Summer Camp Music Festival is the best music festival Illinois has to offer. Period.
Oh, wait, you mean there’s one in Chicago, too? That one that Perry Farrel organizes each year in the middle of Grant Park, where it takes 20 minutes to walk between stages, the sound is horrendous, and tickets are so oversold that you can’t even see the video screens?
Yeah, I’ve heard of it, and it’s nothing compared to Chillicothe’s raging good time. Everything is close to each other, the food is good (and reasonably priced), you can camp out where you wish on the grounds, and, most importantly, you can see and hear what’s going on. Seems simple, but while some other festivals can’t promise the basics, Summer Camp excels at them.
The lineup tends to stay the same from year to year, and since a lot of the ’09 artists have performed before, it’s telling that they keep coming back. Umphrey’s McGee, moe., Keller Williams, Les Claypool, Girl Talk and Gomez are among the artists slated to play, but my personal favorites on the list — The Wood Brothers and Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood — are alone worth braving the portable toilets and summertime insects.
There will be continuous updates about the fest (and major Wood lobbying) here on In The Aeroplane, Over UC, but make sure to stay tuned at the festival’s official website for artist info, updates, tickets and late night show announcements.
And, until then, check out The Wood Brothers performing “Atlas” at a different festival a few years back. If these boys don’t make you want to instantly purchase a ticket without thinking twice, I don’t know what will:
(photo via Music For Ants. Visit the site for more photos of last year’s fest, too!)
