Organizers made the announcement a few weeks back that the fourth annual Electric Forest Electronic festival set to take place at the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, MI this weekend is now sold out. The announcement comes just two days after the festival released its final round of artists for the 2014 lineup that already included The String Cheese Incident, Ms. Lauryn Hill, MOBY, Zedd and Aloe Blacc. Other bands on the stellar bill include Umphrey’s McGee, Steve Angello, STS9, Moby (DJ set) and Matt & Kim amongst the more than 100 acts across several stages at the 2014 event. So With Electric Forest just a few days away we want to take a quick shout out to five bands the lucky ones with tickets can check out….
The Fungineers
Electric Forest is the only festival to host these guys all summer, which helps contribute to how special they really are. This group will be performing several times throughout the weekend on the “Observatory Stage” which lies within the Sherwood Forest. From the live-looped songs, whompy beats, crowd interaction and silly costumes they are sure to entertain everyone watching. This act is not going to impress you with their music, but laughter and smiles will be abundant. The bottom line,as stated on their website, “the Fungineers are on an eternal quest to engineer brand new kinds of Fun for everyone” so attendees should just expect to have fun if they happen to stop by.
Cosby Sweater–
This band has been gaining popularity as of late, and for good reason. The funk-style dance music falls on to the live-tronica side of the EDM genre. They compose their live shows with a saxophone, drums and a vocalist that will keep all music connoisseurs satisfied. Cosby Sweater has been opening for Umphrey’s McGee on several occasions in the last year, and that trend will continue at Electric Forest as they play a 30 minute set during the break between Umphrey’s two Thursday night sets. They also play a full set on Sunday at 3:45pm on the Sherwood Court.
3. Excision-
The Drum N’ Bass and Dubstep phenom is slotted to close the Tripolee Stage out on Friday night. Without the fancy “Executioner” set-up he normally brings to his tour shows, it will be a set that will rely on his live mixing and his powerful bass-lines more than the visual production. The Canadian DJ/ Producer was last spotted in Rothbury when he showed up unannounced at Datsik’s set on the Tripolee Stage in 2012, he then told the crowd “I’ll see you next year!”. Excision was not on the lineup last year however, so the added year of anticipation should lead to a memorable set for all the EDM fans who find themselves at his set.
2. Umphrey’s McGee
As the last headliner announced this year, Umphrey’s McGee could be considered the reason that 2014 will be the first sold out Electric Forest. As if the addition to the lineup wasn’t enough, the band is slotted for back to back sets on Thursday night that fans can catch from 10:45pm until 2:00am at the Sherwood Court. Even further, they play a late-night show Friday that kicks off at 12:30am. Umphrey’s McGee has been pleasing festival fans all summer thus-far from SummerCamp to Wakarusa and beyond, everyone has been raving about their festival sets. June 10th the band released their newest studio album “Similar Skin” and should be fine tuned and ready to shred for the Rothbury fans.
The Lauryn Hill Incident
This scheduled collaboration has the potential to be one of the better musically composed sets the crowd could witness all summer. The singer/ songwriter and former member of The Fugees is slotted to play with The String Cheese Incident at 9:45pm on Saturday Night at the Ranch Arena. With her deep, powerful, soul-soothing vocals and SCI’s always remarkable instrumentation, the fans should be pleased with the outcome of this once-in-a-lifetime collaboration.
New in 2014 to the festival is the “Electric Glen” in which fans and aspiring producers will get the chance to see several artists from the lineup curating music and collaborating together while in a smaller, more chill environment. Zeds Dead, Cosby Sweater, Aron Magner (Conspirator, The Disco Biscuits) and more are all scheduled throughout the weekend, you can check out all the details here. But beyond the diverse lineup, curated events and high-demand headliners lies the reason people tend to come back; The Sherwood Forest. The enchanted and magical forest presents ever-changing visual stimulation for all festival goers in the walk between the two main stages. Be sure to spend some time checking out all the awesome displays and artwork inside, the artists and staff put in a ridiculous amount of work to make it all possible.
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