The 2nd Annual Scio Music Festival August 3, 4, and 5 showed poise and growth, with awesome music and side show entertainment such as the US Army's rock climbing wall and a disc golf putting clinic presented by Innova. The venue had a wide range of vendors from a tie dye booth to sunglasses to fresh vegetables and on to great food, coffee, and jewelry. The event featured traveling fire dancers and a Dean Guitars give-away. At such an affordable price, one could not go wrong here.
The 3 day festival had a truckload of musical talent along with plenty of activities. The Friday night rock and metal was crisp and clear, and loud as Strange Dichotomy opened superbly, followed by Earth To Ashes and We Have Guns. Corvallis Oregon's Space Neighbors helped close the night in transcendental style with pop-rock. Saturday morning festival campers awoke to Lebanon Oregon's Shades Of Gray, hard rock with an edge- and very good. Saturday continued with world band Kouka, fronted by Congan Godfre Esperance Kouka. This band impressed as well, as I saw metal-heads jammin' to Kouka's sounds. Saturday morning also saw the US ARMY bring in a rock-climbing wall and this too, did not disappoint. The disc maker INNOVA sent a pro and they put on a great clinic and gave away lots of free goodies. The kids that participated in the disc golf clinic were all smiles! 70's hippy band Cowboy Cadillac played a long set and sounded great. Throughout Saturday "hoola hoop girls" danced, and Saturday closed with a starside show by a gorgeous trio of "fire dancers", definitely a highlight of the weekend festival and drew loud applause. The festival mellowed on Sunday with some very sweet sounding country, and bluegrass down home pickin'. A main attraction of the Scio Music Festival was a guitar give-away sponsored by DEAN GUITARS. The beautiful accoustic guitar was black with flames and a skull 'n' cross bones-Very Cool!
All of these bands and vendors can be found online, as well as the festival's own website: http://www.facebook.com/events/465675180125921/.
The venue boasted camping and "no-trace" creek-side swimming in Thomas Creek, bike 'n' hike trails, awesome food booths, crafts, jewelry and shades, face-painting, hula lessons, bbq, custom tie dye from MR TIE DYE(Google that y'all!), fresh produce, art, and a great atmosphere.
Staff was polite and courteous, maintained a orderly festival for it's guests, and acted entirely professional. The same can be said of the artists, vendors, and concert goers. Campers had fun, ate together, partied, and listened to music in almost perfect harmony.(one incident in the wee hours from a drunk, immature criminal who made it in under the radar) Without a doubt, safety for all was professional just like the music production.
Overall, in spite of low attendance(Ore. Jamboree and Warped Tour...), the festival was a success. The campers were super friendly, respectful, and courteous. Coffee and beer were shared by many and the quality of the music was enjoyed by all. The venue's location, people, art, food, entertainment, water, and music added up to an enjoyable weekend for all who attended, and to a bright future.
Photos:
WE HAVE GUNS
THE SPACE NEIGHBORS
SHADES OF GRAY
Godfre Esperance Kouka
KOUKA
The "world" sounds of KOUKA.
COWBOY CADILLAC
ED TO SHRED
SCIO MUSIC FESTIVAL 2012
Faces in the crowd:
Ivan and Brad assemble tapestries made by MR. TIE DYE, Carl McClellan.
Ed To Shred does more than play guitar.
Awesome smiles!
Staffer Jason "Dog" Cripe.
The Front Gate Ticket/Info Booth.
The DEAN Guitar.
Once again, congratulations to the event and its artists on a job well done. To Corrina Eastman, Dan Lane, Jason Cripe, and the always cool John- WELL DONE! See y'all next year, or maybe down at the river.
Thank you for reading and if you see yourself in any of these photos feel free to use.
AND DONT FORGET TO RECYCLE!
