Awesome pictures! Thanks!

i took a video of a creekside jam session down at hemlock hole.

check it:

www.youtube.com/watch

sanks,

~em

his name is Darryl and he lives in NYC...
one of the coolest people you will EVER meet ---
I wish I had his contact info at the moment, but you'll find him...
I can pretty much assure he'll be happy and complimented to share the pics..

this was my 5th gaian mind festival is as many years and represented the all time highs and lows i have experienced there.

melanie and i arrived wednesday evening with sunny and vincent in tow (mahiane and aes dana), two of the kindest, mellowest souls you will ever meet. they were immediately taken aback by the sheer beauty of the land and the unabashed friendliness of the people. the seeds for a lovely weekend had already been sown.

we set up camp in the north crook near the downtempo stage and i must say i was absolutely blown away by the deco job in the chillout. i knew my friends dave and marria had been working on their art for over 3 months and it really showed. great job guys! adolphe's interactive lightbox was also a big hit.

the deco on the main stage was equally amazing with julien's resplendent tapestries adorning the stone circle alongside steve-o's skillfully manipulated stretch fabric. i particularly liked the matrix like grid banner behind the dj booth. if that wasn't enough, guillaume's visual projections provided yet more candy for the eyes.

there was so much to do during the day that you just had to get over the fact you were always missing something. from the many workshops, the sweat lodges, the psychedelic strip mall (vending area), the swimming hole, one was never at a loss for keeping busy.

i loved the slow steady buildup over the course of the week, how wednesday night was just the drum circle, then more minimal/progressive stuff on thursday night in the north crook, finally building to a giant cosmic crescendo with the trance stage on friday night.

musically there were so many highlights. in the north crook, super galactic expansive stole the show with their glitched out new age take on contemporary trip hop. kilowatts of course is always spectacular. the ultimae crew certainly held down their rep as some of chillout's finest purveyors. sunny and vincent's dj set friday morning, and all of their back to back to back live sets saturday afternoon were wondrous in their beauty. other sets i really enjoyed included saturnia, gift culture, ben's tribal/ragga, and whoever was playing sunday morning as i passed out in the hookah tent! ;)

every set i heard thursday night was stellar, from pedro's bouncy grooves, to alex's minimal techno, to henshaw's proggy goodness.

back up on the main stage, deet really kicked the party off right with a great opening set. freedom played a nice set as well, transitioning from full-on into nighttime madness, just in time for psyops' dancefloor destruction. had to retire back to the chillout by that point, but made it back up saturday morning to catch the end of treavor's set and just in time for solar fields' trance set. wow, what morning magic that was. definitely one of my favorite sets from the festival.

saturday night started with equal aplomb thanks to tony's smooth electro opening. fractal phono played a great transitioning set, starting out with some minimal organic grooves and phasing into more full-on territory. i don't think anyone who was there will forget the lightning strike right in the middle of a breakdown! lauryn took over from there and took the music into darker realms as the rain storm let up. EVP played another nice nocturnal set, but still with the bouncy fun factor that is missing from so much darkpsy imo. then rastaliens, good lord, these guys just took it to another level. had the whole dancefloor going nuts and just kept cranking up the intensity. one of the best sets i have ever witnessed in the stone circle.

unfortunately it was at this juncture that i became stricken with the sickness. after rastaliens i went back to camp and spent the rest of the day recuperating.

i am as disappointed as everyone with 4Q's response to the outbreak (or lack thereof). i have defended them in the past, because i felt that despite their often stern demeanor, if you treated them and their land respectfully they would treat you with respect in turn. i did not see that happen this year. what i witnessed was inexcusable. it is doubly sad because this year could have and should have been the greatest in the history of the festival. all the elements were in place. now it will forever be tainted with memories of sickness and ill health.

my heart goes out to all the gaian mind organizers who worked tirelessly over the course of a year to craft the best possible trance festival experience. a huge thank you to all the artists, djs, visionaries, healers, speakers, workshop instructors, volunteers, builders, and helpers who fashioned such a great environment.

it should be remembered that all obstacles are opportunities for growth, change, and renewal. let us bask in the positives while using the negatives to improve the future.

here are some pictures of mine from the festival:

s20.photobucket.com/albums/b...al%202K8/

and a few videos are posted here (more to be uploaded):

www.youtube.com/user/djlauryn