Incredibly entertaining performances consumed SummerStage by all bands, each unique in their own sonic essence. Funky grooves, and a little shred, is a good way to describe their sounds. The rain didn’t stop the fans from enjoying this sold out show in Central Park. The weather looked promising as the skies cleared for Kikagaku Moyo, but soon came back half way through Khruangbin’s set.
Category: Photo Gallery
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In Focus: Kiss Jupiter Hall Goodbye With Revenge Tribute
The final show at Jupiter Hall, Albany, NY
On Friday night, June 14, Albany’s Jupiter Hall closed their stage for the last time; but before the darkness, the venue was alive with flashing lights, fans, great music – and snow!
Another great show by Chaos Collective and Joe Von Schnizel, The Jupiter Hall venue went out with a bang! The feeling at the show was not one of despair, but rather a celebration. Four bands played, but they seemed to have the hearts of all the prior bands within them, and they gave it all to the appreciative fans.
Revenge, a Kiss tribute band was the headliner, following an energetic lineup featuring: Frank Palangi band, The Hard Luck Souls, and Wasteland Junction.
Frank Palangi Frank Palangi, an indie rock songwriter, opened the show with his band. His deep, full voice is reminiscent of Dave Gahan, the lead singer of Depeche Mode. His range was amazing, ccompanied by Greg Auffreduo on drums. You can catch some of his upcoming shows at Abrews in Dracut, MA on June 23 or The Schenectady Armory Center, June 29. For a list of other events, see his website.
Setlist: Set Me Free, Live It Up, Intro, It’s All Right, Break These Chains, Metallica Mix, Turn It All Around, Purple Haze.
Chris Itani Next up were The Hard Luck Souls, an original blues-influenced hard rock band from the Capital District. Chris’ cool bluesy rock voice, led the tight, well-rehearsed group featuring Chris Itani on vocals, Brian Gentile on guitar, Mark Schmidt on drums and Dave Smassanow on bass. The setlist was from their 2017 CD, Closer to the Flame, and included: “You’re Not a Saint,” “In My Head,” “Izzy’s Thunder,” “Believer,” “Fly Away,” “Get Back,” “Better Keep On Running,” and “I’m Not Ashamed.”
You can catch The Hard Luck Souls at the Troy Farmers Market on June 29, 2019, Check their Facebook page for more times and locations. Check their Facebook page and sample the CD here.
Bob Messick, Bassist for Wasteland Junction The show kept moving along with Wasteland Junction, a hard rock band from Schenectady, NY. The sounds of Wasteland Junction kept fans on their feet. Bob Messick held it down on Bass, R.J. Fowler on drums, Chris Fowler on rhythm guitar and Cy Romleski venturing on lead guitar completed the group. You can see them on August 2, at Chrome in Waterford, NY with Revenge (Kiss tribute band).
Setlist: I Profit, Tooth in Nail, Ride the Lightning, Cold Sweat, Iron Fist, What Your Doin’, Stone Cold Crazy, Kill the King, Priest Medley.
David Smith The night closed after Revenge, the Kiss Tribute band swept up the stage with a wild performance. The music was loud and rocking. How fitting to have “Rock and Roll All Night” as the last song. The venue has died, but the memories of the music and the bands will rock, and roll all night. Thank you to all the entertainers, the event coordinators, promoters, staff and especially, the fans. Let’s keep local music alive.
Setlist: Detroit Rock City, Psycho Circus, Rise to It, Deuce, Lick it Up, A Million to One, War Machine, Hide Your Heart, Shock me, Love Gun, I was Made for Loving You, Black Diamond, and The last song of the set, the last song of the show, the last song played at Jupiter Hall, was Rock and Roll All Night!
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Dead and Company Ushers in Summer Season at SPAC: Weir and Mayer Make What’s Old New Again
Dead and Company ushered in the summer concert season at SPAC on Tuesday, June 18 with their bluesy, jazzy jam sessions that lasted late into the warm evening. Check out the setlist and photo gallery below.
Set 1: Feel Like a Stranger>Hell in a Bucket>Alabama Getaway, When I Paint My Masterpiece>It Must Have Been the Roses>Cumberland Blues>Cassidy>US Blues
Set 2: Here Comes Sunshine>Shakedown Street>Wharf Rat>Playing in the Band>Uncle John’s Band>DrumsSpace>Viola Lee Blues>Dear Prudence>Casey Jones
Encore: In the Midnight Hour>Playing in the Band
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Bonnaroo Opens Its Gates: A Melting Pot Embedded in Tennessee
Hello readers, I have finally made it back safely from my trip into the paranormal carnival that lives every year on the farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Yes my friends I am of course referring to the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, now a larger than life gathering of existence and culture from around the world. I first attended Bonnaroo many moons ago, as a wide-eyed teenager, and it has been an absolute pleasure to return under the NYS Music banner to report back to you on all my findings there. I arrived of course with some foggy memory of what life on the farm was like, but no blurry recollection from years ago could prepare me for my trip through the wormhole and into the fertile cradle of vivacity that is Bonnaroo. Allow me to spin you a yarn of my discoveries as I breathed in all that this country’s largest camping festival had to offer. After all, Bonnaroo is indeed the beautiful mecca of discovery. Come with me as I gaze back at my wonderful weekend.
Photo by Rob Roane In its seventeenth consecutive installment Bonnaroo hosted a wide array of artists across its numerous official stages and instalments, but it hosted so much more than music. I will of course spotlight some of the incredible sound I absorbed from the stages, and I will also describe some of the additional color qualities that really cement this festival in greatness. Firstly, it is important to establish here too that Bonnaroo is a fierce beast of an endurance test. For four days and nights I sought out to hear old favorites, discover new ones, and bask in the glow in the diversity of the festival, and I did just that. Let’s start with my arrival on the farm.
Thursday
Arriving at a festival is always a special feeling. Those familiar with it know that the Thursday night energy can be something fierce. Patrons are fueled by an anticipation that has been building for months. The evening comes quickly, as Thursday is the only real day in which travelers are not encumbered by heat or other tiring forces that set in once the weekend really gets rolling. As I arrived on the farm, I was immediately reminded how different this place was than anywhere else on earth. I cannot state this enough friends: arrival at Bonnaroo is absolutely electric. As soon as my size 12 touched the hallowed grounds, I was infected with the vibe. Electric neon jumped from every avenue. Sound took over. This year’s festival saw 80,000 patrons make land, the most the site has had on it in some time, and the party was indeed completely sold out. Due to traffic, I arrived slightly delayed, but to my delight, Thursday’s Grand Ole’ Opry set was broadcast on the AM radio. I listened to the sound of Nashville as I set up camp, curated by the great Old Crow Medicine Show. While the reception was a little fuzzy, it came through clearly enough to remind me that while Bonnaroo is the true melting pot of the festival circuit, it is embedded in its Tennessee roots, as it should be. I moved quickly at camp, and finally departed for “Centeroo,” the central hub of the festival and venue area. The Nude Party, a twang rock operation from Boone, NC already had the Thursday party in full swing at “That Tent.” This sextet of rockabilly troubadours delivered a sound that I can only describe as very full, and present. They’re a mountain party in a pressure cooker that is just waiting to break out. The packed house crowd ate their energy up and delivered it back to the stage in a to and fro dance. It was good to be back.
I trekked onto “This Tent” to get my first taste of indulgence in new discovery of the weekend. Being from NC myself, I was plenty familiar with The Nude Party, but the next group I saw came under several recommendations preceding the festival. The Comet Is Coming is a progressive jazz psych funk trio all the way from London. This trident of a unit comprised of drums, sax, and keys assured the crowd that the comet was for sure coming. Their party consisted of an ongoing flow of rhythm in continues breaks and time changes that saw each member take lead while the others followed. Their little game of follow the leader always culminated a massive crescendo of interplay, which saw each member bursting at the seams with tempo. The jams always came to a boil, leaving the crowd in frenzy after each and every take. With no real soloist element amongst the trio, this was a true sound build band. Completely unrelenting high energy, my first time with The Comet Is Coming was a microcosm for everything that is great about this festival. I discovered my first new favorite band of the weekend, I was filled with intrigue and inspiration, and I left fulfilled, but certainly still hungry for more. The night was still young. Back across the causeway my eyes darted from one luminescent structure to another. This gathering had a heartbeat, the pulse of which is unmatched. I followed my feet to the Magic City Hippies, a new age digital indie funk operation from the majestic city of Miami.
The Magic City Hippies are a true Bonnaroovian outlet. They lace some familiar samples over breaks and supplement them with catchy guitar riffs all while interacting with the crowd, which continued to grow under the loving cloak of “That Tent.” They’re all fun, all the time, the way a Thursday night at the farm should be. Let me tip my cap to the way this lineup was curated and slotted. Those behind the scheduling at Bonnaroo are absolute masters. As the electro funk party simmered, I got a chance to catch up with the Magic City Hippies and talk about how much it meant to be at Bonnaroo, amongst such great company.
Photo by Rob Roane NYS Music: Can you guys talk a little about what it means to bring your block party vibe from Miami all the way to the big stage here at Bonnaroo?
Magic City Hippies: Ah man, you know, we know we’re here for a reason, to deliver what we love to deliver and that’s music. We come from Miami, a city rich of course with Latino culture so we knew early on that if we were going to make music that it had to make people move. To come here to the big stage, I was cheesing a little bit up there. We used to play sweaty house parties on a Friday night, the ones where it would just be us and twenty people in a room with the fog machine is on way too long and just sweating it out with our friends. The Bonnaroo Beacon called us an alt-pop-party starter band and that’s kind of what we are. We’re blessed to be here.
Thursday night ‘Roo is the party starter, and the Magic City Hippies were right in place. The party was far from over though.
Before Space Jesus descended on the mass to hit the crowd with the first real dose of bass, I stopped in the Snake & Jakes’s Christmas Club Barn to take in the Kasvot Växt dance party. The Christmas Club Barn is exactly what it sounds like- a blinking beacon of Christmas decorations complete with a full service bar and DJ booth. This is what Bonnaroo is about, random themed destination installations in which patrons can simply immerse themselves in surrealism, a theme that would reappear throughout the weekend. Strangely, little to no Kasvot Växt, a fictional Scandinavian rock band created by Phish was actually played during this set. Nevertheless, my eyes still gaped wide with stimulation from this interactive candy cane land.
Photo by Rob Roane Space Jesus, a New York native, took the throne on “The Other,” Bonnaroo’s third largest stage. This stage once was a tent, but the cover has long since been removed to form a fully operational stage used mostly for bass music throughout the weekend. Space Jesus wasted no time getting right down to it, as the thump from the woofers got deeper and deeper. I could see immediately that this type of stuff is what many of the patrons craved and was what they came for. This is a snapshot of how Bonnaroo has changed in the years since I once frequented the farm. Not in a bad way though, the bass hawks are devout fans, will follow an artist like Space Jesus wherever he goes, and help establish the diversity in genre that allows for this festivals long term continuance and success. It was nice to see the mostly college aged crowd head banging in unison to the deep melodic womp of Space Jesus. This man came to get down (he came to get down), and being that there were no seats (nor would they be needed), the kids jumped around.
The clock now lingered past two in the morning as I sauntered back to camp, so filled with excitement and purpose. I had finally come home; after all it was this festival that sparked my real love for live music and the culture that surrounds it. One foot back onto the already beaten path leading into the massive campgrounds and another creature of the surreal approached me. A GIANT VW Beetle-like motorist comes cruising down the road, two stories tall, laden with go-go dancers and sewn in all kinds of light, this mechanized creature of the night is apparently a staple of the roadways at the festival, and made its first pass through the hordes. Conceived in some kind of post apocalyptic Mad Max comic book acid trip, this stuff happens only at Bonnaroo my friends, only at Bonnaroo.
Friday
I awoke Friday morning under what Bonnaroovians know to be very mild conditions. A place known for its unbearable heat, most of the weekend’s temperatures hovered in the mid seventies, a blessing for all those in attendance. While we did have to brave the heat and subsequent dust bowl circumstances would come later in the weekend, Friday proved to be quite pleasant. The first full day of the festival was now underway, I got my first chance to really hone in on what makes Bonnaroo standalone: diversity. In the prior night’s darkness and absolute loony-bin madness it was hard to make out the exact complexions of those sharing the crowd around me. In Friday’s daylight I was able to make a first real glance at this feature. I took in some fantastic acts on Friday, including the first dose of the weekend’s main headliner Phish, but first let me comment on the array of color at the farm in the form of its main attraction: the people.
Photo by Rob Roane On my morning walkabout I was immediately reminded and attracted to the real feature of Bonnaroo 2019. Bonnaroo is a culture sponge, a tapestry of different walks of life all sewn together under like-mindedness in music and community. There were so many different kinds of people at this festival. Bonnaroo really delivers in this regard. The population at the farm is a far more accurate depiction of the real world than an outsider would imagine. People of all races, genders, and ethnicities are strewn about at every nook and cranny of the grounds. It is beautiful. The diversity in the genres of the bands on the stages finally reflects the diversity of the crowd. Bonnaroo has evolved over time from its jam band central roots, to the diverse cultural quilt that it is now. Congrats to you Bonnaroo, and to you Bonnaroovians, for you are the true testament of the magic and greatness that lives at the farm. Now let’s see some music.
Photo by Rob Roane My first parlay at the “Which Stage,” Bonnaroo’s effective second stage, came with Nahko & Medicine for the People. Nahko brings this justice rich, earthy sound that is meant to inspire change and celebrate the planet. Nahko moved through his big poppers “Budding Trees” and “Black as Night” before I moved on to pop through Catfish and The Bottlemen, and a little of Parquet Courts. The former radiated this wild alt 90’s British rock, while the ladder boomed with New York flavor. Paul Vile (Jelloman) slung Jello shots into the crowd as Parquet Courts moved seamlessly through their post-punk catalogue. The New York sound was alive with Parquet Courts.
My first trip to the famed “What Stage,” the granddaddy of the Bonnaroo stages, I came for The Avett Brothers, a personal favorite at the festival, second only to the foursome from Vermont slated later in the evening. The Avetts smoothly laid into their set with “Vanity,” before turning the knobs to eleven with a nicely placed “Satan Pulls the Strings.” They queued up crowd pleasers “Ain’t No Man,” and “I Wish I Was,” before finishing strong on “Kick Drum Heart” and “No Hard Feelings.” It was great to see these North Carolina boys get their due yet again on arguably the biggest stage in the country. The sun began to sink low as the Avetts concluded, and I turned around backwards to face the mass and drink in this magnanimous movement.
Photo by Rob Roane I caught a handful of the GRiZ set before heading back to revamp for the evening, for it was an evening of Phish my friends. GRiZ is simply put: awesome. Not only was this one of the only sets of the weekend which saw a real melding of the ages in the crowd, it was of course full steam from the jump off to the time I departed. GRiZ bridges the gap between today’s jamtronica and yesterday’s mastery of horns and musicianship. The crowd at the “Which Stage” was a complete arsenal for GRiZ, and to this point in the weekend it was the biggest crowd I encountered. This is demonstrative of GRiZ’s appeal, and it’s no accident he was chosen to host the G.O.A.T. Superjam later in the night. More about that shortly, first, let’s talk a little Phish.
Phish returned to Manchester for their third romp on the farm, once again to deliver three sets in total. First, their late slot to face plant the crowd into rock. While many devout Phish fans bemoaned them for returning to ‘Roo to deliver presumably what they refer to as “a festival set,” not standard of a regular Phish show. One that does not involve lots of improv or creativity in the set list. A set that serves a purpose, to expose newer, younger fans to their music, while not going too far out and not getting so weird that the crowd is turned off in the same stroke. Well a big ole poo-poo to those fans, because guess what: Phish came on stage at Bonnaroo and tapped up a complete barnburner from start to finish. This was no average “festival set” people, this was a statement that the boys from Vermont were here, and they were not messing around. Yes, the crowd was notably younger than an average Phish show, but that’s a great thing. That ensures the longevity of the music.
Photo by Rob Roane I took in the set with Twitter’s Lil’ Nug, a young girl who has ascended to Phish fame after trolling the band a few months before, having no idea who they were, or why they were headlining Bonnaroo. A ripping “Carini”-> “Down With Disease” -> “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” took the opening stanza. The band moved nicely right along through “Everything’s Right” before truly introducing the farm to what space smelled like with “Mercury” -> “Tweezer” -> “2001”-> “Steam.” Welcome to the land of milk and honey my friends, Phish had arrived at Bonnaroo. Lil Nug got down, I got down, and we all got down. Find a complete set list at the bottom of this recap.
Bonnaroo boasts the largest genre web of any festival of its kind. There is nothing more exemplary of this GRiZ’s G.O.A.T.: A Music Legends SuperJam. The jam featured artists from all over the spectrum coming together for one late night exclamation point that pays homage to music legends of the past, without whom events like Bonnaroo with remain only figments of grandiose imagination. This year’s jam featured GRiZ bringing one all star after another, including Nahko, Rubblebucket, Sunsquabi, members of Walk The Moon, members of Trey Anastasio Band, and so many more. This ridiculous collection of talent did justice to those that came before them. Climaxes included “So What’Cha Want” (Beastie Boys), “Right Place Wrong Time” (Dr. John), “Respect” (Aretha Franklin), “1999” (Prince), “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (The Beatles), and a litany of other stellar renditions of fabulous canon classics. Find the complete set list below.
Of the Superjam, GRiZ said:
“The major point of this thing is to play a bunch of rad music and continue to re-tell stories of the great people who played music in the past.” He went on specifically to comment on Dr. John, who had passed on the week before.
“The definition of funk music, which he carved out a large piece of, gave way to re-inventing music however you feel. You don’t need to put things in a bo or follow any rules or worry about what your heart feels about the music- you can just let it go.”
Knees quaking, mind melting, I moseyed through Girl Talk for a second before hiking back into the jungle party that lay outside the walls of Centeroo. I was happy to see Girl Talk playing old mixes, reminiscent of when I discovered the blend DJ years before. Exiting a superb Friday night, I was reminded that like New York, Bonnaroo does not sleep.
Phish setlist: Carini -> Down with Disease -> Say it to Me S.A.N.T.O.S., Everything’s Right -> Mercury -> Tweezer -> Also Sprach Zarathustra -> Steam, Martian Monster, More -> Harry Hood -> Character Zero
E: Possum -> Tweezer Reprise
G.O.A.T.: A Music Legends Super Jam with GRiZ set list:
Miserlou (Dick Dale) (Core Band), So What’Cha Want (Beastie Boys) (GRANT INTRO), Right Place Wrong Time (Dr. John) (Core Band), Could You Be Loved (Bob Marley) (Nahko, Nattali Rize), This Land Is Your Land (Sharon Jones) (Deva Mahal), Piece of My Heart (Janis Joplin) (Jennifer Hartswick), Valarie (Amy Winehouse) (Jennifer Hartswick), Respect (Aretha Franklin) (Chrishira Perrier), 1999 (Prince) (K. Flay, Chrishira Perrier), Mary Jane (Rick James) (Chrishira Perrier), DANG! (Mac Miller) (PROBCAUSE, Chrishira Perrier), Grinding All My Love (Nipsy Hussle) (PROBCAUSE), Lithium (Nirvana) (K. Flay), What I Got (Sublime) (GRiZ, MUZZY BEARR), Blackhole Sun (Soundgarden) (Linsay Ell), While My Guitar Gently Weeps (The Beatles) (Linsay Ell), Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) (HOBO JOHNSON, RKS BASS & DRUMS), Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke) (SAM MELO, Jennifer Hartswick, Linsay Ell), Wake Me Up (Avicii) (NOAH KAHAN, Music City Mystique Drumline), Drumline Interlude (Music City Mystique Drumline), We Will Rock You (Queen) (Walk The Moon, Music City Mystique Drumline), Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie) (Walk The Moon, Rubblebucket), Let’s Dance (David Bowie) (Rubblebucket, BLACKSTAR BAND), Life On Mars? (David Bowie) (Rubblebucket) (BLACKSTAR BAND), Freedom! ‘90” (George Michael) (Deva Mahal, MUZZY BEARR, Chrishira Perrier).
*Song (Original Artist) (Lead Performer)
Stay tuned for Part 2 of NYS Music’s Bonnaroo coverage!
Peace flag 
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In Focus: Inaugural Phish Studies Conference and Phish in the PNW Exhibit
Below The Moss Forgotten: Phish in the Pacific Northwest was a three-day pop-up museum exhibit presented by The Phishsonian Institute and PhanArt, recently held in the Horizon Lounge at Oregon State University’s Memorial Union. Held during the inaugural Phish Studies Conference, the exhibit represented shows from the band’s PNW debut in Ashland in 1991 to the band’s recent run at the Gorge in 2018.
Presented by Alex Grosby of the Phishsonian and Pete Mason of PhanArt, immense thanks is owed to the Oregon State School of History, Philosophy, and Religion, OSU Theatre, and the Benton County Historical Society for their strong support and all of the conference attendees for their kind words and enthusiasm for this inaugural project.
Private collectors and numerous artists contributed works to this vision to bring it to life. The exhibit made the Memorial Union a welcoming environment for scholarship and added a level of experience to the event. We hope to continue to present Phish exhibits in the near future. You can revisit the exhibit by viewing the slideshow below.
Check out more photos from the Phish Studies Conference by Derek Finholt and visit Phish.net for an in depth recap of the conference by Jnan A. Blau.
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In Focus: O.A.R. Feel Home at Pier 17
O.A.R. is in the beginning stages of their 2019 summer tour, a thirty-plus date run set to make stops all across the country. On Tuesday June 11, the band made its way to New York City metro area at the beautiful South Street Seaport venue, Pier 17. The rooftop stage nestled in the skyline of the city, backdropped by the Brooklyn Bridge, was a setting for an intimate performance. A twenty-four song setlist included new tracks, “Knocking at Your Door” and “OH MY!,” as well as O.A.R. staples “About Mr. Brown” and “I Feel Home.” The band is in a great place and it shows through the music, and an amazing energy from the crowd. Pier 17 made a great omen, a send-off for The Mighty O.A.R.
Setlist: Dangerous Connection, About Mr. Brown, Living in the End, Something Coming Over, Fire, Black Rock, Place to Hide, Knocking at Your Door, Shattered (Turn the Car Around), Are You For Real, Love and Memories, About and Hour Ago, I Feel Home, Oh My, Night Shift> Stir It Up, Heaven, Miss You All The Time, That Was a Crazy Game of Poker, Hey Girl, All Because of You, This Town, City on Down.
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In Focus: Wolfmother Rock Irving Plaza
Wolfmother brought their fast-paced hard rock to the famed Irving Plaza on Monday, June 10. Andrew Stockdale lead the Australian outfit through a full set list of the band’s famed hits. His band now includes former member of The Vines, drummer Hamish Rosser, and bassist Brad Heald. Their camaraderie really shows in the flow and style of the band and compliments Stockdale’s heavy, raunchy, psychedelic Gibson SG sound. From hits “Woman” to the encore, “Joker & The Thief,” Wolfmother reminds you how awesome a good rock show can be.
Setlist: Victorious, White Unicorn, Colossal, Woman, New Moon Rising, Apple Tree, Mind’s Eye, Dimension, California Queen, Vagabond, Pyramid, Gypsy Caravan
Encore: Joker & The Theif
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In Focus: Jupiter Hall Growls With Thunderous Metal
After the Crossgates Mall crowd at Jupiter Hall in Albany dissipated, the dark metal corridors echoed with the growling sounds of screams from beyond.
The Chaos Collective, an upstate live entertainment group, and event manager Joe Vonschinzel, brought the areas darkest, loudest, most theatrical death and black metal bands together for what will, unfortunately, be one of the venue’s last shows.
As you walked to the closed doors and slowly opened them, you could see blue and white light pulsating from the stage. The screams and drums, mixed with wailing deep guitars, made one feel as though they were entering another world, another dimension. The bands put it all out there for the fans, and the fans loved every thunderous moment.
The metal lineup for the night at Jupiter Hall was: Vile Tyrant, Goatmass, Scavengers, Organ Harvest, Faced518. Jupiter Hall will have their last show next weekend, June 14, with Revenge, a non-make up Kiss tribute, Frank Palangi, The Hard Luck Souls, and Wasteland Junction.
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In Focus: Governors Ball 2019
This past weekend, Randall’s Island played host to the 2019 Governors Ball Music Festival. The festival, in its ninth year, featured many of the hottest musical acts of today with performances by Tyler the Creator, Florence and The Machine, Nas, Lily Allen, Lil Wayne, The 1975 and many more of today’s most popular musical acts. An amazing first two days set the stage for a full final day of music, with the home town favorites The Strokes closing out the 2019 edition of the New York City music festival. But Mother Nature had other plans as impending inclement weather forced a delayed gate opening and, eventually, thunderstorms forced the cancelation of the rest of the day including The Strokes’ headlining set.
A full statement from festival organizers can be found here.
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Summer Camp: Wet, Hot, Dreamy American Summer
It rained, it scorched, a few artists had to cancel due to travel issues, but that did not stop Summer Camp from being an absolute blast! A festival full of ups and downs but mostly a lot of awesome, jaw-dropping moments of improvisation and collaboration, beauty, artistry, community, and fun.
Summer Camp, what a line up! Many sets of Umphrey’s Mcgee, moe., plus Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Lotus, STS9, Gramatik, Space Jesus, Papadosio, and so so many more! Unfortunately not all major acts performed due to various issues, some weather related – Space Jesus, Govinda, Blackstar, & Rebelution were some of the acts that were unable to perform.
moe. in full bubble mode. The pre party did not look so promising on Wednesday night. In a nearby arcade bar in Peoria, just twenty minutes outside the festival, the sky was black and the lighting fierce. Tornado warnings broke up the chill vibe of the bar as it interrupted old hits like “Electric Feel” by MGMT.
But alas the rain stopped, as it always does. The sun came out and the patrons lined up at the entrance. God bless the express lane for media and the friendly folk who pointed out that media does not have to wait over an hour in the sun just to have their items inspected.
Umphrey’s McGee at the Sunshine stage. We’ll miss you, Jefferson Waful. (UM lighting designer to retire from touring at end of year). Jay Blakesburg was directing the video team and filming patrons as they entered. The pre party featured some amazing acts like STS9, EOTO, Keller Williams, & Spafford, plus late night by Umphrey’s & Here Come The Mummies. Now that’s how you kick off a festival!
Spafford played an incredible “All In” as well as “The Reprise” amongst their shred-filled set. Umphrey’s Mcgee played some strong first sets including songs like “Andy’s Last Beer” and “Syncopated Strangers.” STS9’s ‘Axe The Cables’ set was filled with groove including a masterful “Mischief of a Sleepwalker” > “New Dawn New Day” > “Mischief of a Sleepwalker .”
Taz sits in with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong at the Moonshine Stage. Friday started off with Brandon “Taz” Niederauer. Now this kid can shred. “Fire on the Mountain” > “BlackBird” was phenomenal, heart touching, and ever so appropriate. Keller Williams’ Pettygrass with the Hillbenders was cancelled due to some lighting, a storm was coming that never came. Music is back on! moe., Exmag, Spafford, Karl Denson, Here Come The Mummies, Ghost Light (Tommy Hamilton still has the tape on his guitar from Shpongle Live Red Rocks!) and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong were all happy to oblige.
Since Rebelution was cancelled, moe. & Pigeons Playing Ping Pong put together a set. At first it was moe. with Jeremy Schon, but what happened next was really impressive. While playing the same song (“Cissy Strut” by The Meters), members of moe. on stage switched with the Pigeons guys backstage, switching bands while maintaining the same jam ! Crazy impressive. Other songs played included “Get Back” by The Beatles, “Deal”, and “Sympathy For The Devil” by The Rolling Stones.
Aqueous at the Moonshine Stage. Umphrey’s McGee performed Anchor Drops in its entirety during their evening set, filled with virtuoso shredding and improvisation.
Some heavy hitting bass music on Friday by Zeds Dead, Tokimonsta, Flux Pavilion was followed by Ryan Stasik’s side project Doom Flamingo at the Campfire Stage who are definitely an act worth seeing.
Mihali sits in with Big Gigantic at the Sunshine Stage. Saturday looked very promising, especially during the epic Big Gigantic set with an unexpected sit in by Mihali of Twiddle. But alas, during Umphrey’s set, the rain came in and washed it all away, along with several sets including those of Space Jesus & Manic Focus.
Saturday also featured amazing performances by Chromeo Live, Cory Wong of Vulfpeck, Blues Traveler with a sit in Mihali of Twiddle and a separate one from Al Schnier of moe. , Andy Frasco with a sit in from Gumby himself! (by sit in what is meant is that Andy invited someone in a Gumby suit from the crowd to dance on stage as he shoved mushrooms in the costume’s mouth and finished Gumby off with his band members with an implied circle jerk).
Cory Wong at the Moonshine Stage. So spirits were a little low Saturday night in the rain. Some major acts had gotten cancelled and the rain was not letting up. But indoor stages were still on! lespecial saved the day. Space Jesus did not get to play but he was rocking out to lespecial for the entirety of the set front row. With a little support from ‘his uncle,’ Luke Bemand and the lespecial boys crushed the late night Saturday set including the lespecial heavy hitter “Fruit Wolf Dance.” All those folks who may have been somewhere else were now packed and raging lespecial. Their tight, hard rock, danceable groove was perfect for this night. What better Primus song to play after a torrential rain storm… My name is mud!
lespecial at The Soulshine Tent. Sunday funday. Never miss a Sunday show right? Chris Robinson Brotherhood was in the house, Oteil & Friends, Eric Krasno, Papadosio, The Werks, Ben Harper… the jam was strong with this day.
Aqueous put on a particularly solid set to kick off the day featuring a live debut of “APunk” by Vampire Weekend. Umphrey’s, bringing the heat after having one of their Saturday night sets rained out, included “Whitehouse Road” by Tyler Childers with a special sit in from Arlo McKinley and Allie Kral from Yonder Mountain String Band. Umphrey’s McGee closed up their set with “Outshined” by Soundgarden.
Neal Casal, Weedie Braimah, and Oteil Burbridge of Oteil & Friends at The Moonshine Stage. Oteil & Krasno in the VIP Lounge was beautiful, featuring masterful renditions of Dead songs such as “Help On The Way.” Oteil & Friends featured Jeff Chimenti, Krasno, Neal Casal, Weedie Braimah, John Kimock, and Alfreda Gerald. Now that was a set filled with such tight, progressive jams. It really flowed, had a direction, and was sonically impressive.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood put on an incredible set with songs like “Rare Birds” and “Venus In Chrome” was played with precision and whole lot of energy.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood at the Sunshine Stage. moe. busted out some live debut covers including “Rebell Yell” & “Turning Japanese.” This set featured masterful, psychedelic stage lighting complete with UV reacting bubbles!
“Loving Cup” by The Rolling Stones was played at least twice that day by different bands, so that should tell you what kind of Sunday it was. A fun one. It was a Sunday Funday! Ben Harper & The Innocent Nocturnals proved to be intimate, full of masterful blues, and virtuoso musicianship including a Buddy Miles cover, “Them Changes.”
Ben Harper & The Innocent Nocturnals at the Sunshine Stage. Lotus played a particularly awesome set, including a particularly groovey “Eats The light.” It flowed very well and people danced from the very first note until the end of the encore. Lotus is a nice happy medium between jam and electronica, where they can satisfy musical preferences of different tastes with the same song. Someone who loves to hear someone play guitar can appreciate their guitar playing, but someone who just wants to dance to a catchy beat can also do so at Lotus.
Summer Camp had some heavy hitting bass music to close out the festival featuring Gramatik, Squnto, & Borgore. Borgore dropped old classic dance songs that everyone knew like “Sandstorm.”
Mike Rempel of Lotus at the Sunshine Stage. Overall, Summer Camp was a success! Thousands of strangers gathered to celebrate freedom, music, and art. Summer Camp is a magical place full of amazing people, incredible music, inspiring art, and a thriving community that is held together by the love of music.
