Backwoods Bash Security Under Investigation for Death of Detained Attendee

Tragedy hits Backwoods Bash as news comes out of a 34 year-old attendee named Patrick Murphy died while being detained by festival security. According to Fox23, the OSBI is now involved in this investigation as more information begins to unfold about that night.

According to a report, Patrick Murphy began exhibiting erratic behavior who was then subdued and handcuffed by security. Shortly after, Murphy stopped breathing and EMT's were called to rush him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. Backwoods Bash officials made the decision to fire the security company and made a public statement saying :

"We apologize for anyone who had a less than positive experience with security at Backwoods this year. We have taken the necessary steps to fire the company and will not be bringing them back next year. During the event there were several incidents which Backwoods had to relieve some security staff of duty due to inappropriate actions. In our attempt to keep the event safe and secure, we failed our patrons by hiring a company who wasn't able to perform for us. We look forward to improving your experience by finding the right security company for next year."

There were many complaints against the security this year showing inappropriate behavior, not to just the attendees, but the artists as well. One electronic DJ, FYER, ended up cancelling his show due to the security attacking his tour manager with a knife for reasons unknown.

This news is awful to me and makes me keep stressing how it's the job of any type of security to protect the people and keep the peace, whether it be the actual PD or just security at events. These men and women need to be trained PROPERLY and THOROUGHLY to prevent instances like this. Excessive force and use of weapons should never be the way to deal with erratic people and this could have been 100% avoided.

My deepest condolences go out to the friends and family of Patrick Murphy.

-Blaze

Backwoods Bash Exceeds Expectations

This year was the year to be at Backwoods Bash in Stroud, Oklahoma. This was it's 7th year in the little town, but its first year to book some unbelievable and biggest acts yet. Starting the first night with Infected Mushroom headlining and having ODESZA headline the last. Not to mention some other great acts like Porter Robinson who blew everyone away with his ambient tunes, The Floozies, Manic Focus, Lettuce, and The Motet. Backwoods also had some great local acts like Helen Helter Skelter, Diludic, and Ed Crunk.

This festival is definitely on the lower scale of popularity, only because of the names they are able to bring, making it a very uncrowded and awesome. All the festivals that I'm used to attending have no less than 50k festival goers, so experiencing something this small scale was almost like a breath of fresh air.

I would say the downfall of the festival is the time they put it on and how far away the campground was away from the stages. Early September heat in humid Oklahoma is nothing to mess with and it's crucial to stay hydrated and keep that sunscreen on. I was not a fan of the 102 degree days and spent most of the daylight hours in the shade , otherwise it'll make for a very miserable and tiring night for you. Also, I've never been further than a 15 minute walk to stages ever at any camping fest I've ever attended and Backwoods had a very hilly 45 minute walk which I would label almost miserable.

I'm sad that Oklahoma didn't bring back Mystik Sanctuary, which was the same weekend as Backwoods last year, but this year made up for it. Another festival for the books!


-Blaze

Bassheads Unite at a New Location

Bassnectar fans rejoice as the new Bassnecter New Year's Eve 360 location is announced. The original location of the popular New Year's Eve show has been in Nashville, Tennessee and now the sell out show is located in Birmingham, AL.

The show includes exciting diverse opening acts with hard hitting Paper Diamond and the amazing glitch hop trio The Glitch Mob, which is always a guaranteed incredible show. I promise you, you DO NOT want to miss a show like this. A New Year's Eve with Bassnectar is one to remember.

Pre-sale tickets go on sale tomorrow, September 9th at 10 AM. This is a show that sells out so get your tickets fast!




-Blaze

Phases of the Moon Canceled

Earlier in the year, Terrapin Ridge Productions announced a merger with Pipeline Productions along with the announcement that the Phases of the Moon Festival would be relocated to Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas, the same location that the festival Wakarusa is held. This festival had booked popular acts like STS9, Beats Antique, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Disco Biscuits, Moe, and many more.

The organizers have made the announcement that they are canceling the fest. In this press release they stated:

Dear Phases of the Moon Community,

It saddens us to inform you that Phases of the Moon Music & Art Festival has to be canceled. We were very excited to have had the opportunity to continue the Phases adventure in Arkansas this year. Unfortunately, due to a significant number of unforeseen obstacles, including the continued closure of the only road leading into the festival site, we were left with no choice but to cancel the event. We apologize sincerely for this inconvenience and hope to see all of you at great live music and events in the near future. A separate notice will be sent to ticket holders concerning refunds.

Thank you for your love and support.

Sincerely,
The Phases Team

With this being said, many festival goers are not happy about this news. Many who bought their tickets had also attended Wakarusa in which they encountered the same obstacle, but continued the fest. I myself did not attend Wakarusa this year but I had several friends attend tell me there was a traffic problem, but nothing worth cancelling a fest.

The community was excited because this was Phases of the Moon's second year, but first year in its new location in Arkansas. The inaugural year was located in Illinois and brought thousands of happy festival goers and campers.

But if you're sad about this news, just remember that there's always a new festival to attend the next month.







-Blaze
 

I Can't Feel My Face When I Listen to You

 The Weeknd has become a popular name this passed year starting with his 50 Shades of Grey hit  " Earned it." In the month of June, all three of his radio hits were on the Billboard Top 100 and he's making a big name for himself. With that said, he dropped his new album " Beauty Behind the Madness" on August 28th. Coming from a big The Weeknd fan, I was a little worried of how this new album would be considering he is now a more popular name which would make his normal 5 minute vulgar ballads into 3 1/2 minute, top of the charts, pop tunes. I can tell you though that I've been listening to this album on replay since it dropped. There are some incredible, unpredictable songs featuring some amazing artists like Lana Del Ray and Kanye West, making this album just as good as Trilogy. Granted, his slow burning ballads are not quite the same, he still stuck to his vulgar sexual lyrics but has evolved in a beautiful way.

Listening to this album has made him on my must-see list as I prepare for his headlining show at Austin City Limits Festival. Not to mention his first ever performance on MTV's The VMA's where he performed his hit " I Can't Feel My Face" and was definitely one of the better acts of the night.  I've seen him before but never like this and it makes me excited for what the future holds for The Weeknd.

I would rate this album at 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. I hope all music fans out there enjoy this album just as much as I am!

- Blaze

My Addiction is Real

People ask me all the time " Why do you go to so many music events? Do you know how much money you're spending going to all of this? You're driving how far for a music festival?! Is there anything else you do besides go to concerts?" and the I answer I always tell them is, it's my passion. The happiness I get whenever I am at a live show is something that is indescribable. When you're at a live show and you're favorite song comes on, you look at the person next to you and you create a moment and share the same feeling, making a memory to last a lifetime. I realize that over the passed 5 years, I could've bought a new car, lived in an apartment, have many different options to spend my money, but my passion is greater than all of that and I might as well do it now while I still live at home, before I go and have to put my big girl pants on and live in the real world. My live music addiction doesn't just come from the music itself, but also the people that I meet. From time to time, you'll share a laugh, a tear, or a swig of some smuggled in booze from a complete stranger and come home with a great story about a person you will never see again. But then you create special connections with people who will be your life long friends.

My first year at Bonnaroo, I made some friends from Chicago and had such a good time with them, one of them opened their home to my friends and me for Lollapalooza that same summer. But my real group of friends I met my third year at Roo. They happened to be camped by us and helped us in a time of need when it was raining and our tent was not holding up too well. From then we noticed our schedule was almost identical and we spent the entire weekend together. This group of people got to witness my best friend getting proposed to under the Bonnaroo arch, they celebrated with us, they danced until sunrise with us, and cried with us as we said our goodbyes. Little did we know that we would meet up with them in Austin at Austin City Limits, go to visit them over spring break, and have them come and attend the wedding that they saw the proposal for. Because of these personal connections, I have friends in Seattle, Chicago, Columbus, Atlanta, Tuscaloosa, Denver, Clemson, and several places in Indiana and Michigan. My festival group started with 4 girls and now almost every event I go to, the group is never smaller than 20. And almost all of these friends keep up on a daily basis.

So you see, it's not just the fact that I've seen diverse legends like Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, The Cure, and Wu Tang Clan, or that I've seen some current big names like Kendrick Lamar, Florence and The Machine, and Deadmau5, It's the overall experience and the memories I make with the people I love the most. I'm passionate about music, live music, and friendships.

So if you ever want to tag along, I guarantee you a great time you'll never forget and a memory that you will forever hold close to you.

-Blaze 

My Favorite Go To

As a music blogger, there are blogs that I religiously follow and get a lot of my news and information from. I follow most of these on every source of social media there is plus the added non music related blog. So for all you music lovers out there, I hope you enjoy these as much as me!

http://consequenceofsound.net/
http://oklahomarock.com/
http://www.youredm.com/
http://pitchfork.com/
http://www.indieshuffle.com/
http://www.edmsauce.com/
http://rapradar.com/
http://www.stereogum.com/
http://drownedinsound.com/
http://www.thelostogle.com/


-Blaze