LOCATION: Twin Lakes, Wisconsin
When people would ask, "What kind of music does your magazine cover?" My response was usually, "Anything but country." Well, we changed that ethos in the summer of 2009. Here we are, covering country music. Not just country music, but a country music festival! Do you believe it? You won't find me running out buying any new country records, in fact as I write this, I'm reminding myself to go buy the new Used and Chevelle records tomorrow. Anyway, what a festival! One thing is certain, I may not be the world's biggest country fan, but I've never once doubted a country artist's talent and Country Thunder sure solidified that mentality. Oh and we can't forget to talk about the party. Country fans sure know how to party! This review will be written more as a blog of the events that went down during the three and a half days we spent at Country Thunder.
I arrived to the festival grounds on Thursday afternoon. By then the festival was already in full swing. Camps were set up, empty cases of beer were stacking up and just under a dozen bands had already graced the stage. Usually, traffic getting up to the festival grounds is terrifying. This year the organizers made it quite easy to get in and out of the grounds. While we did wait about 45 minutes to get our camping sticker, the rest was a breeze.
This was my first time ever camping at Country Thunder. I had attended before, but only for one evening. I was a bit shocked as we pulled into the camp grounds. It was like a mini city. Some people had half-million dollar RVs, others pop-up campers. Us, we had tents and I was really looking forward to it.
When I arrived at our campsite, my friends were already well into their drinking for the day. I quickly learned that we'd be drinking far more than we would eat. Good thing beer has carbs. It didn't take long to get into the country mood. Before I knew it someone had given me a cowboy hat and most of the passer bys wouldn't suspect I was actually a punk rock rebel in disguise.
Our campsite was like an outdoor house, sans running water. We had a large picnic table under a tent, we had a generator going that would provide electric for our radio, which generally was always set to a country station, but a couple of times I would get a rock station on for an hour or so before someone would threaten to cut my fingers off. Our group ranged from 12 to 15 people. The tents were set up around the campsite in a half circle, allowing for plenty of room for baggo, beer darts and Polish horseshoes. Games such as these are not only staples of the event, but must haves.
On Thursday night our group migrated to the actual concert venue for Taylor Swift. As I shot photo of Swift, I quickly forgot I was at a country music fest. The showmanship is intense. It was really more like a pop concert. Swift, who looks younger in person performed professionally with poise and a great deal of energy. She had back up dancers and one hell of a stage set up. There were even a couple songs that I actually recognized. I was impressed.
After Swift's performance we made our way back to the campsite, which I should remind everyone is about a mile walk... or stumble... Let the beer darts commence!
Friday morning comes along and the first thing I tell myself, is if you're not good at darts, you probably shouldn't be playing beer darts. Man did my head hurt.
Before we go any further, I should point out that for mid July, it was damn cold for any kind of outdoor music festival. At night most of us were wrapped in hoodies and jeans.
So now it was time for me to go back into the real world for a couple of hours to pick up my wife who would join us for the rest of the festival. We stopped at the grocery store and bought another $140 worth of beer and some wine type stuff for the ladies. That beer would be long gone by Sunday morning.
So okay, by now some of you are probably asking, "What do you do all day before going into the venue to see the bands?" The answer, drink. Seriously, I mean from what I gathered, yes, it's a music festival, but a very intoxicated music festival. Each day the bands began around 1:00pm. So if you're a big country fan, sure, you're probably spending the majority of your time watching the various bands for the afternoon and evening.
Inside the venue, there is plenty to do as well. From great food vendors, to a mechanical bull, which our entire group tackled, the venue itself offers many ways to spend your hard earned cash.
By Friday night I was starting to get sticky. I'd been outside for nearly two full days without a shower. Yes, they have shower facilities there. I think they were $5 for five minutes, but again, being the punk rock guy, I opted not to shower the entire time. We caught some of Phil Vassar, who was genuinely entertaining. He actually played a lot of rock cover songs that I knew, so I was happy. Alan Jackson was the headliner on Friday and was definitely a country music staple for this festival. Again, I was entertained by the music, albeit, I wasn't overly familiar with his songs.
Back to camp around 11:30. We still had a good two and a half hours until lights out. It's funny because there is a camp-wide lights out time. All the generators must be off, lights off and whooping and hollerin' kept at a whisper. Here's my issue; there's a lights out, but by 5:00am or 6:00am people are up and ready to party. Try sleeping in a four person tent with the morning sun beating down on your dehydrated body. It makes for a miserable wake up call. One morning I was okay with it because a large truck drove by our tent window blasting "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer." I love that song.
Saturday morning my wife and I woke up on the ground. Apparently, something put a one inch cut in our air mattress, I'm thinking my wife's wedding ring, so we awoke to an air mattress that was trying to eat us coupled with an epic backache. The group camping next to us decided to play a little game with a beer bong. Two guys were about three beer bongs in by 11:30am and made a rule that said, "The first one to puke, loses." I think the count was 22 beers EACH before someone finally lost their breakfast. We didn't see them for the rest of the day.
Another key point I should mention is the morning beer shotgun ritual. It's somewhat of a tradition with the group we were with. All of the guys stand in a circle around 9:00am or 10:00am and shotgun a beer. The breakfast of champions, right? Wrong. For some, it acts as a stomach cleansing and stimulates vomiting. You'll be happy to know that I never once had this issue the entire time. We made eggs, bacon and hash browns on the grill and continued on with our day.
I love to people watch and Country Thunder offers A LOT for people watching. There were guys dressed up as superheroes parading around camp, girls dressed or I should say not dressed and all sorts of interesting demographics. You had the guys with the big lifted trucks with aftermarket exhaust systems that had to be illegal in some states, revving their engines... All day. That got annoying, but maybe I was just jealous.
Tim McGraw headlined the final day of Country Thunder (Saturday) and once again, I was surprised at "rock and roll" country has really become. I can't gauge the number of people that may have been at the festival. At least 10's of thousands, but it seemed like they were all there for Tim McGraw. My wife called him the highlight act of the weekend.
All in all, Country Thunder was a great experience and I hope I get the opportunity to cover it again next year. For those who haven't been there before, I'll offer the following words of wisdom;
1) Don't be afraid of the other festival goers. Everyone is very polite and just out to have fun. It's a great social environment.
2) If you are under 21 DO NOT DRINK. Or at least do not get caught drinking. Country Thunder is like shooting fish in a barrel for the cops when it comes to underage drinking tickets. I personally saw probably two dozen get handed out in three days.
3) Bring toilet paper. The festival actually offers Port-a-Potties for rent and they are dropped at your campsite. I say it's worth the investment.
4) Have cash on you. Food, drinks, souvenirs all cost money. Even though you're eating and drinking at your campsite, you'll find yourself doing the same thing inside the concert venue.
5) Have water, juice and V-8 on hand. Trust me, you'll need a break now and again from the dehydrating liquids.
6) Don't worry about how you look. There is a good probability that there are a number of people who look and smell worse than you.
That's about it. Please feel free to take a look at our pictures linked below. If you have your own Country Thunder 2009 story you would like to share, please send us an E-mail at editor@popularunderground.com.
Click the Artist names below to see their gallery:
Words & Photos By: Adam Zak III - Senior Editor / Founder
