Written by: Colin Williams
Photos by: Moon Daze
Ready for its tenth year, Domefest has decided to bring its amazing music, wonderful vibes, and flocks of fans to a new venue. Since “Dome is home,” this year “home” will be beautiful Marvin’s Mountaintop in West Virginia. Domefest is organized and hosted by the popular psychedelic funk band from Maryland, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. The lineup they have put together this year is full of favorite Domefest veterans as well as some extremely talented bands that we are excited to welcome to the family. The celebration of the ones we love, the beautiful music, and the glorious natural setting will make this tenth annual Domefest a truly magical experience!
Welcome “Dome” to Marvin’s Mountaintop! After selling out Fort Royal Farm in Bedford, Pennsylvania last year the Domefest organizers have decided to relocate the festival to the wild and wonderful West Virginia mountains. Prepare yourself for gorgeous views, fresh air, and the beauty of nature while enjoying live, funky, energizing, music from some of the most impressive bands in the scene today. When asked about the change of venue this year the members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong said, “We’re so excited for our new home at Marvin’s Mountaintop. We have so many fond memories of attending All Good Festival there back in the day, and we can’t wait to create a whole new experience there for our fans next month. The grounds are truly amazing and we have a lot of exciting new additions and upgrades for our tenth year, including our first ever Domefest All-Stars set!”
In addition to five sets of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong this year’s lineup is fully stocked with bands that will keep festival-goers dancing all day and night. Not only is this lineup bringing back many favorite bands from Domefests past but it is also adding other great bands to the honored list of Domefest artists. Two bands, Aqueous and Magic Beans, will each be returning this year for two sets. One of the Magic Beans sets will be the Friday late night set and if it’s anything like their late night set from last year, you definitely won’t want to to miss it! Maryland natives LITZ will be bringing the funk back this year as well. I asked LITZ what they were looking forward to the most about returning to Domefest, and they replied, “We’re most excited to be doing another late night set when the party vibes are through the roof.” Their not-to-be-missed late night set will be Thursday, May 16. Saturday has two late night sets scheduled; Mungion and The Domefest All-Stars, a collection of artists from Domefest bands of past and present. A few of the other groups returning this year are The Fritz, Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers, Fletcher’s Grove, and Cycles.
This tenth annual Domefest has also selected some amazing bands to welcome to the Dome family. This year, from Connecticut, we will see Goose, who has been rapidly gaining popularity up and down the East Coast and more. The incredibly tight funk/rock fusion of Funk You will surely impress fans this May 16-18. A few other newcomers this year are the grooving sounds of Kendall Street Company, the electro-funk-dance of Chalk Dinosaur, and the bluegrass innovations of The Dirty Grass Players. All of these groups will make excellent additions to the high quality level of music that has become associated with Domefest.
Three of the groups on the lineup this year are side projects of members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. Scrambled Greg features rhythm guitarist and vocalist Greg Ormont, Schwa is a side project of bassist Ben Carey, and Puremotion is drummer Alex Petropulos’ band with his brother Chris. All three of these bands have impressed festival goers in years past and are sure to do the same this May.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and other Domefest organizers have arranged for all festival goers to have comfortable camping space, convenient parking, dining options, merchandise and art vending, and more. Stay updated with information about the schedule, theme nights, workshops, and more exciting news about the tenth annual Domefest on the web or on Facebook. There are still general admission tickets still available for $135, however attendance is capped at 2,500 this year so get yours now at Eventbrite. Whether you are a long-time flocker, experienced domie, or even if you don’t know what either of those mean, you will absolutely fall in love with the music, energy, and beauty that will be found at the tenth Annual Domefest this May 16-19, 2019.
