GREEN LAKE, Wis. —
It’s taken me a couple of days to recover from what was the first Ice Dance Music Festival at Heidel House Hotel & Conference Center in Green Lake, Wis.
Would go again.
FULL DISCLOSURE: The event was put on in part by a friend, Feed the Dog frontman and fiddler Tim McIlree. Note: Timmy Mac, as he’s known, did not want to take all the credit for the event (the event’s board is noted later in this story).
While a similar event was taking place near my home in the Twin Cities (Hotel Minnesnowta at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West) and Umphrey’s McGee had a pair of shows at First Ave., I didn’t want to miss the Ice Dance because aside from my friends putting the thing on, it was also where many friends would be this weekend instead of Minneapolis.
Needless to say, the event was a success, and likely financially so according to McIlree.
Up here in the cold, frozen tundra, we’re always looking for fun shit to do come late winter that doesn’t necessarily involve plane tickets south (one day, Phish Mexico, one day).
Buffalo Galaxy. Photo courtesy of Waterman Productions
Enter the genius indoor music fest at a hotel conference center concept.
McIlree credited his fiance Erin Bloch for lining up the perfect spot for a function of this size, a posh resort/hotel and conference center about 80 minutes north of Madison, Wis. I’m pretty sure the place would be fairly empty this time of the year. McIlree credited his team of Bloch, and WIJAM’s Jon Schinke and Curtis Biese and himself for the success of the event.
A series of attached hotel buildings, including the ballroom where the music was performed, allowed everyone to move around the resort without having to brave the cold.
Armchair Boogie. Photo courtesy of Waterman Productions
McIlree said there was around 475 attendees each day of the three-day fest, which kicked off last Thursday night with music that ended at around 1 a.m. Sunday morning.
Actually, the live music for those in the know ended some time around 4:30 a.m. near the 5th floor elevator and hallway in building 2 on Sunday. And there were some of the event’s top musicians still jamming at that hour.
Steve Bateman’s ice carving. Photo by Gabz Piper
I missed the Thursday music, heading to Madison to catch Umphrey’s McGee at The Sylvee with long-time friend and artist Steve Bateman, who carved an ice sculptor for the Ice Dance. I’m told I missed a solid night of music with Chicago jammers Lunar Ticks kicking things off, followed by Wisconsin’s Dig Deep and then Joseph Huber finishing off the night.
The event sold out the hotel’s 115 rooms, plus apparently a couple other nearby hotels around the 7,340-acre lake. Green Lake is the deepest lake (237 feet deep) in Wisconsin (not including Lake Superior or Michigan), something my recently passed grandfather used to mention to me every once in a while. He fished it at least once.
There was an ice fishing event put on by Feed the Dog bass player Darian Woller. I made it out there briefly but was too exhausted to actually do anything resembling ice fishing. Word was it was a tough bite, but next time I might have to enlist the services of a local fishing guide. The lake has whitefish in it, something rare for a lake this far south.
The Saturday morning ice fishing crew, led by Feed the Dog’s Darian Woller. Photo by Erik Juvonen
The lineup was a mix of mostly regional jamgrass and jam bands. Probably the hottest band in the lineup was Armchair Boogie, which had just returned from an east coast run in which psychedelic cowboy Daniel Donato, who has a lot of buzz on the national jam grass scene, sat in with the band in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28.
Armchair Boogie had a ripping set on Friday, the third to last of the night, followed by host Feed the Dog and Adam Greuel & The Space Burritos. Greuel, of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, led off a set that riled up most attendees before sending them back to their rooms at 1 a.m.
Feed the Dog, being the host, had the honor of playing two different sets on Friday and Saturday. FtD members Woller and drummer Erik Juvonen also kicked off the music at 1 p.m. Friday with their Tango & Cash side project. Greg Hall and the Wrecking Ball, the MilBillies, and Sloppy Joe all played before Armchair came on Friday evening.
FtD guitarist Jon Miller (a close friend) also kicked off the Saturday lineup with the Bloody Mary Jam (hey, this is Wisconsin, after all), at noon. Ukelyptus and Billy Bronsted followed Miller on Saturday.
While Minneapolis’ Pert Near Sandstone was in route to the event on I-94, somewhere in Wisconsin, Armchair was heading west to play at Hotel Minnesnowta, and they noted their vans passing in opposite directions on Armchair’s Instagram page.
I thought the Saturday lineup kicked the most ass.
Minneapolis jamgrass outfit Buffalo Galaxy had a pretty awesome hour-long set that started at 4 p.m. Those guys are probably my favorite up-and-coming jamgrass band emerging from a Minneapolis scene that has produced some pretty amazing string bands.
Steez, a funky Wisconsin jam band had a pretty electric set that ended with a sit in from McIlree. That definitely brought the temperature up in the ballroom.
Steez. Photo courtesy of Waterman Productions
Feed the Dog had another original set and performed live McIlree’s new song “A Life in a Day.” This catchy track has hit potential and highlights some punchy fiddling from McIlree, as well as a David Byrne-esque delivery.
Pert Near Sandstone.
Photo courtesy of Waterman Productions
Pert Near made the most of its 90-minute set, playing a number of their staples for a crowd that seemed fairly familiar. Pert’s Blue Ox Music Festival, held in Eau Claire, Wis., every June, probably has helped their profile in Packerland.
Lastly, long-time Wisconsin jamband Ifdakar had the last set of the night on Saturday, finishing things off at about 1 a.m. Sunday morning. That also included one last appearance from McIlree, who took his wireless fiddle into the crowd for some late set hijinks during his sit in.