Ben Davis aka Vibe Street has been lighting brushfires of boogie in 2015 from Denver to Georgia to New York and in between with a visionary blend of glitch hop, 808 bass music and bluegrass. With his come-up in full swing, he’s now scheduled to play Electric Forest. For a last minute addition to the lineup, he’ll be serving an extremely important role by opening the festival on Thursday and Friday afternoon and spinning three more sets later in the weekend.
Five sets at crucial time slots (two of which are rumored to be silent discos) sure seems like a gracious amount of airtime for an up-and-coming artist making his first appearance in Rothbury, Michigan on a lineup that is already as dense with talent as any in 2015.
But there’s a method to this delightful madness outside of the obvious fact that Vibe Street has been slaying crowds wherever he goes lately.
Despite its name and reputation as EDM’s largest summer stomping grounds, Electric Forest and the Rothbury Music Festival before it has always belonged to the String Cheese Incident, the band that’s put in over 20 years of extended sets, legendary jams and magical music to make people move. More than most other jam bands related to EDM, String Cheese carries on the legacy of folk, country and bluegrass music. Coming from the neglected and isolated woods of Appalachia 100 years ago, bluegrass has always been inherently countercultural. Along with folk, it rambles on as one of the last genres of popular music in America to remain virtually immune to widespread commercialization. This is one of the reasons why it feels so right jigging and jiving to a String Cheese set in an isolated venue like Sherwood Forest. Vibe Street will offer a similar experience, though his iteration of bluegrass is of course commanded by breaks, bass and the 808.
Photo cred Brian Spady
Opening sets at festivals are always important, especially at an enormous, annual four-day celebration of life, love and music like Electric Forest. A DJ has the opportunity to make the festival’s first musical impression and set a vibe that attendees and other artists can carry through the rest of the weekend. We believe grass hop, Vibe Street’s blend of electronica and americana, is near perfect music to kick off Forest festivities by fusing in one performance two completely distinct soundscapes, bass music and bluegrass, thus broadening the musical palates of anyone in the audience who is unfamiliar with either genre. Electric Forest accomplishes this same goal as a festival, bringing different countercultural communities together in one place to celebrate their common ground.
Forest’s lineup was killing it from day one, and with this last minute addition they’ve shown great taste and judgement by showcasing an act whose music bridges the gap between genres on the lineup. Let Vibe Street set your vibe at Electric Forest this year and you’re guaranteed to have a blast. The details for his three announced sets are as follows:
Thursday, June 25 @ 5:00pm on the Forest Stage
Friday, June 26 @ 2:00pm on the Forest Stage
Saturday, June 27 @ 1:45pm on the Tripolee Stage
Connect with Vibe Street
https://www.facebook.com/vibestreetmusic
https://soundcloud.com/vibestreet
Connect with The String Cheese Incident
https://www.facebook.com/stringcheeseincident
http://stringcheeseincident.com
Connect with Electric Forest
https://www.facebook.com/ElectricForest
http://www.electricforestfestival.com
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