If it is great music and kick ass vibes that you seek, look no further than the Frendly Gathering. For the past four years Jack Mitrani, Danny Davis and the Frends crew have hosted an event that transcends snowboarding and brings people together to share their love of music and (from the photos below) large amounts of Pabst Blue Ribbon. This year the Frendly Gathering set camp on Timber Ridge, just outside of Windham, VT and with the help of main sponsor Burton Snowboards, festival-goers jammed out to the melodies of Lotus, Deer Tick, Twiddle and a shitload of other incredible bands. Armed with a camera, tent, and plenty of bug spray, Snowboard Magazine correspondent Luke Stafford provided us with the low-down on what happened at this year’s Frendly Gathering. – Jens Heig
1. Indulging your inner hippie.
“We go to these festivals all over the place and they pretend like, ‘oh, it’s all hippie.’ No. This is fucking hippie, right here.” – Jonathan Clay, Jamestown Revival Band, during their set on the Wood Stage, June 27.
2. Pabst Blue Ribbon. A whole lot of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
The hipster brew of choice seems to have infiltrated the hippie scene. PBR was by far the most commonly imbibed beverage at Frendly Gathering — in the camps, on the dance floor, even waiting in line for porta-potties.
3. A buttload of handmade signs.
Some were directional aids. Others were ironic. The best ones didn’t make any sense whatsoever.
4. This guy.
This gentleman was keeping it real all weekend with his sans-shirt style and walking stick/fanny pack combo. Who knows what’s in that side-satchel of his. Water? Snake venom antidote? The best weed this side of the Mississippi? Yeah, probably the weed thing. One thing’s for sure, though: this guy has seen some shit. Respect.
5. Relaxation.
If the goes-on-forever view of the Green Mountains from your campsite wasn’t enough, there were free yoga classes in the Jenke Barn.
6. Campsite jam sessions.
Behind 30-racks of PBR, hand drums and guitars were the most populous items at Frendly Gathering 2014.
7. Hula hoops.
So. Many. Hula hoops.
8. Some pretty kickass swag.
It’s a festival, so there’s bound to be brands slinging free shit your way. But the swag at Frendly Gathering was actually awesome. Burton Snowboards doled out hundreds of Beeracudas to lucky passersby. Now we could all walk around the festival with personal 6’ers of PBR on our backs. Score. But taking the cake was Martin Guitars. They gave away a handful of gorgeous acoustics, some custom-built with Frendly graphics. Thanks, Burton and Martin.
9. Pro snowboarders running a festival.
Jack Mitrani and Danny Davis didn’t just stick their names on the poster and call it a day. They own this festival. “We’re just kids who wanted to have a music festival,” Davis says from beneath the brim of his camo Boonie hat with a dayglo orange “F” emblazoned on the front. “So we did.” Mitrani and Davis could be seen walking around the grounds all weekend, helping bands unload gear, fixing broken water stations, and keeping their staff of 50 on point.
10. Jamie Anderson?
Pretty sure that’s Olympic Gold Medalist Jamie Anderson in the front row at the Jamestown Revival set. And is that Luke Mitrani in the middle of a lady-circle, gettin’ groovy?
11. Rippin’ banjo solos from a child prodigy.
The breakout band of the weekend was without a doubt the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. Imagine the Hanson Brothers, except with bluegrass instruments and a hell of a lot more talent. The crowd went absolutely bonkers for this trio of New Jersey groms who probably had to catch rides to Vermont with their moms.
12. A gorgeous hike to the top of Timber Ridge (with PBR).
Doesn’t get much better than that.
13. Deer Tick.
The band that the Frendly crew hand-picked as the headliner brought down the house.
14. A baby Deer Tick.
Between songs, Deer Tick lead singer John McCauley announced that he and his wife are expecting a baby girl. As it randomly turns out, McCauley’s wife is Vanessa Carlton, that singer-songwriter who did that song “A Thousand Miles” back in the early 2000s. (Spotify it. The summer of 2002 will come rushing back to you.) Carlton then came out on stage to sing a duet with Daddy Deer Tick. Did NOT see that coming.
15. Treehouse DJ dance parties.
If you were not lazy enough to hike your butt and a Beeracuda stuffed with PBR halfway up the mountain at 10 p.m., you were rewarded with a deep-forest dance party that could never be replicated in any urban club. Where else could you lose your mind to a DJ 15-feet up in a Sugar Maple?
16. Staying up all night to catch the sunrise.
If you stayed up for Twiddle’s late night sets, you only had to wait a few more hours for fantastic sunrises over the Green mountains.
17. A cacophony of tent zippers and groans.
Right around 7 a.m., the sound of a thousand zippers echoed across the valley as a thousand hungover, irritated campers sleepily emerged from their tents. The brilliant sunshine was turning tents into solar ovens, but no one was ready to be awake yet. The solution? Drag your sleeping bag outside and pass back out. The lucky ones camped out in Shady Grove behind the Wood Stage slept till noon.
18. A bunch of blissed-out kids having an absolute blast.
Look at those faces. Ain’t nothing gettin’ them down. For two sunny days on an old ski resort in southern Vermont, these kids let it all hang out. They danced. They jammed. They subsisted on PBR, sunscreen and gyros. And all of it was spawned from the imagination of two snowboarders who just wanted to throw a music festival.