Land of NOD Experiment

Evaporation Blues

A tale of two cities: Jackson’s Land of NOD Experiment

JULY 22, 2010

tags: Lansing, common ground, land of nod, jackson, music festival, rothbury

by orebiscuit

Waitaminute, Kevin Barnes and of Montreal are going to be playing in Jackson this weekend? The same Kevin Barnes who is known to ride onstage half-naked on a fucking horse and released an album called The Gay Parade?

In Jackson Michigan? Home of NASCAR and NRA? The same Jackson that was so offended by the prospect of dirty Ludacris rapping his dirty, dirty lyrics at their wholesome-as-apple-pie county fair that they rebuked his invitation and told him to take his dirtiness back to the Dirty South?

Tomorrow, the inaugural Land of NOD Experiment – featuring of Montreal, Tokyo Police Club, Kool Keith (as Dr. Octagon!) and much more — kicks off in the self-proclaimed birthplace of the Republican Party.  Uh, weird. But awesome!

The Land of NOD started as a sideshow of New Orleans’ annual Voodoo Experience, according to this article in the Detroit Free Press. The festival curator, who has ties to the area, decided to go solo and is plunking his schizophrenic show down on a 105-acre parcel of land in Leoni Township.

And what a brilliant mess of a show it is! In addition to the aforementioned acts, other headliners include Josh Homme’s (ex-Queens of the Stone Age) Eagles of Death Metal, house DJ Bad Boy Bill and Trombone Shorty, whose name pretty much speaks for itself. For those who dig the visual arts, you even have Sirena Serpentina, a crazy dance troupe of fire-wielding, belly-dancin’ California yoga women.

Single-day tickets go for $37.50 – not bad given the going rate at large-scale music festivals these days. And like so many other festivals that cater to the drum-circle crowd, Land of NOD offers camping opportunities as well. Better hippies than hipsters, I say.

With Rothbury taking 2010 off and its future in doubt, it’s fantastic to see a truly eclectic and brave music festival in mid-Michigan making such a strong first impression. But it’s hard not to contrast Land of NOD with Common Ground, Lansing’s annual hoedown that takes about as many artistic risks as a Meg Ryan romantic comedy.

I don’t mean to hate on Common Ground (not too much, anyway). But one would assume that an area with the 8th largest student body in the country would come out in droves to see a well-respected indie band (that probably wouldn’t even cost much to bring in). I completely understand that the Lansing demographic demands headliners like Bret Michaels and Alice Cooper. But why not bring in a Titus Andronicus or Deerhunter (or of Montreal!) to headline the second stage? It doesn’t have to be a presumed bank-buster like MIA or Arcade Fire.

I really believe that the Greater Lansing area has the capacity to support cutting-edge bands, and Land of NOD is a great opportunity for mid-Michigan music fans to show what they’re made of. I wish Land of NOD the best of luck, and I hope it’s such a smashing success that Common Ground is forced to stand up from its rock-and-roll rocking chair and take notice.

from Æ lansing music