After a year off, The Big Up Music and Arts Festival returned with a similar vibe and incredible jamtronica lineup as it had before, this time in a different setting, relocating to Hemlock Hollow Farm Claverack, NY, not far from the Sunnyview Farms of Ghent where the 2010 and 2011 installments took place. The mothership of The Big Up landed not far from where it was last spotted, and space cadets galore gathered amid a neon tinged forest to enjoy bass thumping music throughout the weekend, courtesy of jambands, live electronica acts, DJs and unique musical groups that fit no genre, emanating incredible new sounds for fans to discover at every turn. The woods felt just like the last location for the festival, and even the stalwart fans were treated to familiar camping setup in the woods and fields, as well as the thematic Astronaut ‘Blast Off’ motif spread throughout the festival grounds. In this new setting there was a flat area for the main stage and tent stage next door, a hill with THE BIG UP in tall letters, leading to wonderful views of the lay of the land, where one could see the field of cars and tents, and peer into the woods where the natives were content until nightfall.
Thursday
Bands from Upstate New York were found throughout the weekend, including Albany’s Formula 5 who ripped through a version of their hit “The Clear” while Fikus from New Jersey gave “Cold as Ice” a spin and The Edd gave Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar” a revved up treatment. Solaris, a three-piece livetronica band from Ithaca segued night into day on the Woods Stage with Dan Lyons’ fiercely fast drumming and Vinny Naro’s bass coupled with Jared Raphel’s keys leading to sci-fi techno instrumentals that surprised the audience as they filled in for the set. Fans could hear what resembled the Nightmare on Elm Street theme with their penultimate number “1231”, followed by the monstrous “Nostromo” to close the set.
At the Tent Stage, Laser Sex, comprised of drums, guitar, keys, turntables, computers and bass had the full range of jamtronica covered, incorporating samples into the instrumentals and getting it right – not just including them for the sake of a crowd response. The visuals bouncing off the ceiling were courtesy of Dutch Masterson Designs and run by Drew Suto; these visuals and lights became a major part of the show and led to many fans craning their necks up over the course of the weekend to look at the projections that accompanied the live performances on stage.
Rob Compa of Dopapod sat in with Lespecial before his own set with Dopapod, opening with “Psycho Nature” before the other two members of Elephant Wrecking Ball, Scotty Flynn on trombone and Dan Africano on bass, (Dopapod drummer Neal ‘Fro’ Evans is also in the side-project) sat in for “French Bowling.” Luke Stratton’s light show highlighted the well-portioned sit-in, with the group moving into “Nuggy Jawson” that was cut short to debut a cover of Hendrix’ “Manic Depression” and ended the 90 minute set with “Trapper Keeper” off recent release Redivider. Gigamesh, with his stable and trancey beats kept the Tent Stage beating, while Ian Stewart settled in for tweener DJ sets as the rain came down around 2 in the morning, and would prove to be yet another part of the wet summer the Northeast has experienced at concerts and festivals alike.
Friday
The rain – the constant of the summer, reliable as it is annoying – continued lightly in the early dawn hours, but came down hard from 8am until noon, leading the crowd to seek refuge in their tents and at their sites. The field would be dried out a bit, but not fully until Saturday, although at night the field got steamy as fans had closer proximity to each other and avoiding the larger soaked areas, finding plenty of space still to groove and dance. Mister F, featuring members of Timbre Coup and Capital Zen, covered “1000 Cigarettes” by MSTRKRFT and segued into “Vocoder.” Buffalo’s Aqueous, recently featured in Relix Magazine’s ‘On the Verge: 5 Acts You Should Know About’, took their original “Strange Times” and sandwiched Smashing Pumpkins’ “Cherub Rock” in between, while Albany’s Timbre Coup found drummer Matt Pickering and guitarist Dan Gerken trading vocals on Lionel Ritchie’s “All Night Long” and played a 15 minute version of the prog-rock set staple “Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Kung Fu, who swapped sets with Timbre Coup due to a flat tire in Connecticut, gave a healthy amount of funk during their performance, but many fans were anticipating the next night’s Prince tribute and buzzed about the potential while catching Kung Fu. Bassist Chris DeAngelis cited The Big Up as having great diversity as a highlight to the festival. “Diversity of bands is great. Different kinds of music styles converging, plus bands that are not on the same lineup all summer makes for a good and diverse mixture of music and bands. I really love the electronic and experimental side of it”, something fans couldn’t agree more with.
The surprise find of this night was Brooklyn group Escort, with a sound of disco-meets-orchestra, including a singer, Adeline Michele, who belted out tunes ala Donna Summer and Patti Labelle. A group of anywhere from 10-17 musicians (depending on the show/venue/location) plus the excitability of Fitz and the Tantrums means this act is destined to get big in short time, especially with a looming hit like “Cabaret.”
The Indobox, a pure electronic jamband at its finest, had a tent full of fans waiting for their set to start, thanks to their well known grooves, Jules Jenssen’s drumming to carry the direction of the songs, as well as a percussionist standing up nearly the entire set on a cowbell/snare setup, wearing a gorilla mask. At a music festival like The Big Up, this is not a bit out of place. Holy Fuck, four guys who are really tight on stage, both musically and figuratively, rolled the fog and haze into the main field, and elicited shouts of their band name from a crowd that packed to the rail for the midnight set.
The charm of the festival is that of small size, woodsy atmosphere and EDM music in one form or another, in most cases. This charm was slightly off and different from the last festival in 2011, but enough of The Big Up carried over and had its own flair to add to the community and vibe that were present all weekend. This could be found especially in the woods during the late-night sets after Holy Fuck. Dr. Fameus, aka Allen Aucoin, drummer of The Disco Biscuits, put aside his robotic tendencies to perform as a one-man group, creating soundscapes that are unheard of from even larger acts of the same ilk. Allen’s set was well received and his wide smiles afterwards were evidence of a set well-traveled. Back at the Tent Stage, Jeff Bujak played short sets around Gaudi, a mellower than expected IDM act, but Bujak’s combination of piano, organ, samples and mixes got the crowd worked up, thrashing their heads to the drops and watching Jen Dulong dance with numerous glowing hoops to the beat of the music, a treat for the senses. With Brothers Past playing a 5-6am set, it was bedtime for some, while others caught some rest to be ready for the sunrise set, which has become a regular festival set for the duo, and clearly one that is highly anticipated by the attendees.
Saturday
By Saturday, it was clear that a fair amount of the artists this weekend – Dopapod, The Heavy Pets, Solaris, Higher Organix, among others – were enjoying the full weekend at the festival and taking the opportunity to watch new musical acts and enjoy not having to shuffle from this festival to the next. Some were found near the Woods Stage, where known and unknown bands alike had fans filtering in and out of woods to and from their camps, before returning to the main field.
Blacklight Ruckus, a high intensity rock act with a Flea-like bassist were a great start to the day, as were Consider the Source who with their Middle-Eastern meet Sci-fi sounds, were early highlights as fans started to circulate around the grounds that were now drying out. The Heavy Pets, hailing from Miami and likely the band that traveled the farthest to play The Big Up, broke out of the reggae-tinged “So Thank You Music” into a deep and exploratory jam that evacuated the original song for 10 solid minutes, then returned to earth and were showered with cheers from the audience. The final tune, “The Day the Sun Forgot to Rise” had a distinct Tom Petty sound, a commonality among the musical Floridians.
Higher Organix, an all instrumental jamband built from organic jamming for their entire set, much to the approval of the audience who were enthralled as the set progressed. The only song of note that was played was John Lennon’s “Imagine,” which paced and explored as the sun set opposite the Main Stage and gave a powerful cap to their second set of the weekend. In the woods, Jahman Brahman from Asheville, NC, on their first trip through New York State on a tour dubbed ‘Tearin down the Walls,’ wowed the crowd with Casey Chanatry giving some Trey licks on his guitar, and coupled with drummer Rowdy Keelor, it becomes very tough to not get into their brand of funky jamming; you simply succumb to their music and the luscious arbor arrangements on stage.
A highlight of the weekend many were anticipating was the Kung Fu Prince tribute set, with Jans Ingber from The Motet as Prince. Taking their time and venturing through the classics – “Little Red Corvette,” “1999,” “Raspberry Beret” and a rocked out “D.M.S.R.”, Ingber and Kung Fu were accompanied by Christine Tambakis, whose sultry voice brought the crowd to Paisley Park for an all too short 75 minute set. It was then, after sundown, that most of the crowd became prevalent in the field, having opted to avoid the sunny day and enjoy their campsites while they prepared for Night 3 of The Big Up.
Another highly anticipated act that performs infrequently, much to the chagrin of fans looking for tourdates, was Normal Instruments. This jamtronica supergroup features Jules Jenssen of The Indobox and Higher Organix, Matt Beckett from Cosmic Dust Bunnies, Michael Carter of The Indobox and Jeff Bujak, who culminate in one of the best kept secrets in New England, playing forceful EDM with jam improv throughout.
Beats Antique were the headliner of the weekend, and rightly so – once you hear the ear rattling bass and drums, you understand why: the bass player does so much more than pluck bass strings, as he is on computers, turntables, mixing and building uniquely layered dance numbers, which lead to their resident goddess, Zoe, donning elaborate costumes, one after the other, dancing in a spooky and mystical manner, both entrancing and arousing onlookers at the same times. Her dances complement the music and make for a truly unique style of music, one best described as Gypsy meets Bass and Drums, although the banjo-laden cover of “Get Lucky” wasn’t just a cover for the sake of it – the tune had a layered beat underneath to propel the song and made the banjo sound bounce off the stage and into the crowd. This is by far the most unique band playing the festival circuit today and finding out where their current tour is taking them should be priority for those who have not seen them.
The night was capped off with Richmond, VA’s Former Champions, who perform a Bloc Party style of live electronica but found the right spots to build back up into a jam, rather than dissipate. Back in the Tent Stage, Eskmo was intense and elevating, An-Ten-Nae was a bit mellower than Eskmo and most DJs this weekend, while The Egg, a sick trio of trance, showed why they make perfect posterboys for using instruments, not just computers, to make EDM.
With roughly the same turnout as the 2011 edition, and a new site that is perfect for the music festival to expand, The Big Up showed staying power for the brand name, and with the response from the crowd and smiling faces throughout the music, The Big Up organizers have planted the right seeds to continue to grow and establish themselves as their own brand of music festival in Upstate New York.
