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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
Don’t care about anything besides String Cheese? Skip to the SCI review.
The sun finally decided to come out and stay out on day three of Electric Forest, prompting lots of activity around the festival grounds. With the addition of the many attendees who bough weekend passes, it started to get pretty crowded in Rothbury, MI.
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| Keller Williams - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
It’s always fun to see Keller during the day – his songs are light and silly, making for a goofy afternoon. In the crowd during his set, there were hoopers galore, people walking around on stilts, a couple giant puppets dancing their way across the field and giant Wayne Coyne-style beach balls bouncing over the crowd.
Highlights of his set included “Uncle Disney,” a song Keller put out with The Keels, a long, jammed-out “Kidney in a Cooler” that had a “Deep Elem Blues” tease in it and his final song, “Positive Reggae,” which had half the crowd lighting up.
Just like many of the artists at Electric Forest, Keller strayed at times from his typical style, making his bass more electronic and echoing it out over the crowd.
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| Big Gigantic - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
The show wasn’t as packed as it could have been because of the conflict, and festivalgoers were so confused by their appearance on the bill that they had to check the aging band out.
However, that didn’t stop Lettuce from throwing a wild dance party.
Post Cheese, Big Gigantic began the late-night electronic dance party. Saturday night would prove to be an all-star event. In addition to the sax-drums Colorado duo, Bassnectar, Shpongle and Skrillex threw battling dub dance parties.
Midway through Big G, the much-anticipated Bassnectar claimed the Ranch Arena as his own. Bassnectar’s crowd was packed, but his set deviated from his normal womp-fest. It seemed as if, like so many other artists, he was catering to the crowd and wanted to play some of his more accessible material.
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| Bassnectar - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
Shpongle continued the electronic evening with his trippy presentation of the Shpongletron. A 3-D face with projections of eyes and crazy designs decorated the middle of his three-tier stage making his show a true spectacle. His beats are a different type of funkier electro and make for some super-fun dancing. Highlights included the opener, “Divine Moments of Truth,” “Shpongleyes” and “My Head Feels Like a Frisbee.”
Closing out the night on the smaller Tripolee Stage was up-and-coming dubstep master Skrillex. By the end of his set, the field was completely packed as he continued to get everyone riled up – which then led to various dubstep blaring stations throughout the campsites for early morning after after-partying.
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| Shpongle - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
Saturday really defined the festival, displaying the two very different groups of people that made of Electric Forest 2011: the dubsteppers and the jam banders. At all points during the festival, there is someone playing that caters to theses two groups.
It’s also interesting how all of the artists have been catering to the crowd. All of the speculation about the varied lineup of Electric Forest seems to have made the artists adjust their playing slightly, making for very unique and, ultimately, awesome shows.
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| String Cheese Incident - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
After killing it the first night, String Cheese came back for round two to a much larger crowd. This time, Cheese took their time and didn’t come on until 8:15 p.m.
The introduction was a clever rhyme that summed up the festival perfectly when the emcee said they were here to “bust wide open the mainstream in that Sherwood Forest of a dream.”
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| String Cheese Incident - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
There were people walking through the crowd on stilts and girls hula hooping on platforms. All this during just the first song.
The first set had a solid bluegrass feel, yet was also a raging dance party. “Colorado Sky” went into a down-home jam that saw percussionist Jason Hann rocking the washboard.
Next up was “Little Hands,” a slower tune. But, Cheese picked it right back up, getting a little jazzy.
During “Sometimes a River,” during which the visualizer turned on, Michael Kang and Bill Nershi got into an intense, face-melting guitar shredding battle before dropping back into the soft melodies.
Shortly after was the first cover of the evening, King Crimson’s “21st Century Schitzoid Man” to close the set. It was such a rocking song that it startled the crowd when Cheese went off stage for their set break.
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
Much to the delight of the crowd, Cheese transitioned into Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” where Kang’s perfect vocals had the audience going wild. At the peak of the song, a hot air balloon lantern that was set off from the crowd and got stuck on the stage finally broke free, generating a huge cheer.
Cheese then pushed it even further by taking Zeppelin and breaking it down into a womp inspired, dub-style jam. It was the craziest Zeppelin cover I’ve ever seen.
Next was a classic Cheese anthem, “Land’s End.” This made the crowd relax a little until a giant, 50-foot long shark balloon was brought out over the middle of the crowd.
Then, a 100-foot racecar driver balloon joined the shark and remained for the rest of the show.
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
During the latter, intense laser lights turned on over the crowd making it look like an Disco Biscuits show rather than String Cheese. To close out the set, they slowed it down again with “Restless Wind.”
For an encore, Cheese played “Tore Up Over You,” during which they teased The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black.” Before even realizing what they were up to, it was over and Cheese went back into their “Desert Dawn” opener.
Cheese’s second night certainly lived up to expectations with a bigger, louder and more raucous crowd, The band clearly fed off the energy and put on a phenomenal show.
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A note from the photographer:
The sun finally came out and the Rothbury heat I so vividly remember was back with it. Out of all the days here, this was my most productive. I saw more bands, sat with more new people and made more new friends.
KELLER WILLIAMS:
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| Lettuce - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
I can respect that he can form and adjust to anyone that he needs to impress. And he did just that, impress!
The big surprise for me and everyone in attendance was when String Cheese Incident’s own Keith Moseley and Michael Kang joined Keller on a few songs, including, The Grateful Dead’s “Eyes of the World,” which was the first Dead song I heard all weekend. Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.
LETTUCE:
Nothing like getting some funk in the middle of the with some of the hottest musicians on the scene. This was the best Lettuce show I had seen in years and much hotter, of course
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| Lettuce - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
After finally showing up, he picked up his instrument and quickly jumped on board. Drummer Adam Deitch was a mad man and really fun to shoot. He’s truly a gifted talent that is thankfully willing to share with everyone. And we love it!
STRING CHEESE INCIDENT:
As the masses made there way to the main stage area, a man I didn’t recognize approached the microphone. He had written a poem – a poem about the forest and the life that exists here on the Rothbury property. It was spirited, honest and a great way to expose everyone to what was about to happen.
The set eased into the darkness with songs like "800 Years Ago," and the whole crowd swayed and danced as though we were in some sort of hippied-out ballroom dancing class.
As the set progressed, the air got thick and the fog rolled in. It felt like festival in the air.
BIG GIGANTIC:
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| Big Gigantic - Photo Credit: Jordan August |
BASSNECTAR:
The hype in the air was palpable, the extra lights were in place and the mob of bass heads were out in full force. It was the most crowded I had ever seen the Ranch Arena, but surprisingly not the loudest. His lights were fun, the crowd was rowdy and people couldn't seem to get enough.
- Jordan August
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The final day of Electric Forest will host Pretty Lights, Papadosio, EOTO, Railroad Earth and the last two-set performance by hosts String Cheese Incident
Stay tuned for more coverage from Electric Forest
