully enjoyed by all as the patrons in the fairground
faded off to the nearest ‘biker bar’.
Website:
http://www.gatorcountryrocks.com
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