Boogie Festival with James Adams

By James Adams.

‘Magic Dirt’ in crowd.

The ‘Club House’

Some tasks come with a certain pressure from fear of not doing justice to its amazingness. Writing about Boogie festival is one such task.

I’m going to give you two breakdowns of Boogie. A brief one and a meandering attempt at opening a window to what the Boogie experience is like.

1. Boogie is a music festival in Victoria that all in attendance camp at.

Caravan club.

Dusty figures.

2. Arriving to the farm fills the belly with butterflies. On one hand, it’s because you know what’s ahead, and on the other hand, it’s because you’ve got no idea what’s ahead. Around 2,000 people slowly populate the paddocks and hills with their campsites. Some as basic as a swag beside a Harley, some as elaborate as a seasoned camp dad’s tent city with functioning shower, kiddie pool, ping pong table, couches, kitchens etc. You want it to be comfy because this will be the home to so many great times, hilarious times, in the 3 days ahead.

Simple Bikers Camp.

Sunset viewing deck.

Once your camp is established and you’re all set up you’ll find yourself at an extremely exciting point in time. This is the starting point of what will become the next few days. Not, 3 days, the next 3 days. In weeks and months to come when you look back, you’ll remember setting up camp but everything after that is difficult to pin point to a specific time. It becomes a happy mess of memories.

Ozzy Wright from the Goons of Doom & Eamon from The Chats.

You’ll be drifting through days in unrecognisable states of adrenaline and/or exhaustion and be constantly bewildered by what has just happened and unable to predict what is about to happen. Retreating to your camp before dusk for a cheeky cocktail and to upgrade clothing to cold weather wear, you find a minute to yourself and feel a memory of your childhood that you’d previously forgotten. Not a visual memory, just a feeling of total freedom and lack of responsibility or pressure that only that time of life could deliver. It’s a feeling you’d wish to grip and hold but the sun is setting and right now needs to be gripped as well so you’re required to snap out of it and proceed with the present and try to remember that feeling next week when you’re back living in reality.

Ali Wells & Ben Marwe from Bad Dreems.

Zach from Hockey Dad with Ali Wells from Bad Dreems.

Watching bands and watching people you soon understand that nobody is on a clock. Nobody doesn’t want to be exactly where they are. It’s time for yourself to do as you please. Whatever you want. You are free and that might be one of Boogie’s greatest secrets.

There is no fear.

This is the vibe that has been orchestrated when 13 years ago a handful of mates, all with deep roots in the music industry, decided to make their own festival. Calling it a festival is taking the easy way out. It’s more than that. The music is just one facet of Boogie that everything revolves around like a sun.

Pricey and Bogis from The Chats with the legendary James Young. 

James Bartold from Bad Dreems.

Glen Dickey from Music Australia.

With no corporate sponsors to appease the parameters of what they can do is limitless. Eg. Having an equally large stage in an amphitheatre purely for the afterparty every night, why not? Perhaps a full time, 2 storey Western Saloon style Club House that plays host to a High Tea, a Karaoke Bar, a Cocktail Lounge and hosts a full blown kids concert for the little Boogers, done! Country Music playing over the speakers every morning to gently wake your battered soul and blistered ears, sure! A shipping container decked out with mirrored walls and a DJ booth half buried in a hill over the back of the property only operating after the after party and not spoken about or advertised at all? of course…. And to top it all off. Boxwars! Hundreds of lunatics decked out in themed cardboard costumes causing havoc and demolishing each other to old timey war music and the commentary of a quick lipped cowboy… As I said, there is no limit.

BOXWARSSS!!!

Cowboy with Vaughan, Ozzy and Killer from the Goons of Doom.

The day time is practically recovery time very well disguised as entertainment. Once the sun sets magically over the rolling hills each night, eyes glaze over with a film of excitement, wonder and under the cover of darkness the world opens up into a void of what the fuck is about to happen. And every night is different.

Maclay Herriot.

Mel and Rhiannon. 

Boogie will take you back in wondering if this is what fun used to be like and it’ll take you forward in pondering if this is the future. Days stop, night can last forever and the moon is massive 100% of the time. It’ll either act as a stimulant for mood and behaviour or at least be an excuse for your actions. Like mistaking a caravan for a toilet.

Eamon from The Chats.

Monte from The Delta Riggs.

The Chats and Maclay Herriot.

If it turns out that there is someone looking down and watching over all of us, i’m not sure if they’d be confused, fascinated, worried, thrilled or amazed but i know they’d be entertained. I sure as shit was and I’ll pair what memories I’ve made at Boogie with the photos I took and hold onto them as some of the greatest times of my life.

Alex Cameron from Bad Dreems.

Ozzy from the Goons of Doom with the major of Byron Bay, Paul McNeil.

Does that make sense? Maybe, maybe not. It probably will make more sense if you’ve been.

Cheers Mate!

See all images here.

 

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