Issue date: 5/28/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Katie Glaze | Daily Eastern News Festival-goers walk past tents with clothing and food for sale at the Summercamp Music Festival last weekend. Summercamp was held in Chillicothe, Ill., and had bands like Umphree's McGee, Les Claypool and Girl Talk as featured performers. Attendees slept in tents on the same campgrounds as the festival.

Media Credit: Katie Glaze | Daily Eastern News A clip of Les Claypool covering a Radiohead song at Summercamp 2009.

Summer is a time when students are living the free life and letting it loose out of the rein of schoolwork.

Imagine basking in the splendors of good vibes and groovy music in an atmosphere that is naturally beautiful.

Last Thursday, I ventured on a magical journey to the town of Chillicothe, Ill., where I enjoyed four days of musical bliss in the woods.

Not only was this my first music festival, but also this was only my second time camping in my life.

Summercamp is a place where anyone can escape from reality, cut loose and dance like no one is watching.

As I walked into what seemed like a different planet, I suddenly felt myself become overwhelmed by the mass amount of people just living life and having loads of fun doing it.

From what I have been told, Summercamp is quite similar to other music festivals. It consisted of five different stages set up all around the campsite with a band playing on each stage at different times.

Festival visitors could indulge in some of the delicious fair style food during all hours of the day and night. One of my personal favorites was the Chinese food stand that had almost everything you could imagine.

Not only was the food amazing, but there were also clothing and accessory stands where campers could buy anything that they desired for their hippie needs.

Some of the big name bands that played at Summercamp 2009 were Lotus, Umphrey's McGee, Moe, Les Claypool, Buckethead, Bassnectar, Girl Talk, Keller Williams and more.

My favorite set by far was Umphrey's McGee's second set on Saturday night. It literally blew me away.

And just when you thought that the show couldn't get any better, there was a massive blowout of fireworks from above the stage that lasted nearly five minutes.

Nothing can compare to the show that Easy Star All Stars put on for the Sunday late night set. This band did a reggae version of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." This rendition was cleverly named "Dub Side of the Moon."

I can safely say that Summercamp 2009 was a life changing experience for me, and a time that I will never forget.

I look forward to raging next year in Chillicothe.



Katie can be reached at 581-7943 or kjglaze@eiu.edu.

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