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49
thePeorian.com
In the field, sleeping in late
isn’t much of an option. The lack
of shade invites the sun to bake
your tent to about three digits in
the degrees. What little conversa-
tion occurs in the morning be-
tween campers usually includes
highlights from the night before
and plans for later. This is also
the time to try and find any lost
things now being revealed by
the sun. A quick cleanup of the
campsite, an iced coffee and it
was on to planning the day. I
must admit that I never get to
see as many shows as I possibly
could. Heat and keeping the
group together takes away from
concert time, but that’s just how
the game is played. A stand out
performance of the day for me
was Rebelution. I fought the heat
to dance with these guys from
the west coast. I later bought their
album “Peace of Mind” due to
a solid live performance. Rap-
per and movie extra Common
was later that afternoon. I was
familiar with his songs from the
album “Be”. It’s always nice to
see Chicago come down and give
love to the cornfields. We had to
listen to G. Love & Special Sauce
from the tents while we cooled
off. We would fill spray bottles
with the melted iced from the
coolers. (Not the meat coolers of
course.)
Saturday’s dinner was served
from the brick oven pizza cart.
I had two. The Hawaiian and a
Deluxe. The cart was atop the hill
that faced the Moonshine stage
where Gov’t Mule was jamming.
We stuck around the Moonshine
stage for moe. As a group we
decided to stay closer to the top
of the hill. Some of us danced
while others sat. Saturday night
was a bit more relaxing than the
previous night. We watched hula
dancers and glow stick jugglers.
This was also a good time to
catch up with friends I usually
only see a few times a year. We
left during the break between the
two sets moe played that night
to retrieve a few friends camp-
ing in the RV section. Our group
broke apart at this point. Some to
go see the rest of the moe., others
to the food carts, and a few of us
wanting to check out the last bit
of Umphrey’s McGee at the Sun-
shine stage. After Umphrey’s and
back at the camp the weekend
was starting to catch up with me.
My legs were worn out and I felt
I had about three coats of dust
and sweat caked on my skin. I
slept on top of my sleeping bag
that night.
Sunday morning I took full
advantage of living locally. I went
home. A nice long cool shower
and air conditioning are the two
big reasons I headed in. After
resupplying water and a couple
of meals I headed back to Three
Sisters Park. Most campers in my
group were up and about, while
a couple others were still back in
town. The heat Sunday seemed to
be the worst. Trucks were dump-
ing water on the main paths to
keep the dust down. I met up
with a few friends coming from
the Umphrey’s McGee afternoon
show. They had purchased the
Sunday one-day passes.
The heat was taking it’s toll
by now. Both campers and our
campsites were deteriorating.
Not much effort was put into re-
pairing fallen canopies. We used
our energy instead to get our fill
of good string picking. Greensky
Bluegrass and Yonder Mountain
String Band offered great tunes to
kick some dust up. Micheal Franti
and Spearhead had some of the
best crowd interaction. Letting
fans on stage and playing a song
out in the crowd made us feel
special. Very happy music. The
next few hours were spent walk-
ing from Tedeschi Trucks Band,
Victor Wooten, and an interesting
performance by Shpongle pres-
ents “The Masquerade.”
The sun was starting to set and
we knew only a few more shows
would finish out the weekend.
We geared up for Pretty Lights
at the Moonshine stage. There’s
a large contrast of music played
throughout the festival. Some
of my favorite stuff is the rustic
pickings of a bluegrass band like
the ones we saw early that day.
However, in the past few years
electronic music has been taking
a hold on campers attention.
Pretty Lights is exactly what
you’d expect it to be. An astonish-
ing light show brought on by the
artist and audience alike. There
were dozens of lasers and enough
glow sticks to land a plane. The
music is a genre called dub step
were the beat becomes more and
more intense until it “drops”.
Great music to rage to.
The headliner band for the
weekend was Jane’s Addiction.
I hadn’t listened to them for a
while and was reminded of high-
school days and junior college.
The last show for me was moe.’s
final set at the Moonshine stage.
Again we stayed at the top of
the hill and watched the thou-
sands of campers enjoying the
show. Some people were set-
ting off sky lanterns, basically a
mini hot air ballon that flickers
as it floats away. Afterwards we
had one final walk through the
woods. There was some lingering
energy, but the general mood was
exhausted satisfaction. Much like
a full belly after Thanksgiving.
Monday morning came and
there wasn’t much to do other
than to pack up and hike out.
Everyone is tired and it’s sad to
leave such a wonderful weekend.
Summer Camp is a central hub
for my group of friends and we
all look forward to it each year.
Hope to see you there next year.
go online to thepeorian.com to view
more photos by Michelle Reed