Template:USA 2009
From Psychedelic-Traveller
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[2009] Stomping It Down in the USA
- written by Tena Moore and assisted by many U.S. promoters
While the East and West Coasts were the first areas to embrace psychedelic trance culture, the rest of the country is catching up quickly. With Burning Man culture growing by the tens of thousands every year, and the Internet making it easy to find psytrance music and parties, psytrance is steadily covering the map. The major hotspots with the most events are currently New York and Northern California.
West Coast
Los Angeles drew attention to the global scene after major artists like Infected Mushroom and Hallucinogen moved there in 2006 with the interest of scoring for film. Once the central hub of the west-coast scene, it unfortunately no longer as active as it once was since Green Sector, the major promoter since the turn of the millennium, has discontinued regular events at Gold Creek Ranch. However, long-time promoter Psytribe is still currently throwing regular and excellent events near L.A., making use of a fantastic new outdoor venue on sovereign Native American land. Their parties tend to focus on the darker shades of psytrance. Another recently developed crew Terrakroma has also been throwing excellent regular events.
In Northern California, Phoenix Family and Full Circle will bring the annual Gemini Festival again this summer, June 12-15. Over the years Gemini has secured itself as the longest running yearly psytrance festival on the west coast. Symbiosis Gathering, a synaesthesia of art, music, transformational learning, and sustainable living, is on again this year on the fall equinox, Sept. 17-21 and in the last few years has had turnouts of over 1,000 people, making it currently the largest annual psytrance gathering in the U.S.
In San Francisco, Geomagnetic.tv consistently throws indoor and outdoor parties with national and international talent, while Synchronize - a weekly party held every Wed. night in a small restaurant/bar called Il Pirata - is going five years strong. Tantra always offers a New Year’s Eve party and represents our scene at Love Fest, followed by massive after-parties. The How Weird Street Faire will be celebrating their 10th year in the streets of San Francisco, with 2 trance stages by CCC and Tantra on May 10th. Currently popular international artists such as Chromatone, Ghreg On Earth and Random saw their beginnings in San Francisco.
Oregon, specifically Portland and Eugene have seen significant growth in activity since the Contact Festival in 2007. Current events are thrown by Catharsis Crew Chickenhed and StarCatchers. Several key promoters like Apollo's Lute, who organized many years of Goa Gil parties on the fall equinox, and Metakinetics who held the Sacred Space monthly gatherings and others have been disbanded, though many of their former members are still very active in the scene. However, a new group of promoters including We Are One Events and Rebirth in Eugene and others in Portland who do not identify themselves under crew names have carried the torch. Long-time organizer Molecular also recently relocated most of its efforts here. Travelers are advised to consult nw-psy.com for current information. Popular artists in the area include Freaks of Nature and Secret Society.
Seattle saw a surge of activity in 2007 and 2008 with huge events by Iosis Art Parties and some progressive psy activity at Oracle. Current events are hosted by the Skeleton Crew and Molecular.
East Coast
In Asheville, North Carolina Those People Productions are keeping busy, with a yearly Goa Gil party in May, and the 3rd annual World Bridge Festival, August 7-9. Touch Samadhi's yearly Equinox Festival will end the summer in Asheville, September 18-20.
In New York, the summer season features Alladin Group's 3rd Orb Festival, July 9-12. YogiBogeyBox is throwing its first festival, Desiderata, August 6-9. Both festivals are taking place at Echo Lake Campgrounds in the mountains outside of the city. There are also weekly parties, secret outdoor forest parties, and other special events...check the psyNY mailing list for details.
Midwest
The top festival crew of the Midwest is the Chicago-based Chilluminati. This year they will have Sacred Earth Open Air festival in May 2009 in Black River Falls, WI, and Earthdance in September 2009. It is definitely worth noting that their chill-out lineups are as top-notch as their trance. Mindoutpsyde from Iowa currently have a large one-night outdoor event called Fractal Fields on June 20, and are currently planning a 3-day event of undecided name at the end of August or early September.
Northeast (Ohio/Pennsylvania)
Currently in its eighth year, the Gaian Mind Summer Festival (GMSF) is held every year in June and has become the premier destination for hundreds of dancers from all over the world. This year it will be held at a new location in Maryland, June 11-14. In Ohio, the newly formed Third Eye Squeegee crew with members from Goahead and Sidetrakkt are featuring the regions first outdoor psytrance festival, Junction 604, taking place May 22-24.
Southwest
The southwest, though smaller compared to other scenes in the country, is growing fast, with most of the action taking place in Phoenix and Denver. Psytrance was first brought from the westcoast via parties thrown by Moontribe at 3sidedwhole outside Albuquerque, New Mexico and in the Arizona desert. Metakinetics and Family Moons held events there at the turn of the millennium. Psytrance artists like Planewalker and Johnny Primitiv had their beginnings in the southwest. Colorado has seen a surge of new faces starting in 2007, leading to the birth of Mountain Vision and Sound/Mind, hosting events in the Denver area and in the beautiful Colorado open air.
Burning Man
There are currently regional burns in 24 states, and last year Black Rock City, Nevada was home to 48,000 people. This year it will be held from Aug. 31-Sep. 7, with Evolution as the theme.
