[Ascension]

Robert Rich single handily make this the best weekend of my life. Anyone who missed his set or missed out on a chance to talk to this incredibly kind and intelligent man missed out on something that is beyond words. I'll write a review later, but this is the first party that was SO good, when I was driving home I felt legitimately sad that the weekend ended. Thanks to everyone for their help and energy!

[Aerosis]

This party was a top experience for us as well, i've seen quite a few parties and festivals on the west coast and this one is among my top parties ever – and all because of the vibes of the people and the freshness of the midwest's energy. Favorite moment was the workshops and getting to bond with the people there. Chill out stage was impeccable – we named it the mushroom tea den upon recieving some of the vibes from that musical place 🙂

My personal thanks to everyone who managed to have some energy to be out on sunday morning, we had asked the clouds to give us some sunshine while we play our set, and they obliged! Morning festival people and bright morning vibes are my favorite 🙂 Really happy to notice new faces join the dancefloor that morning

I know there was a lappy recording the sets playing, any chance we can get our live and DJ sent to us? (aerosis @ gmail.com) It contains a large part of our yet unreleased album so I don't know if suntrip'll let us put it out there, but I really really want to! Atleast to share it with you guys if you really liked our music. Also there was a fairly good amount of live manipulation going on where I'm curious as  to how it came out.

If you missed the live, (everyone was really tired 6:00AM-8:00AM sunday 🙁 damn you random and greg on earth… 😉 ) our myspace has 5 tracks (on the album) we played out that morning, http://www.myspace.com/aerosis

Thanks  for this amazing opportunity! Flying back home to california tomorrow and all is back to the usual.
-Bobby
/ aerosis

[Ursa Major]

I couldn't agree more, robert rich shattered my mind. I walked into the beginning of his set on accident, then I asked someone next to me who it was and they were like 'my friend this is robert rich' and I sat down and melted into a puddle.

Besides that their were a bunch of great sets  from; androcell intoxicating you with his funky atmospheric funkyness, to killowats who I couldn't stop enjoying. Lots of other people blew me away aswell, like the greatmundane and dj mystik. This being my first chilluminati experience I have to say it was truly one of the most riveting experiences I've had in awhile.

it's great to be able to go to festivals like this, and know you're dealing with good people, not have to worry bout lame shit happening. After friday night I knew I was in the right place submerged in the right vibes. I have alot of pictures, but I'm sure they wont all turn out. If someone can point me to someone to upload them to , to share on the website that would be excellent.

For what its worth I thank all the dj's and everyone who put this party on, I'll be back fo sho.

              Ursa ~

[PakaPaka]

Wow, still glowing from this weekend.  Thank you to everyone who organized, participated, and attended.  Special Thanks to Scott, Igor, and Tyler.  Dale and I had a great time.  I love Chilluminati events – I always come away from them with a renewed optimism for the future of humanity.  So many creative and kind people putting their energy into something joyous and positive.  Physically exhausting, but so mentally refreshing…
It was much fun vj'ing at the chill stage this time around, I really enjoyed being able to try out some subtler & slower stuff.  Dale tag teamed with me for the start of the night, then went to the main stage to play tag with Mason Dixon for awhile.  We certainly hope to come back again.

Robert Rich put on a wonderful set.  I felt it was a truly special moment and many others I talked to agreed.  His approach to music is so emotive and conscious.  For the first part of his set we played Atlas Dei, the movie he did a score to.  Really beautiful – he told me it's been showed on IMAX – I would love to experience that.  Then for rest of his set we provided some of our own visuals.  After his set, he came back and hung out for awhile and watched us do the lightshow and he was a really nice, intelligent, and funny guy.  Please have him back again!  Thanks to all you chill DJs –  guys and gals, it was a pleasure.  Also, the deco was really nice and cozy – mushrooms and spandex and pillows, oh my.
My comrade Ian got  the end of Robert Rich's set on video.  I've posted it to youtube.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b2sUY4K5PM
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBtGQZ69fW8
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wPp0aCBbf0
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMtU3P5k6J8
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1QFK9d1lxQ

Cheers,

Reuben

[Sudo Make Install]

wow, thank you very much Reuben!!! 

[esmokah]

Aside from my firepoi being stolen saturday night i had a killer weekend

[Ascension]

Thank you so much for posting those Reuben! The last video was my favorite part of his set. Those Buddha visuals combined with what he was playing matched so perfectly.

[Psygomin]

Wow what a crazy weekend to experience.  I almost didnt make this one, but some one came along and helped.  this was my first party with my family with me. so that made things crazy too. a daughter that gets really excited and a son that is hit the wonderfullness of the age of 2.  big props to allison and all that she did to make the family area as cool and functional as is was.  every time i ask my daughter her favoret part of the weekend she responds “playing with my new friends.”  which is cool.  my son looked like hed been to a party all weekend long so i sat him down and had a talk with him lol  ill post the pic of that picture later.  as for the music…..  where to begin…  well ill just mention the sets i cought who i knew who was playing and i enjoyed.  Robert Rich, Greg on Earth, Distant System, The Great Mundane, The Ooze, Daksinamurti, and Ekimskrid.  thanks to those who thanked me for my set.  and for those wondering the second to last track was an original by Projekt N9ne which i s a group i am apart of.  the circle was awesome and empowering durring the prayer.    im still kinda to scatterbrained to remember stuff.  getting home was not fun.  damn police…

i will post my little selection of pics when i get em off my camera

[Eklypz]

I can't get Robert Rich out of my head. I keep thinking how many other people I don't know about that are amazing. Like I had never heard of Aes Dana before and was floored then, now Robert Rich and totally floored.  I must lead a very sheltered life!

Thanks again for exposing me to new music!

[Ascension]

Ok, I think I am collected enough to write a full review now. First off I want to thank Tyler, Scott, Igor and the whole Chilluminati crew for what I consider to be the best weekend I've ever had. As I said before, it was so good, I actually felt sad for the first time while driving home. Sorry that I didn't say bye to anyone, I had to drive Robert Rich back to the airport and kinda forgot to say goodbyes before I left.

–Setup–

Setup went fairly well. Tyler and I (mostly Tyler as I had to run the gate) setup the mainstage relatively easily on friday. I went to pick up Robert Rich at the airport so I wasn't around for deco/chill stage setup, but those seemed to have went well also.

–Deco–

The deco was really awesome. Unfortunately we didn't get to have the main stage completely outdoors, so not all the deco was utilized as planned, but it still turned out very awesome. Carli's painting behind the main stage was magnificent. The spandex at the chill stage was unreal and created an alternate universe feel at night.

–Music (Friday night/Saturday morning)–

Tremendous! Got back and situated in time to hear Max play- excellent as always, you keep improving each time I hear you play and you have great energy behind the decks. Symbiotic and The Psyintist brought out the darkness with a great set that transitioned well into Niki's set. Niki threw it down as well playing some great night time tunes. Daksi kept the energy level up with his powerful sound. Brad did some excellent mental-reprogramming of his own – so good to have you back in the midwest! After Brad's set I had to work the gate/attempted and failed at sleeping.

–Workshops–

Thank you so much Jeff, for putting these together and getting a good sized crowd. Abe and mine's Life Psyence workshop went well. We didn't have much planned, but just discussed things off the top of our heads and it went well. There was a lot of good discussions that happened between people in attendence, which is key. After running around for a bit I came back and did my workshop on green energy. I figured this would be a good topic given the nature of the Earthdance event and it went incredibly well. I was very pleased with the interaction between myself and those listening/participating in the discussion. I was glad to have Robert Rich in there as well to chime in with some great insights. I got a lot out of the music workshop. Thanks to Brent and Scott for answering my questions and teaching me a lot of new things.

–Music Saturday afternoon/night–

I ended up playing during most of John B/Jason Hoffman's set due to turntable availability. Who would have thought the only 2 acts that needed them would be scheduled at the same time (whoops). There was no one there when I started, but some people showed up or stopped for a bit as they passed by and generally liked what they heard. John B played some excellent prog after me. I would have stayed around for more if I hadn't slept or eaten yet (atleast I got the latter done that night). The next set I stayed for was Robert Rich's set and I think that deserves a section on its own.

–Robert Rich–

I am still without words to describe my interaction with this man during the weekend. It started with me picking him up at the airport friday evening. During our 2 hour drive back to Black River Falls, we had a lot of great, intelligent conversations ranging from music and specifics on his works, talks about his sleep concerts, the environment and wine/food. When we got to the venue nick, robert and I ate some dinner and nick and I got to discuss some workings of what goes on at a 3 day event since robert had never been to one. The next day when robert came back from his hotel we got to talk some more and like I mentioned he was able to catch my green energy workshop which he liked a lot.

Onto his set. That was the greatest set of music I have ever heard in my life. From all the bands, symphonies and djs I've seen, this one outshone them all. It was also truly the most “live” set at a psy party too as Robert played a lap guitar, flute and recorder, as well as playing loops/samples from a laptop. PakaPaka deserves credit for completing the transformation of the chill stage into another world during his set. I've never seen such amazing visuals and never seen such a connection between visuals and music playing. Robert's sounds were truly unique and his set flowed together so perfectly. Ben Mealhow described it as “hippynosis”, which I thought was appropriate. Robert also received a well deserved ovation after his set. Everyone had a look on there face of “what just happened?” or just “wow” when Robert finished. It was truly a set that I will remember forever. After he packed his equipment up he got a chance to check out some of Ghreg on Earth (as they had been chatting for quite a while during the day Saturday) and found it quite interesting. Obviously not his first choice for music, but he apreached a lot of the musical aspects and pointed out the polarity between Greg's calm nature and dark musical taste. I also drove Robert back to the airport on sunday afternoon and we had great times reflecting on the experience. He said he loved the crowd's response and energy level during his set. He was very happy that so many people loved his set and I told him how perfectly it flowed with the deco, visuals and time of night. Overall, I had such an excellent time conversing with Robert Rich and I felt fortunate to be able to connect with this man on so many levels. I really hope to see him again and would love to see him out in the midwest again sometime. Robert- thank you so much!!

–Music Saturday night/Sunday morning–

I didn't hear any of the Xcience guys play, but I heard nothing but good things. They seemed to have a good sized crowd for their sets too, which was well deserved. Mike brought out the darkness – I really like your sets, you need to keep playing at that timeslot. Ghreg on Earth- played a diverse dj set that I enjoyed and completely melted my brain with his LIVE set. I could tell it was too intense for a lot of people, but there were some parts that got everyone moving. Random played his trademark, high energy sets that got a lot of people back on the dancefloor. Perfect transition out of Ghreg's set too. Aerosis was a nice change of pace. Beautiful sounds, keep the production up! I was finally able to get some sleep by the chill stage and Derek played the right music to fall asleep to (I forgot to thank you how great it was to fall sleep to that). Adam and Toki rounded out the diverse main stage sound with some great Suomi that was fun and rejuvinating.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped out and came out to Earthdance 2008! Everyone combined made it such an excellent weekend for myself and everyone else. The Midwest scene keeps growing and getting better each time!

[HARDKORNATE]

I think I ad the opposite experience as the rest of you softies. 🙂 Greg on Earth, Niki,  and Ekimskrid were the highlights of my weekend. Robert Rich was simply too dull to keep my interest. I think I may have an allergy to slow music…

[paradigm]

Ive got mixed reviews of this past weekend. Though i must admit, after a 10+ hour drive, my expectations of what it takes to justify the trip might be a little elevated.
so though it seems most have quite glowing reviews of the weekend, someone has to be the bastard that rains on the parade.

Turnout i thought was quite good, better than last years or at least it seemed.
The g/f and i had a great time hanging out and socializing.
I do think the weather may have put a bit of a damper on the spirits a little and though i think having the stage inside was the smartest course of action, it was a bit of a bummer.

I thought the deco was a bit weak with the main stage untill the MOP guys added their stuff Sat eve. I know Energon had planned for a outdoor set up, so chalk it up to the weather and not planning or lack of effort. With so many stark white walls in the building, fully deco'ing it out would have taken alot of stuff… still it was a little… meh… No ones fault really just the fact of the situation.
Though the laser was preety cool, the fog was really oppressive. I know several people who had to stay outside in the rain to dance because they couldnt breathe inside, my girlfriend included. Were both a little weezy still in fact. I know the stuff is supposed to be “non-toxic”, but so is playdough. Still that doesnt mean you wont get a stomache ache if you eat the stuff.
Instead of fog next time try staggerd layers of transparant white cloth. Row cover that farmers use is cheap as hell and works great.
I really did like the deco and set up on the chill stage though. Very nice and welcoming.

Musically, there were some certain standouts, and some real disapointments. I think one thing though that needed some help was the flow.
Kilowatts and Androcell i think should have played on the chill stage, and the warehouse should have had the workshops. Also what was with the full on in the middle of the day?
As for other acts….
Aerosis was a bit anti-climatic for sunday morning. I think perhaps they should have been Sat mornining leading into Kilowatts, and Psygomin whose set while misplaced, was quite good, should have had the Sunday morning slot after Random. I think that would have kept the energy up and maintained a dancefloor longer.
Ghreg on Earth was way to experimental this time around. Ive seen Ghreg many times and though not usually my cup of tea, his stuff works. This time around it seemed way to… out there and out of sync. Pehaps music that fellow producers can appreciate for its construction and sounds, but not something really dance floor oriented.

As for the good…..
Niki…. much nicer set than last week in Iowa. Much better build, flow and sounds.

Daksinamurti.. again much nicer than last week. I really wish i had the energy to listen to the whole thing but i was only able to hang for a little more than a hour of it before having to crash. Again.. reference 10+ hour drive…

Kilowatts… 3rd time this summer ive heard him. This guy in on fire and tearing it up everywhere.

Androcell… Always a nice dubby time. Sadly he had very little people for 3/4's of his set but it was nice none-the-less. Perhaps he played a bit early? Ive always thought that dubby chill grooves like his were the perfect company for the 4:20 timeslot….. anyone else with me on this?

Ooze- swamp trance? kinda sicky sticky sloa grooves. Not bad at all. Something different from the guys.

Distant System… night chill, i really liked alot of it. Seems like its great music for laying on your back and wathcing the stars. Planetarium chill.

Random… A rather good driving twilight style set from Ross. One of the better ones ive heard from him in a while. Played some tracks in there that i sometimes drop in my harder sets. Cheers….

and as for the Xcience power hour(s), damn that was alot of fun. Building up that dancefloor from nothing to the biggest one of the party kicked alot of ass.
I know that our solo sets would work well together, but it was a big question mark as to how well the 3 way tag would do. I couldnt have been happier with how it turned out. Both Airyck and Machi represented proper and all 3 of us seemed quite in sync. Got to do that again sometime.

I missed Robert Rich as he played during the tag set. I think id have found him musically boring, but inspirationally creative. At least judging on what other folks have said / told me.

anyways it was a bit of a long weekend, but overall worth the trip. It had its ups and downs but in the end i had a good time and the overall vibe and energy of the party was quite nice.

[Goobles]

Personally, I'd prefer if the main stage were outside again like at Crystal Sky two years ago. The chill stage was set up by the lake and that was very eye-appealing as well. But it seems that the spot by the lake is a favorite camping spot now.

Other than that, the event was phenomenal. I see there are already plans set in place for 2009 as well… keep up the good work!

(I'm especially glad that they fixed the warm water for the front showers since Sacred Earth in May, brrrrr!)

[Energon]

I thought the deco was a bit weak with the main stage untill the MOP guys added their stuff Sat eve. I know Energon had planned for a outdoor set up, so chalk it up to the weather and not planning or lack of effort. With so many stark white walls in the building, fully deco'ing it out would have taken alot of stuff… still it was a little… meh… No ones fault really just the fact of the situation.

We're certainly open to constructive criticism. Any comments about what people liked / didn't like / would like to see more / less of are certainly appreciated. But yea… we weren't planning on having to cover an airplane hangar full of unfinished walls 🙂

[Psygomin]

and as for my miss placed set….  there was a miscomunication as to what i was playing for my time slot.  and i personally didnt know till i was most of the way thru my set. 

[Author]

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