Electric Forest Weekend 1 Revisited: An escape from reality, a splash of Michigan roots music

Local Spins writer Ricky Olmos plunged into Rothbury’s magic, caught up with the Michigan Rattlers at their Forest debut and got high, literally, in a balloon. Relive the weekend in words and photos.

 

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Floating weightless through the air is probably a common feeling at Electric Forest, but boarding a hot-air balloon at dusk and looking out over the expanse of lights, pulsating stages and people inspires a lucid sense of community.

Electric Forest finds thousands upon thousands of strangers gathered in one place, with singular mind and purpose: to find an escape from the madness of the world, if only for a short time. It is truly incredible.

Early on Day Two of the festival, if felt as though things were just getting started. Relatively calm and not overcrowded, festival-goers filtered through the front gate at a comfortable rate. The evening yielded sets from Bishop Briggs, Thundercat, Mt. Joy, Noname, Datura, and of course, The String Cheese Incident, known for its three-hours-plus evening jams.

Sherwood Forest was, as usual, decked out in a frenzy of swirling lights, lasers and towering deity-like sculptures. Throngs of costumed forest dwellers maneuvered through the many kinds of fog and an obstacle course of hammocks.

At the Jubilee stage, Bishop Briggs gave a riveting, high-energy performance of heavy-hitting pop songs.

Over at Ranch Arena, The String Cheese Incident performed one of many marathon sets as the Electric Forest house band, which included transportive instrumentals and dazzling light displays. The band also included a new song called “Manga,” and featured guest-appearances by Griz, Matt Butler, Shook Twins, SunSquabi, Cory Henry and Natalie Cressman. To conclude the show, Matt Quinn of Mt. Joy and The Glitch Mob were invited onstage for a booming rendition of The White Stripe’s Seven Nation Army, complete with a dubstep breakdown.

As the midday sun made a triumphant return from the previous evening’s cloud cover, festival revelers slowly stirred, emerging from their tents, campers and hammocks…or simply sitting upright in the middle of whichever field they happened to be in when sleep overcame them.

LIKE ‘THE BIG BROTHER OF BLISSFEST’ FOR MICHIGAN RATTLERS

Beneath a canopy of pines at The Observatory Stage, hometown heroes The Michigan Rattlers prepared for their first set of the festival on Saturday afternoon. After an 800-mile trek from Boston, the band arrived at Double JJ Resort just in time to soundcheck.

As a quartet (Graham Young, Adam Reed, Christian Wilder and Anthony Audia) the Michigan-bred band played an endearing set of original Americana and folk songs for a scattered but smitten crowd. Backstage after the set, the band members huddled into a green room tent, reclining on couches and sipping beer while discussing their impressions of the forest.

“This feels like the Big Brother of Blissfest (held every July near Harbor Springs),” says Reed. “Here in the Forest, it’s a little crazy but it’s cool.”

The band is one of the only Michigan acts on this year’s bill for Electric Forest, which is known for its electronic music and jam bands, drawing upwards of 45,000 revelers. The second weekend runs Thursday-Sunday (June 28-July 1) and the Michigan Rattlers are part of that lineup, too.

“We’re definitely an outlier here,” adds Wilder, “but we kind of enjoy that. We’re just hanging out this weekend, then we have some shows this week in Indiana and Ohio, and we’ll be back next weekend. I know a bunch of people from Petoskey that are coming out for the second weekend.”

Originally from Petoskey, the band currently operates out of Los Angeles (with the exception of Audia who lives in Detroit) and has been on a fast track to a burgeoning career, having been featured in Rolling Stone and performed at festivals like Bonnaroo and Firefly. The group also announced a last-minute hometown show on July 6 at Beards Brewery.

“Things are going really well. We’ve been out for about a month and a half on this tour and we still have a couple weeks left, so we’ve just been out traveling and playing which is what we want to be doing,” says Young.

“We recorded a full-length record back in March, and that’s probably gonna come out toward the end of the summer, early fall. We’ve also recently been playing with Tony, our drummer. It’s usually just the three of us but we’ve been playing so many Midwest shows this summer that Tony can just come down and play, which is pretty awesome.”

Wandering away from the secluded backstage area, the musicians venture into the colorfully adorned Sherwood Forest, standing out in their jeans, T-shirts and trucker hats. Eventually they stumble upon the Ocular Organ, an amplified keyboard on a mini-stage, open for anyone to play.

THE CHANGING VIBE AT NIGHTFALL

Gathering around the psychedelic piano, each band member takes turns tinkering and displaying their ivory chops, as well as playfully egging one another on.

“Play something good!,” jeered Young, as Wilder effortlessly grooved on an impressive, bluesy riff.

Adding members to the original two-piece of Young and Reed was something the pair always envisioned, it just took some time.

“I think they were always coming, we just had to line them all up,” says Graham. “It’s great, it adds a whole other level.”

Reed adds, “Before when it was just us two, I was doing every solo and I feel like that was kind of tiring not only for the listener, but also for me. And nobody really wants to listen to a bass solo.”

More than a month into tour, the group of bandmates is lively, full of laughter, possibly as a result of sleep deprivation and the oddities of life on the road…but nonetheless, their smiles are beaming as they talk about their travels.

“I scratched off state number 47 the other day. That’s the best thing about being in a band…is definitely traveling all over,” says Reed.

“Eating vegetables is the hardest thing about touring,” says Graham. “You’re pretty much a professional driver, or a professional car rider. You could easily get hired by a trucking company…like Dart or Swift or the trucking company with the powder blue cabs. They have the best colors. That’s the one that I’d wanna drive for.”

The group lets out a laugh of agreement and then they turn to the piano, where they huddle around and begin to play.

Other standout sets at Electric Forest on Saturday included New York indie-pop band, Misterwives. Mirroring the vibrant colors of the forest, the band took the stage suited in rainbow colors and sparkles. With an infectious, polished sound, the group unraveled a raging, energetic set for a sea of fans who sang passionately along to hits like “Reflections” and “Coloring Outside the Lines.”

Mandy Lee pranced across the wide stage nearly nonstop, jumping and making high-kicks look effortless, all while belting out each powerful, catchy refrain.

As night fell once again, glow sticks emerged, the ferris wheel became an illuminated beacon, and hot air balloons filled with fiery air lifted one blissful festival goer after another into the night sky to take in the magnificent view.

For more Local Spins photos and coverage of Electric Forest: Opening day sizzles with electronic trippiness, jam fervor, hippie vibe

PHOTO GALLERY: Electric Forest 2018 (incl. Michigan Rattlers) by Derek Ketchum

PHOTO GALLERY: Electric Forest 2018 by Anna Sink
VIDEO: Electric Forest, Day 1

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