, just three weeks before the momentous 15th Annual Summer Camp Music Festival, looking at a long, 1,500 mile journey ahead of me driving all the way from the city of sin, when none other than the person who gave birth to my musical loving heart, my mother, agreed to make the trip with me. Her heart, just as loving as mine, was ready for it’s first SCamp, and we decided to go BIG by securing VIP passes – I knew her experience wouldn’t be complete without checking out some Red Barn shows, afterall.
We got to Three Sisters Park on late Wednesday night with the idea of catching the line early so we could score a prime camping spot in the woods. We scored that magical spot and hours after setting up I ran into an old college friend who was setting up right beside us. I have not seen this kid in three years. There was something gravitational that brought us together again. Sensed by me as a reminder of the perfect force of energy that Summer Camp Music Festival is. It was go time.
Thursday kicked off with a Starshine Stage set of Floodwood followed by Future Rock. To me, this spot has always marked the beginning of the party. For when the sun goes down, the stage explodes with lights and energy radiating to the crowd exactly what they have been waiting for all year. And these special people on Thursday are those that couldn’t wait another day.
Friday was jam packed with some pretty glorious day sets including the very special Keller Williams & Grateful Grass set. This set was such a fun time. And I think they were able to pull it off quite well. If you just so happened to have missed it, the good ol’ folks working on the Summer Camp Sessions put together a very awesome video well worth checking out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDyVt8Y68Rk
And Friday of course, did not end there. Another set that left me with a pure sense of awe was the Godboner set with Gene Ween. This was a blast. It’s also most likely a once in a lifetime collaboration that I am glad that I did not miss. Here’s one of the better shots below that I snapped.
Saturday was surely another epic day to be seized. With 80’s alternative rock band the Violent Femmes making a nostalgic kick in the pants just as the sun was setting. Playing monster hits like Blister in the Sun, Add It Up, and Gone Daddy Gone. These guys were a great addition to the line-up and warmly welcomed with open arms by the Scamp community in large.
This was also the last day of Umphrey’s. As they usually perform for the entire 3 days, we knew we had to rage extra hard to make up for the missing day. This was accompanied by me climbing to the top of a shipping container to get one of the best seats in the house that I have ever experienced at Summer Camp. Not first without permission, of course. I am sure many of you remember the golden encore they closed with containing Glory and Divisions.
And then there was Sunday. Filled with epic sets by Steve Miller Band, Big Gigantic, Moe., Griz, Widespread Panic, Nahko & Medicine for the People, and a plethora of more. Of those listed, my favorite set experienced was Steve Miller Band.
Through my experience, Steve Miller Band is one of those artists that I can deeply reflect on as being a strong influence and planter of the spirit of freedom within. I hit the road once from North Dakota to Oregon and the car I was driving only had a tape deck. Of all the tapes that I listened to on this journey, Steve Miller’s Greatest Hits tape was in my collection. And it was certainly in that tape deck more than any other tape that I had with me. At that point I remember feeling free. I was 20 years old. It was the most free that I have ever felt in my entire life. And when I saw Steve play at Summer Camp, just 4 years later, I got to regroup with that feeling again. At this time I was given another reminder of the something that is often overlooked by me in my daily life. And this is the reminder that I am not alone on my path. I will be given the love of my friends that show up at random times in life, my mom who has mutated into a Moe.ronic UMphreak, and the freedom that is experienced through music. All of these things that can be experienced at Summer Camp.
It took me months to finally find a way to put these feelings into words. I felt a little bummed as one of our beloved Camp Counselors was fighting for his life from multiple brain aneurysms. I decided to go back to college and put being a Camp Counselor aside for while. It’s been a long few months since SCamp 2015, but I am glad to say that I am back in action with a whole new project for the Campfire that I have dubbed “Ålexander’s Ålbums.” I will be writing in depth album reviews for Summer Camp artists and their newest releases, starting with The Werks album to be released November 20th entitled, “Inside a Dream.”
Make sure to keep up on the blog to see who is releasing what and when, as well as my 2cents on the newest organization of sounds that they have neatly packed into a thing called an album. This should be good…
]]>
SAVE THE DATE
