I had an excellent time at Fields Festival this year. It was not without issues, but all in all it was a really fun time. I got there around the time Lower Dens was starting to play on Saturday. I easily found GotHaggis and we decided to skip part of the set so that he could stock up on beer and I could bring my gear to the campsite from my car (Haggis had most excellently already set up his extra tent for me to use so it was a quick process to drop my stuff, grab beer, meet his friends, and head back to the Dance Pavilion for the end of Lower Dens, rocking out as a two-piece. Future Islands was up next, and like they did at Metro Gallery before their last album was recorded, they played a set of (mostly) new songs that they wanted to road test for their new album. The songs were pretty good, but I spent most of the time visiting with Haggis. I also noticed that one of the tracks was a HUGE ripoff of ?Pride (In The Name Of Love)? and when I mentioned that to Haggis, he laughed and agreed with me.
I suppose this is a good time to mention the festival?s clothing optional policy. It was a tiny bit shocking for about a minute (and mostly at the people who decided to go sans clothes, I mean really people? They had no shame. Or maybe it was the substances that were being consumed. There was plenty of partying of all types going on, but I personally did not see anybody who was out of control. I also did not see anyone fighting. Or who seemed upset. It was a happy weekend.
The next artist was Deakin, and that was when the well-oiled machine started to sputter. Deakin was ready to play. The time started. But they couldn?t, as the generator running the stage monitors was out of gas. Oops. They finally resolved that but it took a long enough time to start delaying that side of the festival (they essentially have three areas; a pool stage, a main stage with the dance pavilion next to it, and an amphitheater that has a stage set up next to it. That way the two main areas have stages where one band sets up on one stage while the other plays on the other stage. Easy. But the Deakin delay caused Prince Rama to start a little late, and I found myself wandering around in the dark to find the Grass Stage to see DJ Dog Dick.
Using the map and my excellent land navigation skills, I was soon parked on a bench as a 30 foot wacky inflatable arm man was turned on. DJ Dog Dick was fun, and at this point I decided I would forgo seeing Dan Deacon (again) to go to my car and charge my phone. I sat in the air conditioning, listening to Sirius for about 45 minutes. I started to head back towards the main stage to catch Princess Nokia, when I realized, it was midnight and I could still hear Dan Deacon. I was able to catch the last two songs, and was glad that I did as he had a full 10 piece horn section and choir and other musicians on stage.
I was expecting all stages to run smoothly so that I could make my way through my schedule, but now I was starting to worry that I might miss things. Instead of Princess Nokia, the next artist up was Chiffon. Chiffon did their thing and then Princess Nokia took the stage. Her set might have been my favorite of the weekend. I was mesmerized by her performance and entranced by her presence. She was five feet nothing of pure energy. She made it clear that it was a girl friendly and especially brown girl empowerment type of show and yelled for girls to the front, so I took a spot of the edge of the crowd and enjoyed the hell out of her performance, from the topics in her raps, to the fact that she let whatever girl that wanted to get on the stage, to get on the stage, it was a lot of fun. After her energetic set, I watched some of Hi$to?s set of club music.
I had to run to the other side of the camp. I didn?t want to miss Benny Boeldt (formerly Adventure), and surprisingly, that side of the festival was also running late. His set reminded me of Aphex Twin at times, and was comprised of music from his newest album. He also had some groovy projections going on the screen behind him. I also did not want to miss Container, who was supposed to be on the other side of the festival, and as far as I can tell, he never performed.
Next up was supposed to be TRNSGNDR//VHS, and what went down was one of the strangest things that I have ever seen in my life. VHS started making noise, but then stopped to talk to the sound guy, or something? started ranting, and then started playing a noise set, but then threw all of the equipment on the ground? and then got the microphone and just started talking about tripping on acid and how nobody leaves Baltimore and that ?we can do better? seemed to be the mantra. As this car crash went on, there was no music ? Darsomba was setting up on the other stage. VHS tells the crowd the set could be done If one of the million musicians brought a mixer so DJ Dog Dick was dispatched but by the time he returned with mixer in hand, Darsomba was playing. Darsomba had the best video projections onto them; everything from bugs to skulls to all kinds of weird stuff. It was about 3:40 am at this point so I watched part of the set, made my way back to the tent, and was able to listen to the end of the set in my tent.
A few hours later I woke up (around 8:45). I knew the rain was coming so I went ahead and moved my stuff to my car, and talked to Haggis. He decided he was going to bounce so I checked the coffee line (at least 45 minutes long) and decided to also leave the campgrounds. I decided to drive to a good friend?s house in Essex, and get coffee and food without waiting in a line, and to have a shower. I did all of those things, and left while it poured down. Getting back to the campgrounds was a fun rainy drive, but as I got there, the rain stopped.
The rain of course, caused some delays. I was expecting to see Horse Lords as I walked up, but it was Weyes Blood performing a solo set. The amount of people at the fest was surprisingly less than the day before. After Weyes Blood finished, Horse Lords started. They moved the main stage to the Dance Pavilion and added a floor stage at the other end of the pavilion, and switched between the two for the rest of the day. I thought this would be a problem, but since so many people left, there was always room under there to watch the artists. After Horse Lords finished I headed to the pool to watch Gurl Crush. This was woefully under attended, and maybe 10 people were in the pool and five watching outside of the pool.
After the pool stage I headed back to the Pavilion for the last few songs of Flock of Dimes. It was fine but right after, Abdu Ali played on the floor stage in his usual confrontational manner. Sun Ra Arkestra were setting up on the stage while this was going on, and the members (including Marshall Allen) would occasionally walk up and watch his set.
And speaking of Sun Ra Arkestra, they were up next, and ended up being the last act for me. They were supposed to start around 6:25 and didn?t go on until 7:10. I hung in there until 8:45 but was pretty beat after two days in the woods with little sleep, so I decided to drive the 60 something miles home and call it a day. The Arkestra was great, and I left the festival with space man vibes.
I really recommend this festival. Even if you do not like all of the artists, there is always something going on. From wellness, to art installations, to random video projections, it really is an art lover?s Choose Your Own Adventure in the woods. I think I might try to get a cabin bed the next time, and will get my ticket before hearing what the lineup is.
Shout out to Vas for selling me his ticket under face value. Double shout out to Gothaggis for not only letting me borrow a tent but setting it up AND tearing it down.
