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Whoa! Thursday truly was a pre-party rager. Getting into Summer Camp was very smooth and everyone was clearly ready to party since the moment their cars entered the grounds. There was a nice mist flowing in when I first arrived in line, and it felt super refreshing and actually got me really pumped up! Every time the sun started peaking, everyone in line started getting rowdy.
My crew set up camp really fast in an awesome spot in the woods, and I was eager to go see some music with some awesome friends! I was able to catch a glimpse of Cosby Sweater on the Campfire stage and they killed it. My main goal Thursday night was to see Cornmeal since it would be my last time to see Allie play on stage and they killed it! Looking around, everyone in the whole crowd was dancing away with nothing but smiles. I was very happy that I was able to see them as that line up one last time. Right when Cornmeal ended, I wondered into the Vibe Tent and caught Positive Vibra8tions, and they killed it. I love being able to catch artists I have never heard of before, and even more so when they kill it!
Digital Tape Machine was up next and they are another act I have been waiting to see for a long time and they truly were awesome. Their set kept evolving and by the end it kept me wanting more. They really got the crowd pumped up for the weekend to come! This is the reason I love music festivals, and especially Summer Camp! You just keep going back and forth between awesome music and the stages are just minutes walk.
I went into the Red Barn at 11 to check it out in there and it was for sure a party. Minnesota killed it! He really had everyone going crazy in there, it was a rager. I love UV Hippo and was so pumped to catch them. The first time I saw them, I was hooked. They really kill it in the festival scene, and was so pumped to see them rage the Vibe Tent.
It was time for bed after that. It was an awesome first day of Summer Camp and I’m so excited for the awesome music to come. Friday is going to be a blast, announcing Moe and the awesome music to come. I’m really looking forward to Yonder, STS9, and Big Gigantic to name a few.
Kyle Hess
2013 Summer Camp Counselor
So I made it through Thursday night and it was amazing to say the least. I started off the night at Roster McCabe which just killed it. Majorly killed it, I woke up in a morgue this morning they killed it so hard. They did a cover of Daft Punk’s new single “Get Lucky”. When they started the first notes of “Get Lucky” my mind immediately jumped to that song, Though I wasn’t sure if I’d be so lucky. Sure enough what laid ahead was one of the best covers of that song I have heard yet.
After that we headed over to Digital Tape Machine. Also an amazing show. The energy in the crowd was prevalent. You couldn’t help but breaking into dance. I barely got any good shots of the show, dancing came as a priority at this one. I still feel the energy of it into the next morning. Though the show wasn’t done yet, we still had one show of the night to go to.
The last show that I hit up was Minnesota. This one man show is one that will put hair on your chest. He fuses an electronic feel with an acoustic jam. It was mind blowing. A perfect way to finish the night. Everytime I see this gentlemen her has such a strong stage presence, will be sure you to leave you smiling
Today I’m finishing up this blog, cutting it very close to Moe’s first set. Being the huge Moe-ron I am I am itching to get over there.
Let’s Make A Difference this year at Scamp…let your SOULSHINE.
We are a mere 3 days away from raging with friends and some of your favorite bands. Let that sink into your collective craniums for a minute. Schedules are being filled out via Summer Camp Music Festival’s mobile app. Last second runs to general stores to secure camping equipment and the necessary items to make a grand totem that will make you stick out amongst the throngs of folks jammin to TAB come Sunday. In short…it’s about to be ON in Chillicothe and the weather is looking like it will be perfect. Mid 70′s no freak storms to make a mud pit near Moonshine. Tis gonna be epic…
But you know something that most festival attendees miss out on simply because they are chilling at their camp site eating a banana (which is portable by the way)? The opportunity to see Everyone Orchestra featuring Victor Wooten, Al Schnier, Joel Cummins, Vinnie Amico, Allie Kral, Mike Dillon, Roosevelt Collier, conductor Matt Butler and more.
In order to make sure you aren’t turned away in what each year is a great performance at the Red Barn make sure to find your Treasure Hunt card on the back page of the program to earn your entry into this year’s very special Make a Difference Everyone Orchestra set!
Arrgh matey…get your booty in gear and do a few things to Make A Difference…it’ll be worth it’s weight in gold come Sunday!
It’s really easy. Participate in helping inform yourself about efforts to keep our planet healthy, participate in a yoga or hooping workshop, or simply bring an old cell phone to recycle. Then make sure a Make A Difference Staff member punches your card. 3 is the magic number to get your hot little hands on a sweet prize. Don’t be that person turned away Sunday…be the person that is in the know and spread the word to your fellow campers.
Catch Nick and Dave around SCamp ’13
Preparing for another ritualistic venture to Three Sisters Park; I can’t keep myself from reminiscing about last year. The whole experience was crazy, everything about it – from deciding to enter and making the video to announcing moe.’s first set. Entering the Camp Counselor 2012 Contest wasn’t even my idea to begin with – my friend randomly suggested it and I thought to myself “why not?” In all honesty I NEVER expected to win when I sent in my original video. It didn’t help that I emailed it merely two hours before the deadline would turn any chances of it happening to zero.
Summer Camp had always been special to me for many reasons – Summer Camp was not only the first festival I ever went to, but it was also the one weekend of the year which I could spend with my old best friends from college. When I, rather incredulously, realized I made the first round of candidates the significance and meaning of the prize began to actualize. I realized that winning wasn’t just going to be sweet because of the prizes, but because I was going to have the opportunity to experience unique moments that are literally, and as David Byrne’s would say, “once in a lifetime.”
The competition was pretty fierce. I was up against some great people; they all were smart, interesting and suited for the role. Luckily I had some good friends on my team and we fought harder and harder on each round. By the time it came down to the final three I even had my family in South America voting and telling their friends to vote as well. When the announcement was made and I read on the Facebook post that I won, I had to re-read it several times. It was exciting – I was going to get to meet and announce moe., interview some great people, and sit side stage for some great shows; the anticipation began to grow.
Within a few weeks I was finally on the trip to Peoria to be the 2012 Summer Camp Counselor. As soon as we put that rockstar parking pass on the rearview mirror and parked right next to the VIP entrance, I knew that weekend was going to be epic. Out of the many years of attendance, last year was the first time I had someone drive up to the car in a golf cart and take us (and our bags) up to our campsite. For the first time out of the many years of attendance I walked up to the backstage entrance behind the moonshine stage and demonstrated my “I can go back here pass.” I was nervous and terrified because I was going to announce moe.’s first set in about half an hour. Then I see Rob sitting in a golf cart, chillin behind his black sunglasses and he can see I’m nervous and I tell him why. “Oh you’ll be fine, it’s easy.” I smiled and said “Yeah, coming from someone who has just a bit more experience…”
The entire weekend was a blur of hectic sweetness. I couldn’t believe that suddenly it was Sunday. In those four days I had gotten to watch moe., Gigantic Underground Conspiracy and Umphrey’s sidestage. I got to partake in Wavy Dave’s birthday festivities and watch his cake melt in the 100 degree weather. I sat and spoke to Vinnie who gave me some drums instruction. I had the opportunity to interview the members of Gigantic Underground Conspiracy, G. Love, Wavy Dave and Kinetix. Umphrey’s signed their names to a poster which now hangs on my wall. The best moments however, were those unscheduled interactions with the people that make the festival what it is –getting insights and wisdom from Vinnie and Rob, singing Happy Birthday to Wavy Dave, talking to Ian, Rex, Holly, Danny, Graham, Nick, the Counselors in Training and the regular festival attendees who posed for pictures and gave me their personal take on the event.
Being Camp Counselor also experienced the festival in completely new way; in my effort to capture the energy of the festival, I met more people, took more pictures, and saw more varied bands than any other year. Looking back on it all I wish I had done even more. There is no real way you can prepare for the experience however, and it all happens so fast there isn’t much time to stop and plan. I wish I could relive the entire experience with the experience of it under my belt, but I can’t. All I can do is sit and reminisce about the wonderful 2012 Summer Camp weekend and smile knowing that it all actually happened.
It could happen to you too…YOU could be one of the few people on this Earth who get to live Summer Camp in this exceptional way…but you will never know unless you try.
Congrats to Kyle Hess, Camp Counselor 2013!!
For the rest of you: Start thinking of your 2014 Camp Counselor Video!!
See you soon!!
Maria
YMSB at Canopy Club (photo: Michael Kaiz Photojournalism)
Can you believe Summer Camp 2013 is ONLY 44 days away? What do you think of the lineup the crew put together this year? Pretty amazeballs if you ask me. The festival mainstays of moe. & Umphrey’s are again front and center holding down headlining spots. But they share some pretty rarified company! The Wood Brothers and The Wailers were late adds that pleased many a camper. The only thing left to figure out is where everyone will be slotted with other great acts like Trey, Thievery Corporation, STS9, Avett Brothers, and YMSB.
The Wood Brothers (photo Michael Kaiz Photojournalism)
photo Michael Kaiz Photojournalism
Thievery Corporation is gonna rock the red barn late night.
I caught Thievery’s NYE show out in Vail as the ball dropped and we rang in 2013 at Dobson Ice Arena. Their mix of house electronic beats along side a live band with amazing female and male vocalists has been heard around the DC area for years. I’m thinking that the late night set with ZEDS DEAD is going to easily rival last years by Pretty Lights. Be sure to get your tickets to the RED BARN late nights while you still can. If not don’t worry they’ll have another set placed strategically throughout the awesome weekend at Three Sisters Park.
Lebanese Blond by Thievery…calling it for one of their sets.
What sort of collaborations will we see this year at Camp? Will Trey get down with moe.? Will Yonder and Cornmeal team up? These are the questions that get people excited, and with 44 DAYS to go…let your imagination run wild.
Keller and Al team up and heat up Moonshine stage.
Speaking of who is bringing rage sticks or totems this year? Last year saw some pretty unique creations, and I for one am gonna be scouting for the famous “STOP & GET DOWN” sign along with a host of others. I may give out prizes so be on the lookout for me and when you do see me throw up your best “rage face” for the picture.
This sign is my favorite…FGC likey it a lot too!
Flowers for Janis
I’m really thankful that this year i’ll have time in addition to covering the festival to hang with my band pals Family Groove Company, Old Shoe, Henhouse Prowlers, Afternoon Moon, Chicago Farmer, The Giving Tree Band, The Ragbirds, and Zmick. Friends are what makes the festival experience that much more special and its been almost a year since I hung out with my fellow CIT friends and Camp Counselor from last year. That’s a year TOO long for sure.
Part of last year’s Camp Counselor/CIT crew & our fearless director.
Let’s see besides seeing Widespread Panic this weekend at UIC. I’m heading out west on tour with Old Shoe as they play a few Colorado dates at the end of April. If you are around Fort Collins (4/17), Steamboat Springs (4/18), Denver (4/19), or Nederland (4/20) make sure you look up where they are playing on that Facebook thing and get on down to check them out pre SC2013! I’ll even share a tasty local beverage with you (if you are of age of course). Until we meet again at Camp keep your eyes peeled for the schedule and when its released start planning your romp through Three Sisters cause a good time starts with a good plan!
Allie Kral and FGC
Saturdays are always some of the biggest days at Summer Camp. Almost everyone has had time to get to the festival and is out ready to rage in full force. Saturday was HOT! The mercury hit around 95 degrees but the bands were even hotter. I took the heat with chicken hat on and got to see quite a few bands. Here is a little bit of a preview of my day.
Family Groove Company
Kids These Days
Positive Vibr8tions
Ultraviolet Hippopotamus
Umphrey’s x2
Moe
Brain Damaged Eggman
Sun Stereo recreating the Beatles
Like yesterday, I will give you a brief synopsis of what where some of my high points of the day.
The first band that blew me completely away was a band I first heard within the last six months. The band is called Kids These Days and they are out of Chicago. The band is made out of young rockers that are barely out of high school, but don’t let that fool you. They have more talent and soul than people twice their age. Kids these Days has a very original sound I would call a sweet blend of funk, blues, jazz, soul, and hip hop. All 7 members of the band owned the stage the moment they set foot out there bringing an energy level that could boil blood. One of the things that first drew me to the band was the absolutely stunning voice of Macie Stewart who also plays keys, but I also have love for the horn section made up of Nico Segal on trumpet and J.P. Floyd on trombone. The horns provide that jazzy icing on the cake that brings all the parts in sync. They also function as “hype men” pumping up the crown and having a good time on stage. I love rock and roll but my roots are in the blues which is why I love to see Liam Cunningham up there ripping on blues guitar. I hope to see much more of these guys in the future.
The next show will be on the top of many Scampers best of list for 2012. The Brain Damaged Eggmen were formed from Jake, Kris, and Brendan from Umphrey’s, and Marc and Aron from Disco Biscuits. The two groups seamlessly blended their styles to form what 2011 Camp Counselor Nick Stock called Disco McGee. The sound was a dancy blend of Disco Biscuits groove and gut-punching Umphrey’s rock. They played many of my favorite songs including Pink Floyd’s “Fearless.” I was lucky enough to witness Umphrey’s cover this song in Dekalb in 2007 and was excited to see it busted out again.
After the late night in the Red Barn I was wanting to keep the Beatles vibe rolling and also wanted to kick back and relax so I headed towards the Soulshine tent to see Sun Stereo recreating the Beatles. I have never seen these guys before and was glad to see that they are a home grown act hailing from Urbana, IL. They came out in full force complete with British accents that could fool a true Brit.
I also got to take some time between sets to check out the Field Day events and even participate in dodgeball. I regret to inform you that I am not very good at Dodgeball and got out almost immediately, but I had a lot of fun. If you have a competitive spirit the field day events are a great way to meet new people that you will be able to rage with at future festivals. It is also a great way to partake in the childlike fun of Summer Camp.
One more day left Scampers. It is going to be a great one, hold on to it while you can because you are going to miss it Monday. As always Rage Responsibly!
Sooo….the time has come and you’re deciding how you want to spend your sweltering, sexy summer months. You want maragaritas served to you in a disco hoodie with your shiz playing center stage right? Well who the hell doesn’t. Forget the hokey pokey, THAT’S what it’s all about! So, with all of the insane line-up releases coming through these days, why take the drive to out to the woods in ill-town to discover just what Scamp is all about? I’ll give you five killer reasons as a season two scamper: (ya’ll ready?)
- 6am Kickball with Ryan Stasik– ummm yep….it happens at breathtaking summa luva camp. All hungover with elbows and last nights disco shorts and pasties flying. It’s a pretty unforgettable experience….whether you can see well enough to actually kick the ball or not!
- Scamp family– Every festival has their crew, their long-awaited vibe that show up regardless of the year’s strife and shows up with lawn chairs, fire pits, glow in the dark panda bear hats and an extra blanket for you to crash on. There truly is no family like the scamp family (I’m pretty sure a really kick ass music video could be made to that melody this year…oooh)
- Thievery Corporation…yah THIVERY is bringing their ambiant funk chillaxness to us! No further explanation needed…
- Stepping it up to make it a truly green festy scene– We all love our mother right? And it’s more and more important that we take care of her, even when we’re gettin’ it on the flo’ to moe, yah? With bio-diesel generators, color-coded recycling for compost and garbage, and off-setting carbon emission, Summa’ Camp is keeping it real right along with us!
- If you could spend a weekend seeing a lil’ Big Boi sexiness followed by cream your face UM love and sit down and groove all in it with moe. would you? Don’t even try to say no! You crazy! And aint nobody got time for that! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFEoMO0pc7k
Monday’s don’t always have to be a drag, so we decided to extend the Advanced 3-day ticket price through midnight CST tonight (Monday, March 4th). Get your tickets today and save some money before the prices goes up!
http://summercampfestival.com/tickets/
It’s that mushy gushy time of year again, everyone’s favorite played-out Hallmark holiday filled with stuffed guerillas that sing Ray Charles songs, little boxes of Whitman’s Chocolates, candles, bubble-baths…you know what I’m talking about. And if all of those things make you want to barf as much as they do me, then maybe you’ll consider doing something a little less traditional and skip the $25 ahi tuna and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Pull out yer dancing shoes and hop in the car for a lil’ romantic east coast getaway with Summer Camp warriors and veterans moe. in Raleigh, NC this year! (hell, and bring the chocolate covered strawberries too)! What would possibly make your lover’s soul shine and cheeks glow more than a night of full-on, feel-good boogyin together!
That’s my plan this year. Funny story: While attending to official Summer Camp Counselor biz-nass at last year’s fest, I met an amazing guy named Billy Ray who lives in Raleigh, NC and is a die-hard moe. fan! I mean, he’s seen them over 100 times now! Seriously! They even gave him a shout out and did a little song and dance at his 100th! Since I live in Asheville, NC, we’ve actually hung out a few times since Scamp (once to catch moe. in Nashville, TN of course)! So, when he told me that his all time favorite jam gods were going to be rippin’ in Raleigh for V-Day, I was like, “Man, that’s a dream come true right there.” That would be like Umphrey’s McGee playing in my own back yard on my birthday 
And don’t you fret your sweet little heart if you can’t make it out on a Thursday night because they’re following that show up with a night in Charlotte, NC on Friday then on to rage in Georgia the Saturday after. Of course, you can catch the official schedule here: http://moe.org/tour They’ve been killing it lately so don’t wait all the way ’til Scamp 2013 (even though it’s not far away) to get down with these guys. As my friend Billy Ray would say, “Bam!” (aka: Doooo it)
Hope to see you lovers, spinners, freaks and moe-rons at the show!
One story I have is from last year when they gave us the raffle tickets to give away. I made people do some ridiculous things for those tickets. I asked one guy bring to me 30 cigarette butts for one another girl that was camped close by I asked her to clean all the trash off the ground around her camp for a ticket. She did and brought back WAY more trash than I expected. I also gave away a winning ticket! The girl I gave it to even came back and found me to thank me and let me know how grateful she was. Also I some how always find amazing interesting things in the trash when I do my sorting shift. The first year I volunteered I found $19 and some Summer Camp shirts! And last year I found some moe. CDs and posters! I kindly gave away one of the CD and posters to this guy I was working with (cant remember his name).
Overall I have had some AMAZING experiences volunteering and I plan on doing it again this year because its just so much fun. Thank you for giving all the people who cant really afford to go a chance to be there and have so much fun at the greatest music festival around! O! And thank you for the Everyone Orchestra! That was the highlight of my first year at Summer Camp! I do plan on coming back as a volunteer again this year in full force. I have been extra green lately and I’m looking forward to giving back to the people and keeping Summer Camp clean so we can do it again next year. I don’t have many pictures of me while I was working. But I do have one picture of me in a “photo booth”. It was right next to me while I was working and the guy running it kept giving me free things because he liked what I was doing for the festival. Once again thank you SO much for giving me and other people like me the chance to go and experience Summer Camp. It is a truly magical place filled with joy and excitement. And last year KELLER WILLIAMS came up to me and told me I was doing a good job! That completely blew my mind!
But once again thank you very much. I have had amazing experiences and made some life long friends at Summer Camp and I hope I can do it all again this year. I’m planning on putting down my deposit as soon as I get my next paycheck.
Thank you! From your friend and loyal volunteer
JOE
p.s. virtual hugs!