Jungle Boogie Music Carnival made its home for two days at Roaring Brooke Ranch in the heart of the Lake George region in Upstate, NY this past Halloween weekend. Guests checked in around 3pm on Friday, October 25th, and freely explored the grounds until the music on all three stages began just before sunset.
The resort has a 1970’s, vintage vibe to it, complete with cabin style hotel rooms scattered around the secluded property – this ranch is fit for an adventure. A large pond sits in the middle of the site, surrounded by weeping willow trees, it’s alive with wildlife and colorful autumn foliage. The festival attracted anyone who was into raging for a weekend in a beautiful resort area, and indulging in the Halloween spirit of the season.
The energy overall was full of curiosity – each space offering something completely different. At every turn there was something new to explore, some energetic realm to indulge in. In the main lodge, the Boogie Stage was set up along with local arts-n-crafts vendors and live painters. A large bar sat next to the stage serving classy drinks during all hours of the night. Just around the corner, guests could explore the Psy-trance Room – this space was decked out with multiple geometric cloth tapestries and black light fixtures. Everything was bright, radiating color, and the crowd was a true blend of every kind.
The Jungle Room with its electronic stage within a classy banquet hall, a perfect fit for a drum and bass get down. Lights, and fog filled the room, jungle flowers hung from the ceiling, and artists were selling their home-made t-shirts and glowing art pieces in the foyer.
Like the most famous festivals of Europe, the Psy-trance stage got everyone’s feet stomping, body’s swaying, and hearts pumping. After chatting with Psy-trance artist Meg from Xena Linguist, it became clear just how dedicated this genre’s group of artists actually are to their realm of music. She explained she had been introduced to this style of music only a few months ago and was “Deeply moved by its fast paced rhythms and dedicated following.” Its creativity and flowing art, makes psy-trance music and culture truly intriguing and appealing to anyone who is looking to soak up raw talent while connecting with people of all kinds.
In the Jungle Room electronic artists like Getter, Evac Protocol and JPHELPS, rocked the bodies of everyone who entered their domain Friday night. It was like walking into a European night-club with neon décor covering the space. Laser light shows kept things colorful and each artist had the finest beats to enliven the crowd and ignite some serious dancing. The rich design of decorating turned the industrial like space into a lively jungle, and had the most diverse group of people relishing in its sound all weekend long. With live dancers on stage, Saturday’s Jungle Room set was the most impressive with beats by Jennifer Haley, Trollphace, Megalodon, and of course the United Kingdom’s, Adam F.
Creators chose to call the Lodge stage, the “Boogie Stage” for a reason. Every band that played this stage knew how to get funky. Friday night the acoustic duo, Jake and Doug showed off their natural talent with seemingly effortless playing on the guitar and djembe. Their Reggae-esque style was a call to all and their Sublime covers did not disappoint.
High Peaks Band played an impressive set with a rich blend of originals and covers. The headliner of the fest, Twiddle, rocked out perfect phish-like jams. Formula 5 kept the crowd begging for more well into the early morning hours. Impressing even the most devoted Umphrey’s and moe. fans, this band proves themselves to be one of the best on the local jam band scene.
Joe Davis has just about mastered the guitar and Mike McDonald’s skills on keys are unmatched. Their killer set had people talking all weekend. Day two brought Digital Dharma, Flux Capacitor, Shwizz, lucid, and Capital Zen to the party. All of these bands rocked the place in their own unique way. With the crowd dressed in costume and ready to party, the music on the Boogie Stage just kept coming.
Flux Capacitor really impressed with their balanced blend of electronic and rock jams – a new up and coming band that is already taking the live music scene by storm. One could describe them as having a Lotus-like sound, but then when you least expect it they turn on the heavy, and you find yourself head banging.
As always lucid covered just about every genre there is to cover and had the crowd happy and feeling right at home within their sound. With their finely crafted songs and rootsy lyrics, this band always has the power to reel everyone in, while turning strangers into family in just one set.
Having been built on the premise of partying for a purpose through creating funds to educate and support wildlife, this event embodies the dedication it takes to create something with such meaning and truth. By booking local as well as international acts who are capable of exploring multiple genres. Scheduling allowed for the creation of music lasting until all hours of the night. This festival also employed some of the friendliest staff on the scene, welcoming all guests to after parties all weekend long, and offering safe cabins to retreat to, all while Halloween is heavy in the air. Jungle Boogie has it going on! Festivals of this kind are the way to go and the wide stretch of true talent is something to be celebrated – This event is one for the books!
The stage was set with three toilets (lid down) for Chris Friday (guitar/vocals), Colby Dix (guitar/vocals) and Jon Fishman behind the drum kit. Bassist Aram Bedrosian stood at stage right all night, giving the band a beat that kept things progressing, even though every bit of the show, short of written setlist, was shot from the hip and had no sense of organization to the show. Therein lay the highlight of Touchpants – the band performs songs like “Penis Slap” and “Mushroom Tattoo”, discusses prolapsed colons and finds Colby Dix wandering through the crowd to talk-sing to anyone in his path, all the while the band keeps playing on stage.
Dave Risen and his production company came up with the idea for the event back in April. Through mutual ties and working events, Lock42 was able to team up with Dave Ehmann from Improv Records. Over time things developed and the event started coming together. They were able to land a brand new venue, the beautiful 
The “resort style” party suits this event best. This way guests can get a room, safely stay in one place all weekend, and get down until the sun comes up. The resort will be decked out by professionals, VIP passes are available to anyone and there will be an array of vendors featuring home-made crafts and creations as well as healthy organic food options. Music lasts until the sun comes up!
