The Breakfast.info
General Discussions => Tribal Funk Affliction => Topic started by: booztravlr on June 24, 2008, 02:21:07 pm
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Last night I dusted off some XLII and rocked out to my tape deck. While listening to the show (SCI, 1999-05-21 (http://www.archive.org/details/sci1999-05-21.shnf)) a smile grew on my face as I thought of all the good times I had when I started following bands around the country. Being as this show was from the first festival I ever attended I figured I would start a thread to see how others were exposed to the festival scene.
It was May, 1999 and I was a senior in high school. My friend and I (touring buddy) were trying to figure out what to do on our senior skip day, which fell on that Friday. A month earlier we saw String Cheese Incident for the first time at a small bar (Styleene\'s Rhythm Palace) in downtown Syracuse. It turned out they were playing a festival in Brandywine, MD called All Good. Also on the bill was moe., the Disco Biscuits, Sector 9, Karl Denson\'s Tiny Universe, Deep Banana Blackout and ViperHouse. Tickets were only $40. It was Thursday after school and we were discussing how we could pull off this trip with our limited funds when another friend of ours (he was a Junior) overheard our conversation. He was a big SCI fan and said he was in! Now we had enough money to get down there and back. My friend\'s dad said we could use his car. We packed it up early Friday morning and hit the road.
The ride down changed me forever. It wasn\'t the nice weather or the beautiful scenery, but it was the freedom of being on the open road with my friends. We had the tunes cranking (early 90s rap and a James Brown boxed set) and were just 3 young kids enjoying life. This is when I fell in love with \'touring\'. I knew this weekend was going to be an eye-opener for all three of us and I couldn\'t have been more excited.
The line to get in to the festival was short and quickly flowing. We set up our tents and strolled over to the main stage just in time for ViperHouse. This band opened for SCI at Styleene\'s. I was a big fan of them and really enjoyed their set. Later on in the afternoon I hung out with the violin and one of the horn players for a while and told them how we all came down from Syracuse for the festival. One of them bought me a beer and the whole band (9 or so of them) signed a big festival program for me. I don\'t recall the order of the bands after that but I do remember SCI was closing out the night. They absolutely killed their set and left a buzz over the crowd for the rest of the night. It\'s hard to gauge the size of the crowd but I would say roughly 400-500 people were there, at most.
The next morning we checked out Sector 9, who kicked off the day, and were blown away. Their percussionist sat in for a song with SCI the night before. I definitely preferred Sector 9 in their original format, as more of a jamband instead of all untz-untzy. A couple bands later Deep Banana Blackout took the stage as the clouds were rolling in. Their lead singer was taunting the storm to do its worst. Bad idea. It didn\'t look too pretty out so I headed back to the tent, which was only a couple hundred yards from the stage, to close all the windows. On my way back everyone was heading my way. Apparently the stage blew over, almost taking out the drummer. They needed to suspend the playing until the stage was fixed.
After the storm quickly passed everyone gathered in the main stage area. A HUGE drum circle formed while a bunch of frisbees were being thrown in the adjacent grass, where I was. I remember at one point all the drums suddenly hitting the \'Not Fade Away\' rhythm simultaneously which resulted in a roar from the crowd. Even though no bands were on stage everyone there was happy just hanging out together enjoying the vibe.
Just before the sun went down Karl Denson\'s Tiny Universe took the stage. Unfortunately, the Disco Biscuits set was canceled due to the stage repair time. Right before they kicked off their set I look to my right and I see Michael Kang standing right next to me (SCI violin/mandolin player). He starts chatting it up with Denson and yells a couple requests. During the show Kang is rocking out to the band as me and my buddy stand there with perma-grins on our faces. This is what we came down here for! I chatted with Kang a little after the Denson set but another storm rolled in, this time a huge downpour, and everyone retreated to their tents.
Our tent took a brutal beating from the rain and basically left us sleeping in the car. Somehow I lost my shoes and was forced to walk around barefoot the rest of the night. As we finally get to the car I heard a roar from the main stage. My friends declined to come but I high tailed it to the stage to see what was going on. Turns out moe. was playing an acoustic set without only a couple speakers. They ripped through a bunch of covers and originals to the applause of the 40-50 people hanging around the stage. Though the storm trashed the stage and canceled some of the shows from happening, this set (http://www.archive.org/details/moe1999-05-22.eac.flac16) was a real treat and almost made it all worth it.
The next morning we packed up our gear and hit the road back to Syracuse. We were tired, wet, hungry and had just enough money to pay for gas but none of that mattered. Our eyes had been opened to a new world that we couldn\'t wait to get back to.
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1st Festival. Hmmmm
It is funny because I really can not place my first.
I guess I would say probably RI Reggae Festival a turning stone ranch (I think that was the name)
I am sure I am probably not getting that correct.
The Festival scene for me anyway came about basically from the Dead scene. Going to Summer Dead shows was very much like going to a festival with maybe a little less stuff in your car, maybe.
I know I was in full swing by the time the Grateful Dead hit Highgate VT in 1994. We did a sweet run that lasted a week in VT. We were up in VT a few days ahead of the show camping, partying etc. Then we drove to the site of the VT reggae fest and they let us camp onsite days in advance of the show. That was a blast. There were only like 6 or 8 tents in this huge camping area. We met everyone, had a communal party at our tent and watched as the place filled up. It was really cool to be out in the middle of nowhere for a few days just relaxing and having a good time. That was a hell of a week. I distinctly remember having to get off the highway after we left the dead show. I was unable to drive at highway speeds. I just couldn\'t do it. So I remember we got off and were just driving south in the direction of the reggae show. And as luck would have it the road we were on was the exact road the fest was on so we drove up all smooth like we planned the whole thing. Probably 1 of the if not the best week of my life. So much fun, little money, tons of beer (we stole the remaining beer left over from our Fraternity Summer party, we had cases and cases of Miller Light kingers. When we needed something we either traded beer or sold it)
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Well I think my first Festival Experience was Monsters of Rock in \'88.
Metallica
Van Halen
Scorpions
Kingdom Come
Dokken
But as far as the Jamscene:
Yeah I think camping at GD shows was the start. Being able to get to a venue and post up for 3 days never having to leave for anything may have been the impetus for the Desert Parties out near Barstow we started going to in \'90 with bands like Cubensis, Mr. Ectomy, Dead Center where for the weekend you camped and had music pretty much 24/7 onstage and off.
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Well I think my first Festival Experience was Monsters of Rock in \'88.
Metallica
Van Halen
Scorpions
Kingdom Come
Dokken
.
That was my first "festi" too! end of july in the Seattle Kingdome! The sad part is I have probably seen VH 10 times since then... Ha!
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Phish. IT.
nuff said.
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1st annual Camp Barefoot festival in Gore, VA, 2 yrs. ago. -- lots of fun!
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Scottypaluza 1-13
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I started going to harvest festival and the other ghetto upstate fests when I was like 14.
First Big Festival was phish lemon wheel in 1998.
I was 17.
I bought a sheet of gel tabs for the dome for $75.
good timez :D
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my first festie:
Camp Creek \'01. we wanted to go because the year before our freind came back and was so ov that she passed out on my buddies front porch and pissed herself. we were like, it sounds amazing.
at almost 17 yrs old, i was a ser newb to anything except cigarettes, schwag in a metal bowl, doses and classic rock (creedence, the band, jethro tull, csny and jimmy henj to be precise).
we got there and my buddy said we had to go see this band Psychedelic Breakfast because he swore we had seen them open up for Phil and Freinds at the meadows (not the case, obviously)
i ate my first 1/8th of shooms ever, smoked a blunt of headies and keef and walked into this tiny ass tent were there was some ser shit going down. i remember thinking that what i was hearing was music from the future. i made my way to the front of the stage and saw these kids pulling a Milli Vanilli. like they were obviously not really playing their instruments. no way would KIDS be really playing that good, nevermind not on the main stage. i watchied fingers fly and realized that this was some scary real shit.
too intense
i retreated to tha back of the tent and proceeded to be terrified.
thats all i really remember from that festie
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funny story about that lemonwheel trip...my friend perrys mom wouldnt let him go alone so she drove all the way up in a seperate car with his little sister who was like 15 at the time.
anyway we drive like 18 hours all the way up there straight through, we finally get to the traffic jam, we start puffing and drinking, cheezenug has a lapse of attention and BOOM! crashes into the back of perrys moms car smashing out all his lights, grill, bumper etc. hahaha. she was like whatevs, lets just get in the fest. wicked kewl on her part.
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wow. that must\'ve been hilarious/frightening
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also the first and last time I bought "hash" and "opium" from a black man wearing a tyedye at a concert
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haha i still do that :no:
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my first festie:
Camp Creek \'01. we wanted to go because the year before our freind came back and was so ov that she passed out on my buddies front porch and pissed herself. we were like, it sounds amazing.
at almost 17 yrs old, i was a ser newb to anything except cigarettes, schwag in a metal bowl, doses and classic rock (creedence, the band, jethro tull, csny and jimmy henj to be precise).
we got there and my buddy said we had to go see this band Psychedelic Breakfast because he swore we had seen them open up for Phil and Freinds at the meadows (not the case, obviously)
i ate my first 1/8th of shooms ever, smoked a blunt of headies and keef and walked into this tiny ass tent were there was some ser shit going down. i remember thinking that what i was hearing was music from the future. i made my way to the front of the stage and saw these kids pulling a Milli Vanilli. like they were obviously not really playing their instruments. no way would KIDS be really playing that good, nevermind not on the main stage. i watchied fingers fly and realized that this was some scary real shit.
too intense
i retreated to tha back of the tent and proceeded to be terrified.
thats all i really remember from that festie
now that is a great story
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:lol:
I guess I stepped up to the plate late...
1st "Festival" ::: Hobart & William Smith Colleges 2002 Fallfest
I didn\'t really pay attention to what was going on until I heard Psychedelic Breakfast playing Gladys Pimp & Kangaroos out my dorm window. I promptly packed a bowl and that was the start of that.
1st "Real Festival" ::: Phish IT
Lets just say I\'ll never be the same. It was also my first time seeing Phish (fucking hiatus!), a band that I totally worshipped by that point, and the first time little squares of fractal paper artwork hit my tongue.
Ahh, the days when I would have been stoked to score a gram of Laxmi Dhoop incense for $20... hahah ohh boy
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My first big festival would have to be Oswego. Memories from that include:
- A drum circle that Paul Ryan, myself and another Ryan from SCSU started with 3 guitars and peaked at well over 50 participants that including a violin and digoridoo. I left at 2ish AM to catch some sleep and came back around 6 and it was still going on.
- Burning my ass sitting on the hot pavement waiting to run so that we could get a spot up close.
- Listening to Bruce A-Z the whole weekend because that tape was stuck in my car.
Good times had by all.
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i\'m completely blanking on this one, so i\'ll just have to go with the first one i definitely remember, which was Big Cypress.... i know that wans\'t the first, that there were smaller, localish ones previously, i just can\'t for the life of me remember where/when they were.... which, frankly, describes the majority of the nineties, for me...
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also the first and last time I bought "hash" and "opium" from a black man wearing a tyedye at a concert
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAH.
I think we all have done it ONCE :)
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clifford ball, 1996. i was 18 years old and all i brought was two changes of clothes and a pillow. slept in the backseat of my car.
had no traffic cause one of the girls i went with grew up in plattsburgh and still lived there so we took the easy entrance in.
i\'ll never forget driving in and seeing some hippies with a sign \'WE NEED NUGS\' i was SHOCKED that anyone would advertise so blatantly about drug purchases (we were always super careful, never discussed over phones, wrote notes, anything that could ever leave a trace)....
my friend fat tony accidentally locked my keys and our ********* in the trunk and had to call AAA to get our trunk opened. it was awesome. first time ever taking ********* at a festival... bird almost flew into us and that\'s when i knew it had hit....
it was also my first phish show, i had 2 of their albums (i know i know) that i had been listening to non-stop for the past 2 years or so, and i thought i\'d hear a lot of stuff i knew, but i knew maybe 3 or 4 songs...
it was awesome. i was in love.
found out later i had slept through the flatbed jam as it drove past my car. woke up when it rained on my face cause i had the windows open.
I LOVE PHISH
oh, another funny story, my friend stepped on a piece of glass and cut open her foot. we had to go to first aid and they gave her a tetanus shot and taped her all up. so my friend \'shot up at the clifford ball\'. good times. ;)
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omg tuna i forgot about the fractals!
those were so good.
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I started going to harvest festival and the other ghetto upstate fests when I was like 14.
I got up to HF at echo lake in 2000. Wild fucking place kind of changed my life. psychedelic breakfast was a big part of that since that was the first time i saw them as well. used to be pretty much a grower party. i went for a few years but it got dramatically blown up and grimier every time like most other fests. you remember Half Step klout?
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North American Noise Festival,
Portland Maine, (or near there - it was a farm/barn/warehouse deal), in 2002.
We were driving over one of the bridges to get there and there were signs saying that all cars were subject to search, so we freaked out and ate all the acid we had with us.
...it was a fun weekend.
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I started going to harvest festival and the other ghetto upstate fests when I was like 14.
I got up to HF at echo lake in 2000. Wild fucking place kind of changed my life. psychedelic breakfast was a big part of that since that was the first time i saw them as well. used to be pretty much a grower party. i went for a few years but it got dramatically blown up and grimier every time like most other fests. you remember Half Step klout?
wow i haven\'t thought about harvest fest in a while. i remember riding up with fink of all people in \'03 and how we had to fight with him to leave at the end. that weekend was nasty. how we all came out of that place in one piece is just funny.
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also the first and last time I bought "hash" and "opium" from a black man wearing a tyedye at a concert
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAH.
I think we all have done it ONCE :)
:lol: anyone remember the "*********" that gavin bought from the dude on the street outside richters?
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first festival - lemonwheel.
multi-band - GOTV \'99.
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First festival was GOTV 2000, I think. It was still in Bridgeport. Great time; I almost lost my mind. First time getting really spun in public. I remember sitting by the water making fun of all of the boats, laughing at them and heckling them. Even though they were obviously way too far away to hear me.
Sadly, I don\'t remember much of the music that weekend.
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I was at that Clifford Ball in \'96. My bf took more drugs than me; I remember getting some lousy shrooms, and it being really hot and sticky in the tent. Also went to a few Reggae Fests back when they were at Stepping Stone Ranch. Anyone going to Reggae Fest at Ninigret this July?
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I was at that Clifford Ball in \'96. My bf took more drugs than me; I remember getting some lousy shrooms, and it being really hot and sticky in the tent. Also went to a few Reggae Fests back when they were at Stepping Stone Ranch. Anyone going to Reggae Fest at Ninigret this July?
Anywhere you can find a late-night drum circle, you will find Ulee ;)
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I started going to harvest festival and the other ghetto upstate fests when I was like 14.
I got up to HF at echo lake in 2000. Wild fucking place kind of changed my life. psychedelic breakfast was a big part of that since that was the first time i saw them as well. used to be pretty much a grower party. i went for a few years but it got dramatically blown up and grimier every time like most other fests. you remember Half Step klout?
wow thats insane I just had a ser echo lake flash back. I think we deffinitly chilled together at a couple of them back in the day before it got blown up. it was like that there back in the day tho everyone just chilled with everyone and crazy shit def went down! Echo Lake was only a half an hour from O-town so we started going around 9th or 10th grade.