This past weekend, Resonance Music and Arts Festival returned to Thornville, OH’s Legend Valley for four days of music from Tipper, Papadosio, The Disco Biscuits, STS9, The Floozies, Brain Damaged Eggmen, Omega Moos, Keller Williams, Sunsquabi, Aqueous, and many more. Now in its fifth year, Resonance Music and Arts Festival is becoming the go-to destination for those in the Midwest and Northeast looking for one last festival to call home for the weekend before autumn fully takes hold.
Thursday found mother nature cooperating, with temperatures more akin to the dog days of summer and plenty of sun to go with all the smiles of the arriving campers. As night fell, the energy from the stages steadily ramped up until Resonance mainstays Papadosio played their first of four sets over the weekend.
The fun continued on Friday, with bands and DJs performing across four stages in addition to workshops and pop-up events like a craft beer shares and impromptu light saber battles throughout the grounds. Just as evening was starting to set in, a brief lightning storm moved in, putting the evening’s scheduled performances by The Disco Biscuits and more in jeopardy. However, to everyone’s delight, the storm was brief and was followed by cooler temperatures.
The Disco Biscuits wasted little time showing the greater Columbus area what they are about after a nine-year absence from performing in Ohio. After their headlining set, bassist Marc Brownstein and keyboardist Aron Magner walked to the adjoining stage to join Umphrey’s McGee guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger for a rare performance from their long-dormant Beatles/Pink Floyd tribute act, The Brain Damaged Eggmen. Next up was Tipper, who showcased his skills as one of the best sound artists of his era with visuals to match by Datagrama. Friday also saw Papadosio perform a late-night, all-improv set featuring guest appearances from artists-at-large Rob Compa (Dopapod) and Nicholas Gerlach.
Magic Beans got Saturday grooving with a spirited set on the main stage that saw many campers stumble out of their tents bleary-eyed and head toward the action. The party continued as anticipation grew for the featured event of the weekend—a sunrise set from Tipper. Not knowing what to expect, there was plenty of discussion as to what Dave Tipper had in store for the Resonance faithful as STS9, Rising Appalachia, Sunsquabi, Papadosio and more showed up admirably for the crowd. The evening was also highlighted by a sunset performance from DJ Chris Karns, complete with a double rainbow draped across the sky. In addition, Aqueous also played to an enthusiastic crowd, and welcomed another two-pronged sit-in from Rob Compa and Nicholas Gerlach, this time on the Hall and Oates classic, “I Can’t Go For That”.
As the long night stretched on, people filled the concert bowl to claim a spot for the impending sunrise. Before long, Tipper took the stage and took the audience on a trip as darkness gave way to light. When it was over, the Resonance crowd shuffled back to their tents exhausted, basking in the glow of the morning sun.
Seeing as this year’s event was expanded to cover four days, there was still more fun to be had on Sunday. Hyryder started things off with their high-energy take on the good ol’ Grateful Dead. After another wonderful day of music, Papadosio closed out the festival with one last acoustic set. With so much to do and see, Resonance 2018 went flying by—but the memories will last a lifetime.
Check out a gallery of photos below courtesy of photographer Matt Shotwell (@strawberryisland.dweller).
