In an enchanted forest we lost our minds, questioned existence, and swayed in the wind to sounds of the tribe. Sound Tribe Sector Nine has been making music since 1999. In 2007
STS9 started the first Re.Generation festival in Horse Shoe, North Carolina. Now, four years later, the show has re.emerged, gathering the tribes on the West Coast for four days of music and STS9. This weekend they let loose as bassist David Murphy rejoined the crew after battling cancer. Reunited they played their souls fullest for the next generation.
When the tribes gather in the forest creation, synchronicity, wonderment, and falling leaves crumble together in an ecstatic dance. Electrifying Horning’s Hideout like the vibrancy of the peacock feathers nestled in the grasses, we bumped to the bass. Bouncing together along the hidden hills, we welcomed in the summer sun.
While we frolicked in the green of Northwest summer forests, settling into the trees of our four-day home, our ears were taken over by sounds of electro future storms. Octopus Nebula, with jumpsuit and space goggles pulled the wide-eyed festy goers out of the forest and into the bowl. Futuristic electro sounds, coupled with a look of fantastic retro space, shades, we enter into Re.Generation with a jolt.
Glitch Mob opened the weekend with epic intensity. Technology meets nature, when dubsters meet hippies, we all join in the non-stop dance extravaganza. Glitch Mob played with a live flare they have lacked in past performances. Raging on stage with drums and silk aerials to a crowd just becoming alive with the sound and vibrations of what would become an epic 4 days.
Big Gigantic started out the first full day of music. Calling on the audience for a sun dance, Friday became the day of bounce. Big Gigantic's fusion of Bassnectar’s womps and the floating electrodes of STS9, the music begins pumping people up for the night ahead.
Lynx followed in the fairy like wonderment of the Sawmill Stage. Shrouded in trees, the one-woman sound of Lynx, vibrated in the green nook. Igniting our fiery passion with her beat box knocks she sky rockets the crowd into another dimension when she lets out her voice. During her raw performance of Tricksters and Fools she fully engaged the crowd, unlike some new artists who are hiding behind their DJ booth.
Friday was the first set of three STS9 performance throughout the weekend. With many more to come, and Bassnectar being the main attraction of the evening, this set was low key. They didn’t hit the crowd like their music would, come Saturday.
We couldn’t stop thinking about him before he came on, we couldn’t stop feeling him while he was playing, and we couldn’t stop talking about him after he finished, Bassnectar stole the show at Re.Generation. We asked for it and he happily obliged, maybe we didn’t know what we were in for. He hit bass that tore my brain and scrambled my body, with visuals that did the same. Little did I know that face melting music existed before this “Bass in your Face” set. A wild crowd set topsy turvy by a long haired wonder. He shattered out bass heads then gently set us down with a slow tempo farewell, lightening us off to Tycho’s amazing set.
Whatever it was that Bassnectar had exploded in the crowd Tycho gave it all back. For the generation that got re.tardation at Bassnectar, Tycho gently tossed us that grounding magic to bring us back to earth. Like dandelions in the summer evening of Oregon bliss, the crowd swayed to beautiful visuals and sounds that whispered to our souls.
Tycho live visuals test footage from ISO50 on Vimeo.
The creation of this line up fortified the musically obsessed and drug fried community of the magical monsters temporarily housed in the enchantment. Like a snowglobe sprinkled with glow sticks, the forest was electrified. Seeing the entire line up of amazing musicians, the crowd meanders back and forth between the two stages. Each sound stacked perfectly upon the past performance as if a magician knew bodies and minds perception of a post Bassnectar, Tycho, and the necessary downtime after the body womping of Friday. Saturday was exactly the chilled out flowing contact dance vibe we had all needed.
Malah, Inspired Flight, Elliot Lipp and Lotus all flowed with mellow, sweetness, and down tempo low beats. The crowd Swaying in sea foam green, waiting for the sun to come out and play. Enjoying the rays as they hit through the trees and glistened on the tails of festy creatures. Glitching together the stories of the night before, the day felt like soaring through clouds between stages. Melting into each other as we regain our minds from the debauchery before.
For three days STS9 brought their utmost to the stage, but Saturday they shared the utmost of their musical talents with the audience. Showcasing their fantastic ability to combine many styles, music fanatics of various backgrounds joined together in an eclectic array. From their jam band roots to their womping influences they gathered a varied crowd on the dance floor. For stomping boots and bare foot daisies that danced into the night.
Beats Antique followed, where the circus creatures come out to play. Their circus performers and on stage shenanigans always make for an interesting performance. Tucked into the woods the more tribal sounds of their drums shone through as the playful audience got strange.
Its Sunday and the dub is back. After the Saturday chill break, we get a combination of some differing types of Music, including that bass. Crawling through the forested hilltop Sunday gives way to calmness. Shenanigans fade as the high finally lifts and reality of the beautiful weekend sets in. Napping on hillsides over looking Break Science we fade into bliss and dissect the days.
A molasses crowd melts in slow motion to the tectonic beats of Eskmo at the Sawmill Stage. STS9 gives their final performance, and the last of the weekend, as people give the last of what their body has left to join together and celebrate the magic.
Travel isn't about seeing those places on a map that scream tourist attraction. Or asking a tour guide to teach you all they know about the history. Its about meeting a local in a coffee shop who offers you a ride in his RV to a full moon party he knows about. Or asking a bus driver to let you out before the stop because the view from the window is too beautiful to ignore. We travel to follow our intuition. To find out where life takes us when we surrender to the flow. I hope these stories and life trinkets inspire those of you who think choosing to be free isn't an option. I started this year with nothing. A lost wallet and a lost cell phone, forced into the dance of life by unknown forces. Anything is possible. Adventure is everywhere. The spice of life lightens the sense of everyday. Sunshine sprinkling on a hidden cloud. Lost in the ethers of the Boondocks. I come to you from the forest, from the mountain top from the city. These stories are memoirs of what can happen when you let go and let the magical unfolding of existence create an origami masterpiece.
