Tag: Summer Camp Music Festival

Best of NYS Music 2015: Staff Picks for Out-of-State Festivals

While most might dream of tropical getaways when it comes to vacation time, music fans accrue their days to travel across the country—or world—for weekends jam-packed with live performances, indulgent food and experimental fun. From the east to the west coasts to the Midwest, NYSMusic staffers traveled near and far throughout the year to see their favorite groups in action. Here we give you our top picks for out-of-state festivals of 2015.

Best Small Festival: Arise Music Festival, East Coast Tsunami Festival, Grand Point North Festival and The Werk Out Music and Arts Festival

With the growing number of small-scale festivals that seem to pop up each year, it’s no wonder that our team could not pick just one or two as their favorite—so we decided to include the ones we felt deserved an honorable mention. First up is Arise Music Festival, an event in Loveland, CO, that according to Andrew Wyatt “offers a spicy jambalaya of multi-cultural live music, electronic performances, art presentations, along with numerous workshops centered around eco-activism, social justice, and spirituality practice.” With nearly 100 musical acts, the three-day festival now in its third year featured the likes of the Polish Ambassador, Rising Appalachia, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Lukas Nelson, Turkuaz, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Trevor Hall, Emancipator Ensemble, Ozomatli and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, among others.

Headlined by Wu-Tang Clan and Life Of Agony, the East Coast Tsunami Festival held in Reading, PA, treated hip hop, hardcore and metal fans to two full days of shows, including favorited groups Body Count, Mobb Deep, Murphy’s Law, Madball and more. And despite sound issues during day one, Jay Saint G. still dubbed the festival as “a wave of brutality that every music lover should experience.”

Up next is the Grand Point North Festival held in Burlington’s Waterfront Park with views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Headlined by Vermont’s sweetheart Grace Potter, the fifth annual installment boasted two nights of music featuring Phish’s Mike Gordon, the Flaming Lips, Shakey Graves, Greensky Bluegrass, Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers, among others, and special guests like Kenny Chesney who joined Potter to perform their single, “Wild Child.” Alexandra Provost and Laura Carbone noted that “as Potter walked onto the stage, her skin glistening from raindrops, the audience went wild” and that she “put on an astounding performance, showing off her piano, guitar and bluesy vocal skills.”

And finally the Werk Out Music and Arts Festival at Legend Valley, a venue favorited by the Grateful Dead in the ’80s. With a stacked lineup featuring the Werks, Papadosio, Dopapod, Lettuce, Umphrey’s McGee, the Floozies, Consider The Source, Break Science and Tauk, the sixth year for the Thornville, OH, festival “was as always a ridiculously good time for all who made the journey,” according to Ben Landsman. With three stages, a silent disco and one fan wedding,Landsman noted that “between the beauty of Legend Valley, the bright spirit of the fans, the innovative music, this festival is one of the treasures of the Midwest.”

Best Midsize Festival: Green River Festival
Honorable Mention: Aura Music and Arts Festival, Boston Calling, Camp Bisco, DelFest, McDowell Mountain Music Festival

Held at Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA, the sold-out 29th annual Green River Festival was “fresh, exciting and invigorating,” according to Eli Stein. Featuring four hot air balloon launches, the family-friendly July event pulled out all the stops with a craft tent, Frisbee dog show, acrobats, karate demonstrations, swimming, a Mardi Gras-style parade and exotic local fare like elk, boar and venison burgers, a Korean food truck and kabob vendors. Throughout the three-day weekend, more than 40 performers ranging from Americana to dance, blues and jam graced the event’s three stages nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, including Eilen Jewell, the Wood Brothers, Rubblebucket, Marco Benevento, MAKU Sound System, Langhorne Slim and the Law, the Punch Brothers and tUnE-yArDs, which Stein noted was the perfect mixture:

Musically, the festival served up a heaping slab of New England comfort food. The rest aforementioned activity, as they say, was just the gravy. Not only were the band selections great, they were clearly hand-picked and not just pulled off the nearest passing festival train. The music flowed wonderfully from set to set, and built to a nice peak at the perfect times. There was an evenness to the passion and approach of the musicians that made for a smooth transition no matter where you went.”

Best Large Festival: Gathering of the Vibes and Summer Camp
Honorable Mention: Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Hangout Music Fest, Lockn’ Music Festival, Peach Festival, Rock Allegiance, Rock On the Range

Celebrating its 20th year, Gathering of the Vibes offered up an impressive lineup with headliners Wilco, Weezer, Tedeschi/Trucks Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Ben Harper, Greg Allman and the String Cheese Incident. The late summer festival returned to Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT, and treated fans to a super jam called Vibes 20th Anniversary Spectacular featuring Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Meters founding bassist George Porter Jr., Marco Benevento on keys and Joe Russo behind the drum kit, plus Jackie Greene on guitar. Although the four-day festival will take a break in 2016, VibeTribers Julia Wolfe and Steve Olker recounted the last day of the 2015 event and dubbed this run as one that would set the pace going forward:

As the sun set over Vibes for the last time, [Ben] Harper closed out with his song “Better Way,” and it was finally time to head home. Seeing so many bands perform was both enticing and overwhelming at the same time, making leaving Vibes even more bittersweet. The range of genre, popularity, age and background is what makes Gathering of the Vibes separate from other festivals. After 20 years, Gathering of the Vibes has remained one of Connecticut’s most well-known festivals, and it’s attention to bringing about change while discovering your own inner peace is what will bring success for future gatherings to come. Until next time, thank you vibes for a real good time.”

With more than 100 bands over four days on seven stages, this year’s installment of Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, IL, saw a stacked lineup of bands like moe., Umphrey’s McGee, Steve Miller Band, Widespread Panic, STS9, Big Gigantic, John Butler Trio, Krewella, Trampled by Turtles, Keller Williams and Grateful Grass, Yonder Mountain String Band, Violent Femmes and many, many more. Festivalgoers also had access to on-site camping, the infamous late night Red Barn Shows, musician workshops, a nonprofit village, arts and crafts and unique food vendors, plus some impressive improvements. In Pete Mason’s review of the festival’s final day, he detailed what made the perfect ending to the much celebrated event:

The final set of the night to check out was North American Scum, an LCD Soundsystem cover band who might be the best band to close out Summer Camp. Members of the group are formerly of This Must be the Band, a Talking Heads band from Chicago, who have traditionally played one of the final sets at Summer Camp. This incredible two hour set featured the entire Sound of Silver album and, because everyone else was playing Grateful Dead songs, a spirited version of “Scarlet Begonias” to cap the night.”

Read more from Summer Camp Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.

December 28, 2015
Summer Camp Music Festival 2015 Recap

Day 1: Arrival to Chillicothe, just north of Peoria, IL, took 16 hours from Albany, and while the drive may seem daunting, it wasn’t that tough of a trip. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, if you wanted to go to a music festival or travel to see a band, you had to drive out of your comfort zone for the experience. What has become common place, seeing festivals within an hour or two of where you live, used to be far from reality. This may sound like a ‘back in my day’ mantra, but making this drive brings back the allure of the destination driving the journey, something that has become less frequent with the rise of music festivals and cost of travel. Read more

Day 2: Friday at Summer Camp was a day to reconfigure, reassess and prepare for the onslaught of music that was ripe for the choosing. Now that your on site presence was established and something resembling a campsite had been formed among friends and neighbors. The weather was pristine: sunny skies, a passing cloud, a little dusty but it definitely felt like summer had arrived. Read more

Day 3: It is now Sunday morning and to recap what went down on Saturday at Summer Camp, here’s a play-by-play morning until late night.

10am: wake up after three hours of sleep and sunrise kickball. Feel refreshed, not exhausted. Breakfast of banana, yogurt, life cereal and yerba mate and I am ready to roll.

11am: Head to the church (media area) and get writing my review of Friday. Read more

Day 4: The final day of Summer Camp featured some of the largest acts on the lineup and two regular contributors to the festival: Rain and wind. Even with the beautiful weather the past few days a little rain was expected, if not needed. A strong storm cell blew through around 1pm, causing minor delays in the music while cooling down the festival grounds and erasing the dust that had been ever present during the weekend. Strong winds tested the strength of tents and EZ-Ups, with gusts barely ceasing until fans began to load out on Monday. After three days of near-perfect weather, it was a refreshing change of pace. Read more

June 2, 2015
Summer Camp 2015 Day 4: Dance Yourself Clean, All Night Long

Read more from Summer Camp Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3

The final day of Summer Camp featured some of the largest acts on the lineup and two regular contributors to the festival: Rain and wind. Even with the beautiful weather the past few days a little rain was expected, if not needed. A strong storm cell blew through around 1pm, causing minor delays in the music while cooling down the festival grounds and erasing the dust that had been ever present during the weekend. Strong winds tested the strength of tents and EZ-Ups, with gusts barely ceasing until fans began to load out on Monday. After three days of near-perfect weather, it was a refreshing change of pace.

moe.’s rain-delayed set with Bruce Hornsby featured “New York City” and five Grateful Dead songs: “Sugaree,” “Loser” and the trio “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot” > “Franklin’s Tower.” Bruce then came out with The Noisemakers for his own set of originals and classics. Steve Miller Band treated an enormous crowd to a slew of hits, including “Jungle Love,” “Abracabadra” and the less well known “Sugar Babe.” It was hard to find anyone not singing along to or bobbing their head to these classics.

On the Sunshine Stage, Yonder Mountain String Band treated fans to a set that highlighted new member Allie Kral (Cornmeal) who sang lead on “Son of a Preacher Man” and “Jolene” before closing with an enthusiastic “Casualty.”

Widespread Panic’s eagerly anticipated sets were nothing short of fantastic and treated first-timers to impressive jamming of songs that typically got a more standard treatment. Opening up with a jam that worked into “Little Kin” and represented tighter segues than in past years, especially from “Action Man” > “Pleas”. The second set opened with “Junior” > “Second Skin” and a monster jam during “Rebirtha” and the newer song “Honky Red.” Widespread Panic could be in the middle of a band renaissance, due in part to Duane Trucks’ presence behind the drum kit for the past year. John Bell thanks the rain gods for holding off during their set, which may have tipped the gods off because shortly afterwards, the skies opened up once again to cool the hot night down.

The Starshine Stage featured the progressive jamgrass of Greensky Bluegrass, who tore through Traffic’s “Light up or Leave me Alone” with a jam of “Tweezer Reprise” in the middle. Meanwhile at the Moonshine Stage, Big Gigantic brought the house down with an impressively loud set, similar to Griz’s set on the Sunshine Stage. If you needed a bit more moe., there was plenty to be had during their final set from 12:30 am to 2 am, highlighted by “Do or Die” featuring breakout group Here Come the Mummies joining the band onstage.

On the VIP stage, Twiddle invited Scott Hannay of Mister F to sit in during “Apples,” to which keyboardist Ryan Dempsey cartwheeled off stage. Hannay sat in later that night with Twiddle, along with Dan Shaw from The Werks on keys at the Campfire Stage during “Mamunes the Faun”.

The final set of the night to check out was North American Scum, an LCD Soundsystem cover band who might be the best band to close out Summer Camp. Members of the group are formerly of This Must be the Band, a Talking Heads band from Chicago, who have traditionally played one of the final sets at Summer Camp. This incredible two hour set featured the entire Sound of Silver album and, because everyone else was playing Grateful Dead songs, a spirited version of “Scarlet Begonias” to cap the night.

Monday morning came and the campgrounds were half abandoned with dreary and exhausted looking fans milling about their sites, packing up tents, deciding what property would be left behind to make the trip to the parking lots easier. By late Monday, Three Sisters Park was vacated and the cleanup beginning in earnest. With all the memories from this year’s festival, one full year until Summer Camp 16 doesn’t seem too far away.

Check out our coverage of all four days of Summer Camp 2015

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

May 26, 2015
Summer Camp 2015 Day 3: The Saturday Chronicles

Read more from Summer Camp Day 1, Day 2 and Day 4

It is now Sunday morning and to recap what went down on Saturday at Summer Camp, here’s a play-by-play morning until late night.

10am: wake up after three hours of sleep and sunrise kickball. Feel refreshed, not exhausted. Breakfast of banana, yogurt, life cereal and yerba mate and I am ready to roll.

11am: Head to the church (media area) and get writing my review of Friday.

12pm: Review submitted. I head over to the Camping Stage with camp counselor Nick Stock and catch American Babies. Good stuff, somehow I don’t see them often enough despite playing back in Albany somewhat frequently. Good catching up with Nick too – sometimes you have to meet halfway across the country to hang with your friends.

1:00pm: Field Day. Team Purple with Mer, Mitch, Lisa and two guys from Miami (Ohio) among others. Listened to Orphic during Capture the Flag, Floodwood during Spelling Bee.

3:30pm: Back to the Sunshine Stage for The Floozies. My friend Carrie was talking about them for weeks and for some reason I felt like they were some local/regional band playing hokey rock. This couldn’t have been farther from reality. A drummer and guitarist manning a laptop made for a sick duo ala Big Gigantic. The crowd was in love and rage sticks were everywhere.

4:00pm: Amazeballs Mini-golf! Jason K has an awesome addition to Summer Camp and many other music festivals. In addition to 15 holes you have an opportunity to Make a Difference and win a pair of VIP tickets for Summer Camp 2016. This was a lot of fun.

5:00pm: Back over to Vibe Tent to see how Field Day ended – Red and Yellow were neck and neck, Purple was out of the running but we did clean up the most cigarette butts. Milk n Cookies were playing on the Vibe stage – this is easily the best tent to discover brand new music, especially if you like DJs and EDM.

5:30pm: I meet up with John and head backstage for Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD). Despite numerous opportunities over the past year, I still haven’t seen them. By 7:00pm I’ll understand the hype. Choice covers of “Viola Lee Blues” and “The Eleven” stood out, with Russo leading the charge on drums. This was phenomenal. Stopped and chatted with Scott Hannay from Mister F and Evan from Aqueous before heading up to the Relix tent with Stephen.

8:00pm: Finally back to the site for a short break, time to decompress and change for the night’s music. Washed my face and got some food to prepare for the next six to eight hours. Listened to Victor Wooten’s set from the Starshine Stage (central camping location is perfect for not missing music on four of the seven stages). Wooten’s set seemed a little soft, but then he dropped a few Sly and the Family Stone songs to close it out. I still think his sit-in with STS9 Friday night was a highlight of the fest.

9:00pm: I head to the pit for Umphrey’s. Lighting designer Jeff Waful clears rage sticks from his sightline. There is dude about four rows deep front row keeps singing ‘Party with my dick out’ and no one thinks this is out-of-place. He keeps it up until the lights go down. Umphrey’s opens with “Plunger,” “Pay the Snucka” and “Higgins”. I head backstage for a few, enjoy a couple of beers and catch up with Chicago friends.

10:15pm: Head to pick up my charger at the Relix tent (thank you guys) and try to make it back for The Werks. This band still eludes me. Meet up with Erika, Drew and Phil at the site and head back over for the final set of Umphrey’s.

11:00pm: A “Wappy Sprayberry” opener sets the tone for the rest of the night, “Divisions” has great build and peaks upon peaks, but the encore was the highlight of the night – “Glory > Divisions > ‘Jam for Jesus’/A Love Supreme (for a dude in the crowd) > Divisions”.

12:30am: Beers at the site and then down to Moonshine Stage for moe. I remember a big segue into “Meat”. Saw a few familiar faces from New York in the crowd. The crowd for moe. at Summer Camp is larger than any moe.down I attended. Midwest moe. fans are a fun bunch.

2:00am: I walk to my car to get my rain gear with a forecast of showers during the day on Sunday and Monday. This proved to be a great choice since, as I write this review, a thirty-minute downpour passed by. At least the dust won’t be an issue.

3:00am: Back to the site, I lay down on a bench and listen to a brief shower pass by. This was the perfect way to relax after a long, long day. I am exhausted but beyond excited for Bruce Hornsby, Yonder Mountain String Band and Widespread Panic.

May 25, 2015
Summer Camp 2015 Day 2: Rage, Rest, and Sunrise Kickball

Read more from Summer Camp Day 1, Day 3 and Day 4

Friday at Summer Camp was a day to reconfigure, reassess and prepare for the onslaught of music that was ripe for the choosing. Now that your on site presence was established and something resembling a campsite had been formed among friends and neighbors. The weather was pristine: sunny skies, a passing cloud, a little dusty but it definitely felt like summer had arrived.

Music wise, it was a day long effort to see as much music as possible. Highlights included moe. getting things going and filling the bowl on the Moonshine Stage with “Buster” and “Captain America,” Oteil Burbridge and Roosevelt Collier making for a fantastic groovy duo. Deep bassy trance from Citizun; high energy bluegrass via Old Shoe, in the Soulshine Tent, and Xavier Rudd and the United Nations combining funk and world music for the highlight of the day.

But wait, there’s more!

Umphrey’s opened their first set of the weekend with “Mulche’s Odyssey”. Debuted a new song from UMBowl VI, “Remind Me” and a raging “Bad Friday”; Bassist Ryan Stasik effortlessly posing and strutting on the stage. For the second set, Umphrey’s brought up Gene Ween for GODBONER, with Gener singing “Spinal Meningitis,” “Baby Bitch,” “Voodoo Lady” and a surprisingly awesome cover of Billy Joel’s “The Stranger”. Set three was highlighted by “Phil’s Farm > Upwards > Phil’s Farm” and an encore of “Slacker”.

But if you weren’t at Umphrey’s, there were still some hidden gems to catch. While I was bummed to miss Krewella’s set, so were the fans who complained about the high energy duo on the lineup. Aqueous played to a more intimate crowd for the diehards compared to Thursday at the Camping Stage, blasting off a “Master of Puppets” cover to close the set. Dopapod played a tweener set on Starshine stage, raging a “Vol. 3 #86”.

Then the night got late. EOTO was a lot of noise and lasers, so STS9 was the preferred destination for the night. This band with new bassist Alana Rocklin, played one of the best all around sets, and is an improvement on the musical priapism that was sts9 of old. An unexpected Victor Wooten sit in was the icing on the cake.

Daft Rock – Future Rock performing a full set of Daft Punk made the Soulshine Stage a dusty haven for ‘A’ game dancing. With hits and a few deep cuts, Future Rock curated a set that was more than cursory covers of the legendary EDM duo. It felt like a club show with accelerated live mixes of Random Access Memories tracks. The Midwest has some hidden gems that are hard to compete with.

The annual tradition of sunrise kickball began with Ryan Stasik hosting a who’s who of who’s still awake. It was worth the spectacle if you were still awake, but after a day like Friday, it understandable if you caught rest while you could.

Time to get some sleep and prepare for what awaits on Saturday – Field Day, more moe., Umphrey’s, JRAD, The New Deal, The Motet and late night from Pink Talking Fish.

May 23, 2015
Summer Camp 2015 Day 1: Arrival, Setup and Thursday Pre-Party

Read more from Summer Camp Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4

The 15th annual Summer Camp is off to a great start amid beautiful albeit chilly weather in Central Illinois. Thousands arrived late Wednesday night and throughout the day on Thursday for the unofficial start to summer music festival season throughout the country.

Arrival to Chillicothe, just north of Peoria, IL, took 16 hours from Albany, and while the drive may seem daunting, it wasn’t that tough of a trip. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, if you wanted to go to a music festival or travel to see a band, you had to drive out of your comfort zone for the experience. What has become common place, seeing festivals within an hour or two of where you live, used to be far from reality. This may sound like a ‘back in my day’ mantra, but making this drive brings back the allure of the destination driving the journey, something that has become less frequent with the rise of music festivals and cost of travel.

The only issue with arrival at a festival such as Summer Camp is that once you arrive, you still have to get your gear searched and set up camp, adding to any exhaustion and surfeit crankiness. The line to get into Summer Camp involves a thorough search for alcohol, among other contraband items; while the check-in was expanded, we stood in line for six hours before our gear was finally given the thumbs up. There wasn’t much music we missed as a
result but the exhaustion took a toll, especially without shade from the bright sunny day. Chicago Funk Mafia performed on a stage near the check-in area to entertain the thousands in line.

Once inside and setup between the Sunshine Stage, Starshine Stage, Vibe Tent and Camping Stage. A money location. We caught Capital District rockers Wild Adriatic on the Starshine Stage who had the attention of the crowd with “Strange Persuasions” and a cover of Bill Withers’ “Use Me”. Family Groove Company, one of Chicago’s finest jam acts for over a decade, opened their set with an extended instrumental jam on “Thriller” bringing up the Third Coast Horns for much of the set. If you missed them on Thursday, see them Saturday on Starshine Stage at Noon for a perfect wake up to the day.

Floodwood performed a Grateful Dead set, including “Cumberland Blues,” “New Speedway Boogie,” “Casey Jones,” and others. Vinny Amico and Al Schnier mixed things up and swapped roles with Al on drums and Vinny on vocals. I had to miss some of the set in order to catch yet another New York State act, Aqueous, on the Camping Stage. The handful of fans I talked to seemed to enjoy a band they were seeing for the first time, and were treated to a set of “Underlyer, Complex Pt. 1, Fame > Origami > Don’t Do It”.

Back at the Starshine Stage, Future Rock, one of the best livetronica trios you’ll ever see, closed out the Starshine Stage for the night, pounding out incredible dance music with no chill. Late night had options for The Red Barn: Dopapod, Turbo Suit & Friends, and Manic Science. I rested up and got ready for DJ no DJ, a Daft Punk cover band made up of members of This Must be the Band, among others. You won’t see Daft Punk touring these days, and this might be the next best thing to a local band covering “Get Lucky”. Name a Daft Punk hit and they have it covered and covered WELL. The Soulshine Tent was the place to be latenight for one of the true treats of Summer Camp.

More music is planned for Friday, starting with moe. kicking off the Moonshine Stage and Umphrey’s McGee on Sunshine Stage, among many, many other options. Stay tuned for more updates via NYSMusic’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

May 22, 2015
Get Ready to Head Back to Summer Camp

Memorial Day weekend is almost upon us and despite all the festival potential in store across the Northeast, the Midwest holds one of the best festivals of the year – Summer Camp Music Festival. Now in its 15th year. Summer Camp has become the Midwest’s number one destination for all things jam, rock, electronic, bluegrass and plenty of general partying and hollerin’.

There’s a lot going on this year at Summer Camp, including some just announced improvements and rules changes that fans need to be aware of. Read here for a detailed list, but take note of the following in particular:

Entry: A new main gate setup and more efficient entry procedures will allow for quicker and easier entry this year.

Vibe Tent: To accommodate some of the massive EDM artists playing this year’s festival, expect a bigger-than-ever Vibe Tent! From the production and sound, to the stage and the tent itself, Summer Camp has expanded and fine-tuned every element of the stage.

Charge your cellphone on site with Solar Go’s Custom USB Recharging Batteries: Order your battery now and it will be charged and ready when you arrive. Then, each day you can exchange it for a fully charged one, and at the end of the festival you take it home with you.

Chinese Fire Lanterns are banned!: Due to safety concerns (and common sense) these have been added to our prohibited items list, and will NOT be allowed at Three Sisters Park!

You can access the Summer Camp schedule here and use the app for IOS or Android to build a customized music schedule.

Of course, the music and activities at Summer Camp are the reason you are coming, not to block the view of Jeff Waful with your ragestick (leave those home too) so here are the Top 15 acts and events not to miss at Summer Camp 15.

15. Keller Williams / Keller Williams & Grateful Grass

With the release of his latest album Vape, Keller is back with new material and a Dead set with Grateful Grass that offers anything but the traditional Grateful Dead covers. Being the Dead’s 50th year, expect plenty of tributes to the Grateful Dead at this year’s Summer Camp. (2am Friday, Campfire Stage // 5pm Friday, Moonshine Stage)

14. Make a Difference

Increase your social and environmental awareness as you make a difference at Summer Camp this year in a variety of ways. Check out non-profits, help clean the grounds, take part in the treasure hunt, and spread the word! Summer Camp is a great way to have a blast and kick off the summer, as well as do a good part for your community! (Throughout the weekend, Soulshine Tent)

13. Pink Talking Fish

We have had the luxury of Pink Talking Fish playing a bevy of shows in their native Northeast, and checking them out at Summer Camp will be a real treat whether you have seen them or not already. Combining Phish, Talking Heads and Pink Floyd songs in unique ways – you won’t be disappointed. (2am Saturday, Soulshine Tent)

12. Krewella

I haven’t seen Krewella, but given the amount of vitriol some fans gave the female electronic duo when they were added to the lineup, even going so far as to start a petition to have them removed from the lineup, now I REALLY want to see them. I enjoy EDM and don’t pass judgment until I see music live, and with the duo hailing from near Chicago, IL, they are now a must see. (9pm Friday, Moonshine Stage)

11. Field Day
Akin to Camp Bisco’s Color Wars, Field Day is a great friendly competition that features dodgeball, capture the flag, a spelling bee, a Manolo’s Pizza & Empanadas eating contest, and more! Pre-register here and Go Purple! (12pm – 5:30pm Saturday, 312 Beer Garden next to Vibe Tent),

10. Wild Adriatic

One of the best bands to come out of Upstate New York, Wild Adriatic has played SXSW and will perform at Bonnaroo this summer, and are well-known throughout the Northeast for rocking sets and choice covers, including “Ain’t No Sunshine”, featured on their new EP Never Enough. (5pm Thursday, Starshine Stage)

9. North American Scum

If you love LCD Soundsystem even a little bit, you have to stay awake on Sunday and catch North American Scum. I saw them in Chicago last July and was blown away – it’s as close to the real deal as you can get. Watch below and see for yourself (2am Sunday, Soulshine Tent)

8. Amazeballs Mini Golf

Music festivals have been waiting for this one – mini-golf! Amazeballs Amusements is an awesome addition to Summer Camp and will host a unique 15 hole miniature golf course in honor of Summer Camp Music Festival’s 15th Anniversary. Bonus: the mobile mini golf course will be free to play all weekend! Proceeds from Sunday afternoon will benefit a special Make a Difference Drive. Stop by the Soulshine Tent, cool down in the shade or avoid the rain while hitting some balls. (Daily 10am-6pm)

7. Aqueous

Making their return to Summer Camp with two full sets on Thursday and Friday, this Western NY jam has a great summer tour ahead of them and a thriving fan base that Umphrey’s fans have begun to take note of, and for good reason. See the band NYSMusic named their 2013 Band on the Rise. (8:30pm Thursday and 8pm Friday, Camping Stage)

6. Family Groove Company

Chicago has a presence at Summer Camp, and for good reason. The number of bands that have come out of the Windy City in the past 15 years is remarkable, and Summer Camp offers a chance to see some of the best. Family Groove Company is a stellar jam band, offering a complete sound, especially with Janis Wallin rockin the bass. (6pm Thursday, 12pm Saturday, Starshine Stage)

5. Umphrey’s McGee and GODBONER

Umphrey’s has played their festival since the beginning, so naturally they are on the list. With The London Session and UMBowl VI in their rearview, expect 4 incredible sets, along with a bonus – Gene Ween joins Umphrey’s for GODBONER! (6pm, 7:45pm & 9:45 pm Friday, 9pm & 11pm, Sunshine Stage)

4. Yonder Mountain String Band

With a lineup recently made official, adding Allie Kral (fiddle) and Jacob Jolliff (mandolin) and new album Black Sheep due out this summer, Yonder’s daytime set at Summer Camp is a must attend, and with a slightly different sound but the same vibe and jamgrassy goodness you love, you’ll want to see where the new lineup takes them. (2:45pm Sunday, Sunshine Stage)

3. Future Rock/Daft Rock

Future Rock is a fantastic electronic trio from Chicago and the fact they are playing two sets insists you see at least one of them – but their third set, as Daft Rock, is the one that is truly intriguing and why they are #3 on the list. A set of Daft Punk from this talented trio is going to be one of the highlights of Summer Camp, guaranteed. (Future Rock – 9:30pm Thursday, 12:30am Saturday – Starshine Stage // Daft Rock 2am Friday, Soulshine Stage)

2. Widespread Panic

The past two years have seen Widespread Panic turning out some of the hottest shows and tours in recent years with a strong connection between Jimmy Herring and Butch Trucks (filling in for Todd Nance on drums) leading to jams that are beyond what the Southern rockers have been known for in previous years. Get floppy with Panic! (7pm & 9pm Sunday, Sunshine Stage)

1. Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers/moe with Bruce Hornsby

Music legend Bruce Hornsby brings The Noisemakers, playing originals and covers with his iconic voice, but his set with moe. will be the most looked forward to set this Summer Camp, simply for the potential of what is in store. A band such as moe. playing along with the piano and voice of Bruce Hornsby is one of the best collaborations to come out of music festivals since Steve Winwood joined Widespread Panic at Bonnaroo 2002. Don’t miss this one! (1:15pm & 3pm Sunday, Moonshine Stage)

May 15, 2015
Summer Camp Reveals Daily Schedule

Summer Camp Music Festival has released their Daily Schedule and now the tough part begins – among these 100+ bands over 4 days, who DO you see? While the Soulshine and VIP schedules have yet to be announced, check out the schedules for each day at the Starshine Stage, Vibe Tent, Campfire Stage, Camping Stage and Red Barn. Acts in Bold are NYSMusic’s Don’t Miss artists for the 2015 installment of Summer Camp Music Festival. Buy your tickets now.

Thursday, May 21

STARSHINE STAGE
2:00 PM Chicago Funk Mafia
3:30 PM Dead Language
5:00 PM Wild Adriatic
6:30 PM Family Groove Company
8:00 PM Floodwood
9:30 PM Future Rock

VIBE TENT
1:00 PM The Dawn
2:30 PM Moontang
4:00 PM Fanny Pack
5:30 PM Hog Magundy
7:00 PM Ifdakar
8:30 PM Artifakts
11:00 PM Sun Stereo
12:30 AM KREACH
1:00 AM DJ AMPlifi
2:00 AM Positive Vibr8ions
3:00 AM Filibusta

CAMPFIRE STAGE
1:30 PM Earphorik
3:00 PM Abnormous
4:30 PM The Accidentals
6:00 PM Fox Valley Harvest
7:30 PM Yojimbe
9:00 PM The Werks
11:30 PM The Nth Power
1:30 AM The Infamous Stringdusters

CAMPING STAGE
1:00 PM Blake Gardner & The Farmers
2:30 PM Business As Usual
4:00 PM Little Pizza
5:30 PM Hyryder
7:00 PM Homestretch Ride
8:30 PM Aqueous
10:00 PM Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

RED BARN
11:00 PM Dopapod
12:45 AM Turbo Suit
2:30 AM Manic Science

Friday, May 21

MOONSHINE STAGE
2:30 PM moe.
5:00 PM Keller Williams and Grateful Grass
7:00 PM Trampled By Turtles
9:00 PM Krewella
11:15 PM EOTO

SUNSHINE STAGE
1:00 PM The Infamous Stringdusters
3:45 PM Xavier Rudd & The United Nations
6:00 PM Umphrey’s McGee
7:45 PM GODBONER MEETS GENE WEEN
9:45 PM Umphrey’s McGee
12:30 AM STS9

STARSHINE STAGE
1:00 PM The Nth Power
3:00 PM Oteil Burbridge & Roosevelt Collier
5:00 PM Trigger Hippy
7:00 PM Dopapod
9:00 PM Papadosio
11:00 PM Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe

VIBE TENT
12:00 PM Mass Relay
2:00 PM Filibusta
4:00 PM Louis Futon
6:00 PM Klingande
8:00 PM Break Science
10:00 PM Manic Focus
12:00 AM Destructo
1:00 AM Brodinski
2:00 AM Tchami
3:00 AM Claude VonStroke

CAMPFIRE STAGE
12:00 PM Cirrus Minor
1:30 PM SOAP
3:00 PM Digital Tape Machine
4:30 PM Van Ghost
6:00 PM Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
7:30 PM Jakubi
9:00 PM The Main Squeeze
11:00 PM All Them Witches
12:30 AM Keller Williams
2:00 AM Trigger Hippy

CAMPING STAGE
11:00 AM Electric Orange Peel
12:30 PM Bones Jugs N Harmony
2:00 PM 28 North
3:30 PM Citizun
5:00 PM Consider the Source
6:30 PM Koa
8:00 PM Aqueous
10:00 PM Modern Measure

RED BARN
1:00 AM moe.
2:45 AM theNEWDEAL

Saturday, May 23

MOONSHINE STAGE
2:00 PM Freeman
3:45 PM A-Trak
5:30 PM Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
7:45 PM Violent Femmes
10:00 PM moe.
12:30 AM moe.

SUNSHINE STAGE
1:00 PM Turbo Suit
3:00 PM The Floozies
4:45 PM Paul Oakenfold
6:45 PM theNEWDEAL
9:00 PM Umphrey’s McGee
11:00 PM Umphrey’s McGee

STARSHINE STAGE
12:00 PM Family Groove Company
2:00 PM Floodwood
4:00 PM Turkuaz
6:00 PM The Motet
8:00 PM Victor Wooten
10:00 PM The Werks
12:30 AM Future Rock

VIBE TENT
1:00 PM Orphic
3:00 PM NADUS
5:00 PM Milk N Cookies
7:00 PM Hermitude
9:00 PM Protohype
11:00 PM Bakermat
12:00 AM Liquid Stranger
1:00 AM Bondax
2:00 AM Kill The Noise
3:00 AM Snails

CAMPFIRE STAGE
12:30 PM Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers
2:00 PM Old Shoe
3:30 PM Caravan of Thieves
5:00 PM Tauk
6:30 PM Sun Stereo
8:00 PM Judah and The Lion
10:00 PM Sinkane
12:00 AM Elliot Moss
2:00 AM Kung Fu

CAMPING STAGE
12:00 PM Go!Tsunami
1:30 PM American Babies
3:00 PM SPREAD
4:30 PM Fergus Daly Band
6:00 PM The Way Down Wanderers
7:30 PM Crow Moses
9:00 PM Indigosun

RED BARN
1:00 AM The Floozies
2:30 AM STS9

Sunday, May 24

MOONSHINE STAGE
1:15 PM moe. with special guest Bruce Hornsby
3:30 PM Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers
5:30 PM Steve Miller Band
8:00 PM Cherub
10:30 PM Big Gigantic
12:30 AM moe.

SUNSHINE STAGE
1:00 PM Gaelic Storm
2:45 PM Yonder Mountain String Band
4:30 PM John Butler Trio
7:00 PM Widespread Panic
9:00 PM Widespread Panic
11:45 PM GRiZ

STARSHINE STAGE
2:00 PM Turnpike Troubadours
4:00 PM Dumpstaphunk
6:00 PM Nahko and Medicine for The People
8:00 PM Here Come The Mummies
11:00 PM Greensky Bluegrass

VIBE TENT
1:00 PM DJ McFly
3:00 PM Positive Vibr8ions
5:00 PM Gibbz
7:00 PM Wick-It The Instigator
9:00 PM Klevah
10:00 PM Haywyre
1:00 AM Black Tiger Sex Machine
2:00 AM Paper Diamond
3:00 AM Sound Remedy

CAMPFIRE STAGE
12:30 PM Edward David Anderson
2:00 PM Matthew Curry
3:30 PM Chicago Farmer
5:00 PM Brainchild
6:30 PM Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
8:00 PM Jon Wayne and the Pain
10:00 PM Earphunk
2:00 AM Twiddle

CAMPING STAGE
12:00 PM Strung Like A Horse
1:30 PM American Aquarium
3:00 PM Flaccid
4:30 PM Melk
6:00 PM Church Booty
7:30 PM The Heard
9:00 PM ProbCause

RED BARN
4:30 PM Everyone Orchestra
1:00 AM The Motet
2:30 AM Big Gigantic and Friends featuring Cherub & Griz

April 30, 2015
Summer Camp Third Round of Artists Includes Widespread Panic, Krewella and more

Joining an already stacked lineup of artists at Summer Camp Music Festival at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Illinois May 21-24 will be Krewella, Widespread Panic, Violent Femmes, A-Track, Greensky Bluegrass and more! Tickets are on sale now at the festival’s website with a price increase tomorrow, so don’t delay in picking up your ticket!

The full announcement of third round artists includes: Krewella, Widespread Panic (two sets), Violent Femmes, A-Trak, Greensky Bluegrass, Kill The Noise, Nahko And Medicine For The People, Paper Diamond, Victor Wooten, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Break Science, Dumpstaphunk, Hermitude, Liquid Stranger, Louis Futon, Protohype, Sound Remedy, 28 North, The Accidendentals, American Babies, Citizun, Consider The Source, Daniel Bambaaata Marley, Jon Wayne And The Pain, Old Shoe, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Positive Vibr8ions, and Soap.

Check out the first and second round of artist announcements, as well as the Red Barn sets!

March 17, 2015