Rains finally arrived in the final hours of Rothbury’s EDM- and jam band-driven extravaganza in the woods, but not before String Cheese Incident, Moby, Cut Copy and more regaled ever-frolicking throngs.
ROTHBURY, MICHIGAN — For four straight years, the resplendently psychedelic hippie-fest known as Electric Forest has turned West Michigan’s Double JJ Resort into a truly unprecedented four-day celebration of EDM-, jam band- and soul-fired musical magic, not to mention the mind-bending artistry of the laser- and art-adorned Sherwood Forest installation.
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The 2014 edition was no exception. Indeed, in spite of the niche nature of its lineup, it might have trumped previous years by boasting the festival’s first sellout, with some 35,000 deliciously garbed Electric Forest devotees from every corner of the country embracing acts on a half-dozen stages.
And they kept it up into the wee hours of the final day, Sunday, with the String Cheese Incident’s third long set in as many nights as the festival’s resident house band, plus Moby, Matt & Kim, Cut Copy, Aloe Blacc and more. True, rains that swept in after midnight cut the long party a bit short, but the unusually pleasing festival presented by Insomniac Events and Madison House Presents clearly has found its legs with a faithful flock of music mavens.
Even Michigan’s representative at the event — Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, which played in Sherwood Forest on Saturday afternoon — seemed perfect for the rainbow-hued spectacle, with Hertler draped in a Michigan flag in addition to his usual brightly colored wings.
(It wasn’t a festival without its troubling downside: State Police reported to the Associated Press that a 20-year-old volunteer died on Sunday, with authorities telling Fox 17 News that they also made 20 arrests over the weekend.)
It may not approach the high-profile, name-dropping affair that Bonnaroo has become, but it’s become a must-be-there festival for a large cadre of folks who return year after year (with many starting the tradition by attending the Rothbury Festival in 2008-2009).
The Local Spins crew was there to capture the action. Here’s the “Best of Electric Forest 2014” photo gallery, courtesy of Anthony Norkus and Anna Sink.
(For more, here’s the Day 1 story and photo gallery, with Day 2’s “Funky Fashion” round-up and Day 3’s photo gallery.)
BEST OF ELECTRIC FOREST 2014: Photos by Anthony Norkus and Anna Sink
(Click on photo to enlarge gallery)
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