SCamping At Summer Camp

I absolutely ADORE Summer Camp! Seriously, it’s one of my favorite festivals and this year reminded me just why! The festival takes place in Chillicothe (Peoria), Illinois and it’s just two hours from my house. This makes it the PERFECT festival to hit up, especially with it being so close to home! I’ve gone every year since 2015 and I’m already missing SCamping at Summer Camp!

The Thursday pre-party is where all the action starts but unfortunately, I couldn’t get the day off at my day job (not TFV). It’s like that nearly every year because it falls on the Memorial Day Holiday. I am sad every year but that’s just one of the dates I just can’t get off!

So, anyway, I got there Friday early afternoon and got my ticket! It was drizzling a little so my fiance and I brought in our car load and I ran off to interview Neil of Dopapod (I’ll attach that once the video is ready!). I was a little frazzled because my interview was at 6 and with the lines, I got there at 6:03. I was so bummed to have missed their set because it was on my list, but lines and lines. I was determined not to let that ruin the vibe of SCamp! As Neil put it, SCamp is SCamp!! And how right he is, SCamp is just SCamp!

After my interview, I went back and helped set up the campsite I had ditched to make it to the interview. (Whoops, sorry friends!) My friends were partway done and so the rest was a breeze! Even though we got to SCamp at 3, we weren’t set up fully until dark. That’s to be expected because we were SCamping in style with our canopy and camp setup! Finally, we were done and ready to start the night off. I decided to take Friday off from my camera because it was already late by that point.

I had worked that morning so I had gotten up at 6 AND had moved my office space so I was already pretty tired.

But last SCamp, I had discovered Dogma and I was DETERMINED to make it to his set… at 3 AM. I would do it. Energy drinks here I come!

We vibed through our Friday night with NGHTMRE being our first set of the night. I was headbanging the night away with my pals, just having a grand time! Opiuo killed it, as expected. Then Mersiv was quite the vibe followed by a killer set from Zeds Dead. The dubstep queen in me was having a straight up blast! It was a muddy mess, but hey, the rain had stopped! I tromped through the mud not having a care in the world. I brought rain boots but didn’t follow my own advice of wearing them so my shoes were super muddy. OH WELL, as Neil put it, SCamp is SCamp!

Then we headed to the Illumination Woods, which are a sight to behold, especially at night! That place is amazing and such a vibe. We were grooving and SOMEHOW, I did it!!! I made it to Dogma! My fiance and I were headbanging and it was the BEST set of the weekend, in my opinion. If y’all like dubstep, don’t sleep on Dogma!

Saturday was up next!

I always say that I am going to do the workshops and I always tell you all to do so… and somehow never make it. I have one of those “disco” tents that reflects the sunlight and heat, so I slept until noon. And what a blissful joy that was! I finally emerged from my tent and got ready for the day! My fiance is very slow at getting ready, so I left to go hang with my friends in their RV while he got ready. Finally, we got out there for the night!

Big Gigantic was a vibe and I got some KILLER photos right at sunset. I’ve been working hard to level up my photography skills and I think I made great strides this year! There were some great sets on Saturday. Of course, had to catch a little Umph, because you’re not SCamping properly if you don’t. Dirt Monkey was amazing too. I was headbanging and vibing so hard!

I think the day had worn me out and sadly, I did not make it much past Dirt Monkey and fell asleep at my tent. I was pretty bummed the next morning but I knew I needed that sleep!! I wanted to catch Peekaboo but sadly, missed out.  Again, SCamp is SCamp!!

Sunday Funday

Sunday was phenomenal as well. Again, I slept until noon and finally emerged, determined to make the most of the day. We decided to spend the day wandering the Illumination Woods. I got tons of great photos and enjoyed talking with my friends. The whole day was amazing and I still feel like the whole weekend went way too fast.

My friends had wandered the woods and found this fish mailbox that was a give something, take something place and so we spent the afternoon looking for that. They had taken something but had nothing to give- and wanted to come back to give! I think we spent over three hours looking for that damn fish mailbox!!! They were asking everyone we met in the forest and in true SCamp fashion, no one had a damn clue and kept telling us directions that were not accurate at all. They kept asking if people had seen a fish, which everyone found hilarious because who has a fish in the forest? I don’t know why I didn’t get a photo of it because it was a huge part of my Sunday Funday! We had finally given up on the fish mailbox and my friends were going to go check out Bone Thugs-N-Harmony when all of the sudden, THERE IT WAS! THE FISH MAILBOX!!! My friends had completed their mission of giving something to the fish mailbox!

After a wonderful time wandering the woods, we got ready to go out and check out some sets. After a delicious dinner of burgers, we went out to check out Smashing Pumpkins for a bit. After a bit, we wandered back into the forest to see some Debstep and that was killer.

Next up, was the epic Maddy O’Neil followed by SoDown and Liquid Stranger. We took a break from the music after Manic Focus before wandering into the woods to check out the Casino. It was such a crazy concept, you gamble with anything but money! I suck at gambling so I didn’t participate but that was so much fun! 

Finally, Jansten ended my night. I would have liked to have made it to 4 am again but apparently, I had reached the point of being done because I started to doze while standing up. Festivals really do take it out of you!

Summer Camp was such a vibe and I’m already looking forward to SCamping at next year’s festival! Hoping to see you there!!

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