The Ville music festival announced an initial lineup for their Memorial Day 2015 lineup featuring a diverse range of sounds. Continuing a 20+ year tradition of music on Memorial Day weekend, The Ville will be held May 21-24, 2015 at Clay’s Park in North Lawrence, Ohio. The spacious, family-friendly venue is complete with wooded and field camping, a grass covered dance area and a water park suitable for adults and children of all ages.
The Ville is a truly grassroots event featuring music throughout the weekend on two different stages. A limited amount of Early-Bird tickets are available now at www.thevillefestival.com where a 3-day pass is $80, 4-day pass including Pre-Party Thursday with Papadosio is $100. Children 12 and under are free with parents holding festival tickets.
In typical jam band fashion, hundreds of deadheads and hula hoopers gathered outside the Westcott Theater doors Wednesday night with great excitement to witness Twiddle and Papadosio (or Papadiddle, as I like to call it).
With a strong opening, Twiddle brought a variety of tunes from their album Somewhere On the Mountain , as well as a cover of “Big Country” by Bela Fleck and The Flecktones. In order, their setlist consisted of continuous jams with songs like “Polluted Beauty,” “Gatsby the Great,” “When It Rains It Pours” and “Frankenfoote”. I’m also pretty sure they threw in a Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” somewhere in there, too.
With a well blended sound system and impressive light show, nobody could stand still, let alone sit on the Westcott’s new keg benches and tables. Along with their signature quirky hats and long flowing hair, band members Brook Jordan, Zdenek Gubb, Ryan Dempsey, and Mihali Savoulidis celebrated their Upstate stop on their Chilled Monkey Brains Fall Tour, dating from October 10 when they commenced in Charlottesville and plan to conclude the tour on November 26th in Fairfield, CT. If you’re in the Buffalo, Albany, or Connecticut area in the upcoming months, make sure you check out their fall tour dates and make sure you experience the greatness that is Twiddle.
The blackout right before Papadosio’s entrance was one of the most chilling feelings I’ve gotten in Syracuse, not including the arctic tundra we get every winter. As the crowd cheered, a LCD screen abruptly lit up with a collection of nature, art, and historical images in a sequence to accompany the band’s startup jam. Along with their collection of songs from Day & Night(Live) commencing a dance party throughout the audience, the vibrant visual effects took us on an uplifting adventure. My highlight had to be when they performed “Cloud Found”, with their silhouettes faded to black while images of mountains and clouds filled the background of their set.
With the release of their 2009 album Observations, their 2012 album T.E.T.I.O.S., and their 2014 release of Day & Night (Live), Papadosio certainly had some repertoire to choose from. With only a few years under their belt, this dynamic group has sailed through multiple prestigious festivals and venues, and have undergone their Imaginal Cells Tour, which only hits Upstate New York one final time on October 22 if you’re in the Buffalo area. If you’re prepared to experience the transcendental music of Ohio’s premier experimental band, make sure you see them live. Otherwise, keep up with their upcoming events at news at their Facebook and Twitter page.
Not quite ready to admit 2014’s music festival season is over yet? It does not have to be. The first annual Resonance Music & Arts Festival takes place from October 2-4 at the Frontier Ranch in Pataskala, Ohio. Located 20 miles east of Columbus, the festival features two nights of Ohio natives Papadosio as well as Greensky Bluesgrass and Nahko and Medicine for the People as headlining bands.
The music starts Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m., and plays continuously for more than 12 hours per day on Friday and Saturday. Resonance boasts an eclectic lineup—from the multi-layered electronic beats of ESKMO to Twiddle‘s uplifting jams and The Mantras‘ heavy shredding to deep funk from The Main Squeeze, most branches of rock are covered.
The Empire state will be well-represented each day. Tauk and Aqueous play Thursday, Aqueous jams again Friday afternoon, and Consider the Source closes the music early Sunday morning after a long set from Dopapod Saturday night. Tauk has been touring furiously in support of their 2014 album, Collisions, while Consider the Source plans to release the first part of their new album, World War Trio, on Halloween. Dopapod has a new album, Never Odd Or Even, scheduled to come out on 11/11/14.
If the music is not enough, there will be visual arts, fire dancing, yoga, and The Amazing Giants will be hard to miss, donning colorful outfits and performing acrobatics on stilts. Each ticket also includes car camping, so you will never be too far from extra blankets or a quick heat source at this early autumn festival.
View the complete schedule and purchase tickets here.
No family tree has as many strange branches as the ChillFam, and, from Sept. 5-7, approximately 5,000 fanatics gathered at the world’s foremost musical family reunion–the fifth annual Catskill Chill. Old friendships were rekindled and new ones born at Camp Minglewood in Hancock, NY. Among many other acts, Lettuce, Turkuaz, and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe pumped out the funk, Kung Fu, Particle, and Papadosio rocked hard, and Dopapod, Electron, and Yonder Mountain String Band played their unique styles. From staff and vendors to artists and admirers, everyone at The Chill was camped on cloud nine. With round-the-clock live music on five official stages, pristine early September weather, and characters aplenty, The Catskill Chill was once again the perfect way to wind down festival season.
Friday
Anticipation and excitement blew in the pleasant Friday afternoon breeze as tents sprang up from the tennis courts down to the lake. My friend Chris and I headed to our “island”—a grassy triangle between sidewalk paths, large enough for our tents and chairs. Last year, we were known as the parking lot pirates; donning old-school Pittsburgh Pirates caps in homage to Ryan Stasik, our volunteering duty was to direct festival goers where to park. This year, we graduated to press pirates, hooked up by PR director Destiny Beck at the eleventh hour to promote the music we feverishly crave.
After setting up camp on the island, MUN’s early evening set in Club Chill was the first batch of music for me. While Nahko and Medicine for the People played the Main Stage, MUN jammed in the only fully enclosed stage. Led by guitarists Alfred Rylands and Wiley Griffin, they put on a heavy set of improg. The Brooklyn-based quartet will tour the Northeast this fall, providing the desirable kind of MUNdays with their “astrofunktronica.”
After The Eric Krasno Band lit up the B Stage with Alecia Chakour, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe played the first primetime Main Stage set. With a solid mix of covers and originals, the funk-masters ignited a massive dance party in the hangar-like pavilion. Denson showed off his versatility with back-to-back covers of The Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See”, and The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”, on the flute before switching back to the sax for The Beastie Boys’ “Suco De Tangerina”. Dressed to the nines, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe wrapped up with “Shake It Out” and the mass before them obliged excitedly.
Uplifting piano notes from Marco Benevento began floating down from the B Stage as Karl Denson and company were still raging. Benevento’s was one of my most anticipated sets of the weekend, and he delivered. Banging his head and keys emphatically, melodic runs rained from Benevento’s piano in the steamy three-walled shed. Once in a while, he would take a break from jamming to clap along, beaming. “DJ” Drew Dreiwitz, also of Ween, cranked out a huge bass solo while Benevento sat back, sipped from his Solo cup, and soaked it in. The trio, rounded out by Andy Borger on the drums, covered “Benny & The Jets” and had the whole venue singing in raptures. Benevento will be touring this fall in support of his new album Swift, which releases on September 16th, and his show is not one to miss; he is as energetic and talented onstage as he is gregarious offstage.
From 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m., Lettuce blew everyone away back at the Main Stage. Guitarist Eric Krasno, feeling at home at The Chill, shredded like a madman. The fired-up Kras sparked the rest of the band: Neal Evans crushed on the keys while the funk was rooted in the horns section. The venue was packed with fans swaying in hammocks, chilling in the bleachers, or grooving on the dance floor, which spilled out onto the hill in the rear. Lettuce played hits off each of their studio albums, including “The Dump”, “Sam Huff’s Flying Raging Machine”, and “Madison Square”. Adam Deitch was a rock on the drums and turned it up from “Outta Here” into a slamming solo. Jesus Coomes rattled bones with the bass and Alecia Chakour’s vocals were exalting. By the time they ended with “Blast Off”, the ChillFam was already in a state of bliss.
With Lettuce still keeping it fresh on the Main Stage, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong began flocking in Club Chill. The quartet features two guitarists with very different demeanors. Greg Ormont’s Sideshow Bob-like hair, infectious smile, energetic personality, and emphatic upbeat vocals make him hard to miss. While Ormont danced around grinning and singing, Jeremy Schon stood relatively in place, shaking his blonde mane, fingers deftly sliding around his six-string. Schon ripped through PPPP’s lively funkalogue, showing off big-league guitar skills. Barefoot bassist Ben Carrey scooted around the stage playing tight bass lines and drummer Dan Schwartz made his presence well-known. Twiddle’s Mihali Savoulidis joined for “Poseidon”, a number off Pigeons’ new album, Psychology, and the Baltimoreans hatched new dirty birds by concluding with a red-hot cover of “Suck My Kiss”.
The music would go on past 5 a.m. with Alan Evans’ Playonbrother jamming in Club Chill, but DJ Shpongle’s 2:30 a.m. set was my last bit of music on Friday. Shpongle, aka Simon Posford, had no trouble adding to his loyal following. He has mastered the art of playing to the mood. Those not melted into the hillside danced vigorously to the ambient DJ set. His beats are all-inclusive and joy ballooned in the pavilion as DJ Shpongle closed the Main Stage in style.
Saturday
Vermont quartet Twiddle was the first to play the Main Stage at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday. They opened with a rendition of “When It Rains It Poors” featuring beautiful vocals and warm harmonies. With each member dressed as a different Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Twiddle segued into “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. The master of turning knobs, Dopapod’s Eli Winderman, joined a few songs later and they almost got “Stooooped” off the stage when Kung Fu’s Todd Stoops sat in on the keys. Twiddle is finding their stride with well-composed songs, a positive message, and rapidly growing following.
Last year, as Chris and I directed cars in the hot, dirty parking lot, new-found enemies mocked us from their all-access/VIP pedestals: the teachers. When I heard a “Hey, pirate!” call while grabbing lunch between Twiddle and Cabinet, I knew instantly who it must be and my hand reached instinctively for a non-existent sword. As anticipated, it was one of the teachers.
Instead of spending our energies plotting each others’ demise, however, we formed the teacher-pirate alliance against wooks at this year’s Catskill Chill. On good terms, we wandered around pretending to duel and enjoying each other’s company at killer sets of music. From 4:30-6:25, ChillFam favorite Dopapod jumbled up an enthusiastic Main Stage crowd with jams like “Black and White”, “Freight Train”, and “Vol. 3 #86″. While they oozed out mostly originals, Adrian Tramontano joined on the hand drums for a Herbie Hancock cover before we headed to see a band people were talking about all weekend.
Long Islanders TAUK poured out chunky progressive rock in Club Chill after having slammed Lockn’ Festival the afternoon before. The quartet, whose members have been friends for longer than many Chillfam members have been alive, proved that they are not up-and-coming: they are here. They looked at ease on stage delivering heavy instrumental jams. They played “Mokuba”, “Friction”, and, personal favorite, “Collateral”, off new album Collisions. Bassist Charlie Dolan anchors the group while Matt Jalbert’s tight guitar riffs and well-placed solos add a healthy dose of inflection. Alric “A.C” Carter manipulates his keyboard dexterously while the “new guy” Isaac Teel does not miss a beat on drums. As Dolan pointed out, the group has the flexibility of continuing down the instrumental route or adding vocals one day, and their firepower gives them plenty of time to decide.
Despite the warmth of Club Chill and the delicious eeriness of TAUK, I moved over to the Acoustic Junction to catch the most talented trio in show business, Consider the Source. A loyal following wiggled in the rain as the Sourcerors rewarded with a cover of The Beatles “Blackbird”. They followed up with “Wayfaring Stranger” during which drummer Jeff Mann stepped up to the mandolin; he was so smooth that I barely noticed he was playing an atypical instrument. As the rain fell and the sun went down,the music was just getting turned up.
Yonder Mountain String Band played the headlining set on Saturday evening as the rain let up. Allie Kral sat in on the fiddle and, having caught her final set with former band Cornmeal at Summer Camp in 2013, I was eager to see her add to the Colorado bluegrass quartet. Their version of “Only A Northern Song” was awe-inspiring and they plucked out a unique rendition of The Talking Heads’ “Girlfriend Is Better”. Having also headlined in 2012, Yonder Mountain String Band may be an outlier to the funk-rock heavy lineup, but they bring a great following to the party and put on a captivating show. The strings-only group closed out their set by playing “40 Miles From Denver” and “Southern Flavor” to a delirious crowd.
After the first half of Cabinet’s Dead set in Club Chill, I learned that, after disbanding in 2011 (following 12 years of bumping), Canadian-based techno trio The New Deal is back. Consisting of keys player Jamie Shields, bassist Dan Kurtz, and drummer Joel Stouffer, they played a late night technotronica set to a packed Main Stage. Reunited, the band is scheduled to play a handful of shows across the country this fall as well as Dominican Holidaze.
I hopped over to the B Stage for The Nth Power after some more wook-watching. I need to be tested, but I may have been impregnated by their music. The quintet with one outlier (Nikki, Nigel, Nick, Nate, and… Weedie) played baby-making music to a dazzled crowd. Most of the songs they played will be featured on their 2015 debut full-length album, Abundance, but they threw in a euphoric cover of Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You”. Featuring powerful vocals and deep bass lines, the Nth Power creates a rich flavor of funk and produces a mesmerizing show.
Papadosio’s late night Main Stage set on Saturday proved that a music festival is like a box of chocolates. Anticipating an ambient, trancey end to the night, Papadosio put on a slamming set of rock. Festival goers like myself, who expected to be gently lulled toward sleep, were rocked back to life starting with a 20-minute “Find Your Cloud”. Eli Winderman joined for a tasty “Unparalyzer” as the Brouse brothers, who handle the band’s keys and synths, gave Dopapod’s keyboardist the reins. Anthony Thogmartin’s songwriting ability was evident as always and ‘Dosio is rounded out by bassist Rob McConnell and drummer Mike Healy. The Ohio natives jammed deftly until 4 a.m. while Pink Floyd/Talking Heads/Phish fusion Pink Talking Fish wound down the night in Club Chill.
Sunday
Every day at a music festival should start with a set from Turkuaz. After helping one of my best friends (whom I met at last year’s Catskill Chill) move out, Dopapod showed their innovation is not limited to the stage by serving up pancakes with a side of jam. Then, Turkuaz supplied the fuel needed for the rest of the weekend at the Main Stage. One cannot not dance while watching the Brooklyn-based funkernaut. Michelangelo Carubba looked and sounded fly as usual while leading the 9-pack on drums. Celebrating her birthday by gracing loyal fans with rich vocals, Sammi Garrett was on point all day and guitarist Dave Brandwein laid down the hammer on his axe. Bubbles and sunshine filled the early afternoon air while Turkuaz put the “fun” into funk with the title track off their recent album Future 86. As the horns rang out, knowing looks spread through the crowd: “These guys are getting it!”The band is on fire right now and their merch sports my new go-to alibi: “Turkuaz made me do it!”
After packing my gear up and reluctantly moving off the island, the rest of the day was dedicated to music. Particle carried on the bash that Turkuaz started as drummer Darren Pujalet led a one-way race to funkville. Turuaz’s horns section came out to brighten the set for a jam, then The Hornitz and original bassist Eric Gould joined and shook up the house. Guitarist Ben Combe is a force on stage, and Particle’s progressive synthy style is catalyzed by Steve Molitz on the keys, who also spit a rendition of Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story”. Particle played plenty of new songs and left many people slack-jawed with one of the harder sets all weekend.
I followed Particle’s bassist Clay Parnell up to the B Stage, where he also played with American Babies. They played a more traditional rock set highlighting Tom Hamilton’s songwriting and singing abilities. Electron’s Aron Magner sat in for a cover of The Dead’s “New Speedway Boogie” and the crowd loved Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue”.
Back at the Main Stage, Kung Fu impressed with hard funk. Tim Palmieri challenged Eric Krasno for “master shredder” title of the weekend and Todd Stoops played some glorious piano solos. Robert Somerville got real saxy and Chris DeAngelis was crisp on the bass. These ninjas’ chemistry glows like a beacon on the stage. Drummer Adrian Tramontano’s kit, like Tramontano himself, is compact, but the Zack Galifianakis look-alike is an inspiration for us vertically challenged denizens everywhere. As onlookers gawked, he crushed one of the best drum solos of the weekend, moving with remarkable speed. The horns and ladies of Turkuaz reappeared to form Kungkuaz and play Stevie Wonder’s “Haven’t Done Nothing”, a highlight of the entire weekend. The Connecticut quintet, who will tour the East Coast in October and November, never fail to deliver.
Before I could see Consider the Source‘s plugged-in set, I heard them and thought, “That can’t be them; that’s at least 6 or 7 people.” It was, however, CTS. There is videographic proof that I am not being hyperbolic describing the Sourcerors as a crew filmed the set. Drummer Jeff Mann must have eaten his Wheaties; he played with a maniacal reckless abandon. Guitarist Gabriel Marin, whose fingers glide like butter on glass across his fretless guitar, played an upbeat trumpet solo on his custom double-necked instrument. “Tihai For The Straight Guy” was a classic example of Beach Boys meet Middle Eastern pop-rock and, during “Keep Your Pimp Hand Strong”, bassist John Ferrara ripped the dirtiest bass solo of the weekend. With the first part of their new album World War Trio releasing this Halloween, expect heavy ripples from Consider the Source this fall.
The final evening at Camp Minglewood was chilly, but Electron cranked the heat at the Main Stage. Comprised of The Disco Biscuits’ Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner on bass and keys respectively, Lotus’s Mike Greenfield on the drums, and American Babies’ guitarist Tommy Hamilton, they broke through with the most expansive jams of the weekend. Not only was their music out of this world, their light show was spectacular. Despite being Sunday night, the dance floor was as packed and busy as any point during the weekend. Electron played richly textured space jams with intricately laid layers and explored the psychedelic. Magner pounded emotionally on the piano and gave equal attention to the synths, and Greenfield put the pedal to the metal a bit more than he would with Lotus. With glow sticks flying, rage sticks raging, and bodies bumping, Electron put an exclamation point on a great weekend of music.
My ship had sailed at Catskill Chill by the time the plug was pulled on Electron. Having bonded with old friends, acquired a host of new friends, danced to hours of incredible music, and explored every corner of Camp Minglewood, I was ready to put another successful Chill in the books. The marathon was over and the memories were made; now, I attempt to wait patiently as anticipation is already bubbling for Catskill Chill 6.
Check out a video of Yonder Mountain String Band from the festival:
Bella Terra has continuously outdone itself as a small town festival, while keeping its reputation for pulling some of the biggest names in music and giving them a personal and organic experience.
Year after year festivals come and go from the circuit. These festivals open up new venues, new bands, and new experiences, but it isn’t until a festival has been around long enough to establish itself that you recognize the importance of all of these new avenues for the music world.
The extensive focus on both music and art makes the festival not just a string of fantastic musical performances, but an experience. Over the past few years Bella Terra has established itself as a festival with the bandwidth to hang with the best of them. The venue is small and intimate which gives patrons the opportunity to enjoy big names in a smaller crowd.
Bella Terra takes place year after year at Gardner’s Farm, nestled quietly in the sleepy town of Stephentown, New York amid the beautiful backdrop of the Berkshire Mountains. Being in between the capital of New York State and the Massachusetts border, the venue is out-of-the-way but in the middle of it all making it very accessible and an easy drive.
Conspirator was one of the main highlights of the weekend playing a 2 hour set and releasing a ton of new material. The band played their new sound “Quick Sand” which had extremely low-key but solid jams that were unlike anything they have put out thus far. Conspirator does a fantastic job of balancing each other out musically on stage. No particular band member takes the spot light for overly extended periods of time, and the entire band plays off of each others energy to create a phenomenal balance and stage presence. The entire set was leaning more on the jam side than their usual heavy-electronic sets, but still they included their classic sound of synth and bass oriented jams.
Papadosio played the Wicked Cool Stage directly following the Conspirator set which was an organic transition due to the parallels between the two bands. Over the past few years Papadosio has drawn quite the following and truly established themselves within the music scene.
Surprisingly, the tent during the Abakus set was next to empty with just a handful of die hards dancing intently throughout the small stage area. This is a shame as this was perhaps one of the most phenomenal electronic performances of the evening. Abakus played a set blending acid-house, electronic and trance that showed why Abakus has accumulated the amount of respect he has within the time he has spent at music festivals.
Local Upstate artists like Digital Dharma, DJ Leila, Mentally Ill, Formula 5 and Lucid represented well at their hometown festival with fire sets across the board. Turkuaz played a fantastic and energy packed daytime set with the perfect musical backdrop to begin the last evening of the festival. Dr. Fameus, aka Allen Aucoin of the Disco Biscuits, showed that you don’t need much more than a drum set to make the crowd move. Saturday night turned into a full-blown dance party with DJ Craze and his spectacular and mind-blowing spin-techniques. This seemed to be the biggest crowd pleaser of the weekend. Perhaps it was the exceptional amount of energy that both Craze and the crowd reciprocated throughout the set, or perhaps it was the insane and unrealistic style of DJing. Araab Muzik seemed to be another huge crowd draw, however it would have been nice to break up the heavy electronic acts with something a little more versatile. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this set was finding out that Araab Muzik uses an MCP Drum machine so all of his beats are being made live on stage. This definitely set him apart from all of the ‘push-play’ DJs that take stage from year to year at all of the festivals world-wide.
The Canadian electronic trio Keys and Krates packed the dance tent and blew the crowd away with a spectacular, high energy performance. They played a few new songs which seemed to settle well with the crowd, as well as their fan favorites “Dum Dee Dum,” and “High All the Time.” The Sky Net Stage lit up the night deep in the woods of Stephentown with a smaller set up and psychedelic decor. Cosmal, Ali Laz, and B.A Dario made for a great closing of the evening drawing the crowd away from the main concert stage and into the woods until the late hours of the night.
The huge focus on visual arts is also extremely evident throughout the festival. With a full set up of wooden cut outs of anyone from Theodore Roosevelt to Randy “Macho Man” Savage, art installations by Cinder Block Hustle included many set ups for live graffiti and painting lining the greater portion of the concert venue; it was refreshing to see such a solid blend of different medias. Throughout the long weekend fire spinners lined up to do their thing alongside the main stage in an enclosed area. There were fire spinners as young as five years old with immense amount of talent and passion. It was nice to see so many local artists of all different age groups and styles coming together and creating such beautiful and different varieties of art.
To sum up the festival in the words of Jules Jennsen of IndoBox:“The people who put it on are solid people. I have a lot of respect for what they do. This festival is true to their vision and they persevere in an ever-changing environment through the Northeast festivals. There’s always a good lineup and always a good vibe. I’m just happy I can go home and feed my cat.”
North Carolina’s jazzy jamtronica favorite, Papadosio has announced an extensive 35-date US tour for fall 2014.
Billed as the “Imaginal Cells” tour, ‘dosio will be visiting old and new cities and will be joined by Twiddle, Jimkata, Asian Teacher Factory, Ghost Owl, and Tauk on select dates.
Upstate will get four visits – September 5 at the Catskill Chill festival, October 14 at The Haunt in Ithaca, October 15 at The Westcott in Syracuse, and October 22 at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo. Regarding the tour’s name, the band released the following statement:
“Intertwined with evolution lies design. Nature casts blueprints for transition that resemble reinvention. Embryo, larva, pupa and imago mark the lifespan of the caterpillar, and nestled in the depths of metamorphosis lie dormant cells with an ancient memory of the future embedded within.”
We’re not sure what that means either, but you can bet will be there to find out!
Those of us whom have lived our lives in the “brisk” springs of Upstate New York know there is no better time to travel south. Providing ample additional ammo for an early spring break trip is the initial excellent “stage one” lineup of the Aura Music & Art’s Festival announced today.
The festival will be held March 6th-8th in Live Oak Florida. Early Bird tickets go on sale July 1st and start at $135 for a 3-day weekend pass or $165 for a 4-day weekend pass which includes a Thursday pre-party w/ Dopapod and Kung Fu. Camping is included with purchase. Keep tuned to for further artist announcements and Aura news!
Conspirator was one of the main highlights of the weekend playing a 2 hour set and releasing a ton of new material. The band played their new sound “Quick Sand” which had extremely low-key but solid jams that were unlike anything they have put out thus far. Conspirator does a fantastic job of balancing each other out musically on stage. No particular band member takes the spot light for overly extended periods of time, and the entire band plays off of each others energy to create a phenomenal balance and stage presence. The entire set was leaning more on the jam side than their usual heavy-electronic sets, but still they included their classic sound of synth and bass oriented jams.
Surprisingly, the tent during the Abakus set was next to empty with just a handful of die hards dancing intently throughout the small stage area. This is a shame as this was perhaps one of the most phenomenal electronic performances of the evening. Abakus played a set blending acid-house, electronic and trance that showed why Abakus has accumulated the amount of respect he has within the time he has spent at music festivals.
The Canadian electronic trio Keys and Krates packed the dance tent and blew the crowd away with a spectacular, high energy performance. They played a few new songs which seemed to settle well with the crowd, as well as their fan favorites “Dum Dee Dum,” and “High All the Time.” The Sky Net Stage lit up the night deep in the woods of Stephentown with a smaller set up and psychedelic decor. Cosmal, Ali Laz, and B.A Dario made for a great closing of the evening drawing the crowd away from the main concert stage and into the woods until the late hours of the night.
