Wormtown Shakes It Up
By Marc Lovely
Photos by Sean Casini | Isaac Nines Photography
I
n the midst of a weekend that played host to
a handful of festival face-melters, Wormtown
proved once again that it can undoubtedly hold
its own against the bigwigs.
The grounds of Camp Kee-Wanee in Greenfield,
MA opened its gates on the afternoon of September
18 to a flood of antsy “Worms” itching to find camping spots and get settled in.
Arriving as dusk eased its way slowly into a
warm, clear night early attendees got to see longtime Riverworm Stage residents, Rebel Alliance,
make their debut in the late night Wormtown Cabin.
In fact, much was shifted around a bit at Wormtown this year as several returning bands got shuffled to different stages, moves by the festival’s organizers that can only be explained as brilliant. It
helped circulate the music around to those who otherwise wouldn’t make the trip to other stages. Not
only were the changes impressive, but it seemed as
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if every returning band stepped up their game and
set fire to their sets.
For instance, Rice: an American band opened up
Friday morning on the Main Stage and propelled
the late morning sleepers out from the cold confines of the forest. Their eight song set, consisting
mostly of folk-rocky originals like “The Redeemer”
and “Mighty River” was the precise thing to jump
start the weekend. To say that Rice has started
to gel together, hardening into a firm, wholesome,
well-rounded band is a complete understatement.
You can instantly realize that Phil Simon and his
band are no slouches. They have put in the work
and their sound and conveying message is beautiful, but also significantly on point.
Roots of Creation closed out Riverworm Stage on
Friday night while the incredible Dumpstaphunk
was throwing down on the Main Stage at the same
time. I made the shrewd decision to hold my ground
by the river and was able to witness what could be
Winter • 2015