#chacotour

At first, the name Gathering of the Vibes seemed…strange. After experiencing the weekend with festival attendees, affectionately called the VibeTribe, we realized that it truly is a gathering of good vibes, both in the people and the music.

This festival was born 20 years ago in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s death as a way for people to continue the tradition of music and community. And Vibes definitely delivered on both this year.  And with its strong roots in the Grateful Dead community, it was a perfect location to rock out with our Grateful Chacos and deck people out in Dancing Bear and Steal Your Face Chacos!

The festival kicked off on Thursday, despite predictions of rain, and we got our first taste of the Vibes community. People of all ages poured into the booth to say hello and swap stories of their summer adventures. When the rain finally came, no one retreated and the streets soon filled with puddle jumping shenanigans, strangers sharing umbrellas and impressive, rain-soaked dancing and hooping. We got a chance to do some product testing with our Outcross EVOs and talk and laugh while we waited out the storm.

Festivals are not typically a great place for families, but Vibes did an amazing job of not just allowing kids, but encouraging them to attend. There was a whole family area where ‘little hippies’ could learn to hula hoop and practice yoga, design their own hula hoops and jam out with tambourines and drums. 

Not to be outdone, we got to see an amazing range of musicians rocking’ out for the VibeTribe. Derek Trucks hit the stage with Greg Allman, reconnecting the Allman Brothers live, Turkuaz brought the funk, Warren Haynes, being’ Warren, inspired us all by hopping on stage with Railroad Earth and then again with Seaside Allstars.

For our final stop on the tour, we made sure to get some team time in before we part ways. Continuing the tradition we started at our first festival in Virginia, we all jumped into the refreshing water of the Long Island Sound in our full Chaco uniform. Other highlights included eating fresh lobster in full bibs, rocking’ out to old school We are incredibly grateful for our four months together on the road, getting to see so many beautiful parts of the country and meeting so many amazing members of our beloved Chaco Nation.

There is something about escaping the heat and humidity and finding yourself in the crisp ocean air; donning a sweater, indulging in amazing seafood and watching the sun set over the bay. Welcome to Newport, Rhode Island.

We learned very quickly that when you are in New England, you eat seafood. Every day was another opportunity to feast on a fresh delicacy from the sea, from lobster rolls to clam ‘chowdah' to fried oysters. We all got ridiculously spoiled and will now be ruined when we return to our respective landlocked states.

The other thing we learned? When you are in Rhode Island at THIS time of year, you MUST attend The Newport Folk Festival.

The Newport Folk Festival takes place in Newport Harbor at Fort Adams, the largest coastal fort in the U.S. The historic brick and rock walls surrounded by the ocean filled with sailboats, kayaks and motorized boats provides the perfect backdrop for a weekend of amazing folk, blues, rock and many more genres of music. The variety of stages and “venues” to take in the music is as diverse as the endless musical acts booked in for 2015.

Rich in musical history and steeped with legends and stories like few others, the Newport Folk Festival is a unique stop on the summer circuit.

From its roots in 1959, Newport has seen major historical moments.

Bob Dylan “plugged in” and electrified folk music in 1965 and this year, commemorating that 50-year anniversary, a slew of artists rocked out, including Dawes and Kevin Hayes, to classic Dylan songs as the sun set over the bay.

The Newport Folk Festival has become known for their unscheduled and sometimes unknown, musical talents. In 1959, a little known Joan Baez performed at Newport. This year, we were surprised and delighted and quite frankly, elated to get to listen to the exquisite vocals of James Taylor serenading the masses with “Fire and Rain” and “Carolina in My Mind".

One of the most powerful performers we got to witness was Brandi Carlile playing an entirely acoustic set. Brandi jokingly thanked the crowd for allowing her to play without her full band and at numerous times brought tears to our eyes with her honest words and haunting melodies.  

Newport Folk Festival may have ruined us, as we will now be comparing all other festivals to our wonderful weekend in Newport by the sea.

Louisville is most commonly known for two things: The Kentucky Derby and Bourbon. After spending a week in the heart of the city for Forecastle Festival, we can guarantee you that music and culture will soon be making that list.

Forecastle is an urban festival that takes place in Louisville’s Waterfront Park, along the banks of the mighty Ohio River. Despite the heat and ominous weather, over 60,000 people showed up to attend the festival, some from all over the world.

A huge focus of the festival is to bring local music, art and food together for a weekend of fun on the river. From local food trucks to eclectic downtown print shops to neighborhood jam bands, the Louisville culture was alive and well at Forecastle.

One of this weekend’s biggest draws was Louisville’s My Morning Jacket that brought together one of the largest crowds of the weekend. For the Chaco Team, we experienced our second evacuation of the tour! Sam Smith’s set at Forecastle was unfortunately interrupted just before 11pm on Friday night as 60+ mph winds caused an evacuation, followed by a torrential downpour that sent fans running through the streets of Louisville. Ah, when it rains, it pours! 

We have seen our share of this country’s landscape on the Fit For Adventure Tour. For months, the cross-country travel has taken us to the wine country of Napa, to the city lights of Brooklyn and to the bustling waterfront of the Windy City.  This week’s stop: The hills of West Virginia for a weekend with some of the most refreshing and vibrant scenery in the country.

All Good Music Festival took place in the serene countryside of rural West Virginia; the perfect backdrop for celebrating music. The giant Buddha the festival brought in sat high on the hillside overlooking the two main stages and set the vibe for love and kindness to all festival attendees.  And there was much to love when the music kicked in.

The stages came to life and featured performance after performance after performance. It seemed like a nonstop stream of tantalizing music and soul. The eclectic offerings of music from classic favorites like Cake to jam bands like moe and Lotus to the transcendent folk of Elephant Revival made it hard to pick a favorite.

We saw lots of Chaco family around the festival that traveled from the mid-Atlantic to enjoy the good vibes from All Good. We even ran into a group that had been following our adventures since our stop in Napa! The time we had traveling to and staying in West Virginia reminded us that the Chaco nation is truly a special group. Everyone has a story about his or her adventures with Chaco and if you have a pair yourself, you understand the feeling of sharing that story with others.

Until the next chapter,

This Fourth of July weekend marked a historic event in the world of music: The Grateful Dead reunited to commemorate their final show at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Fare Thee Well shows were a tribute to decades of amazing music, people, food, community and art.

The weekend centered around Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, for three nights of amazing performances by The Grateful Dead, excluding late front man, Jerry Garcia. The surrounding field was covered with venders peddling commemorative t-shirts, elaborate tapestries, delicious Jerry Rolls and, of course, dancing bear themed everything.

Our Chaco setup was next to a food vendor who invented and had been serving up Jerry Rolls to deadheads on Shakedown Street for over 30 years. Imagine a hand-rolled egg roll, roughly the size of your face, deep fried and stuffed to perfection with curried chicken, Sriracha sauce and duck sauce, and you have the Jerry Roll. This delicacy is the perfect lunch to last you all day or late night treat after a Dead show lets out.

Deadheads came from all over the country and world to farewell to the Grateful Dead. Memories of Jerry Garcia were on everyone’s mind, but all were beyond stoked to come out for the show, sporting their tie-dye, VW vans and faded Dead tattoos.

Just outside the field, throngs of deadheads parked up with their grills, tie-dye flags and handcrafted Dead memorabilia. Walking through the sea of people, endless stories were being swapped about Dead shows of years past, guesses about song would be the last song ever and, of course, endless debate over the best combination of Dead band members.

This weekend will forever live in our hearts as a fantastic sendoff to one of the greatest bands to ever live. In the farewell words of the final song from The Grateful Dead, "When there was no dream of mine, you dreamed of me”.

Much love to our Chaco Nation.

We arrived in Rothbury, Michigan with anticipation for this mythical place called Electric Forest. In the weeks leading up to The Forest, we watched on social media as festival-goers shared previews of their costumes, packed suitcases and collections of glow-in-the-dark and light up accessories. We soon learned that one does not simply attend Electric Forest, one experiences it. Once you are at Electric Forest, you are immersed into a new world. Few festivals can rival the elaborate creativity seen throughout the venue.

Thousands of people from all over the world descend upon this tiny town in Michigan for four days of music, community and magic. The spirit of community is very potent at The Forest, with groups naming and decorating their camp sites, everyone carrying extravagantly decorated totem poles to keep the groups together and many having gifts for anyone they encounter, from stickers to pins to free hugs.

In the heart of the festival lies Sherwood Forest, one of the most incandescent and alluring places we have been to. It is an area covered in thousands of colored lights, has intimate stages, huts and nooks to sit in, and hammocks. Seemingly thousands of hammocks. You feel as if you are in a different world when you enter the Forest. It appears endless, as if you kept walking, you would simply encounter more contiguous worlds of art, music and community.

While the music is outstanding, it really is all the energy and atmosphere that make Electric Forest one of the most unique and beautiful festivals. The majestic Sherwood Forest, the world record group hug, afternoon naps in a hammock, and the love from all Forest friends; the experience and memories made here cannot be replicated.

Much love to our Forest Family and everyone we met this weekend. See you next year!

Firefly Music Festival 2015 may be remembered by two words:  Music and Mud.  Everyone has his or her story about festival adventures. For all the festival-goers at this year’s event, we’re sure their stories will include the epic dose of Mother Nature that blew through!

Even though Thursday was a rainy day, festival-goers still pulled into their campsites with excitement and the anticipation of four days of music, over 100 performances available, and a breath-taking atmosphere known as The Woodlands.

We made it through Friday with sunny skies, muddy feet, and a graveyard of single, lost flip-flops throughout the festival grounds. We couldn’t have asked for a more illustrious day, as the evening was topped off listening to a living legend who can still rock on, Paul McCartney. We jammed to Hey Jude and Live and Let Die and watched in awe as music, visual effects, and fireworks brought together an amazing performance.

On Saturday, evening sets were just starting to rev up as the weather evacuation order was announced and 90,000 + people began the exodus from the festival grounds as the rain started to fall and lightening lit up the sky. Even with the ankle to knee-deep mud and soggy conditions, nothing could dampen the spirits of those around us. 

Few festivals can rival the sheer beauty of Firefly.  The Woodlands provided the perfect backdrop with its lush forests and meandering walkways. You might turn a corner to find a hammock hangout, eclectic food vendor, impromptu yoga class or an intimate acoustic session taking place. The experience was as much about the music as it was about the people you’re with and the memories you create. This year, it’s safe to say that the days spent at Firefly will stay with us all for a very long time.