Illinois Hi-Fi: Summer Camp Music Festival: Friday

Photos by Eric Heisig

1:40 a.m. – I get back to my car, where I will be sleeping. Since Illinois Hi-Fi was only granted one press pass, I stay in the car, because I have expensive equipment as well as it being rather difficult and a pain to put up a tent without a second hand.

8:30 – I wake up after not sleeping very well. My car is cramped and the sun is shining directly into my face. My back hurts from the hard surface. What a way to wake up.

9:45 – I go to the ticket booth to see if they have any lanyards for my press pass. They don’t, as they had run out the night before and never got any more. I used this as an excuse to go to Wal-Mart and pick that up as well as a little bit of breakfast.

10:45 – I get back and start organizing my car and planning out my day. During this time, a man with a green balloon walks up to me and asks "you want to buy any ganj?" I say no. He asks “do you want to buy any Molly?” Again, I say no.

The man looks at me, annoyed and kind of angry. “You want to pop my balloon, don’t you?” Becoming annoyed myself, I say “no,” and he walks away, obviously disappointed I didn’t partake.

If you're reading this, sorry, but not really. I have no problem with anyone taking anything at this festival (as long as they can control themselves), but I am not since I am working.

11:50 – I get back into the festival and head over to the Camping Stage. A band called The Stretch is playing. I had heard some chatter about them, and they turn out to be some a generic jam-funk band. They didn't do much visually either. Booorrinnnngg.

They group stretches out (get it?) with a little bit of blues, but otherwise there is not much there to distinguish them from the umpteenth amounts of others like them at Summer Camp. I got bored and walked away.

12:15 p.m. – I watch a little bit of The Macpodz play at the Starshine Stage. Unlike The Stretch, these guys are weird. They have a personality to them and a striking resemblance to Parliament and Funkadelic, with weird chants, funny vocals and freaky solos. They weren’t trying to be smooth, but rather sound weird. They succeeded, and it was an early highlight.

1:15- I catch a little bit of Future Rock after walking the festival grounds a bit and seeing what else there were. There are a lot of environmental groups, and as mentioned before, a man building a sculpture out of melted shopping carts, but not much more.

Future Rock is okay. They are missing a really wild, clubby element that is part of the best dance bands. It’s all smooth, no edges (I have met a surprising number of photographers who were hired by them to shoot their shows. They gave out a lot of press/photo passes in their name).

1:30 – I catch moe.’s opening set, which includes the song "America...Fuck Yeah!" from the movie Team America: World Police. It’s a funny way to begin a pretty good set by them, easily matching the set of theirs I saw closing out Saturday night’s festivities (though no lights, so it was missing that).

2:20 – I catch 40 minutes of the set by This Must Be the Band, a Talking Heads cover band based out of Chicago. I saw these guys in February at The Canopy Club, where they recreated the entire performance from Stop Making Sense. This time, it was just the songs, but it was still fun.

The band has really grown to have a good sense of the material, meaning they are able to stretch out and do different things instead of just performing the songs the same way. The song “Slippery People” is a definite highlight, with the groove being stretched out as far as it can be (the bassist is also in a dress. It’s a man, but the original was Tina Weymouth, so…where does that leave him?).

Their set is marred by the sweet, sweet odor of overflowing Port-O-Potties. There’s no pick-me-up quite like that stench. The festival has been having problems with that today, and I have spotted quite a few trucks brought in to take the fun stuff out of the toilets.

This Must Be the Band closes with “Psycho Killer,” which has everyone in the audience pumping their fists to a song that…really doesn’t warrant that. Ah well.

3:00 – I get something to eat and chill out. My my my, it is quite hot out today.

3:30 – I interview This Must Be the Band. Check back here for the audio from that interview.

Edit: Here is the audio: Click the links to hear about the topics:

Why Charles Otto (lead singer/David Byrne) decided to form a Talking Heads cover band

Why the Talking Heads music is a good jumping off point for This Must Be the Band, instead of them being a straight cover band

3:45 – I see a little bit of a set by That 1 Guy, who is playing a set of pipes, tubes, and pedals to make a really weird sound. Think Les Claypool without a bass, except he has a contraption that can make the bass sounds.

That 1 Guy is another one of those weirdos, but the music is cool. It’s fun to catch for a few minutes, as he’s a funny guy who produces a lot of “wow” moments, but beyond that I don’t know how much of it I could take.

4:00 – Dark Star Orchestra, a Grateful Dead cover band who specialize in recreating entire setlists from the band, is playing on the Moonshine Stage. I photograph a song or two and then head out into the grass and check it out.

It's eerie how similar the band sounds to the actual Dead. Today, they are out with their acoustic guitars, playing like early-70s Dead. Their jams are meandering and interesting, if not mind-blowing. It’s a great way to spend a hot afternoon, and they know that.

Dark Star Orchestra plays right into the concertgoer’s hands by pulling out a cover of "The Weight" by The Band. Last year, I heard that song being played and sung by everyone, and while it’s not as prevalent this year, it’s a favorite. Very cliché, and not the best way to end the set.

5:15 – I lay down. It’s still quite hot out.

6:15 – Buckethead is on the Moonshine Stage, and he arrives 15 minutes late. I shoot part of the set and then head out to listen.

I came into the festival not knowing what to expect from Buckethead, and I left his set kind of disappointed. Most of it included him playing along to an iPod of prerecorded music. That 1 Guy had his equipment set up to play with him, but I left before he started playing.

7:00 – Girl Talk starts at the Sunshine Stage. He was a big hit last year, with his audience size growing more and more as the set went on.

This year people knew what to expect, and it was more of the same. While his set has changed very little in the past year (a new sample here, a new beat there), he has added a 1ouple of stage hands hired to shoot toilet paper, confetti and water into the audience.

It’s a good performance, even if it wasn't his best. There are way too many people onstage (to the point where it spilled over onto the speakers in the pit), and Gregg Gillis gets lost in the mix. Maybe that was the point, but he wasn't at his peak.

The set ends with the now-standard "Faithfully" and "International Player's Anthem" combination that had people waving their arms in the air. It was a highlight of the day.

9:45 – Method Man and Redman finally hit the stage. They are 45 minutes late, with little to no explanation as to why.

Every time I have seen anything related to Wu Tang Clan, I have left disappointed. This time though, they deliver. This is what I wanted to see when I saw Wu Tang Clan in December. Method and Red are all over the stage, bouncing back and forth from each other, getting int the crowd’s faces.

The duo pay the obligatory tribute to ODB with "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," pull out a bit of Wu Tang with "Shame on a Nigga" and do a few songs from their latest album. It was awesome.

10:15 – I order a beef sandwich and fries from a vendor. As the lady is handing them over to me, a guy comes up beside me and says "look at fucking Sling Blade right here. 'Mmmm those are some good taters.'" He laughs at how funny he thinks he is.

I look at him and say “Is that who I am?” He just stands there, grinning at how proud of himself he is. The lady behind the counter smiles at me. I walk away.

10:30 – I had wanted to catch Umphrey’s last set of the night, so I head over to the Moonshine Stage. When I got there they had already started (thanks Method Man and Redman), but I walk in to the opening notes of a Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love."

Last time I saw Umphrey's, I was disappointed. I had heard so many things about how adventurous they were, that they were more prog-rock than jam band. However, when I saw them at Summer Camp last year, I saw a mediocre blues jam that went on for about an hour too long.

This time though, the prog was in full force. Yeah, there was still a lot of fat that could be trimmed, but I was surprised to see how many of their parts and arrangements are composed and orchestrated, instead of doing them on the fly. Their lighting was also awesome, and it was a pretty good way to chill out on the lawn and take it in.

I leave early, because I am ready to pass out. A sun and a lot of camera equipment take the energy out of me, and I need to retire to my quarters.

Here are more photos from the day:

Future Rock