Elements Music and Arts Festival started as a one-day festival in an abandoned shipyard in the industrial neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn. This year, Elements progresses into a three-day camping event located in scenic Lakewood, Pennsylvania, over Memorial Day Weekend, complete with a lake, cabins, bonfires and a concoction of electronic flavors that will lure the best of NYC’s twisted underground two-and-a-half hours north of the concrete. The ambitious creators of BangOn! are finally bringing their talents to greener pastures and open fields, where they’ll combine carefully curated elemental themed stages powered by headliners like Tipper, Claude Von Stroke, Ott, Lee Burridge, Claptone, and Liquid Stranger, with one-of-a-kind visual art collaborations and large-scale installations; their most elaborate ephemeral adult playground to date. Tickets, cabins and shuttle buses from Port Authority are all still available here.
Let’s talk about David Tipper, lionized for his trans-dimensional alien crunk encompassing diverse styles and themes, such as his downtempo sunrise and Tip-Hop sets. The live Tipper alchemy is a grandiose and enveloping experience—a sonic filet of the brain—enhanced by visual effects innovators like Android Jones. Get ready for full on intergalactic vibrations at Elements Lakewood with a first time collaboration with Tipper and Datagrama.tv. This Portuguese vision maestro merges psychedelic imagery with digital fabrics and molecules, promising a brand new experience for fans old and new. (Check out a video preview here.)
Elements Lakewood’s cosmic smorgasbord of eye candy will also include Earth Stage projection mapped design by multi-media visual pioneers Rhizome NYC and ritualistic exhibition creators The Reliquarium. At the heart of the festival is Deep Mind Terrors, an art warehouse blurring the lines between surreal visual experience and psychedelic chill-out lounge, curated by Brooklyn based creative minds Mitzi Peirone and Cadence Hooks. There are also themed rooms such as The Fortress of Comfort, a pillow lair to unwind in with psychedelic projections and ambient tunes, and The Chaos Room, an interactive space chock full of LED installations, projection mapping, and voodoo jam outs.
More embedded installations include Lakewood Sanatorium, an interactive theater tour through the asylum for a glimpse of the elemental witches that hold dominion over the minds of it’s patients. Delve into multiple rooms filled with actors from mystical worlds, complete tasks & play games to discover revelations from the Mystic and the Oracle. Freaks, get ready to get weird in the woods with a costume contest! The most stylish and decadently dressed group, seen dancing the most Saturday afternoon will be rewarded with $150 to spend on food & beverages + a free Elements Merch Pack. Check in with your group at 2pm on Saturday at the Water Stage donning your best looks!
Wanna roller skate? Tiki Disco’s in the house to keep you grooving and moving. Practice your disco skating moves in the on-site roller rink to beats provided by NYC native legends Eli Escobar, Lloydski, and Andy Pry. There will also be, yes, a Pirate Ship. Hop on for a roundabout on the lake and listen to a 3-piece pirate band playing all your favorite high seas shanties! Ye wooks be warned, too spun and you’ll walk the plank! Camping vibes will be kept alive nightly with BYOI bon fires – Bring Your Own Instruments! (accordions, guitar, percussion, flute, horn, your voice, etc). A different host will lead the melodies each night. Want to switch it up from the untz of the other stages? Come enjoy a drink and listen to your favorite classics and live bands Snakes & Suds rock bar, a full pop-up dive.
This is only a small dose of the cosmic sights, ethereal sounds and meditative embellishments that will submerge you when you join the BangOn! family in Northeast Pennsylvania May 26-28. The synergy of the seductive musical menu and omnipresent creativity ingrained in the human fabric of the artists and producers of this event will engulf and maybe embolden you to take something intangibly powerful home. You cana also watch a preview of the going-ons at the Earth Stage and enter to win a 3-day pass here. Check out the main website for FAQ, directions and details.
[Cover Photo: Chris Lazzaro]
