As the sun rose over the hills of Mariaville, NY on Thursday, July 7^th, 2011, a great thing began to happen... the gates of Camp Bisco X opened.  With a back-up of already four and a half hours at the early time of 8a.m. it would still be half a day until many were able to set up camp and tune into the music.  Some lived close enough to have a mere 45 minute drive to the Indian Lookout Country Club.  Others, ranging from all over the nation, took to the roads for up to days on end just be a part of the action.  There was Holly, a yoga instructor who had journeyed from Boulder, Colorado; a Clemson graduate student named Yates drove with his buddy for 16 hours from South Carolina; and Marcus, who had come from further still, taking in the full American landscape all the way from Sacramento, California.  But despite how long or short the journey was, , how many thousands of miles you stuck your thumb out, how many hundreds of minutes you sat in the sluggish line (a slew of people ran out of gas or resorted to turning their vehicles off and pushing them in neutral) once inside those gates and through the security checkpoint – another two hour wait – none of it mattered.  All that mattered was that it was time to dance. 

Camp Bisco is one of the more significant festivals in that it is a fusion of both DJ set’s and live band performances.  Sure you get a mixture here and there at other festivals, but it’s almost completely drawn down the middle here.  DJ’s end up sounding like a band, bands sound like DJ’s; if you’re not looking at the stage, sometimes it’s hard to decipher. 

One of the mega highlights of the weekend, and the first band that Joonbug got to see, falls deep into this category.  The livetronica sounds of The New Deal really started the party off on the right foot… or what it the left?  With a sound that one could think was created on a mixing table, but alas, was simply formed from the minds of drummer Darren Shearer, bassist Dan Kurtz and keyboardist Jaime Shields.  The New Deal integrates electronica with a live house sound to create a dancey and fun progressive style.  Though this trio had the rowdy and ready crowd bouncing and grooving the whole set, it was rather bitter sweet as their 12 year run as jamtronic masterminds has come to a close. 

Don’t let the name fool you, this is no delicate Japanese flower.  Lotus ripped up the late-night Grooveshark tent with a seemingly endless set of jam-trance fusion that’s lifts, bends, twists and collapses your body into a steaming piles of gushy love. 

As you no doubt have guessed, Ratatat killed it.  The backdrop performance was as eerie as something out of Tim and Eric Awesome Show and like the music itself, Evan Mast and Mike Stroud played the mysterious card within the darkness on stage.  Their bodies would cast shadows on the screen behind them projecting that larger-than-life feel that they portray in their music. 

Ghostland Observatory: Another two man group?  Oh Yeah!  Aaron Kyle Behrens and Thmoas Ross Turner have been making music since 2004 and in there short run have managed to blend electro, rock and funk into a new wave sound that both danceable, stompable and can still be played at your (un)friendly neighborhood dive bar.  The video below is just a snippet of their performance, but it does display the raw energy and charisma these guys have in their musical abilities.  A must see when they come to your town.  

12^th Planet – John Dadzie has only been on the map since 2006 but there is not one morsel of a mystery as to why he’s climbing to the top of the dubstep game so quickly.  It’s dirty, it’s heavy, it’s what dub was meant to sound like.  Below is a fan video and though it may be a little shaky, it’s a perfect representation of 12^th Planet in is packed out tent show glory.

You may not think that Death From Above 1979 fits into the Camp Bisco landscape, and usually we would agree with you: they don't jam, they don't lay down thick beats, and they don't have an epic light show.  But what they do have makes up for all that and then some - dirty rock n' roll embedded into their souls.  Jesse Keeler and Sebastian Grainger (yup, another duo) have been disband since 2006.  For whatever reason, 2011 is their year to reemerge and it's glorious.  Check out their website for all the tour dates.  A fellow by the name of Chris said he came all the way from South Caroline (with the aforementioned Yates) solely for Death From Above 1979. He walked away from the set screaming, "F*uck the Biscuits, I don't care if I die on the way home.  I've been waiting for this for five years."  His sentiments are reflected in many others that left the main stage stunned and awed.  

If you haven't heard of Shpongle, don't feel ashamed.  As a full band, Camp Bisco X was their very first United States show (Simon Posford plays solo DJ sets rather often).  But after the spiritually uplifting and transcendent show they put on at Bisco, it most certainly won't be their last.  It was a heavenly experience to say the least.  Prior to their set, the rain poured icy sheets on eager viewers and as Shpongles first swell of deep bass tones, drones and diggerydo set in, it was as though the rain suddenly became the warming life-force of our tribal dance.  We were in the middle of the jungle, deep in space, lost in ourselves.  Listen to their entire set right here and feel what fifteen thousand people felt at once:  

Shpongle LIVE @ Camp Bisco 8th July 2011 by TwistedMusic

Some honorable mentions go out to Easy Star All-Stars, Lettuce, Emancipator, Paper Diamonds, Holy Ghost, Zoogma and Archnemesis.  

For an inside look at the festival's social scene, check out: Part I: The Camp Bisco Experience - The Scene