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music festival
Last year at exactly this time I ended a 3 1/2 year relationship to go to Summer Camp Music Festival. Say waaah? Okay, so there’s more to the story than that one power-packed line of course. We’ve all had the feeling after a few years of holding hands, finishing each others sentences, keeping the googly eyes in check for that one special someone…..suddenly our eyes wander round and our heart wonders ‘oh what’s beyond the fence’…and we feel a panick, hot flashy sensation in our chest. Yep, that’s where I was at.
And at this time I found out that I had won a camp counselor in training position through Summer Camp’s Camp Counselor contest (an idea funny enough which was my bf’s at the time to enter into). He was graduating from college at the time and after finding out I won he told me he just wouldn’t be able to swing it with family & friends coming to celebrate him, no cash in the wallet and a potential new big boy job on the horizon. Sooo, I cried a little in my mini-wheats and rolled it around over and over in my head for two weeks. What was I going to do? He didn’t want me going without him and with each passing day I felt this need to do this for myself. to prove to myself once again that I could just show up in Chicago with a backpack by myself in the woods and I didn’t need a hand to hold, an eye to watch over me or a safety net to fall into.
I reached out to a girl on the Craigslist ride-board two days before the festival…still rolling it around in my head whether I could do this and if I could actually just hitch a ride with a total stranger. She was a sweet girl, a younger gal’ that went to the college right down the road from me and was offering the spare seat in her Prius. I told her I would let her know and explained a little of my situation. My boyfriend of course told me I was absolutely insane for even considering. So what did I do? The day before I ran to Target and grabbed a single ladies tent, lantern and granola bars then called the girl and told her all cats are a go. She told me to be ready the next morning at 8am.
My boyfriend was out of town playing a show in Tennessee so I simply wrote him a very thoughtful, compassionate letter about how I desperately needed to do this for myself. He would understand right? And then I hit the road with this very sweet young girl in a Prius with the compass set for the woods of Chicago. I showed up with a full pack hovering over me and wandered into the woods not knowing what was going to happen….
There is nothing like the budding beauty of Chicago in the Spring and no more amazing of a place than Wrigleyville, home to the Chicago Cubs. Just round the corner from the home plate entrance to the renowned Wrigley Field is the go-to joint for Cubby fans year-round, aptly named the Cubby Bear. What better way to kick off the 2013 Scamp season with a lil’ pre-fest shindig than with a pre-jam with two members from one of Summer Camp’s headlining jam legends.
Ohhhh mama, that’s right! Jake Cinniger and Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey’s McGee are planning on tearing down the Cubsters house May 9th to make sure you Scampers have your game face on for 2013! And they won’t be alone in laying down the shiz and amping the Chi-town scene for what’s to come. They’ll have a little help from one of Chicago’s own, Zmick, a four piece prog rock band whose sound is dubbed ‘dungeon funk’! If you haven’t allowed your ears the hypnotic pleasure of taking in the multi-layered bass-laden grooves of these boys, then do yourself a favor– DO IT NOW!! (If you love UM, you’ll dig Zmick and I say this as a hardcore prog. rock bass head)
Just a little jammage to get us all toasty before the big party! Rock Balls!
Featuring an eclectic mix of jam-band gurus, hip hop heroes and electronic wizardry marching on the front lines of the inaugural Summer Set Music Festival party line, this weekend’s fest. should be a helluva throw down for Wisco (as my new Scamp friends from Wisconsin told me to enunciate their beloved home state). Aside from headliner’s Pretty Lights, Umphrey’s McGee, Big Gigantic, NAS, Blackstar and YelaWolf– the sure-fire hot commodities certain to raise a ruckus, the up-and-comers on the bill round this fest out nicely. With the added touch of a little reggae roots rock from John Brown’s Body and the electronic prowess of beat masters Bonobo and RJD2, this assorted grab bag of musical savvy is genius on the part of the festival organizers.
More and more, we’re seeing the blending of musical genres at what were once dubbed with inherently jam-band musical talents and it’sa true testament to our generation and the performers spreading their wings to see such a variety of performers share their craft at such a unique event. While electronic music has certainly been a part of the mix for sometime, the last year has truly brought the on-slaught of hip hop into the music festival scene. (and I like it!!) Mos Def & Talib Kweli after a nasty 2 hour UM set– yes please!
And yes, for their kick-off fest. Summer Set was able to snatch up long-time Summer Camp electronic-funk-jam gurus Umphrey’s McGee. The boys have been on fire this year (see my earlier post HERE), throwing down late night performances and into the morning sets at Bonnaroo, Hangout Music Festival and of course the sick nasty three-part performances at Summer Camp Music Festival this year. I can’t wait to hear what they have up their sleeves for Summer Set which will be followed by an East Coast run my way to play at one of our many hometown breweries Pisgah Brewing Company.
For all you Summer Set goers– enjoy the boogie and I’ll catch up with you after the boys throw down at Pisgah after! Onward and upward ~Tiffany