Rothbury Music Festival?!
As I've gotten older and transformed into full Dad and Husband mode, and my festival days are pretty much limited to a small day or two local festival, I always look back fondly at Rothbury Music Festival 2009. It was the one that got me hooked, the one that turned me into a Dead Head, and ultimately changed my life in a way.
I'd love to hear any stories you may have, even if they may seem mundane. The journey there and who you were as a person at that time is just as much fun to read as the events inside the festival. I'll share mine to start, thanks for reading!
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It was my final year at Purdue University, before I moved back home to my small southern Indiana town. I was sitting in the house and my roommate mentioned it and was just like hey man, everyone is thinking of going. You should go. I had been going to concerts for years and never been to anything like this, so I figured why not. I always just liked to have fun and experience things with friends. I liked the Black Crowes and Willie, but I'll be honest I didn't really know much about the rest of the lineup. My musical taste at that time...was generic, at best! haha. I still remember driving back home the week or two prior and telling my Dad I was going to see "The Grateful Dead". He just laughed.
We rolled out early morning, old college friends, with three or four cars, weed tucked away, and Adderall party favors passed around to make the drive. After camp was set up I remember walking down from the campsite making our way to the venue, and seeing an older lady in a tye-dye dress selling mushy chocolates right out in the open. Nitrous tanks were just right across the way, you couldn't not hear them. My small-town country-kid mind was in amazement.
Walking into the festival grounds was amazing. The forest was serene and peaceful during the day. I'll forever remember walking into the main stage (Ranch, Odeum? I can't recall the name) and seeing this massive stage jutting out like some ancient monument under the blue Michigan sky. Everything was perfect that weekend. It was like some kind of magic sprinkled in the air. The people, the music, the weather, the location, the vibes, everything.
Although I left a Dead Head, the String Cheese Incident put on a show that to this day I'm not sure I've ever had topped. I'd never tried Molly and I remember looking over at my roommate at one point during a jam, while these massive red balls, and hula-dancers, and glowstick wars were raging on, and just said God-Damn! He laughed and was like yeah. The moment felt surreal.
We all ate mushroom chocolates (thanks tye-dye lady) for the Dead's set, and being a Noob I had to float back to the campsite during the set-break. I mean, floated. I stopped and have had the best corn-frietter I've ever eaten. When I made it back to camp I sat in my chair with a blanket and will neve forget the way the pines, the clouds, the moon looked and felt as I listened to the Dead blast US Blues with fireworks exploding for what felt like ages.
The music the whole weekend was exceptional though. STS 9, Les Claypool, Cheese, Dead, Black Crowes, Zappa Plays Zappa, among all the others! I even set with about ten people under the really tiny stage at near the entrance and heard a perfect set by The White Buffalo.
All in all, this is the one that got me hooked. From GD50, to Bonnaroo, Lolla, SCAMP (RIP), Dead & Co all over the US & Mexico with wife and friends, to smaller fests around the mid-west, this is the one that set the bar. As the people I attended the festival with have slowly faded from my life, I always like to look back at the start of festival season and think fondly about how much this festival altered the course of my life, for the better. For those that know, you know.
Happy Festival Season, enjoy for some of us old guys that can't go and can't party like we used to. :-)