Hundreds of Indie musicians take over South Park

This weekend, one hundred bands will rock South Park, wailing everything from electric guitars and banjos to turntables, saxophones and bongo drums.

“The idea of taking over a small town with music is exciting; it's a unique experience,” said musician Gilli Moon.

The third annual South Park Music Tour will include Indie bands playing rock and blues, jazz and funk, metal and rock, hip-hop, reggae, emo, country, bluegrass and basically every other genre out there.

“It's about promoting independent music,” said the tour's executive director Saam Golgoon. “It doesn't matter what style they're playing; they're still independent.”

This year an eclectic group of Christian rappers and rockers will also perform at the festival.

“It's going to be awesome; we're so, so excited,” said Tracie Edstrom, who helped organize the Christian groups. “These bands are definitely on the cutting edge of music.”

Nine stages will be set up in Fairplay and Alma for the festival. A free shuttle will travel back and forth, but the main stages will be in Fairplay on Front Street. For the festival, Fairplay's streets between 4th and 6th on Front will be blocked off for people to enjoy stages on both ends, and there will be one in the middle. And, instead of a beer garden tucked in an odd corner, spectators will be able to enjoy their brew in front of those stages.

Some of the more well-known bands performing on those and other stages include Lubriphonic, Mama's Cookin', DJ Logic, Turbine and Salem.

“They're energetic,” Golgoon said about those bands. “(Lubriphonic) gets you moving right away; they're one of those bands.”

The music is organized into showcases that include a Jam in the Sky showcase, Rock in the Park, High in the Sky, Girls Rock, South Park Rocks, and also grace, acoustic, country, songwriter's and American Legion showcases. Each of those consists of three to seven bands playing hour-long sets.

Over 50 arts, crafts and food vendors will be set up for perusing.

The music tour is also a chance for the bands to learn how to promote themselves and study songwriting. Many of the bands choose to perform at South Park because of the music industry conference and Songsalive songwriting camp that run in conjunction with the tour.

“That's how we get a lot of the artists,” Golgoon said. “Ninety percent are coming for free.”

At Songsalive, songwriters are divided into groups with others they may not know and forced to create a song they'll later perform at the festival.

“It really gets them out of their comfort zone,” said Moon, who is Songsalive's president. “The intention is to put them in a situation they've never been in before and work on a collaboration.”

Around 4,000 people have attended the tour in each of its first two years. One of the biggest challenges in the past was when Widespread Panic performed in Colorado the same weekend. This year the tour won't have to compete with the jam band.

In the past, the music fest was free. This year, however, it will cost $20 to see all the bands or $75 for a VIP badge that will get people into a VIP kick-off party, some free food, drinks and other perks. Tickets for individual days are not available. The Grace Showcase stage near Fairplay's library, sponsored by the Faith Freedom Fellowship and the Grace Church of South Park, will, however, provide free tunes in the designated family area.

The music tour began Thursday evening and will rock on through Sunday evening. Parking is free.

“The talent's been amazing,” Moon said.

“I hope to see everyone out there,” Golgoon said. “It's supposed to be beautiful.”