High Sierra Announces 2007 Line-Up and Top 10 Tips

Ok, so it's still early, but the preliminary line-up for this years High Sierra Festival has been announced and it's shaping up to be a good one. Some of the early headliners include Tea Leaf Green, Yonder Mountain String Band, Bassnectar and ALO to name but a few. What's High Sierra you ask? Well, read on and I'll fill you in on the best summer camping music festival on the West Coast.

High Sierra Misic Festival is held each year in Quincy, CA, about an hour north of Lake Tahoe/Reno area. It's a four day camp-out festival that seems to have stayed consistently at about 7,000-10,000 people. Between the four stages running from 11AM-1AM and the Late night shows going all night, it's a non-stop party. Add to this that even in the drier northern Sierras, it's still beautiful country with rivers and lakes and plenty of sun. I tend to spend my days with a schedule in my back pocket, a beer in my hand, and maybe a frisbee if I'm feeling athletic. If your musical tastes range from Bluegrass to Rock with a little electronica thrown in, then don't stress about the line-up, just get your friends together and go. Before you do though, make sure to follow my HSMF top 10 tips while you're there, you'll thank me later. If you're a regular and you have tips of your own, add them in. Enjoy the festival, looking forward to some summer heat and good tunes!

Top 10 Tips for enjoying HSMF

1. Get there early. Good spots are limited for camping and the morning sun is your enemy when it starts baking you in your personal oven (tent) at 7am. Good shade can be found in the aptly named Shady Grove and under the big circus tent tops provided by the Big Meadow Stage. If you can't get there early, bring a shade structure.

2. Take a day trip away from the festival to the river at least once. The water is ice cold and clear and a swim in it can serve as your shower for the day.

3. Don't bring too much food. Some might disagree, but I think keeping something cold in 100 degree heat for 4 days isn't worth it. Invariably, I'll see somebody eating some soggy crap while I'm enjoying my delicious Mango Lassi and Chicken Tikka Masala from the Indian vendor for $6. Just buy some good vending food and bring snacks.

4. Don't be stupid with drugs. Do all the drugs you want, I'm no preacher, but past years have had run in's with law enforcement, so don't be dumb. They ranged between being complete assholes, to apologizing, to basically saying, "just don't be a jack-ass and we'll leave you alone". That's a pretty good mantra for life actually; don't be a jack-ass and you can pretty much do what you want.

5. Buy your beer at Safeway down the street. Ever go camping
near a city yet load up on everything in your car? Quincy is actually a legitimate town and they have food there. I forgot that the first year, but now I load up in town.

6. If you've got it in you and you can play hookie one extra day, stay for Sunday night. It wasn't until year three that I stayed till Monday but I have ever since. I always thought people went home Sunday. Not true. The party rages till the wee hours on Monday morning.

7. Save some energy and hit the late night shows. Use the money you saved from my beer-run-at-SafeWay advice and buy late night tickets. It's well worth it and people will keep you up anyway. If you can't beat 'em join 'em. There are also good free shows late night too. Point is, the party kicks up a notch post 1AM so don't miss it. Make sure to buy your late night tickets ahead of time because the good ones will sell out.

8. Hit some of the musician workshops that happen throughout the festival. One of the coolest aspects of HSMF is the collaborations between the many artists and the sit in's. The workshops are a rare opportunity to get to know the artist on a personal level and they are indoors so they often serve as a good way to beat the heat.

9. Use the pool. The pool is great because it's so damn hot in Quincy, but it's even better because you get to use their showers and over the course of 4 days of partying, you start to stink real good. Definitely worth the price of admission.

10. Last but not least, be prepared for some drastic temperature changes. By day, it's gonna be 90-100 and blazing sun. By night it might get all the way down to the 40's so bring fleeces and wool hats, etc. By 8am the next day be prepared to literally get cooked out of your tent as the heat starts moving up again.

Ahh, High Sierra!

This article was added by Metrowize co-founder and 7 year High Sierra veteran Brian Lillquist.