[FESTIVAL COVERAGE] Summer Camp: A Night in the Red Barn with Big GRiZmatik

[FESTIVAL COVERAGE] Summer Camp: A Night in the Red Barn with Big GRiZmatik

[FESTIVAL COVERAGE] Summer Camp: A Night in the Red Barn with Big GRiZmatik

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[FESTIVAL COVERAGE] Summer Camp: A Night in the Red Barn with Big GRiZmatik
By: Tobias Odusanya
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Right down in Chillicothe, IL, one of the most diverse music festivals of the summer just took place and gave thousands of avid music listeners and artists a four day getaway filled with EDM, Hip-hop, Funk, Reggae, Bluegrass, and all sorts of livetronic Jam bands. Summer Camp Music Festival sports carnival rides, tons of live art, and a community of artistic festival-goers who frequently trade their own wares throughout the vast forest within the festival grounds. Artists like Diplo, Minnesota, Big Boi, The Wailers, Zeds Dead, Umphrey’s Mcgee, Moe., and STS9 took the stage and gave their crowds incredibly moving sets that spanned the many different vibes that people were feeling throughout the weekend.

Magical memories were made in the EDM scene, but one unique collaboration brought lucky Summercamp listeners one of the most unprecedented sets of all time. On their own, these artists are all some of the heaviest hitters in the EDM scene with a variety of Electro-funk grooves, but together they became something much, much more…

Big Gigantic, GRiZ, and Gramatik thought it would be fun to do a late night set as one glorious combo and truly turn up Summercamp’s Red Barn, and so… Big GRiZmatik was born. Following a phenomenal opening set by Sound Tribe Sector 9, the whole gang entered to find a perfectly warmed-up crowd. The Barn was full of energy and felt like a steam-room filled with damp campers coming in from the chilly night air.
 

 

The ensemble started the set strong with “Power,” a very driving and hard tune birthed from Big G and GRiZ collaboration. Eric Mendelson, the guitarist who frequently tours alongside Gramatik threw down a very high energy solo during this version and had the crowd going wild. They kept things rolling and really got the crowd bouncing when they moved into Big G’s well-known remix of Jay Z’s “Can I Get A”. This featured a bit of back and forth improvisation between Dominic Lalli of Big G on Alto Saxophone and Eric Mendelson on guitar. Dominic was really feeling this jam because he went off on a superb solo and really brought the crowd into his groovy vibe.

Click here to see the first 8 minutes of the show!

The barn got a taste of some of Big G’s latest album Nocturnal with a spectacular rendition of “Fantastic” (check out the live video here!) with Dominic leading the melody, and also a taste of some of their classic crowd-pleasers such as “Get ‘em High” and their always popular “I Need a Dollar” remix. Jeremy Salken of Big Gigantic kept the life of the music flowing rhythmically with phenomenal drum work throughout the whole set. His energy was high and he swayed the crowd effortlessly from glitch-hop to electro-rock and everywhere in-between.

In the intimate setting of the barn, the shredding, face-melting riffs of Gramatik’s psychedelic funk tunes alongside an incredible light system made for the perfect setting for one of the wildest shows of the weekend. The crowd was greeted with many of Gramatik’s bangers from his latest EP #digitalfreedom such as “Fist Up,” “23 Flavors,” and “Born Ready.” All of these are stand out tunes with such unique and flavorful rhythms and Eric made sure to make each and every one of them his own with such astounding guitar play.
 

 

If you’re a fan of GRiZ’s heavy electro style then you’ll be happy to know there was plenty of it to go around with “Smash The Funk” and “Too Young For Tragedy” bringing a filthy vibe with them. The crew also gave everyone even more of a taste of some recent production from GRiZmatik, throwing down “Digital Liberation Is Mad Freedom.”
The set ended with tremendous energy as most of the Red Barn’s occupants would have surely raged well into Sunday with such a rare collaboration of talent. This was one for the record books; a true testament to the origins of music with collaboration and jam-driven sets. With so many artists looking to give their fans something bigger and better each year, maybe we’ll start seeing more of these super groups forming by next festival season.

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Kris Hi there! Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Sights and Sounds. Been doing this music writing thing for most my life in one way or another and loving every opportunity it's brought along. Shoot me an email if you have any suggestions for the website, comments, or if you just want to chat. Cheers!