A New West Fest Test(ament)

Nine years ago, many of us had music tastes that gathered around teen-angst and auto tune, if we had music taste at all. Nine years ago also marks the time when The Bohemian Foundation became the title sponsor for the renowned arts festival in Fort Collins, New West Fest.

With eight stages dispersed through historic Old Town, The Bohemian Foundation added a dimension to the weekend-long festival that draws the best of bands and loads of listeners year after year. The headliners on Mountain Stage for the 2013 festival included The Samples, Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite, and Leon Russel. Drawing in the crowd as headliners seemed an easy task for the previously listed groups. It must be said, though, that there was an equal amount of head bobbing in the crowds during the daylight performances.

Like many festivals, people wandered Old Town with powder sugar mustaches from already eaten funnel cakes. Where New West Fest differed greatly as a music festival was in the varied niches of music lovers lured in by the bands. Two bands that stood in front of very different crowds on stage were Rachel and The Kings, and The Haunted Windchimes. The first was fit for their main stage presence with Rachel’s indie voice and the softer percussion. Some of their most applauded sets were covers, like their jazzier rendition of Florence + the Machine’s “No Light, No Light”. The Haunted Windchimes, on the other hand, had a following of fans who donned overalls and wicker hats. A tribute to the best of backyard bands, this group urges you to sing along to their complex rhythm and simple lyrics.

Whether you came as a wanderer, a member of the press, a music patron, or a lover of greasy foods, the atmosphere was vibrant—a vibrancy that puts Northern Colorado talent as well as the fun-loving Fort Collins, on the map. 

A peek inside of the Artist's tent

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