The Echo Project | 10.12 - 10.14 | GA

dave vann - great shots - thanks for the "The Frequency" band shot.

also bb, thanx for the brief rundown on echo and "The Egg" mention. (i bought their first album years ago and loved it"...one question though:

what did this line from the review mean: "Tea Leaf Green. TLG has real potential but sometimes I don't see eye-to-eye (or ear-to-ear) with them. Saturday's performance was high-energy rock & roll, and I shook my head at ever doubting them.

So what were you saying there?

thanks jambase for the coverage of this.

sounds like a great festival... minus the flaming lips! isn't it about time people got over these posers?!?! i've seen the lips a hand full of time, and the first time i was like, "wow! this is really cool. it would be a whole lot better if they played some music to go along with it." then the next time and the next time and the next time, it was the same thing except with larger spectacles, more talking, and less playing. whatever...

i may be in the minority here, but i enjoy going to concerts to experience music, not to hear someone rant and rave about the desperate state of the world today (as the delightfully induldge themselves while burning more resources than could be afforded with a budget equivalent to that of the gross national product of boliva).

ABSOLUTE HYPOCRITS! The epitome of commercial gluttony served up to a consumption driven society...

And don't chime in with that "satiric metaphoric personification microcosm - 'it's objectifying excess to bring awareness to the serious consequences of living an excessive lifestyle within an exploitative society' BS"!

Wow I really wish I could have made it. So much music to see in three days. I feel you on the Flaming Lips, Aaronjl1. One cannot deny that they do perform a spectacular event, but they certainly do burn through a lot of resources to put on one show. Saying that, I do believe Wayne and the boys have the best intentions for all of us.

Since certain people who message on this site seem to have huge problems with Bisco and their core fan base (you know who you are), it's hard to not mention how much Brownie and the guys actually care about the world we live in. Think about how much all of us could do to improve the lives of children in need, and think about the time we all take to unproductively criticize our brothers and sisters on a daily basis. I know I'm just as guilty as anyone else, but the last thing we ought to do is stop caring about each other. I hope those who went to Echo had an awesome time and took away lifetimes of memories :)

i hate to be critical, but this review doesn't come close to doing the echo project justice. i realize there was a lot going on at once and its impossible to see it all, but come on. a mere few sentences about the late night shows? i would personally rather read in depth, unique accounts of 10 performances than get a review full of generic name dropping and generalized summaries. we can all read the lineup. 2 cents.

i hate to be critical, but this review doesn't come close to doing the echo project justice. i realize there was a lot going on at once and its impossible to see it all, but come on. a mere few sentences about the late night shows? i would personally rather read in depth, unique accounts of 10 performances than get a review full of generic name dropping and generalized summaries. we can all read the lineup. 2 cents.

The Echo Project was awesome. That is about all that can be said. One exception, the Flaming Lips. I didn't go, but I am certain that the circus was really entertaining and the 'music' was extremely contrived. I think that is why they have the whole to-do in the back, to distract the crowd from the pieces of shit they call music. I thought that the festival was supposed to be eco-friendly, yet the first headlining band shot ass-loads of confetti into the atmosphere and all over the farm not once, not twice, but three times. Come on. Everything else was great, though. No further complaints. They were expecting a ton of people and very few showed up, making all of the shows really spaced out (with the exception of Tea Leaf Green. That tent was packed). I will most definatly be back next year, and I will see you all there.

Bavosa...great review!!! What a weekend it was. Even though I was out at the Front Gate 90% of the weekend, you could still feel the vibe from inside. Out of the few bands that I got to see...Perpetual Groove and Umphreys brought down the house. Best festival set form Pgroove by far....Teakwood opener??!! Macumba??!! What a set it was...even had a stage diver.

From dust covered everything to birthday cakes...the weekend was great! Great pics by David Vann!!!! You and Fernando rocked it out all weekend!! Cheers!

GREAT FESTIVAL! First time seeing Theivery Corporation and they blew me away, their sound is so uniquie and entrancing. I have to agree with people when they say...Flaming Lips are fun to see but the music? definetly takes a back seat to the "show", fun to watch on mushrooms though. moe late night absoloutly brought the heat (as always)!!!! Michael Franti sunday was wonderful and brought such positve vibes to everyone on a beautiful sunny day. Everyone was kickin up dust dancing all around! wonderful weekend, great staff!!!, great vibes!! we all did our best to keep things clean, I only wish some would've tried harder. We left monday afternoon and it was sad to see people couldn't even put their campsite trash in bags...

can't wait for next year!

overall, great review. AMAZING weekend.

agreed about the lips..this was my second time seeing them in a short time span, and there was hardly any variation between the shows. but its all good, i'm just so glad i got to be a part of the first echo project. well worth the 10 hour trek from south florida!

Great festival! Great venue! Great music! i have to agree though about the flaming lips. The crowd i went with were all major flaming lips fans so i have to say getting as close as we did, the show itself was really great, but honestly Wayne talked about bush and voting correctly next election for a good 20% of their set list. The second you'd think "oh great hes done talking, a new song!, he would jump back on the mic and basically regurgitate the exact same shit he said before. Disco biscuits were great and i completely agree with the pgroove comments, it was one of their better sets ive seen. i especially loved brock's freestyle.

top shows:

1. Pgroove

2. bassnectar - kid kept me raging through his whole set and i was sad to see him end.

3. polyphonic spree - never really given them a listen, and probably wouldnt outside of a show, but man it was quite the good mid-day event.

btw did anyone happen to catch rabbit in the moon? i had never heard of them but a friend of mine stressed over and over to see them cause they rarely tour, and man what a fucking freak of a show that was. Overall a great weekend!

next time there is a GREEN festival, lets keep the N2O OUT.

it depletes ozone!!!!!

I would say there are several more convincing and valid reasons to discourage the use of nitrous at festivals. With respect to the compounds effects on the ozone layer, it has a very short life span in the trophosphere (less than 3 years) as compared to the more potent ozone depleting gases; CFC’s last between 70-140 years. All in all, inhalation anesthetics (N20, Halothane, enflurane, and isoflurane) are considered to be responsible for only 0.0005% of the ozone destruction at present. And no, i don't work for some giant multinational corporation that distributes anesthetics.

-----Nitrous isn't even the tip of the iceberg. I worked Clean Vibes for the first time following Echo, and boy was it an experience. Yes, it was certainly a positive thing, and I felt great for my efforts, but how ironic that our greater majority cannot even respect the ideals of this fest? For anyone who's ever stuck around through a Monday, you might know what I mean. Half-eaten campsites dotted the landscape, tarnishing what I felt to be a potentially conscious event.

-----Would anyone reading this leave trash on the Appalachian Trail, for example? We espouse a certain reverence for nature, and claim to care about the environment; but when it comes down to it, how many of us are really willing to make an effort to lessen the impact that we, as individuals leave upon this earth? Nitrous is one thing, cigarettes are another; I may have picked up more than 1,000 butts in the days following. Does anyone know what field striking is?

-----I'm sure that many individuals attending this festival (among others) may, in fact, do a great job in terms of minimizing their own "wastefulness." I'm certainly doing my best to improve as well -- it's not an easy battle to undertake. But how mature is it to callously leave one's belongings strewn about, as if someone were eager to clean up?

-----In the days following, a friend said to me, "People pay these ticket prices so they can let loose and have a good time." Of course, but would any of us intentionally wish additional hardship, muck, grime, and frustration upon another? I should hope not.. I don't know if I've ever felt more cynical about humanity's plight as I did the few days after Echo.

-----Where do we go from here? The name of the game is personal responsibility. Do your best to not litter -- put trash and recyclables where they belong. Try not to buy things that you may not really need, in terms of festivals or in general. Finally, if these issues seem important to you, don't wait around for someone else to improve the situation -- that might be why we're in this mess in the first place. Find some way to get involved and make things better!

-----I really do hope everyone had a great time at Echo. I also hope next year will be better, and I'm not talking about the lineup.

Amazing fest! all the sets I saw were amazing! great vibe. And ill end with just just 4 words RABBIT IN THE MOON!

I think orgwell hit the nail on the head. Alot of my frustrations with these things is the lip-service ideology that I hear. Oh, we care about the environment and hate the evil republicans, but we're not gonna do a damn thing about it except go to big festivals. It's rather disappointing when you see all these people that seem to be so different, yet so many are just talking and not too much different than any other middle-class person their age.

shame it was so late and in georgia, that was a good lineup. oh, if only PA would get something nice like this.

bavosa, are you out there? I really was wondering what you were getting at there:

""Tea Leaf Green. TLG has real potential but sometimes I don't see eye-to-eye (or ear-to-ear) with them. Saturday's performance was high-energy rock & roll, and I shook my head at ever doubting them."

why didn;t you dig TLG and more specifically, exactly what did "I shook my head at ever doubting them" mean?

really not trying to be a dick here. I like TLG and they have been getting some really decent reviews lately...so I am kind of intrigued why BB didn't like them.

cheers.

i will second those four words: rabbit in the moon!

GOFF>>>

What I meant was this: the first few times I saw TLG, I was split on them. One show would be AWESOME< others at festys, so-so. Sometimes I felt Josh Clark and Trevor Garrad were un-real. Other times, just another mediocre band.

After ECHO, I am on board, and realize what all the buzz is about: these boys can play. SanFran is lucky.

That's all...my .02

BAVOSA

i guess that sentence wasnt crystal clear. I shook my head at ever doubting them IN THE PAST. They delivered at ECHO.

Sorry for the unclear statement.

Lack of molly and blow killed it for me. To much stinky green and not enough blow. But great music

Anyone else interested in keeping general drug comments off of this website? I thought that JamBase existed to spread word about music, not about getting fucked up. Understandably, that might be important to some people in terms of "adding to the overall experience," but I wonder if this sort of mentality is why we now have John E. Law showing up at festivals left and right, "ruining" Wakarusa '06 (so I heard). Whether or not you drink or otherwise, the scene exists to provide access to music, not other stuff..

agreed orgwell. That was maybe the one negative part of my echo experience. Where I was camping there were a handful of people that seemed to solely be there just for the drugs. I did not see them venture to the stages once...not to say that they didn't at all, I can't be 100% sure, but still....its about the music! And we need to keep it that way. I hope this is "only there for the drugs" mentality is not a growing fad at festies. talk about a shame.

MAN what a great time! RABBIT IN THE MOON WAS NUTS. I really couldn't believe what I was seeing at some points! THe giant LED suit and those prism glasses they threw out... awesome. Slightly scary at times (chainsawing FACES?!?!?!) but nevertheless entertaining for sure. Didn't really enjoy the music too too much, but it was an adventure :)

Brazilian girls were AMAZING as usual... sabina is my hero :)

Great festival. no offense to whoever wrote the article on Echo, but that is one of the weakest fest reviews i have read in a while, and I didnt hear a single thing on Claypools intense set or anything really that described how great a festival this was. in fact there were a few hippiecrites(heads who litter, steal, and spread bad vibes) at echo who ruined some of the green vibes, but other than that I think it was a great turnout. I was happy that some of the bands like moe. encouraged waste cleanup after the show stating to " just please on your way out pick up at least one piece of trash", I really thought that was cool, because we need to stop being lazy americans and start thinking about the world's future. Ohter than the tent-robbing which occurred right by camping area I think echo was probably one of the friendliest fests i've attended

by the way no one really gave Phil & friends the review they deserved a 4 hr time slot in which I thought was very solid and fun. Hes 67 and still is playing 4 hrs of music for us, and we give him this weak ass review, I think it is bs. Hes playin 10 shows in Ny and I think he deserves a little bit more applause because is still keepin the vibes alive for all of us.

aaron...flaming lips are good...listen to the yoshimi battles pink robot album...i havent seen them live but to say they suck is kind of whack..coming from someone who likes pearl jam

-----Yay, another dispute! "This band sucks." "No they don't!" I certainly respect the Lips and enjoy their albums to an extent (01Roggae's right about Yoshimi), but their stuff is just not really what I prefer to see and hear in terms of live music. They definitely have a very grandiose show, and that's possibly a lot of their appeal -- their shows are freakin' ridiculous! But if you're not into a band, then you shouldn't have to say anything negative about them. There are some bands out there that I think suck a**hole, but nobody really wants to hear someone spouting a bunch of negativity.

-----I used to look at festival lineups solely in terms of bands that I liked or didn't. "Sweet! -Band Name-'s gonna be at -Festival-! Heck yeah!" Sure, that's great; you get to see some music that you love dearly. "Crap! -Band Name-'s gonna be at -Festival-. Man.." Sure, you're technically paying for an artist that you don't enjoy, but that's almost a good thing, because you can use that time slot for something else: rest/sleep, wander around, check out vendors/info. tables, or -- giving some smaller artist a chance whom you never would have otherwise. One thing that frustrates me about Bonnaroo is the insane amount of musical competition going on at once; I really do want to see Everything. But it's a lot easier when you absolutely don't prefer some band; would you rather the entire lineup was all of the music you listened to? I think that'd be much worse..

-----While I personally don't like the Lips' confetti (because I did Clean Vibes), it is a part of their whole package. I will say, however, that most of it seems to be of a very thin, easily biodegrable nature. This could be planned on their part, maybe not. While I probably would not have chosen to see them Friday night ('cause again, I'm not too into them and I would've rather used my time otherwise), isn't it a little better when saying that you don't like some music -- that you actually went to one of their shows just to be sure?

-----Let's keep it nice y'alls, with much love and respect!

-----Yay, another dispute! "This band sucks." "No they don't!" I certainly respect the Lips and enjoy their albums to an extent (01Roggae's right about Yoshimi), but their stuff is just not really what I prefer to see and hear in terms of live music. They definitely have a very grandiose show, and that's possibly a lot of their appeal -- their shows are freakin' ridiculous! But if you're not into a band, then you shouldn't have to say anything negative about them. There are some bands out there that I think suck a**hole, but nobody really wants to hear someone spouting a bunch of negativity.

-----I used to look at festival lineups solely in terms of bands that I liked or didn't. "Sweet! -Band Name-'s gonna be at -Festival-! Heck yeah!" Sure, that's great; you get to see some music that you love dearly. "Crap! -Band Name-'s gonna be at -Festival-. Man.." Sure, you're technically paying for an artist that you don't enjoy, but that's almost a good thing, because you can use that time slot for something else: rest/sleep, wander around, check out vendors/info. tables, or -- giving some smaller artist a chance whom you never would have otherwise. One thing that frustrates me about Bonnaroo is the insane amount of musical competition going on at once; I really do want to see Everything. But it's a lot easier when you absolutely don't prefer some band; would you rather the entire lineup was all of the music you listened to? I think that'd be much worse..

-----While I personally don't like the Lips' confetti (because I did Clean Vibes), it is a part of their whole package. I will say, however, that most of it seems to be of a very thin, easily biodegrable nature. This could be planned on their part, maybe not. While I probably would not have chosen to see them Friday night ('cause again, I'm not too into them and I would've rather used my time otherwise), isn't it a little better when saying that you don't like some music -- that you actually went to one of their shows just to be sure?

-----Let's keep it nice y'alls, with much love and respect!

heh, hippiecrites. Maybe Bob was right about people feeding off the table scraps of the 60's. If you're going to act like a hippie, at least try to do the good parts.

Top 5 shows.

1. Theivery Corp.

2. Rabbit in the moon (i wish i had that led suit)

3. Mstrkrft (left moe to see this dj. 2 words, dance party.)

4. Signal path

5. something japenese, and disco's second set (guess that makes 5 1/2)

The dust was a little out of control, but who can change the weather. Thanks to everyone who did their part to put this on.

Phish's IT in Maine was probaly the most littered place I have been to in my life. It was repulsive and disgusting. The kids don't care about the land.

lotus, i think you pretty much nailed it. my top five are 1)rabbit in the moon 2)thievery corporation 3)disco biscuits (moonlight sonata encore was beautiful 4)god is an astronaut 5)bassnectar. i didnt even know signal path was there. wish i had. big ups to all who put this festival on. i think we can expect many good years in the future.

Great festival, loved every minute of it. As far as the Lips go, Wayne disappointed me. Never in all the shows of any band i have ever been too have I heard a band member say "this next song is very difficult to play so give us a break" or something to that idea, that was lame. First time seeing thievery corporation, they threw down! Everyone really stepped up and put on a great show. I was not disappointed in anyones performance. top five in no order moe, signal path, pgroove, thievery corp, and Lesh and friends(or should i say Jackie Greene and Friends). Never heard of Jackie Greene up until this and he was awesome. great voice, great guitar, great piano, really played the Dead as they should be played. Hope to see everyone there next year!

oops! my bad. it was telepath for number 4 not signal.

Fantastic festival and great people. With all of Wayne's political talk it was great to her him say that while he may not approve of the ongoing war, he still supports the troops and wishes for everyone to come home safely. The military funeral horn ode after this speach really grabbed me. Pretty powerful stuff, kudos to him. Bassnecter was wild too..that guys freakin hair...I really wish he wouldnt have stopped the music though to "check in on us" and tell us how much he hates the war, it was just bad timing. Jackie Greene was awesome too. I love how he jumps on keys and seems to stare down Steve. All in all, freakin great time. Anyone know who that band was playin on top of the bus on the big hill in the campsite?

intelligent comments, especially toward the end. Aaaah Flaming Lips kings of the hipsters, astute observation, but as the other comment went im sure their intentions are good, if not clouded.

looking forward to Bear Creak Festival Ya'll!

k

For all you Flaming Lips hating fools. Why don't you try and start a band that will last for over 24 years. I hate all you critical bastards. Go eat a veggie burrito and and burn some sage at the next Phish or SCI concert, oh wait they didn't make it that long. Nobody wants to heat how bad you hate The Flaming Lips. You call them posers I call them reveloutionists. If Wayne wants to speak his mind about whats going on in the world today then thats just fine by me. I am just glad self loathers like you stay the away from good music and make my experience that much better.

I hope ECHO's promoters will consider incorporating these five eco-friendly enhancements at next year's second staging of their event.

1.) Uniform use of biodiesel in ALL working vehicles (ATV's, trucks, vans, forklifts, earth-movers, etc.), generators and light towers.///

2.) A switch from a gas-burning fleet of 50+ golf carts (hopefully delivered by 18-wheelers from a spot much closer than Ohio) to a reduced number that all run on batteries.///

3.) Constricting the general land-use footprint by positioning the admin areas and camping sections much closer to the entertainment space. Such a move should significantly decrease the amount of fuel/battery power burned by parimeter light towers & generators, golf carts, security patrols, staff shuttles, merch and stock trucks, and petrol delivery vehicles. It would also significantly reduce the general level of road dust.///

4.) Posting of a PUBLIC and ADVANCE notice of some unique benefit, like a small souvenir or a $5 rebate, to encourage carpooling. The surprise fee levied against this year's cars that held fewer than three people may have been created with good intentions (I'd still like to hear how much was raised and where the donation went), but since it was sprung as a surprise, it did not proactively push people to share rides. It just penalized folks who didn't happen to think of it on their own.///

And finally, 5.) A general awareness that a more significant and honest positive environmental impact can be acheived by concentrating on reducing energy usage instead of paying for offset credits.///

To elaborate on the last suggestion, while this is NOT a dig purely against the ECHO folks, I have to say I find the whole notion of offsets rather disturbing. By accepting this as a valid and positive fix, we're basically acting like ecological wife-beaters who feel a dozen roses will make up for a punch in the mouth.

If bands, record labels and event promoters focused their attention and invested their financial resources into preventing their own eco-abuse in the first place, it would no longer be necessary for them to pander to earth-minded music fans through publicity-grabbing eco offset credits. More to the point, if the negative physical impact of the abusers were reduced, they'd STILL have the financial resources (as they'd no longer need to purchase offset credits) to contribute to worthy and effective clean-up efforts. And THAT would mean that instead of simply zeroing out their self-centered abuse, they could create a POSITIVE net improvement of the overall environmental situation.

And isn't that the true result these folks are supposedly seeking?

I dont have respect for any band who has to have a circus going on around them to distract the audience from the music they are playing. and this is echo project. echo being an eco-friendly festival. Even if the confetti is biodegradable or whatever what about the massive amounts of ballons that were released? I have been "fortunate enough" to see the flaming bu-fu lips on more than one occasion now.( and by that i mean walking by the stage at a festival and standing there for about five minutes until i walk away laughing, wishing they just didnt cause all that mess for the kind souls who volunteer to clean up and make these festivals possible) and i still dont see what the big deal about them is. Theyre nothing special 24 years or not. And most of all i have no respect for any band who asks the audience to give them a break before they play a "tough" song. I mean come on these songs are not tough at all. id like to see them try to play reba or some song that truly is tough to play.

Amen Robot,

Lips are just not my style. Saw them at roo for the first time this year, wasnt too impressed. then i saw them at echo and was really not impressed. SAME EXACT SHOW! If they've been playing for 24 years they should have more than one setlist. And the ranting was just annoying. The only good part of the lips show was the crowd yelling shut the fuck up! Echo was a great experience except for the cold nights. I made the drive from Maine and i was still freezing my balls off. Infected Mushroom preparty and Umphreys cd release party may have been my highlights of the weekend. I dont know if it was just me, but i felt the sound could have been a little better. It sounded kinda echo-ie.

ok review kind of generic. I thought it was a good festival i really didnt enjoy the lips, the killers, or bassnectar, but Phil and Friends put on a great show and moe. was really good too (but not as good as the show at allgood)

i agree with the previous posts saying that many people disrespected the idea of an echo friendly festival by littering the grounds with cig butts, and camping trash.

and i also want to say that this is probably do to fact that festivals are turning into "big parties" it seems less and less people are going for the music and are soley going to sell drugs, get messed up, and graffiti the porta potties its sad to see, but it seems to be growing trend i partly blame it on todays society and than i partly blame it on the more mainstream festivals i.e. bonnaroo that get attention from MTV and have more mainstream artists performing.

these mainstream artists that have mtv music videos and have there music on pop fm radio seem to attract a very mixed crowd usually for the worst

its not phil and friend's fans that are robbing tents and tagging porta potties its the killers fans or cypress hill fans or even worse the people that never made it down to the stages because they would rather sit at their campsites all day blaring crappy eminem and icp cds getting messed up

ok, thats my rant

just wanted to get that off my chest

couldnt stand listening to lips or killers.... wasnt there for them anyway but someone please tell me what the author of this review was thinking!?!?! Les Claypool could of easily been the best fucking show of the fest ( i take phil's show but personal opinion...) he was rocking so hard he broke a string on his banjo bass during iowan gal.... it was the best claypool show i've seen to date and as far as energy... best show i saw at the fest period bar none

The Flaming Lips SUCKED!!! I went from seeing Les Claypool, who completly rocked my world with some amazing music and really got me pumped, to hearing no music only bitching from the Flaming Lips. I don't understand how anyone who saw that show can say that it was good: THERE WAS NO MUSIC!

Anyone catch the Avett Brothers. Those guys worked the crowd up into a dancing frenzy. I inhaled so much dust from the fans dancing for them. Everyone should check these guys out!

wish i could have gone. lineup looked SICK.

Did anyone find a good resource for recordings from the show/s?

I have a few I found on Music Archive.

telepath, telepath, telepath.

thievery gave me goosebumps, and i'm still in a state of shock.

egg was so great.

ahh cleanvibes, a great way to make someone bitter about the festival scene, by picking up your cig butts! def makes you think. but after breaking my back working in the swill do i care? do my actions show it every day?

Well put philg7689. My friends campsite got robbed while we were out there. I just dont respect anyone who needs to take drugs to "feel the experience"; to me, that is synthetic bullshit. Or those kids who are so fucked up they can't do anything but wave glowsticks infront of their faces. hopefully one day they will learn. Echo was absolutely amazing, but i wished they toned it down a bit, there was a lot of pannel disscussions that I missed, because music was my first proiority. At times I felt a little anxious because there was so much i wanted to do and i still wanted to enjoy my friends and the campsite. In my opinion this festival would have been better with a few bands omitted (the lips, cypress hill, the killers). If the line up was a little smaller this festival would have been more communtiy oriented and relaxed. Don't get me wrong I love running around at big festivals thats all the fun, and i knew what i was getting myself into when i came, but i'd like to see a festival with such great intentions be more low key and celebrate the people who are really there for the cause and discuss how we can help change the world and touch others outside of the festival. This would definately tone down the drugs and it would leave the land and clean vibes a little happier. Thank you Orgwell for your time and energy in working with cleanvibes.

Oh yeah great fucking pic of Marc (biscuits)