Dripping 2023

Picture this: Your tent is pitched, you’re settled in and ready to rock. The first edition of Dripping is here. The sun is setting across the sprawling wooded property, fireflies dot the dusky air, and the scents of the forest and BBQ smoke put your body in a state of relaxation and tingling anticipation. It feels good to be out here.

The music opens at the Inn, with Rrose performing James Tenney’s “Having Never Written a Note for Percussion” on symphonic gong. The piece sets the tone, balancing the meditative and headfuck visceral. With our psyches properly attuned, the party begins: aka-Sol serves massive groovy rollers before Lisbon’s Nídia unleashes the raw energy and thunderous percussion of her hometown. Chicago footwork innovator RP Boo raises the stakes. His sets leave audiences staggering, playing with deft mastery and radical vision. Few artists have as much fun cooking up pure madness. Relaxer brings you over the finish line with a dash of punk lushness until dawn. 

Just next door in The Barn, the False Peak takeover is a wiggling and rolling masterclass in sonic psychedelia. Amelia Holt, Ben Bondy, deep creep, Dekalb Works, Plebeian, Pontiac Streator and Yumi hold court. Live, solo and B?B, the crew presents their warped take on modern club music uninterrupted from 9pm until sunrise. With no set times posted, it’s undiluted crew love all night. 

At dawn, it’s time to rest. Lay down in the grass and bask in the sublime beauty of Laraaji, with Arji Oceananda. The new age pioneer’s music glows with divine radiance and a sense of playful vulnerability that cannot be denied. At 80 years old, his decades-long journey through music is reaching new heights. The legendary nature of his sunrise appearance at Dripping cannot be overstated. 

Noon: We’ve rested (a little). In the shade of the Hammock Grove, Sphente rings us back to life with our second gong performance, setting the woodland stage for our daytime program. Hannah Baer, the author of “Trans Girl Suicide Museum” gets specifically, unflinchingly personal in her writings. Her work brings you into a world that’s both highly relatable and all her own. Afterwards, DJ Voices leads an in-depth conversation / interview with DJ Marcelle and RP Boo. 

At 3pm, Laraaji and Arji return to get silly. They lead a laughter workshop at the Inn - an ecstatic and hysterical activation of the inner child within us all. Across the way, at 4pm, the 29 Speedway showcase begins in the Barn. Time Wharp, James K and Ex Wiish with Laser Days each present their own iteration of expansive electronic world building. 

At 7pm, back in the Inn, the concert begins. Elori Saxl leads a quartet. Her compositions are submerging, aqueous and seriously moving works. She’s followed by NY icon Æirrinn Ricks, choreographing an original movement piece with Quinn Dixon. Ricks is an artist of penetrating depth; you know this one is going to hit. Poncili Creación beckons the audience outside to the Yurt Grove for some all out wildness. The Puerto Rican twins are joined by a crew of true freaks for a larger-than-life puppet performance that borders on the insane. You don’t even know what’s coming. Back inside, Colin Self activates “chaos muppet mode.” This is the artist’s first musical performance in the US since 2019. We’re honored to host. 

After that deep and heavy session, it’s time to blow off some steam. Saturday night is truly for the psychos. Baby Leo, Deli Girls live, DJ Marcelle, Rrose, Shyboi, are you kidding me? Even we are scared. Each artist corkscrews dance music into something completely fresh and unrepentantly sick. The arc of the evening builds from heavy bass through searing punk, Marcelle’s inimitable collisions, Rrose’s graceful, eviscerating throb and Shyboi’s pure, joyously frenetic catharsis. To invoke Mackenzie Wark, “coworkers'' steer clear. 

The Barn counters this mayhem with a warm glow from our soul siblings Big Room Boogie. The pairing of Slink and Groovy Grooby, BRB again takes over all night, no set times announced. Akanbi, DJ Temporary, Enayet, K Wata, rrao and Simisea have a special chemistry. There’s no other way to say it: they bring huge vibes. This room is going to be a hard one to leave, and to that end they’ll play well into the daylight, the music spilling out into the yard as they close the festival.