Rake photographer Denis Jeong is set loose in Detroit Lakes and tells us all he sees and hears. See the slideshows (Part 1 and Part 2) chronicalling his weekend, nudity and all.
Boom-bam-bop-tap! Boom-bam-bam-pop-pop-pop! Is this what a drum circle sounds like? Maybe not, but that’s the sound I was hearing as I drifted in and out of sleep that first night. Drums ‘til dawn and a blazing hot sun by nine, not exactly the way I wanted to start my relaxing weekend away from the city. You’d think I’d be pretty grumpy the next day, and I was. Not for long though; who could be when surrounded by ultra friendly hippies and super jamming music.
After a three and a half hour drive from the Twin Cities, I arrived at a hippie festival straight out of the 70’s. The 70’s with a 21st century twist, that is. There were, of course, the thousands of hippies ranging in age from about to be born–to about to possibly croak. There was the timeless image of long hair, tie dyed Grateful Dead shirts, and the desire to be "sustanic," but this time everyone drove his own car and rallied around their cell phones. It was the appeal of being free from politics and free from the corporate life that gave way for a weekend of dancing, camping, drum circles ‘til dawn, and just letting go. If all this sounds good to you, then there’s a good chance you still got a little hippie in you waiting to free yourself from the world.
The 10,000 Lakes Festival, or 10KLF as it’s more commonly known, features more than 60 bands, plenty of unique food vendors, clothing, drums, hammocks and so on. The 60+ bands, most of which I had never heard of, were the inspiration for my weekend. Every band I witnessed had a way of embracing the crowd and never providing a dull moment. Whether the band played at noon or two in the morning, they always had people dancing. Even when there wasn’t any music at all, people were still getting down.
One of the more well known acts was The Flaming Lips. They played Friday night, and started with one of the most elaborate openings I have ever seen. There was a member of the band inside a large ball rolling over the crowd, canons blasting confetti into the crowd, dozens of big colorful balloons beings bounced around the stage and crowd, groups of dancing Teletubbies on either side of the stage. At the start of the third song, a Led Zeppelin cover, front man Wayne Coyne told the crowd that he envisioned thousands of people getting naked for their next song then getting dressed again like nothing had happened. Luckily this did not happen, but a small group of women did end up dancing on stage with him, naked, of course. After that the energy slowed a bit, but it was nice to hear them play many of their classics.
The Michael Franti and Spearhead performance was straight from the heart and covered many of the world crisis going on now. George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic were decent, but nothing I would need to see again. EOTO, which are the percussionist and drummer from The String Cheese Incident, were a big hit to close out Friday night. Their style is a breakbeat, trip-hop, house, and drum n’ bass sound that is improvised as they play. It was very creative and fun to dance to. WookieFoot, who have created a sort of local celebrity status, brought their high energy, hippie purist music and tore it up. It’s hard to say who their band members are, as it seems the band is always growing; regardless, it’s a group of people who live for bringing happiness to people through their music.
It’s hard to say who the headliner was, but I think if you said Phil Lesh and Friends, most people wouldn’t argue. Lesh, bassist for the Grateful Dead, brought to 10KLF what everyone was looking for. Their three and a half hour set was an inspiration to all jam bands, bringing together a oneness that emulated throughout the crowd.
10KLF was an eye-opening experience for me. It showed there’s more to life than politics and economics. There’s a way of life beyond worrying about gas prices and deciding between fast food joints. The next time you find yourself sitting at a stoplight waiting for the light to turn green, take a cue from the jamming crowd at 10KLF: Turn on some tunes and turn on your life.
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