Atlanta unmasks Echo

This past weekend saw the inaugural run of a new music festival based in Atlanta: the Echo Project, which aimed to inform and promote ecologically friendly advice and knowledge about the human footprint that's destroying the environment.

Some 15,000 green-conscious patrons showed up to see 80-plus bands on this first of at least 10 annual music festival extravaganzas Oct. 12-14, set on the beautiful 350-plus acres of Bouckaert Farm just 20 minutes south of Atlanta.

Along with a myriad of sponsors and vendors selling products ranging from Bob Marley garb to pork falafels, these grooving hippies (complete with tie-dyed Grateful Dead T-shirts and Jesus sandals) pitched tents for a great experience and cause.

The Creator

The mind behind much of the Echo Project is Nicolas Bouckaert, a 25-year old entrepreneur with long-standing aspirations for creating a music festival for everyone.

"It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time. [I wanted] to have a big festival where lots of people can come together and enjoy lots of different kinds of bands," Bouckaert said.

He wanted to differentiate the Echo Project from other music festivals around the country by basing it in a more common purpose: to help the environment.

"[The Bouckaert farm] is on the Chattahoochee River so I wanted to do river cleanups to have a big effect locally. Also, as a business, I feel as though you have a greater responsibility to do things in as 'green' a way as possible. We're trying to promote this mindset to the general public," Bouckaert said.

Friday

Bands played solid sets throughout the day. The Album Leaf had a particularly mellow set that contrasted much of the day's performers.

They mixed in old material and new songs while keeping the relatively smaller crowd entertained. The Secret Machines played one of the last shows of the day but still put on an impressive one for the people who stayed. The band focused on the music, playing straight through for most of an hour and 15 minute set. While these two acts played well, the headliner and show-stealer of the day was The Flaming Lips.

The Flaming Lips' set had everything and more. The band stepped out on the stage and immediately showered the crowd with plastic balloons and confetti. Girls dressed as aliens and Santa Clauses, standing on opposite sides of the stage while stage helpers dressed as different superheroes. What appeared to be The Hulk filmed the whole crowd while the Mario Bros. were able to keep the equipment in check. They all had the simple and enviable job of just having fun during the show. Lead singer Wayne Coyne constantly interacted with the crowd, entering the show by blowing himself into a giant plastic bubble and then jumping into the arms of the crowd. He kept the crowed excited, often just blowing confetti and throwing plastic balloons into the crowd mid-song without notice.

Coyne encouraged everyone to sing along to the songs, many of which the crowd knew from the band's two-decade catalog. The band has not released a new album in nearly a year and a half, but they put new twists on the songs to make them sound similar to their album counterparts but still fresh.

In between songs, Coyne addressed the crowd and told them how much he respected the festival and what it represented, hoping it could become one of the biggest in the country. He mixed it in with some political commentary, which was cheered on by the crowd.

The finale was much like the beginning: a lot of cheering, a lot more confetti. The band came on for two more encores of older songs, much to the delight of the crowd.

The festival saw many of the campers retire to their tents at around 3 a.m., but not after experiencing a day of music with the first-ever performers at this festival.

Saturday

Saturday's concert lineup was designed to please both rockers and jam band fans alike. With about thirty bands playing back to back sets over five stages spanning the breadth of the venue, it was nearly impossible to critique all of the band's performances. Highlights included Louis XIV, which has an edgy, alternative rock sound resembling other breakthrough artists like the White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Futureman and his Black Mozart Ensemble, which comprises neither electric guitar nor drum kit, blended beautifully a six-piece orchestral string ensemble to a waltzing, classically influenced set.

I left the main Echo stage after a brilliant performance by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and darted through the dust-filled air toward the 99X "Green Garage" tent to hear a local Atlanta prodigy called the Hiss. While touring with friends and rock stars Jet, the Hiss chiseled their sound into a machine driven by four-four, heavy hitting tempos and heat searing vocals from Adrian Barrera.

As I left the tent I heard this ruckus growing in intensity, and saw what looked like men on stilts dancing to Cajun, New Orleans music. March Fourth Marching Band from Portland, Oregon, is a dizzying, dazzling display of big band music. Sid Simpatico, a member of the twirling and flipping acrobats on stilts, described their band as "mad max goes to Mardi Gras, Cirque Du Soleil only with Bugs Bunny and Duke Ellington," which sums up their sound and their wild antics on stage.

As day turned to night with the sunset melting into the somber distant trees on the horizon, Perpetual Groove started their set with warm and mellowing applause. The glowing beams of their red, orange and blue light show captivated the barefoot crowd. Dancing through songs like "Teakwood Betz," "Robot Waltz" and "Three Weeks" the music partisans were dumfounded and rocked when Brock Butler put his guitar down and rapped to a Jay-Z cover of "99 Problems."

I rushed up to the front of the final show of that night, The Killers on the Echo main stage. The boys from Las Vegas pierced the chilly air and fired up the crowd to smash hits like "Mr. Brightside," "Jenny Was A Friend of Mine," "Smile Like You Mean it" and "All These Things That I've Done" off of their chart-topping album Hot Fuss.

Sunday

Sunday was full of jam band music with dabbles of alternative indie rock and rap.

The largest crowd pullers on Sunday were the Roots, who rapped through a funky set that included their innovative trademark lyrics.

Meandering to the Lunar stage, I caught Spoon wooing the bewildered and tired patrons through electric masterpieces like "I Turn My Camera On" and their new song "Reflections of You." With its eerie echo cacophony that traveled left to right across the massive speakers as they played, one fan described it as "being sucked into a black hole."

A favorite among the crowd was Umphrey's McGee, which incorporated epic-sounding rock vibes with long, trippy solos that shook the dusty, worn field of the concert.

Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead, signaling the finale of the festival, played a double set into the night that left all speechless, tired and musically full like after a Thanksgiving meal.

The Verdict

The Echo Project holds the promise of joining company with other mega music festivals like Lollapolooza and Bonnaroo. There are some definite kinks that need to be hammered out, like the high ticket price ($178, $200 at the gate), the small crowd size and the logistical problems like the dust bowl that invaded your sinus cavity from the foot traffic.

However, these problems will, as always with such a large venue, hopefully work their way out before next year's festival.

It was an amazing time for an amazing cause which opened many people's eyes to the dramatic impact the human race is making on our planet. And, judging by the plethora of fairy-winged, face-painted, barefoot and shirtless progressives that were interpretively dancing, Atlanta is anxious to see what next year will bring!