Motherland Stage - Backwoods Sets New Bar for Music Festivals
Motherland, Backwoods Music Festival's largest stage this year where Porter Robinson, Infected Mushroom, and Odesza are playing is setting a new bar for music festivals in the midwest. The stage is many steps beyond that of the traditional main stage found at music festivals around the country. While there are a few major festivals out there known for their amazing artwork and effort put into the stage design itself, most festivals including some of the biggest and the majority of all mid size fests, rely solely on a large stage with lighting and 10-12' square video screens mounted to the side. While the lighting may be intense at times, the creativity that's missing from the stage structure itself really affects the overall experience of the festival.Will Royall, one of the Executive Producers of Backwoods Music Festival said, "We really want to do something different for the area. There are a few festivals in the mid-west that do great with their lineups and they draw crowds, but when I see photos of the stages and environments they're putting those people in, to me they still just look like concerts." Royall is not just focused on the music, he went on, he's really trying to create an overall environment for every venue at the festival that surrounds the attendees. "We're working on one environment right now yet to be announced that will have a 50' flame shooting from the center of a giant light throwing disco ball, and 6 flaming towers surrounding you with video walls and speakers on each. This means you'll be surrounded 360 degrees with surround sound, LED walls, and fire." he continued.The Motherland Stage, is a new concept for Backwoods Music Festival which also surrounds the crowd. The Front of House (where audio and lighting is typically controlled from) is designed as part of the stage and adds to the experience located behind the audience. The FOH area is large enough to be a small stage itself, and will not only house lighting, video, and sound techs but also contains a raised platform for artists, producers, and Backstage VIPs to get an elevated view of the show on stage, above the crowds. The stage itself will be larger than your standard 40' stage you see for other festival's main stages, and may end up at 100' wide with the addition of two 20' wide towers on each side, and a performance platform of 60'.
Motherland's design is called "The Castle" and was concepted by Backwoods' Creative Stage Designer, James Cui, otherwise known as VJ Fader. We asked Fader a few questions regarding his design.
1. What was the inspiration behind the design?
"It is inspired by the German Gothic castle designs from the Medieval period. The design features two giant towers measuring about 80’ tall standing on either side of the main stage. Each tower is faced with a huge 25’ tall LED video screen for displaying visual and live video. On the stage there’s another very large oval shaped LED video screen resembling the shape of an eye. We will be using lots of recycled wood and fabric as building materials for this stage."
2. Can you explain the eye looking structure at the top center and what the meaning behind that is?
"What I am trying to do here is to create a focal point for the Motherland stage. With a ‘castle’ and ‘medieval’ theme, a strong eye symbol keeps coming into my mind. The ‘eye’ module that is attached to the center of the triangular shaped stage roof is a light module construction. It will shine strong beams of light into the audience at night, as if the Motherland stage is staring into the crowd."
3. With designing the front of house (FOH) to mimic the stage, what does this do for the experience?
"The front of house (FOH) is often most overlooked area at a live concert. This is where the lighting designer, sound engineer and VJ is operating during a show. Although the music is being played on the stage by a band or a DJ, the visual aspect of the show is mostly being controlled at the FOH. You can think of it as the ‘heart' of the show. Most people do not realize this fact. Just as most people only recognize the famous actors of their favorite films, but in reality is there are a great team of talented people including the director, cinematographer, editor… etc. behind every great movie. Same is true for a great concert experience.At Backwoods Music Festival this year we are integrating the FOH design into the overall main stage design of ’The Castle', so you won’t see a typical large white tent stuck in the middle of the dance floor. We are including a Backstage VIP area as part of the FOH structure so people can see how the stage magic is created. The FOH has the best vantage point of the stage because of its raised deck. We will give the opportunity to Backstage guests who purchase cabins and artists to enjoy the show on the Motherland main stage from the best seat of the house, the FOH."
4. What challenges have you had so far in designing the stage?
"As a stage designer I often try to push the scale and not think about budget or gravity at first. Once the design goes forward then I would work with the lighting/construction company to figure out how to make it into a reality. I would say this is the most challenging part. Budget, safety and local regulations often comes into play where I will need to make revisions. At the end the goal is to stick with the look and feel and not compromise the integrity and impact of the original design."
5. By construction standards this stage is massive, much bigger than most main stages at most main events. How would this compare to say, a Blue Whale?
"It is safe to say that we are going BIG this year as Backwoods is growing. But more importantly we are giving back to the people and offering them a 'bigger than life' sonic and visual experience."****You can learn a little more about Fader's work here.Backwoods is really stepping their game up this year with production. The festival is investing an amount of capital equivalent to twice the normal amount for a festival its size in production. "We want to blow people's minds so they can't help but come back next year and bring all of their friends. And why not, they're paying for this, it's their party." said Javi Guillan, another Executive Producer at Backwoods.
Backwoods Music Festival Lineup (2015 Complete)
Backwoods Music Festival Lineup Additions
Backwoods Music Festival adds an array of new artists to their complete lineup. At the top of the bill added to the already stacked lineup with Porter Robinson and Infected Mushroom is Odesza.Additional headliners were also added including Liquid Stranger, Chris Schambacher, Filibusta, Omair Mirza, Project 46, Solidisco, Split Lip Rayfield, The Way Down Wanderers, The Werks, and Wick-it The Instigator at the top of the bill.Besides adding an incredible amount of international talent to headline this year's festival, Backwoods has also selected some of the best, most talented, up and coming bands, producers, and DJs from around the country to perform including: Blake O the DJ, Captain Munch, CBDB, ClusterPluck, Foreign Twiinz, FREE PiZZV, Higher Learning, Kolourz, Kudos, Mass Relay, MedusA, Meridian Lights, Orphic, PhuturePhil, Prismo, Skytown, Smiirk, SocietySociety, Solstis, Tkettle, Alan Doyle, Aluma, Ascentient, Astronoize, AY-MusiK, Blinxxx, Captain Knotts, CAVEM/\N, CUSCINO, Dalton Richmond, DeluXe, Dominick Reed, Ed Crunk, ELPIS, Ezza Rose, Grover Braam, Karma Wears White Ties, Kinetik Groove, Lusid, MIKHAIL, Minds of Infinity, Morpei, Motion Trap, Plunkie, Repel the Robot, Skanka!, The Lukewarm, The Young Vines, VOVIII, and ZeroGravity.
Laser Tower at Backwoods Music Festival (Fire Tower)
One of the executive producers of Backwoods gives us a tour of the property grounds from the top of the Fire Tower at the Tatanka Ranch. Learn the layout of the land. You can see the entire festival layout from here, a pretty amazing view. Those who climb to the top of the fire tower (yes, attendees can climb it) get to play with a giant laser beam with an iPad at the top, hence the name "Laser Tower." We can't wait for Backwoods.
Woods Camping & Car Camping
Check out the GA Woods Camping and GA Car Camping from the sky. This guided tour shows you a little bit of what you can expect for woods or car camping. Both are included with GA Tickets (And Car Camping with Showers is included with VIP tickets.) The woods are truly beautiful, and those camping in the fields won't miss walking through the woods on the way to the venue each morning. The woods will all be lit (pathways and trees) for an incredible and magical camping experience.
Backwoods Music Festival at The Tatanka Ranch
This year Backwoods is headed to The Tatanka Ranch, it's long awaited home. The ranch is over 1,000 acres allowing Backwoods the room for future growth. With a 15 acre lake, and several smaller ponds in a natural forest setting, the ranch really lends itself to the Backwoods vibe. Some key elements include a pool and lodge for VIP guests, cabins for some lucky Backstage pass holders, a Fire Tower (turned into a Laser Tower for the festival) and animals on property ranging from Buffalo to alpacas, llamas, several species of deer, long horns and more.
Scrambled 2015 Backwoods Lineup 2 of 3
Here it is... if you can figure it out. The Scrambled Lineup Poster for Announcement 2 of 3 for Backwoods 2015. The Official Lineup drops on Monday with the additional poster art to be revealed as well.
Backwoods VIP Experience
Backwoods has just released it's full announcement of what is included with VIP. There are two packages this year, Backwoods VIP Comfort Camping and a Backwoods VIP Cabin Package. Packages include pool access, hot showers, flushable toilets, VIP viewing areas, lodge access, and more. Learn more about the Backwoods VIP Experience here.
Backwoods Tickets Online - Collectable RFID Wristbands for Backwoods Music Festival
We're moving to RFID wristbands instead of paper tickets for the music festival this year! When you order your Backwoods tickets online, we'll ship your RFID wristbands a couple of weeks prior to the festival. You MUST have an RFID wristband to get onto the festival grounds and campsites. We will not be selling tickets or wristbands at the gates, so be sure to pre-order your tickets online! Please spread the word to others since this is a change from year's passed!
NO Tickets for Backwoods Music Festival Sold At The Gates
It's important to know there will be NO tickets for Backwoods Music Festival sold at the gates this year. In years passed, we previously sold tickets at the gates. We're moving to RFID collectable wristbands this year for better experiences at the festival entrances, campsites, and music venues. These RFID wristbands must be registered to an individual for security purposes and will happen prior to the festival. The only way this can be done is by purchasing a your ticket ahead of the festival so we can ship your personal RFID wristband to you at home. There are only 10,000 allotted tickets for sale this year, and the festival is expected to sell out many weeks before the actual festival date. Be sure to order your tickets ONLINE as soon as you can to save on ticket prices, and SPREAD THE WORD to others! We want to make sure everyone has their chance to attend!