Catskill Chill Says Farewell To Minglewood
Catskill Chill Music Festival descended upon Camp Minglewood for its sixth and final year this past weekend, and from the moment you stepped into camp you could feel the magic in the air. Walking past cabins and campsites you could hear people welcoming each other back, hugging and singing while planning what the first set they were going to see was. Catskill Chill is an incredibly unique festival, and Camp Minglewood is the biggest part of that. Camp Minglewood is just what it sounds like, a summer camp complete with cabins, tennis courts, activities and even a lake (which you better not go in). The environment brings out the kid in everyone in attendance from the fans, artists and even staff.
Arriving at camp on Friday, you could tell that this was the biggest year yet before you even got through security; there was a long line of excited campers lined up waiting to get in from the moment gates opened until late at night. The staff and security made this process seamless and unusually fun, pumping people up for the weekend while they waited patiently. Once everyone was in and set up at their respective campsites and cabins, the party began and didn’t stop all weekend. Lettuce started off my night; they hit the Main Stage at 8:00 and took the audience through a funk-tastic set. Nigel Hall made a special appearance at the end of the set to perform “Sounds Like A Party To Me” and “Do It Like You Do.” I stayed camped at the Main Stage to wait for Lotus, who never fails to get everyone dancing with their infectious sound. Their twelve-song set was mind-blowing, going through favorites such as “Suitcases” and “Umbilical Moonrise.”
Twiddle was next up on my schedule with their Grateful Dead set at Club Chill. This set was highly anticipated by everyone at Camp Minglewood; the boys did such an amazing job at covering Grateful Dead favorites last year that they had to do it again for the final time at Minglewood. The set began with a teaser of “Friend of The Devil” and encompassed a large range of Dead favorites such as “Ripple” and “Fire on the Mountain.” It was nearly impossible to get inside Club Chill, especially when Chris Houser from The Werks and Todd Stoop joined the band for a rendition of “The Music Never Stopped.”
It was back to the Main Stage after The Grateful Dead set wrapped up, everyone buzzing with excitement about what the Dopakuaz Plays Studio 54 set had in store for us. The entire audience was dressed for the occasion; there were ’70s jumpsuits, sequins and afros everywhere you turned. Dopakuaz is a fusion of Dopapod and Turkuaz, two very talented bands who bring the funk whenever they play. They broke out all of the hits that you grew up listening to with your parents while putting a modern twist onto it. The crowd started moving immediately when they opened up with “That’s the Way” and they didn’t stop all the way through “Le Freak,” “Funky Town” and “Give it to Me Baby.” You could tell how much they had put into this set; every song was clearly heavily rehearsed and sounded amazing; it was definitely the highlight of my Friday night, if not the entire weekend.
After a lazy morning of hanging out with our neighbors, getting breakfast from the irresistible Dave’s Mini Donuts by Stage B and browsing some of the awesome vendors, I made my way to the Main Stage for Kung Fu to dance in the sunshine. This was the first time that I’ve seen the band since Todd Stoops announced his departure earlier this year, and they didn’t miss a beat. They played an extensive fourteen-song set that touched on everything from “Prime Time Rib” to “Samurai;” it was the perfect kickoff for the day.
After Kung Fu’s last song, “Cult of Personality,” I headed towards Club Chill for another special set that took the audience back in time. Shwizz and Fikus combined forces to create Shwikus Plays the ’80s. The set differed from the Studio 54 set in content but had the same nostalgic feel as they played through forever favorites such as “Welcome to the Jungle,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “Time After Time,” “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and many more. Everyone was dancing and signing along to every word; this set really got the party going.
Wiley Griffin’s acoustic set was next up on the DC Stage, but the set ended up not being acoustic after all. As a celebration of the announcement of Wiley joining forces with Teddy Midnight and launching Teddy TV, the boys from Teddy Midnight joined Wiley on stage. If this set was any inkling of what’s to come with these guys, we are in for quite a treat in the future. The diverse set had original tunes along with unexpected covers of “A Whole New World” from Disney’s Aladdin and “Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd. This was just one of many times that Wiley would kill it on stage this weekend.
After an amazing set from The Werks that included a special sit-in from Twiddle, it was back to the DC Stage to see Horizon Wireless. You never know what to expect from a Horizon Wireless set, except that you’re guaranteed to dance. This was of course the case as they played through their ever-changing and unique set list. Towards the end of the set, Wiley Griffin appeared on stage and jammed along with drummer Dan Lyons, which made for a magical moment.
After Horizon Wireless finished their set, everyone rushed over to the Main Stage to catch some moe. magic. Unlike most of the bands on this year’s lineup, moe. has never played Catskill Chill. The crowd was bursting with energy; no matter where you looked there was not one person standing still. You just can’t help but dance when moe. starts playing their infectious melodies. The set came to a head when they played their second-to-last song, “Spine Of A Dog;” the entire crowd was going crazy: dancing, singing, and hugging their fellow Chillfam.
The weather was looking a little questionable, so a lot of people opted to go back to camp and secure their camps and grab warmer clothes; the rest of the crowd headed over to Stratosphere All-Stars. I decided better safe than sorry and opted to go make sure my tent was dry and grab a sweater, then head down to the Main Stage to catch the highly anticipated late night Twiddle set.
Twiddle has been a Catskill Chill staple since 2012, gaining a lot of traction in the scene along the way. When they took the stage, you could tell this was a huge moment for them; they started at Minglewood on the bottom of the lineup and now were standing up on the main stage as headliners getting ready to say goodbye. They greeted the very excited and rambunctious crowd with: “Well, happy two-thirty in the fucking morning, Catskill Chill!” They then jumped right into an impressive career-spanning set. Things heated up even more when Wiley Griffin stepped on stage for “BeeHop” and graced the audience with a killer freestyle. We then got amazing versions of “Wasabi Eruption” and “The Box” before Todd Stoops sat in during “Brown Chicken Brown Cow.” The impressive set ended with “Jamflowman” into “Frankenfoote.” It was the perfect ending to an incredible second day.
Waking up on Sunday was bittersweet. While we had an entire day left at Minglewood, everyone knew it was coming to an end all too quickly. I wanted to soak in as much as possible, so I grabbed a late breakfast and headed over to the Main Stage to catch The Motet. The Chill veterans brought the funk for their set, getting the tired yet excited crowd dancing early on with favorites such as “Like We Own It” and “The Fountain.” Their funky Afrobeat tunes were the perfect start to the day.
After browsing the awesome vendors and buying a few (okay, maybe more then a few) things, I made my way back to the Main Stage for a personal favorite, Dopapod. The band put on one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from them, keeping with their distinct sound and adding in influences from their Studio 54 set with Turkuaz by teasing “Le Freak” and “Funkytown,” which immediately caught everyone’s attention.
The rest of Sunday consisted of face-melting sets from Electron and Pink Talking Fish and was capped off by the Particle & Fam set. This was an incredibly special set due to the fact that Particle has performed at all six Catskill Chills. Nearly every artist who stepped on stage over the past three days joined Particle on stage (hence the name Particle & Fam). Some major highlights included a cover of David Bowie‘s “Fame,” accompanied by the Turkuaz horn section along with DJ Logic, and a rendition of The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” that the Turkuaz singers sat in for. The final song was a moving yet fun version of “We Are Family,” which brought on a vast ensemble of Catskill Chill alumni to the stage to celebrate Camp Minglewood. The entire set was star-studded and a perfect send-off to the beloved Camp Minglewood, which has formed so many relationships and collaborations among artists and fans alike.
Although my first trip to Camp Minglewood was only in 2014, I am eternally grateful to have been apart of its final two years. No matter where Catskill Chill ends up, it will always have the Camp Minglewood mentality in its heart. I have never had a greater pleasure than seeing fans, artists and staff of a festival have such love and passion for one another. While Minglewood may never be replicated, its spirit can and will stay with all of the Chillfam forever.