The second annual Electric Forest Festival gates opened early Thursday morning for attendees to set up their campsites in the scorching heat and enjoy the comfort of their shade tents for a few hours while awaiting the sun to go down and the music to commence. At the Double JJ Ranch, Thursday night started off with a set from Conspirator, who threw down until the sun went down at the Sherwood Stage. They even threw out several hats to fans in the front few rows. Their set included masterful remixes of Hendrix’s “Fire” and Avicii’s “Seek Bromance.” They were also all dressed in black from head to toe. They literally brought the house down with KJ Sawka’s “drumdub.”
EOTO continued on the same stage pumping the bass and entertaining the masses with a mind-blowing set. Their act was filled with intense beats and blaring bass lines. Michael Travis was not only DJing, but also he was adding guitar riffs. Jason Hann played drums and was also doing bits of improvised and freestyle rapping including a remix of Ludacris’ “How Low,” “Er Body in The Forest Getting’ Tipsy,” and a highly synthesized version of “Electric Avenue.” A rendition of Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” was also featured. EOTO’s new Lotus flower stage was mesmerizing with vibrant visualizers projected on the stage.
Ghostland Observatory’s set at the Ranch Arena featured their familiarly astounding laser light show. Whether you were in the crowd close to the stage, or back by the trees lounging in a hammock the lasers brilliantly illuminated the sky above. “Sad Sad City” from the album Paparazzi Lightning, was a popular sing along that really got the fans shouting the lyrics. Ghostland’s encore was the soulful Snoop Dogg track “Drop it Like It’s Hot.”
Beats Antique closed out Thursday night with an unforgettable show. They had an amazing stage presence with a female dancer and a multitude of on stage instrumental performances. Their set included Bassnectar remix “Voodoo” and the beloved track, “Egyptic” off of the album Blind Threshold.
After Beats Antique, for the first time, attendees were able to experience the nocturnal Sherwood Forest, named after Robin Hood. The forest literally came alive at night with an abundance of light and laser beams, disco balls, smoke machines, vibrant art installations, colorful dancers, walking entertainers and other interesting and fascinating adventures among the pine trees. One of the highlights of the festival was this legendary forest which also included a small stage, a full bar, a solar powered DJ booth and countless exciting activities; the alternative attraction of the festival adjacent to the music. The forest also had about a thousand ENO hammocks for people to lounge and relax in.
Friday kicked off with Cherub at the Tripolee stage and Gary Clark, Jr. at the Ranch Arena. Cherub began their set by collaborating with Dom and Jeremy of Big Gigantic. They played “Love You Right”, “Minez/Yourz” and “Disco Inferno” together. They also featured two excellent covers, Calvin Harris’s “You used to Hold Me” and Daft Punk’s “Around the World.” The encore was their hit song Doses and Mimosas.
At the Ranch Arena, Gary Clark, Jr. played several tracks off of his newest EP, Bright Lights and sang and jammed to adoring fans that really dug his funky badass style. “Don’t Owe You A Thang,” and “Bright Lights” were obviously the most favored tunes that he performed, with their popular lyrics, soulful vibes and bluesy jams.
Brothers Past continued at Tripolee playing a few long jams including “Lets Start a Gang,” “Big Blue Apples” and “Machine.” All of these songs frequent their live studio album releases, Everything Must Go and Songs That Aren’t on the Ceiling.
A highlight of Friday evening’s String Cheese Incident set was the collaboration with the horns section from Thievery Corporation, comprised of Frank Mitchell, Jr. on the saxophone and Dave Finnell on the trumpet for “Valley of the Jig.” Cheese also teased the theme from Sesame Street during “Rhythm of the Road.”
Friday came to a conclusion with an impressive set from Sound Tribe Sector Nine. Sporting matching white shirts and black ties, Tribe launched off in their new space ship themed lighting production rig, a rarity at festivals. They took off with a short space ship clip, landed in Rothbury, Michigan and played “March,” “Scheme,” “20-12” and “Hidden Hand Hidden Fist.” They also sampled some crazy pitched voices, talking to the crowd. All of the songs that they played throughout the night fit in well with the spacey theme and the crowd loved it.
Day three opened with Santigold who played nearly all of her popular hit songs. “Brooklyn,” “L.E.S. Artistes,” “Creator,” “say Aha” and “Starstruck,” were the crowd favorite tracks of this show, most of which are from her debut self-titled studio album.
SCI’s Saturday evening set had no special guests, instead the band decided to stick to their own original material, appeasing the masses with their expected groovy jams. “Rosie,” “Black & White,” “Sirens,” “Rivertrance,” and “Shine” were just a few of the songs played, each with extended jamming. “Ring of Fire” segued into “Johnny Cash” made for a breathtaking encore.
Closing out Saturday, Sound Tribe came out to party and blast everyone off into the atmosphere. Playing “Be Nice,” “Moonsocket,” “When The Dust Settles,” and “T.W.E.L.V.E.” STS9 performed an overwhelming show complete with an ornately extravagant light production.
Sunday began with Papadosio at the Sherwood Court stage, who started their set with “Paddles for Oceans.” The festival crowd might have been Papadosio’s biggest crowd yet and the early gathering of fans were dancing their asses off to “Unparalyzer,” and a reworked version of “Fuse.”
The Travelin’ McCourys featuring Keller Williams jammed out in true bluegrass fashion, featuring a brand spankin’ new track off of the new album Pick, “Price Tag,” originally a pop song made famous by Jessie J. “Pumped Up Kicks,” by Foster the People, and Keller’s most popular “Freaker by the Speaker,” were two of the more enjoyable tracks since the lyrics are extremely well-known and famous and almost everyone was crooning the lyrics.
Following Keller and the McCourys set, a few of the McCourys were invited on stage with The String Cheese Incident. Ronnie, Jason, Rob and Keller joined SCI for a Sunday evening bluegrass set. They played popular Keller Williams originals “Porta Potty” and “Best Feeling.” Also, after a short set break intermission, Big Gigantic’s Dominic Lali added his sexy saxophone sound to the Cheese for the second set opener, “JellyFish” and the encore tracks “Freedom Jazz Dance” and “Could You Be Loved.” Overall, String Cheese Incident collabs were groundbreaking. It has become apparent that artists did not come to Electric Forest to just play one set and leave; instead they came to hang out with their friends and play music onstage with each other.
Bassnectar and Big Gigantic finished out the festival strong with impressive sets and elaborate light shows from each. They both played all of their newest and most popular material. Also, both of these sets contained an onslaught of glowsticks hailing down like confetti from the skies, a spectacle from any vantage point.
Bassnectar opened with “Massive Attack” and continued with “Ugly,” “Laughter Crescendo,” “Ping Pong,” “Voodoo,” and “Vavavoom.” During Lorin’s “Pennywise Tribute,” and the encore song, Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” fans were bellowing along to the lyrics. Lorin Ashton’s set was nothing short of explosive; his loud kicking beats drove fans into a dance frenzy.
Big G followed on the Sherwood Court stage and after all of their unexpected collaborations, festival attendees finally got to hear their much-awaited original tracks and popular remixes. Aloe Blacc’s “I Need a Dolla,” is one of their best remixes and has become a staple in their live performances, as well as Kanye’s “Get ‘Em High,” and their own “It’s Goin’ Down.” The set also contained a new song “Power” which was undeniably powerful. Additionally, Griz came on stage for a quick shout out and to dance during “Lucid Dreams.”
Finally, there was a secret exclusive set sponsored by the Work Exchange Team that featured Cherub with guest appearances by Two Fresh, Big G’s Jeremy Salkin and String Cheese’s Jason Hann on drums. This surprise after party continued until 4 a.m. leaving fans begging for more.
