All photos & coverage by Anders Seefeldt
At
one time they seemed infinite. The technicolored lights and beating tones
dancing through the trees alongside the tens of thousands of restless
Foresters. Then, at the end of the last night of Electric Forest, Moby took off
his headphones and stepped out from behind the podium. With the reverb from the
last track melting into the roar of the crowd, he approached the very edge of
the stage, stopped, and perched there for several moments. Without saying a
word, he peered out over everyone as if completely humbled by the site of it
all - right where he was meant to be.
It
is impossible not to be in awe of Electric Forest. Even though I had been here
before, it was as surreal as ever. The giant new Forester statue and redesigned
Tripolee stage were spectacular new sights, but they were small compared to all
I would discover.
I
arrived at the four day camping festival Thursday afternoon with a great deal
of uncertainty. My good friend and fellow Forester had a family emergency the
day before (all is well now thankfully) and couldn’t attend, so I decided to join up with a friend of a friend
and a couple others. Not overly outgoing or a camping expert by any stretch of
the imagination, I was well out of my comfort zone as we began to pitch our
tents under the sweltering sun in the thick of the action. But I had to keep
moving... There were shows to catch.
On
the surface, Electric Forest appears to be largely an EDM festival. But as soon
as you arrive you realize how broad the spectrum of music really is. Cut Copy
threw down a silhouetted multicolored dance party Sunday night, Umphrey’s McGee jammed away on consecutive occasions and Steve
Angello turned up the heat with a fire breathing set so scorching the fire
department was in attendance in case things got real.
Austrailian
house producer Anna Lunoe joined in the fun, dancing along with the audience,
and Ms. Lauryn Hill even joined up with The String Cheese Incident during one
of their three mesmerizing shows. Aloe Blacc, Matt & Kim, St. Lucia,
Classixx, Poolside, and Tycho were all in the mix as well.
To
escape the heat Sunday afternoon, I trekked towards the Forest stage to catch
some cool house vibes from Kygo, a Norwegian dj, playing at the stage.
But as so often the case here, I was sidetracked. Standing in the middle of the
open plaines was Kansas Bass. Two guys with a bass and a fiddle, beard and
suspenders. Their bare feet caked with dirt from kicking up a good ol’ fashioned
barn dance. I stayed for a few steps which was enough time for a small group to
jump in. A short walk later and I had arrived at my intended destination in the
Forest, flooded with people swaying to Kygo’s
digitized dance.
As
fascinating and diverse as these shows were, they were only a small part of the
festival. And this is what makes Electric Forest so special. There is so much
to see and do; it is a foregone conclusion that you will become lost in the
energy of the place. From silent discos to psychedelic bingo to a meditative
gong hut (you really have to see this for yourself), the more we wandered the
forest the more we discovered, and the closer my makeshift group of friends and
I became.
Late
Saturday night after STS9 and Art Department unplugged, we ventured out into
the Sherwood Forest to see what kind of nocturnal commotion we could drum up.
Sure enough, we found a small band wailing away at The Grand Artique, a wooded
turn-of-the-century bungalow and trading post burrowed deep beneath the trees.
The cozy spot was so intimate that Francisco Fernandez’s mic was hardly needed as he poured out his emotions with
the Ferocious Few under an American flag scrawled with the note “Victory today or tomorrow. Liberty forever.”
One
of the greatest discoveries however was Emerson Jay. The indie dance
group was performing only
their fifth show ever and threw an energizing party one afternoon with synths
that seemed to ride in on sunbeams. Even their tropical and native patterned
clothes seemed to fit in perfectly with the spirit of the festival. And when I
asked them about their colorful attire, it all made sense. “Another buddy that we met here, he was like ‘I make clothes and I heard you playing. Would you guys be
interested in wearing my clothing when you perform?’ And we were like, ‘Oh, yea, of course. Please!’”
Mother nature joined in on the fun too. As soon as the
sun went down, Mars and Venus glowed red and yellow in the starlit sky, adding
to the festival’s already amazing production. At one point, a shooting star
blazed overhead as if it were a wink from the heavens.
 |
| Anna Lunoe |
On
the last day, my new friends and I took shelter from the sun under the shade of
a wooden hut. On the underside of the roof we discovered a trove of hand-drawn
art, and it reminded us of all the discoveries we’d
made, and the memories we’d created. Talking as if we’d been friends for years, it seemed
completely foreign to think that just days earlier I was uncomfortable at all.
From strangers to artists to nature - everyone was part of everything.
“It’s the energy of the place,” Anna
Lunoe said to us in quiet amazement after her set, “It’s
the whole community that has a certain outlook on life.” Adorned
with kandi bracelets and a dreamcatcher necklace given to her by fans she added
“This festival is incredible and so
different to so many other festivals that I’ve been to.”
As I walked backed to my tent after Moby’s
closing set, I noticed an illuminated message pieced together in multicolored
glow sticks. “Not all who wander are lost” it
read. I couldn’t help
but think of all the unique pieces that came together to create such a
spectacular and unified experience. I also thought of ‘Carl’,
the long lost legend of the festival, and I knew that wherever he is, he couldn’t
really be lost. For I too wandered through the Forest, lost in the majesty of
it all, and I never felt more at home.
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