What it is, what it was, what it will be
I listen to music as I sit and
write this paragraph. I think to myself,
“Wow, it would be cool to see this performed live.” That is one of the many driving forces behind
Exodus Music Festival. The idea was
formulated in the minds of my housemates, Georgette Stern and David Bess, one
day as they talked about how great it would be to organize their own music
festival. I came home and told them
about the secluded field on my parent’s property just north of town and from
there the idea spread like wildfire. All
our friends offered to help, and preparations began to be made. Soon we had more bands than we needed, all
willing to play for free because of the shear excitement surrounding the
event. A big two-day outdoor music
festival put on by music lovers, for music lovers. It would be outdoors under the sun and
moon. Starting Friday afternoon of
finals week and going through Saturday night with plenty of room for camping. Friday, May 17th, came and the
rain held off but it didn’t get above 60 degrees. The Chasers, The Mad River Band, and Roots
Stems and Branches all performed awesome sets.
There were over a hundred people dancing to RSB’s
reggae until past
-Forrest Meggers
Exodus Organizer
It’s almost right, a couple more months in the oven and it would be perfect
From sunup, to sundown, to sunup, to sundown, and up once more, the good times rolled and rolled. Some spent their time warming by the fire, some frisbee'ed in the fields, some tinkered on the guitar. But we all heard some of the rip-roarin'est local music we'd ever heard. We all saw a festival rise up from the ground, an opportunity for our community to actually commune.
Around 7 p.m. on Saturday a few of us got to feeling a little down, saddened that despite a huge publicity campaign the turnout was fairly modest. I wished that the whole town could have been there. I suppose it's hard to compete with the bars sometimes. What's most important to me, looking back, is that the people who did come thought it was amazing. So, yes, we thought, yes, yes, this was a success. Sure, we didn't make any money. Sure, it was a little cold. Sure, I woke up hungover. However, it was a moment, it was a night that you can't just walk downtown and relive any day of the week. It was an escape; a movement of the people; a symphony under the midwestern sky that no one will forget.
-Dave Strackany
Exodus Organizer
What it has become
to listen to the weather reports, and know that Mother Nature always
smiles upon Exodus. We learned that there are 100s of cool people all
over Iowa who love a good music festival. We learned that the addition of
a golf cart almost makes up for the lack of additional parking. We learned
the names of many new friends including Daisy and Miracle and Winger
and Bob. And lastly, we learned that a group of slacker college kids can
come together and throw the best damn party Iowa City has ever seen.
There is a huge list of people that we owe our appreciation to, and I am
going to name all of them I remember. There's Scott and the Yacht Club,
Blake and the Green Room, Noah and Pizza On Dubuque, Dennis Jones,
Joe and the sound crew (you guys were amazing), Joe Whitney's parents
and their hot dogs, The Peaceful Fool, JP and Mud River, The James
Gang, The Press Citizen and the Daily Iowan, the overflowing Portapotties,
Zephyr's Copy, The Pioneer Coop, AAA for rescuing trapped keys, Iowa
State Bank, everybody who helped with the wristbands (especially
Margaret, Kelly, Anton, and Sharon) and all those who crammed the fleet
of cars into our "parking lot," and since my brain is still a bit
sloshed from
Black Velvet, anyone else who helped organize this thing. Then there's
the bands, who I am also going to single out because every one of them
was totally tubular, starting with The Absurd, Filling Space, Slim Pickins,
Clean Livin', Euforia, The Horrors, Nikki London, Funkmaster Cracker,
ProtostarR, Roger Mexico, Burn Disco Burn (did you see the drummer
propose to his girlfriend? What the hell was that guy thinking?), Troubled
Hubble, B.F. Burt, Dave Moore, Will Whitmore, Sam Knutson and Shame
Train, Purest Form (I hope you caught this Midwestern hip-hop that beats
all the coasts), and of course Dave Zollo who electrified the night. And,
how can we forget Jane and Mike, who let us abuse their land and their
friendly relationships with the neighbors. We couldn't have asked for
much more in creating one helluvan amazing weekend.
A small musical celebration
In 2004 it was confirmed that there is no conditional use allowed for
music festivals on agricultural land. Therefore there was no Exodus Music
Festival. We did do our best to continue to support local music by having
some bands play at a graduation party for Exodus Organizers Dave Bess, Jeff
Bell, and Margaret Larson. Public Property and Euforquestra both played along
with a few other regulars like BF Burt. Some people camped out and it was
quite reminiscent of Exodus, but not quite the same as Exodus Music Festival
2003. It was a great celebration and every had an amazing time that they will
never forget.
New Zoning Ordinance allows Exodus to apply and receive a Conditional Use Permit
That's right! It pays to work with government officials as Exodus has
helped to influence the inclusion of a new provision in the conditional use
section that allows for "live nativity or concerts" to be held on
agriculturally zoned land in Johnson County. This was a major step forward
for Exodus as now it has gained recognition from the local government along
with its large support from the local community. The next Exodus Music Festival
is now scheduled for April 29th and 30th, 2005. A conditional use permit was
recommended by the zoning commision and subsequently approved by the Johnson
County Board of Adjustments the week of March 15th. There were a few addtional
requirements made in order to approve the permit including having two uniformed
professional security guards, having liability insurance for all volunteers,
and having first aid available on site. These issues will be handled. Also,
now a health permit can be received to allow for food vending on site. It
will be the best Exodus yet! thanks to the collaborationa and help from the
Johnson County Administration.