2012 Summer Camp Music Festival Preview
by Joel Center
For those of you that don’t know, Summer Camp is a three-day music and camping festival in the lush landscape of Chillicothe, IL, and this year it will be held on the weekend of May 25-27. The members of Moe originated the fest in 2001, and after its second year, Umphrey’s McGee joined the fun and the organization. Since these two bands put on the festival, they will both play a set every night of the weekend.
Over the years, the lineup for Summer Camp has become more extensive, including bigger bands as the summers go by. This will be Summer Camp’s 12th consecutive year, as the lineup reflects. Performers this year (aside from Umphrey’s and Moe, of course) include Colorado artists Pretty Lights, Yonder Mountain String Band, Big Gigantic saxophonist Dominic Lalli (part of the new project Gigantic Underground Conspiracy), and James and the Devil. National headliners include Jane’s Addiction, Primus, Keller Williams, Gov’t Mule, Gogol Bordello, and Shpongle’s the Masquerade.
There are a couple of things that make Summer Camp different from the plethora of weekend music and camping festivals that will occur throughout the summer, the most obvious of which is the festival’s likeness to the type of summer camp that, as a kid, you would look forward to for the entire duration of your non-summer camp reality. This festival combines all of the nostalgic fun of a child’s summer camp with all of the adult aspects of a music festival.
Granted, this seems like an oxymoron at first. The immediate image that comes to mind is a field full of grade school kids who have been exposed to high levels of experimental music, a primarily alcoholic source of hydration, and the otherwise… acrid atmosphere of a music festival. From a marketing point of view, it may be a bad idea, to advertise in such a way. However, when you take into account Summer Camp’s Field Day, you begin to realize the hysterically fun potential of the idea.
If you choose to participate in the festival’s Field Day, you can join one of four teams online before the actual dates of the fest. These four teams decide on a team name, flag, mascot, etc., and proceed to compete in various events including dodge ball, a spelling bee, and giant Twister, before designating the championship team, whose flag will fly high at the festival grounds until the next year’s Field Day.
The name Summer Camp is not a clever label meant to torture kids with an “Adult Only” fun fest; the festival hosts have provided adequate opportunities for families with members of all demographics to enjoy the weekend in Chillicothe. One campsite within festival grounds has been designated a Substance Free site, and there is a Kids Camp tent that supplies the younger campers with their own mini-festival, including kid-friendly live music, face painting, and an assortment of crafts and workshops.
Another separation that Summer Camp is putting between themselves and many other festivals is their various Earth friendly initiatives. There will be sets of three different trash (recycling, compost, and landfill) bins throughout the festival grounds, all electrical needs will be provided by power generators running on B20 (20% bio-fuel), and there will be several workshops over the course of the weekend focusing on the importance of maintaining a sustainable lifestyle.
If you haven’t yet, I highly suggest looking into it purely because of the eclectic line-up. Regardless of any other aspect that ensures a festival to be a fun-filled weekend, this event has a surplus of incredibly talented acts that are sure to create an irresistible energy. I hope to see you there!
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