SubOctave Music Festival Review
Tucked in the valleys of Houston, Minnesota is SubOctave Music Festival. The event features a lineup laced with bass and dubstep with names such as Liquid Stranger, Space Jesus, Bleep Bloop, G Jones, Buku, Cloezee and Freddy Todd. While 2015 was a single day event, the festival spanned from Thursday to early Sunday morning this year, July 20-22.
The third anniversary attracted over 1,000 young adults decked out in their finest hat pins, tie dye attire and stylish Pashminas, despite Southern Minnesota’s intense summer humidity. The entire experience was nothing short of phenomenal from beginning to end.
The Location
The dreamlike state of Outback Ranch — where SubOctave is held — is undeniable from the moment you arrive.
The green hills surrounding the ranch create a barrier between the festival and the outside world — making it our own secret garden. A mystical thick fog hung low to the ground and wrapped around the tents and farm buildings on Thursday evening and again on Sunday morning, adding to the aluer. Most impressive though, was how receptive the Ranch was to the Friday morning rain, leaving little to no trace of mud or soggy grass the entire weekend.
DJ Megan Hamilton, who has graced the SubOctave line up all three years, said, “The property has needed some event producers who were comfortable with its small capacity, and willing to create an experience revolving around quality, rather than quantity.”
https://vimeo.com/226417864
The Stages
Paired with the beautiful scenery was outstanding stage production. Jem Productions, who have been working with SubOctave since their inaugural year, ran the sound for both the outdoor SubOctave Stage and the Boom Room. The SubOctave Stage shutdown at midnight but, the Boom Room kept things bumping until 6:00 a.m. — literally, bumping. The metal siding of the barn could be heard rattling and raging before the could even be seen. Yet the sound quality stayed pristine — a joyful noise to bassheads far and wide.
“Jem Productions pushed their sound system to a new low of 20 hrtz for Space Jesus and Liquid Strangers sets, which is stupid awesome from the production side of the event,” said Ben Peters, SubOctave Stage Manager.
The top notch visuals for the SubOctave stage were brought by Antic Studio, another team that has been with the festival since year one. This year, the main stage featured 32 LED panels and faced a sloping hill that allows a good view of the stage no matter how far back the viewer stands.
“Saturday night the Antic’s team placed a camera behind Space Jesus and Liquid Stranger. That was their first attempt at live feed of DJ plus live visual effects.” Peters said.” Antic Studio is truly pushing the tech in our music scene. They were also honored with permering Space Jesus’s brand new visuals that night.”
It was a monumental moment for Antic’s studio.
SubOctave crew member, Andrew “Rooster” Zeuske, coordinated the visuals and Patrick McMurphey took charge of the lasers for the Boom Room. Together, they created a beautiful visual experience. And a special thank you to whoever decided to let the real fans behind the rail at the front of the stage in the Boom Room. Their cool airflow made it possible to keep dancing until dawn.
https://vimeo.com/226564370
The Arts
SubOctave was about more than just the line-up and the stages. Music, dance, art, and flow transcend any and everything that divides the human race. Yet, there always tend to see male dominated line ups and strictly female hopers. This was not the case as SubOctave. There was a fair representation of all the arts and types of artists.
To the left of both the SubOctave Main Stage and Boom Room Stage, painters brushes flowed to the music. For the intimate size of the event, there were 40 plus live painters. Each artists as friendly, funky, passionate, and talented as the next.
To the right of each stage were platforms for flow artists to share their craft. The platforms were never lacking in creativity or well-practiced and precise movements. The highlight of the flow artists were the men hopers. In my years of festival going, to events of all sizes, never in my life have I seen as many men tearing it up with a hula hoop, transcending the stereotype of hooping being a woman’s game. Regardless of if these magnificent men were there to perform on the stages or just drawn to the dub, they deserve a shout out.
https://vimeo.com/231396932
Videos By: Steve Goldade
Clean up
As stated before, the grounds were breathtaking and they were kept breathtakingly clean the entire weekend as well. A combination of conscious festival attendees and attentive staff kept the ranch tidy and tended to the entire weekend.
Trash cans were easy to find consistently seen in pairs. Yet, they lacked labeling of which was meant trash and which were meant for recycling. I felt a tinge of guilt every time I tossed a potentially recyclable item. Overall, everyone was aware of their surroundings all weekend.
As our car rolled out of the venue on Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride in my community. Ripped tents and broken canopies didn’t litter the camp grounds, like we’ve become accustomed to in the festival scene. Instead, trash bags lined the road at the head of each campsites for easy clean up. This speaks loudly for all those involved in the making of SubOctave 2017.
“SubOctave received the highest accolades from musicians, visual artists, agents and tour managers,” shared Peters. “It all happened because we surrounded ourselves with people who care about people. I know we had a positive impact on people’s lives.”
