So some of ya'll might not think this is appropriate as it's not really political, but I just spent the most incredible weekend at Hornings Hideout for String Cheese Incidents annual summer camp. It's a music festival with a lot of non music activites; hula hooping and firedancing workshops, discussions on activism, arts and crafts, yoga, and meditation. It's an incredibly positive family vibe and every year I go, I hope that one day we can all treat each other as nicely as people do to each other at this event. Bob Horning, the owner has run into legal hassels, permits and such, recently, mainly because some people don't care for tie died, dreadlocked freaks... so this may have been the last event ever hosted by him. To find out more about the specifics you can google either 'hornings hideout' or 'bob horning'.
Flip below the fold to read my review
If I told you that there was this magical place in Oregon, where there are green fields where peacocks roam freely, an amphitheater on the edge of a trout pond, tent neighborhoods deep in a forest of trees, roaming performers, excellent food and vendors, an atmosphere of family, and a picturesque spot where the big dipper is perfectly framed between trees reflecting off the pond, would you believe me?
In an age where the idea of a `music festival' usually invokes visions of messy port-a-potties, overpriced food, hot dusty camping in a blazing hot field, loud partying all night, and the constant influence of corporate sponsors, there exists such a place.
At Horning's Hideout, in North Plains, the festival isn't just about the music, it's about community and family, and while the music is great, the vibe among the audience is something that you'll never find at a major venue.
We began our weekend Wednesday evening, as we arrived to help setup the theme camps. After some work, we drove to a place off-site to camp for the night. It was a beautiful property, with huge oak trees, a stream, and a fire ring complete with picnic tables and a teepee. We began a small fire with some wood that the owners, a really nice older couple, had brought down, and soon everyone who was there was drawn towards the flames and our community formed. Tired as I was, I went to sleep fairly early, and awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the hills. We soon packed up, and headed back to Horning's, this time accompanied by our new found friends from the night before.
We spent out Thursday helping with setup, until the evening when we found our friends that were meeting us there. A small neighborhood had formed high up in the woods where we were camped, and we spent the evening bonding with them over some beers that we had been able to smuggle in.
Friday, the day began with the smells of fresh coffee being made all around us. I love that at Horning's, whenever you wake up, there is always a fresh cup of coffee waiting for you. As I stirred out of my tent, I was invited over to our neighbors camp for a cup of coffee, which I soon reciprocated after I got some of my own going.
After breakfast, I headed off to a workshop on `the politics of altering consciousness'. I had heard this panel speak once before, and really enjoyed the perspectives of these intellectuals in the area of drug policy, religions, and government. Although I felt at times that the discussions were self-congratulatory and lacked dissent which is needed in a good discussion, I still came away with several things to think about. After this workshop, I met with a bunch of people who were going to be performing in the `Saturday night shebang', and we talked about how everything was going to work. For the past year, I had been teaching myself how to spin poi, and this year, I was determine to spin fire during the Saturday night show. Later in the afternoon, we wandered down to the fire camp to participate in a poi spinning workshop where I learned several new moves. We went back to our camp, cooked up fajitas, and headed to the show for the night, where SCI played the best `Black Clouds' I had ever heard. The only downside of the entire evening was the presence of the local sheriffs department, who were handing our several tickets to people who were not being `discrete' enough. Oregon is one of the few states to decriminalize marijuana possession, but the $500 fine is still enough to cause a bit of a bummer. A buddy of mine wasn't paying much attention and lit up a pipe while standing up on the hill, near the light of the vending area. A uniformed officer soon appeared and asked him to come with him, so he got his shoes on, and followed them up the hill. He was back within 5 minutes, much to our relief, as we had been worried that he might not be allowed to come back. The whole thing was pretty casual, and the officers were very respectful, but it still sucked. Yeah, the law has to do their job, but it's still unfortunate that such a harmless activity is illegal... at least Oregon is progressive enough to not consider it a misdemeanor, which requires a court appearance and a record. My buddy though, had a great attitude, we wasn't going to let a ticket ruin his trip... and we never talked about it again, except when warning others to be discrete...
Saturday was the big day. Three SCI sets, a theatrical extravaganza, and a nighttime full of activities. After attending the final `mandatory' rehearsal in the afternoon, I wandered over to the pond to listen to the drum circle workshop lead by SCI's Travis and Hann. It was incredible, the energy could be felt throughout the whole camp. I headed back to camp, cooked up some falafels, and headed to the show. As we were going through the bag check, the security girl was really interested in our falafels, so after we ate ours, and had some leftovers, I put her together one and took it back up to her. She was so happy, as she was really hungry, and wasn't going to get a break anytime soon. It never hurts to get in good with the bag check lady...
Just before SCI came on, I remembered that I had to go get face painted for the big fire dancing show, but when I got to the booth, the lady there said I was too late. So I headed back down to our spot on the hill, where my wife was playing with some little girls who were sitting behind us with their parents. They were coloring their folks faces, so I asked them if they would color mine. They were about 6 and 8, and were thrilled to get to paint my face. SCI had just started playing, and I figured what could possibly go wrong with two little girls painting my face to the music of SCI on a beautiful summer day. Their artwork was beautiful, and I got a lot of great comments all night. At the end of the set, which included an excellent `birdland' and `shantytown' which are `must plays' at hornings, I headed down to the staging area for the `big shebang'. While I was hanging around with the fire dancers, I wandered over to the porta potty to go before the show, and was standing there looking at the pond, waiting for my turn, when I got a huge hug from SCI's Michael Travis, who had come down to do the same thing. He thanked me for being part of this whole thing, and I told him how I was so inspired the two years prior, that I just had to learn how to spin fire poi so I could do this show. It was really neat. SCI cares so much about their fans, and they really go out of their way to live by their words.
The show soon began, as huge flames were lit on the floor of the theater, SCI's jam began to pick up speed as us poi spinners were directed on to the floor. I was almost in a trance, spinning fire, letting the music dictate how I spun. I spun a bit too close to my beard on one spin, and singed a few hairs, but kept going with incredible energy. As the music wound down, and the flames dimmed, we gave way to the second phone, where puppets, fluorescent creatures, and flying balloons took over the floor. At the conclusion, SCI took a small set break to clear the stage of all the props, then came back for a monster set, where I spun LED poi on the hill until my arms just about fell off.
That night after the show, the whole campground was lit up with glow sticks, black lights, and activities everywhere. I've never been to Burning Man, but this is what I imagine it would be like, no real organization, but shows everywhere. With lots of people high on psycadelics wandering between camps, mimicking the sounds of jungle animals, the experience was like no other. We began with a walk to the fire/expression camp, where we spun LED poi much to the delight of the many folks tripping on the hill, then we wandered over to the water camp and the jellyfish tunnel. The jellyfish was quite an experience, as several folks were lost inside, unsure of where they were or what was happening. One guy was so wasted that he thought the jellyfish was eating him... we had spun around a few times and the tentacles were wrapped all around him. I went over to him, told him I was a scuba diver, and that I would help him, so I unwound him, and pushed him out of the tentacles, which made him very happy. That had to be the funniest thing I saw all weekend.
From water camp, we headed up to air/inspiration camp, intending to only stay long enough to use the porta-potty and get some water, until we discovered the Magnus (Jeff Mcbride) was performing inside. Jeff is one of the best magicians I've ever seen, and is also a great person who has incredible insight on life. His show was absolutely incredible. We were getting pretty tired afterwards, so we headed back towards camp, with a quick stop at earth/evolution camp, which was decked out in UL light ropes, black lights, and a ton of psycadelic artwork and toys... like a giant caterpillar, and roaming mushrooms... We got back to our camp about 4am... which by `Saturday night at hornings' standards is pretty early.
Our neighbors came home about 7-8am, after watching the fog and bubble machine up on the pond, where they met Kang and Travis from SCI, who were totally messed up along with everyone else...
Sunday is by all standards the `mellow' day, with Railroad earth opening SCI's set, and SCI busting out a great `jellyfish'. After the show, we all went back down to fire/expression camp, where I fire danced a few burns with some of the best fire dancers I'd ever seen. In all, it was a wonderful, magical, weekend.