A twelve hour drive from Philadelphia to Rothbury, Michigan in a small car packed to the brim with camping equipment can be daunting. It works best when you drive with good friends, go four hours and spend the night in a hotel then bang out the remaining eight hours the next day. As unappealing as that might sound, whether I lost you at “camping” (as I did with my boyfriend) or at twelve hour drive (another of which I’ll be making this weekend to the 8th Annual Lebowskifest is Louisville), I can assure you that it was all worth it since the fruit of the labor was ROTHBURY, a three and a half day music and greening festival.
After eight hours in the car punctuated by the occasional rest stop and a late lunch at Founders Brewery, where Popwrecker Jon Gitchoff met up with us, it was time to set up camp on the Rothbury camping grounds at the Double JJ Resort. Our instructions to find an available place to set up camp were, “You see that blue tent? Drive at it like you’re gonna hit it, but before you hit it, turn left really fast.” This was already going to be the best festival I’d ever been to.
Camp site set up, it was time to move along to the festival grounds. Only totally set on seeing Cold War Kids and Future Rock, I roamed the grounds of Double JJ taking in all that Rothbury had to offer. Navigating the grounds and wildly decorated Sherwood Forest was no easy feat in the dark, but we made time to catch a bit of Keller Williams‘s folky alt rock jams, some trip hop a la Future Rock, Lotus‘ dub electronic sound with their apparent huge following, and The Disco Biscuits complete with crazy light show as we meandered.
The main event for the night, for me and Jon anyway, was Cold War Kids on the Sherwood Court stage. I’d seen these Long Beach guys once before, opening for Muse, a few summers ago at Philadelphia’s Festival Pier. At the time, I hadn’t been terribly impressed with their live offerings, but I was blown away by this past weekend’s performance. Cold War Kids played a high powered set consisting of cuts from last year’s Loyalty to Loyalty and 2006′s Robbers & Cowards.
Set List:
Mexican Dogs
Something Is Not Right With Me
Summer Ends
I’ve Seen Enough
Hang Me Out To Dry
Relief
Tell Me In The Morning
Every Man I Fall For
Passing The Hat
Lord Have Mercy On Me
Hospital Beds
Saint John
Once Cold War Kids’ set came to a close, it was back through Sherwood Forest in all its clusterfuck glory to the campground for the night and prep for Day 2.
Stay tuned for Days 2 through 4
ROTHBURY: website | interview with
Photos: Jon Gitchoff
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