Rothbury was my first festival, so I really had no idea what to expect. I knew that I was not going to be able to shower, that I may get my clothes dirty beyond Shouts capabilities to repair, and I knew that I would be sleeping in a tent somewhere. I also knew that given my recent track record with three broken phones in the past two months, that I should attempt to upload all of my contacts onto my macbook before jetting off to Michigan, and this is precisely when my blackberry curve bit the bullet. The small metal opening, fit for charging, came out of my phone, and I knew it was only a matter of time before it would lose charge and I would not have any way of charging it back to life. So, I spent the first hour of the car ride to Michigan writing down every contact and valuable piece of information I had saved in my memo pad.
This was indication for me that my trip was going to be a lot more interesting than planned. I was going to be at a giant festival, surrounded by swarms of people and forests, without any way of knowing the time, or any way of contacting the 6 different groups of friends I was traveling to see. I would like to say this is not a typical situation for me to be in, but breaking phones and getting into sticky situations is pretty routine. I finished recording my people's digits when our caravan got word that the gates to Rothbury were busting open early. We were originally planning on staying in a cabin for the evening and charging the gates prompltly at 8 a.m. when they were scheduled to open, but when we heard the flood was coming we ran to meijer to grab the essentials (pepperoni, pitas, salsa, tortilla chips, peanut butter, raisin bread and nutty bars) and went straight to the campgrounds. The only flaw in this plan was it was too early, or too late, to get beer, so we were all prepared to spend a bit more money than we had planned.
We met the lines of music enthusiasts, hippies, drug dealers, party people, festival crashers, vendors galore, and waited patiently while cars were searched, only slightly, and people were directed to the campgrounds that were slowly coming to life at 4:30 a.m. We pitched our tent in the Trout Campground close to a group of friendly faces and attempted to catch a few hours of sleep. We were prepared for a long weekend of tempting substances, new friends, little food, no showers, dirty bathrooms, warm beer, melted peanut butter, dirty tents, and amazing music. At least I was. I caught a few hours of rest, made a few last calls on my dying cell phone, and went to meet my friends at Toubab Krewe.
I had friend's who attended Rothbury last year, and they told me that it was incredible, but I really did not expect the festival to be as organized and beautiful as it was. I was told to bring clothes for warm and cold weather that I would not mind getting dirty or losing, wet wipes to wash myself, food to feed myself, and a blanket to cover myself. I was pretty prepared for camping dirty, amenity-free. I did not expect the plethora of food vendors, the tents with computers and internet, the outfits galore, the garbage cans with landfill, compost, and recycling options, and the forest with amazing light shows, hammocks, secret stages, and burlesque dancers. These were all things that blew my mind upon arrival. I was thinking stages, tents, and music was enough to make my heart content, perhaps a hot dog stand, so I was filled with excitement, surprise and intrigue, that lasted the entirety of my stay.
Toubab Krewe was the first musical act I had the pleasure of seeing live at Rothbury. I was introduced to the band only a few days before seeing them live, and thankfully so. Toubab Krewe is an American instrumental band with Mali influences. My friend Seema, with her vast musical knowledge, explained the different instruments I was gazing upon. Toubab Krewe rocks the typical two electric, one electric bass, and drum set and less typical african drum set, a kora (21 string harp-lute), a soku (a malain horsehair fiddle), and a kamelengoni (12 string harp-lute). I must say the kora put out some amazing sound. Watching those 21 strings get fingered was pretty aurgasmic. Their sound shook the ground and forced fans to bop to their beats. In several west african laungages toubab means foreigner, and krewe means, much like it sounds, crew. The band released its first record in 2005, produced by Steven Heller, and they are working with him again on a second album. Their live performance blew my mind, so i must say I am excited for the release of the second album.
After Toubab Krewe wrapped up their set I headed to the forest with some of my friends. The trees were glowing white and purple, there were hippies and all sorts of eccentrics strewn between the towering trees, and people already worn out from a full day of drugs and debauchery asleep in the hammocks that were hung about. I understood why my friend Warner said to me, "Hill, you must come to Rothbury." I am glad I trusted his short and sweet ultimatum. The incredible line-up did back up his statement enough, but the forest and excited crowd of fans made the experience feel pretty surreal.
Next on the musical agenda for Thursday evening was Keller Williams, often described as a one-man jam band. He has toured with The String Cheese Incident, Umphrey's Mcgee, and Yonder Mountain String Band, all of which also graced the Rothbury Stages this year. Keller Williams plays with his soft rustic vocal chords, and acoustic guitar that he hooks up to a Gibson Echoplex Delay system, which allows for looping and a sound that needs no additional instrumental backing. He should be an inspiration to all self-taught singer-songwriters. As a solo musician myself, I feel it can be quite daunting to play solo in front of a crowd. You can only rely on yourself and the fans to hopefully enjoy. I think I can positively say... Keller Williams, you were amazing, and the fans did enjoy.
After seeing the first half of Keller Williams I went to check out a bit of Quannum All Stars before the Lotus Show. I walked through the Sherwood Forest, (it was dark as night at this point, and the light show through the forest was even more magnificent than my last walk through) and headed towards the Sherwood Stage where Quannum All Stars was riling up a large crowd of fans and passerbys. After leaving the folk/acoustic/indie sound of Keller Williams I found myself dancing down to the front of the Quannum All Stars stage. The band is from the San Francisco bay area, where they apparently know how to bump that bass. The Quannum collective featured Lyrics Born, Gift of Gab and Lateef for their two and a half hour Rothbury set. This is not a sound I would typically bump in the comfort of my home, but it was an undeniably fun time. The crowd was dancing and the Quannum All Stars were a' pleasing. Spin Magazine named them as a top 11 must-see bands at Rothbury, so I can check that off the to-do list.
Back through the trip-tastic Sherwood Forest to the Ranch Arena for LOTUS... can you believe this is still the first night? Lotus uses bass, guitars, samplers, keys, and drums, and a light show that is undeniably awesome. I would describe the sound to be trip/electro/indie/jam/funk? If you can swallow all of that, it basically means 'it will blow your mind'. The band is from Philadelphia and they are known for live musical improvisations. Improv solos are hard to begin with, but when the whole band is along for that ride, every one needs to be in synch and aware of everything that is going on, or it could be recipe for disaster. Lotus synched and grooved and captured my heart as I watched the stage light up around the masterpiece of sounds they were painting. This is a band I would love to see again, because I feel like it would be different every time.
Disco Biscuits amazed me. I liked the Disco Biscuits pre-Rothbury, but I had heard a few of their recordings that only struck me as average. This is a band that is without a doubt, better live than recorded. Hearing home again and watching them groove underneath the lights of the stage and the lights of the sky was a moment I will never forget. Their vocals were flawless and almost chilling. They also came from Philadelphia with drums, bass, guitar, and keys that filled an entire forest with good sounding trance fusion vibes. The sound was absolutely incredible, so props to whoever was sitting behind that booth at the Ranch arena on Thursday night.
I love the Cold War Kids and I am happy to say their live show did not do anything but enhance that feeling. I still have a crush on Nathan Willett, the lead singer, so if you are reading this Nathan, email me at meetrebeccahill@gmail.com and we can set up a date! The band is from California and they rock the piana, drums, guitar and bass. "Hang me Up to Dry" is a great song, and live... so much better. I imagine the band fit in quite well at Rothbury, being such a green and environmental friendly festival, because the band performed in a rockumentary last year that was released to support the cause against slavery and human trafficking. I always like bands that love music and life alike, because as I say... with peace and love we make music.
As I headed back to my tent for the evening I caught a bit of Break Science rocking the Tripolee stage. This was the smallest of the three stages, but there was quite a crowd breaking it down to their beats. I would have liked to stay longer, but it was well past my bed time. I needed to rest up for my Brett Dennen breakfast.
Friday morning my phone was completely dead so I decided to go about the rest of my Rothbury experience solo. I walked where the music led me. First, to the Ranch Arena fora musical breakfast. Brett Dennen was definitely one of my favorite performances. I could not pull myself away from the front of the stage. The band was decked in flannel and Brett's elephant guitar looked totally rad, paired with his charismatic dance moves and carrot colored hair. You could feel his love for music the way he danced heavy as he strummed his guitar and soothed the crowd with his vocal expertise. The whole band was having just as much fun, if not more fun, than the fans. The band rocked the keys, guitar, drums, and bass. Their set list was packed full of originals, a reggae number "watch out, im strong", and the finale cover of michael jackson's "billy jean" won me over. He made sure to emphasize the cover performance was out of pure love and respect for the recently deceased king of pop.
After rocking to Billy Jean, I made my was to the Odeum to see G. Love and Special Sauce. G. Love was much smaller than I had imagined in person, but big and bold enough to rip some sweet licks on his green electric guitar. He got the crowd involved singing 'fire it up' as the crowd fired back 'keep on burning'. The crowd sang and burned down another kinda green in complete support of this musical act.
After about an hour of G. Love I headed to see Martin Sexton in the Ranch Arena. Another solo performer who needed no accompaniment. His voice was incredible. This is an artist I loved before seeing him live, and the live performance still exceeded my expectations. His voice was so raw and so beautiful, backed with a fluid guitar, that served as an echo rather than a guide for his music. This was another set I could not pull myself away from. I really have a soft spot for great lyrics and fantastic vocals... the combination of the two is prime.
Broken Social Scene was next. Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band... often labeled "baroque pop"... not sure what that means, but sounds about right. I posted up near the front of the stage next to husband and wife members of The Hard Lessons. They told me all the artists theyve been meeting behind the scenes have been awesome, and that their Rothbury experience has been amazing as expected. It's always nice to see bands out supporting fellow musicians. Broken Social Scene performed with seven members and all of them seemed to do a musical chairs act, switching to different instruments and positions for each song. I like when each member in a group is versatile, the changes allow for a more stimulating live experience. They warned the audience early in their set, "Be careful when taking drugs. Some drugs are cleaning products. Trust me, I know". I always love a bit of comic relief. Their song "world sick" was probably my favorite of the ones I had the chance to catch before rushing off to catch a glimpse of the infamous Damian Marley.
When Damian Marley stepped onto the Odeum stage, I think I felt my heart stop for a brief second. Seeing him in person was incredibly surreal. His dreads seemed to be a whole separate creature, protecting him, encompassing his body and almost hitting the ground as he walked across the stage. They were the most amazing dreads I have ever seen, without a doubt. The entire set with Damian and NAS was unbelievable. I felt complete contentment as I sang along "One love, one heart, let's get together and feel alright...". I think the rest of the crowd shared that feeling, it was the most upbeat, dancing, smiling, loving crowd I encountered at Rothbury. Mixing up the reggae with a bit of raptastic hip-hop when NAS entered the stage was live proof that music makes peace in the way that it connects the world... allowing us to feel, hear, and see the same thing through so many different pairs of eyes.
After Damian and NAS and the three beautiful lady singing dancing crew left the stage I passed by Flogging Molly to grab a corn dog dinner and prepare for The String Cheese Incident.
This jam band was not top on my list to go see, but I am glad I did because their talent was pretty undeniable, and who doesn't love dancing to a jam band?
After a full day of dancing and grooving I decided to end my night in the forest. I found a hammock overlooking the Sherwood Stage and listened to Chromeo and Girl Talk end the night right. I danced right along in my head to some sweet beats, a bit of Michael Jackson coverage, and watched the lights of the forest and the stage synch up, and warm up my head for a bit of rest to gear up for day three. I walked through the forest to STS9 absolutely killing it, with music that rivaled the strobe lights and starlight, back to my tent in the Trout forest.
(to be continued)
