1st year – Estimated attendance: 30,000
2011 Lineup: String Cheese Incident (3 shows), Tiësto, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Stephen Marley, Kaskade, Shpongle Presents The Shpongletron Experience, REO Speed Wagon, Papadosio, Conspirator, Railroad Earth, Laidback Luke, JJ Grey and Mofro, Excision, The New Deal, EOTO, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Skrillex, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Toubab Krewe, Bonobo (DJ set), Beats Antique, Big Gigantic, Chiddy Bang, ESKMO, Lettuce, Eliot Lipp, Paper Diamond, The Infamous Stringdusters, Zion I and The Grouch, Greensky Bluegrass, Feed Me, The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, The Beautiful Girls (acoustic), 12th Planet, The Pimps of Joytime, Rubblebucket, Archnemesis, Emancipator, Break Science, The Macpodz, Vibesquad, Euforquestra, The Hood Internet, Lynx, Two Fresh, Kraz (DJ set), The Treasures, Steez, Superdre, Panic Bomber, Dragon Wagon, Galactic, The Railbirds, Zach Deputy, Kyle Hollingsworth Band, Future Rock, Dieselboy, That 1 Guy, Porter Robinson, Keys N Krates, Van Ghost, Lance Herbstrong, Cas Haley, Zedd, Michal Menert, The Werks
Festival Website: http://www.electricforestfestival.com/
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Electric Forest underwent some severe weather changes. Storm clouds rolled up as everyone was arriving Thursday afternoon and the skies opened up that night for one of the craziest and most severe lightning storms I've ever witnessed.
It stopped just in time for Lotus’ late-night set, but continued the next day well into the afternoon.
After Friday, however, the festival saw no more rain and was quite sunny and surprisingly hot for the remainder.
Five Highlights
Sherwood Forest. Ticket prices for Electric Forest were pretty high, and after walking through the forest, I can see why. Thousands of dollars were spent decorating the trees from top to bottom with crazy lights, projections, statues, art and even a large bell that any festivalgoer could ring and make echo out to the edges of the woods. It truly made the festival a unique and awesome experience.
Cheese's covers. Man, can this band play anything? Throughout the weekend String Cheese covered everyone from Led Zeppelin to The Allman Brothers Band to The Talking Heads to King Crimson to The Rolling Stones (you get the idea). Each one was perfect in its own way. The best of that group had to be "Kashmir." They took this rock anthem and added a little dubstep to the middle, really making it their own.
Giant balloons. During Cheese's Saturday night second set, a giant shark and racecar driver emerged from behind the stage and floated above the crowd where they hung out for the rest of the show. These huge spectacles got the crowd going crazy and added a quirky twist to an already incredible show.
Shpongle. Not a lot of people at Electric Forest seemed to know about Shpongle before the weekend, but his set was super strong, visually entertaining and fluid, attracting a large crowd and converting a lot of fans.
Jason Hann's rapping ability. During his EOTO set, the String Cheese percussionist proved he can spit with the best of them. Covering Lil' Wayne and Juvenile shockingly well, it put a different twist on EOTO's sound. Their choices in "covers" were random and made for a perfect fun closing for the festival.
There really weren't too many things wrong with this festival at all. Perhaps the worst thing was Thursday and Friday's weather, but the rain didn't last long and the lightning storms were exhilarating.
Another lowlight was Bonobo's last-minute cancellation, but there was plenty of other great music that made up for it.
Surprises
Overall performances. Every artist seemed to revel in the moment and put on a slightly different than usual set. Bassnectar wasn't as bass-heavy, Tiesto wasn't as top 40-heavy and even Keller Williams and String Cheese womped out from time to time.
Atmosphere
Electric Forest’s atmosphere was not at all what was expected for a mostly electronic festival. The crowd was varied, polite and clean. Even the cops were overly nice and seemed more amused by the people around them than upset about having to monitor crazy festival attendees.
Sometimes the searches at the gate would take a long time and get crowded, but it never seemed to get anyone too upset. People were there just to have a good time and no one wanted to cause any problems. Perhaps Sherwoord Forest really is enchanted.
Best Pictures
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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| Photo Credit: Jordan August |
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Check out our coverage of Electric Forest in our 2011 Festival Guide.
What did you think of Electric Forest? Let us know in the comments below
