Solshine: A Music & Arts Reverie, the new yet familiar festival launched by the organizers of Summer Camp Music Festival, made its debut over the weekend at Summer Camp’s longtime home of Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, IL.
Neither the last-minute withdrawal of moe., who traditionally served as Summer Camp host alongside fellow Solshine headliner Umphrey’s McGee, nor severe storms on Friday could stop Solshiners from reveling in the reverie and making the festival’s inaugural run a shining success.
After kicking off with a pre-party on Thursday that included a full day of music culminating with two sets by The String Cheese Incident, plus Big Something, The Werks, Polyrhythmics, and many more, Solshine was forced to hunker down during inclement weather on Friday, but luckily the storm passed quickly and the music continued with slight adjustments to the schedule.
The String Cheese Incident and Umphery’s McGee performed Friday night and got in the Summer Camp spirit with UM guitarist Brendan Bayliss sitting in with SCI on Led Zeppelin‘s “Ramble On”. Friday’s late-night offerings included STS9, SunSquabi, The Werks, Wreckno, and more.
The String Cheese Incident, Brendan Bayliss – “Ramble On” (Led Zeppelin) – 5/24/24
[Video: shinepigeon]
Following daytime sets by Keller Williams and Orebolo, Umphrey’s returned to play three sets on Saturday. The longtime Summer Camp hosts played two songs by their missing brothers moe. (“Four” and “Rebubula”) as well as an Umphrey’s McGee & Friends set that featured Peter Anspach and Rick Mitarotonda (Goose/Orebolo), Alli Kral, guest drummers Scotty Zwang (SunSquabi), Alex Bailey (Eggy), Jermey Salken (Big Gigantic), and Rory Dolan (lespecial), and Disco Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein, who played a DJ Brownie set later that night. Eggy, STS9, SunSquabi, and more were also on Saturday’s late-night lineup.
Solshine wrapped up on Sunday with a heavy-hitting lineup featuring Doom Flamingo, lespecial, DJ Logic, Armchair Boogie, two sets of Goose, plus late-night sets by The Disco Biscuits, LP Giobbi, and Big Gigantic, though deadmau5 was unfortunately forced to cancel his appearance at the last minute “due to difficult travel circumstances.”
Despite weather issues and last-minute schedule changes, attendees were impressed with the new, slightly downsized event. “I like how much smaller this one is, and it’s like it feels more homey and relaxed,” one person told local news site WMBD Peoria.
Another echoed the same sentiment, saying, “I love the new layout now that’s a lot smaller. The walk is a lot easier. And I also think it brings the stages together a lot more. It seems like more people are grouping together, it seems more community tight-knit type thing. And yeah, I just love coming back every year.”
Click below to view fan-shot videos and photo galleries from Solshine: A Music & Arts Reverie 2024 courtesy of photographer Brett Bergen.
The String Cheese Incident – “Jessica” (The Allman Brothers Band) – 5/23/24
[Video: shinepigeon]
The post Solshine: A Music & Arts Reverie Brings Summer Camp Spirit Back To Three Sisters Park [Photos/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
