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Headstash's STRANGE CREEK 2012 Review Guide

: By Holly O'Connor; Published on May 30, 2012

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Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

STRANGE CREEK 2012

May 25-28 – Camp Keewanee – Greenfield, MA
10th anniversary

2012 Lineup: Max Creek, Donna The Buffalo, Strangefolk, Marco Benevento, Jimkata, Alchemystics, Cabinet, Carbon Leaf, Kung Fu, Ryan Montbleau Band, Dopapod, Toubab Krewe, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, McLovins, New Riders of The Purple Sage, Juggling Suns, Desolation Angels, Dangermuffin, Turbine, American Babies, Bay Road, Beau Sasser, Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket, The Big Sway, Carole, Davia, Chris Merenda and The Wheel, Cosmic Dust Bunnies, Daddie Long Legs, Desert Rain, Danny Pease and the Regulators, Divintress, Dog Star Blue, Domino Theory, Folkadelics, Flat Nose Diesel Bus Formula 5 Fungus Amungus Gary Backstrom Band, Jabooda, Jamie Kent & the Options, The Jauntee, Juicy Grapes, The Kind Buds, The Kings, Lemon Juice, Liquid Liquid Pocket, Loves It, Miz, Moses & the Electric Co., Matuto, Otis Grove, Our Own World, The Raft Ready, Set, Flo; Rebel Alliance, Relative Souls, Rev Tor Band, Rhythm Inc. The Romano Project, Timbre Coup, Turkuaz, Viral Sound, The Van Burens, Van Gordon, Martin William

Festival Website: http://strangecreekcampout.com/

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Introduction

The amazing people behind Strange Creek are known collectively as “Wormtown.” In addition to being a traveling trading company based out of Worcester, MA and a staple of most festival vendor rows across the country, the worms put on this and one other festival annually.

Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

Named after its two headliners, Strangefolk and Max Creek, this festival is a place where the worm’s flourishing family of wanderers comes together to celebrate a deep love of music and all that surrounds it.

Camp Keewanee, a kid’s summer camp in Greenfield, MA, is the perfect setting for Wormtown’s events. The beautiful woods there hold two stages as well as multiple trails to different camping areas and even a beach. At Wormtown, the music literally never stops.

Strange Creek has been a summer staple for many New England residents for years now. Each year, the event has grown more and more attention and this year there were people from far and wide at the annual celebration.

But no matter how many more people attend each year, the overall vibe remains the same.

This event is all about family and giving back. Everywhere you look you see children playing and even participating in the music. Families are encouraged to bring their children here because, after all, it is a kid’s camp.

When you arrive you are greeted with absolute love and sometimes even told, “Welcome home.”

Weather

Strange Creek opened their doors early on Thursday to those who wanted to pay an additional $30.00 in order to get the headiest camping spot possible. For those who did arrive early, they were privy to the only rain all weekend long.

Friday was partly cloudy with the sun showing its face in the evening. After that, it was all sunshine and sweltering heat with temperatures reaching the high 80s. The extremely hot weather may have been a damper, but it made for great opportunities to jump in the river.

Many festival attendees spent the day sitting on the beach, swimming or even floating down the river. It was the definition of fun in the sun.

Highlights

Marco Benevento. Marco played Saturday afternoon and was accompanied with bassist Dave Dreiwitz (Ween) and drummer Andy Borger. All three were obviously stoked to be playing together – smiles were abound during their entire set.

Marco’s intricate organ playing featured complex melodies and intriguing sound effects. Fluidly mixing funk, jazz, drum and bass and a multitude of other electronic genres made for a set that was nothing short of a dance party.

Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

On top of that, Borger’s drumming was over-the-top impressive. During a drum solo, he rocked out so hard that his snare drum was knocked off of the kit and Benevento himself stopped playing so he could screw it back on for his bandmate. During this whole process, Borger literally never missed a beat and continued to kill it once the snare was back in place.

Beau Sasser. Another organist, Beau Sasser was accompanied by drums, guitar, saxophone and trombone to form a band that created sweet jazz-funk grooves like none I’ve heard. Sasser impressed not only me, but the huge crowd that had gathered for him.

His skills were mainly keys and organ, but he also used his toys to create and loop one of the most danceable bass lines heard that weekend. Another one of the band members even had their son on stage playing maracas as a second percussionist.

Viral Sound. The late-night cabin was popping off during Viral Sound’s set on Saturday night. If you haven’t seen these guys yet, be sure that you do sometime soon. Fusing together multiple genres including funk, rock and roll, jazz and electronica into a trance fusion powerhouse of sound, they got the party started and kept it going all night.

The weather. As mentioned above, the weather couldn’t have been better this past Memorial Day Weekend in Greenfield. Not a hint of rain and sunny skies made for a festival that was beautiful and most importantly, perfect for swimming in the luscious river.

One Lowlight

Aller-CHOO. For allergy sufferers, this was the one aspect of the weekend that may have had your head spinning. Pollen was especially bad and at times and the Main Stage area was plagued by small dandelion particles filling the air. There were points where it seemed as if it were snowing from all the white specs in the air. Still, not many let this obstacle get in the way of their fun.

Surprises

Zach Deputy. A regular in the Wormtown family, Zach Deputy was not on this year’s Strange Creek lineup but made a special surprise appearance on the Main Stage in between Strangefolk’s two sets on Sunday night.

Normally playing as a one-man-band, Deputy was backed by a small group of musicians. His set was one of the most energetic of the weekend by far. Most of the crowd sang along to his well-known songs “Down to Wormtown” and “Tubesteak,” and you could feel that entire festival was united into one big happy family.

Makers Marc Benevento. During Benevento’s day set he was extremely animated, as usual. At one point he asked the crowd, “How are you guys doing out there? Do you need any Makers Mark or something?” and of course the crowd wailed in agreement.

Much to our surprise, he actually got up from his organ and poured an icy cold cup of Maker’s Mark on the side of the stage then proceeded to give the cup to a lucky person in the audience who just happened to be a good friend of mine. It was a classic moment. (See picture below.)

Favorite Covers

Many bands played exceptional covers this weekend, from The Dead to The Beatles to Shpongle, there were plenty of tributes going out to some of the greats.

McLovins – “Shakedown Street” (The Grateful Dead)

Folkadelics – “Norwegian Wood” (The Beatles)

Viral Sound – “Dorset Perception” (Shpongle)

Our Own World – “Scarlet Begonias” (The Grateful Dead)

Atmosphere

The atmosphere at Strange Creek was just as I remembered it being my first time six years ago. The increasing attendance numbers haven’t seemed to change this event in the slightest.

Volunteers, the fire department, EMTs and attendees alike were outgoing, friendly and above all, conscious. The worms’ leave-no-trace policy made for groups of people that were looking out for the land as well as one other.

It’s nice to go to a festival and feel like you can completely trust your neighbors without even slightly knowing them – you truly feel at home there.

Best Pictures