If there is one thing Madison House has perfected, its creating magical experiences for its attendees. Laid out on a large vista set amongst Buena Vistas Collegiate peaks, the backdrop alone created a unique experience. It was clear from the minute one stepped through the entrance gates that this was a well crafted, detail oriented, experience driven festival.

The inaugural Vertex festival just wrapped with tremendous success. Hosting 8.000 attendees in the stunning Arkansas River Valley in Buena Vista, CO for 3 days/nights, the weekend was filled with incredible and diverse musical performances, interactive art installations and high mountain adventures – all with a uniquely Colorado twist.

The monsoons came late to southern Colorado and New Mexico this summer, causing festival promoters to watch the skies. Here in South Fork, CO at the opening of the 11^th annual Rhythms on the Rio Music Festival rain-heavy clouds released their payloads earlier in the day, well before the festival opened around 5 pm. Alexander Kofi and the Jah Kings’ great vibe pushed those clouds further away to reveal a great night for some spectacular music.

A magical weekend came to a close on the captivating grounds of historic Black Oak Ranch in Mendocino County as the 6th annual Enchanted Forest Gathering wrapped another wondrous festival experience within the lush embrace of the majestic oak forest and refreshing Tenmile Creek.

Grand Point North, the music festival presented by Grace Potter and Higher Ground at Burlington’s Waterfront Park on September 17 and 18, announced the return of Grand Point Weird, a visual arts installation, to the weekend-long party, Grand Point Local, featuring local restaurants and food products, and the Reverb Eco Village, benefiting several local Vermont non-profits.  Organizers also announced that Soule Indomitable and River Whyless will perform the official after party at Nectar’s in downtown Burlington immediately following the festival Saturday night.

I have a moleskine book I keep in my pocket at concerts. My wife gave it to me as a gift years ago. She always gives the best gifts. This tattered little vestige to my musical history is used solely for notes at concerts I am reviewing. Nothing could better embody who I am, not just as a writer, but as a person. Every time I write in the book, it is a process. I have to take the now stretched out elastic rope off of the book, turn to the page marked with the connected bookmark and pick up where I left off.

The big news over the weekend at the 15^th installment of Floydfest was the unfortunate hospitalization and subsequent cancellation of headliner Gregg Allman’s Saturday night set.  But in true Floydfest fashion, the excellent talent evaluators of this year’s five-day festival, dubbed “Dreamweavin’,” had just the type of jam-band superheroes onsite to put together a dream replacement set.

There’s a reason everything tends to come back around. Yes, people love nostalgia and hindsight is 20/20, but the consistent resurgence of past trends stems from one thing: a lot of things were just better “back then.” Despite the technological progress made year after year, many photographers still swear up and down by film. Even with the endless possibilities laid out by virtual reality, millions of people still turn to Pokemon for entertainment.

There is so much good that went down at the inaugural Homegrown Music Festival in Ozark, Arkansas. Innovative sustainability efforts, great music and beautiful landscape combined to create one of the most memorable festivals I’ve been to yet. (Plus, free actual bathrooms and showers!) Though relatively small, Homegrown made a big impact on just about everybody who attended.

The inaugural Cukui Music Festival will take place at California’s Great America on September 3^rd, 2016. Cukui Music Festival is rooted in the appreciation of music as a universal language and bring the community together with a universal blend of Reggae, R&B, Hip-hop, to Latin Music. Headlining this year’s festival will be J Boog, IAMSU!, Drew Deezy,Bayonics and The Royal Family of Reggae Morgan Heritage. This all-day and all-ages festival is a family affair.