All Photos by Nick Sonini/Sonini
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playing musician, and it being my first festival, I relate to this as my home. The place that I first got the
experience to play for that type of audience, which
was like, you know, for me a marriage, still is till
this day. So I love it, I love it! This reminds me of the
very beginning of touring.”
Underneath those five headliners is a long list of
musicians who have been jamming the scene for a
while such as Alchemystics, Roots of Creation, Consider the Source, Goosepimp, The Romano Project,
The Garcia Project, as well as newer groups to the
Strangecreek scene Turkuaz, Z3, and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong to name a few. These bands all attracted a crowd with an immense amount of energy
leaving everyone flabbergasted.
The Alchemystics, a reggae/hip-hop band from
western Massachusetts, had two sets over the weekend, with a raging late night cabin set that featured
many guest musicians sitting-in, as well as a late
afternoon main stage set that was made very special
by the return of singer Ras Jahn, after a longterm illness had him sitting out for several months. Force,
the Alchemystic’s rapper, also had his two adorable
daughters on stage singing and dancing around for
the crowd.
Other bands that are less popular, but super talented all the same, drew in crowds from out of the
woodwork. Bands like the Balkun Brothers, GrateJuly• 2014
fully Yours, Hot Day at the Zoo, and Relative Souls.
These bands all had crisp and amazing sounds that
dragged people away from meandering through the
woods to join the crowd getting down in front of a
group of musicians that you had never heard before.
You could see the bands blowing their minds.
Another young and energetic festival jam band to
watch out for is Shantyman & The Speakeasies, who
are from the Greenfield, MA area (Strangecreek’s
back yard). Amazing talent was displayed everywhere and at all times of the day, early morning to
late night, to give people the chance to express themselves in a like-minded community. This festival is
not all about the main acts, but also strongly encourages and supports local musicians of New England.
Strangecreek is a family festival where children
roam and do as they please without anyone worrying about anything bad happening. Constantly
throughout the weekend I would cross paths with
children riding bikes through trails, around the
camp fire, and to the stages setup evenly throughout
the grounds.
At Strangecreek it is the one big party atmosphere
that brings people together so they can celebrate in
a loving way with their family members here on
Earth. Do not be surprised to have a young kid hustle some money out of you by either performing a
magic trick, or selling pins. The kids enjoy their time
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