Creepy Teepee is a festival curated by Prague’s A.M.180 Collective, that went on from Thursday July 15th to Sunday the 18th. It takes place at the old Jesuit College in Kutná Hora, a cute small town about an hour from Prague. (Thanks to the three young Czechs who helped me get there. The Czech must be the nicest people in the world ever.) I was at the festival for only two out of four days, so I’m only gonna cover the time I was there.

FRIDAY
The festival site is a bit unusual, but I really liked it. The first band that played on Friday was The Spookfish. Couldn’t really get into the show so I used the time to have a little chat with Freddy Ruppert of Former Ghosts. (Will post that sometime soon.) Second up were Air Waves, who I had a drink with earlier that day. Nice people. Nice show, too. Perfect for chilling out on a sunny afternoon.
Continuing in that tone, Toro y Moi were really good. A three-piece live, the songs sounded different than on the record. But I didn’t mind at all.
Vivian Girls put on a fun and energetic show, the crowd was eating it up. At one point Nikki (Terror Bird) turned to me and said “Oh my god, is everyone like going to fall in love with these girls?” I looked around and just thought “Yep.” But they were adorable. Also, I loved how some guys kept missing the point of crowd surfing, or the crowd just didn’t feel like participating. It ended up with a couple of guys carrying one of their friends around every now and then, while the crowd would just clear out and let them pass.
Some thought it was strange that Former Ghosts was the last on the bill since the two bands that played before them were more popular. I’d say that the curators knew what they were doing. Anyone else would have just looked ridiculous after that. The best show I’ve seen in a while, and one of the most intense and emotionally charged performances I’ve ever seen. When a couple of hipsters made another failed attempt at crowd surfing during ‘Mother’, it felt completely out of place, almost rude. That aside, the set was plain awesome.
I do have one objection though. After that show I didn’t feel like going to the after party at all. I just felt like going back to the hotel, curling up in bed and listening to whatever Smiths I could find on my laptop. But I resisted the urge and went to the ?eská 1 club.
I only caught one of the bands that were playing the after party, and they were really good, just don’t know which band that was. I’m a bad reporter, I know.

SATURDAY
Philip Seymour Hoffman opened the third day of the festival with a fine performance. He had a pretty unusual follow-up in the form of hardcore four-piece Ampere. They’re known for their intense short shows, and this one was no different. They seemed really surprised when the predominantly indie crowd asked for an encore.
Ecstatic Sunshine‘s show went really well with my lunch break and some cheap Czech beer. Next up were Silk Flowers, who were pretty good. And we all celebrated the singer’s birthday. Hung out with them a little after the show, nice guys.
And then… It started to rain. And I didn’t have an umbrella. Or anything to wear. Went to the hotel hoping to find a sweater in my bag. Unbelievable! And I though I was gonna melt only 10 minutes earlier.
Missed most of the Chris Garneau show, but kinda didn’t feel sorry I did once I caught the last ten minutes of it. Not exactly my cup of tea. But I was really looking forward to the These Are Powers show afterwards.
They were expectedly great, although the rain did spoil things a bit for me. I stood in the front for a part of the set, but had to run to the tent in the back pretty soon as I got completely soaked. And it’s just not the same watching TAP from the back. Hope to catch them again soon, preferrably indoors.
Saturday’s after party featured two bands – Gnod and Terrible Eagle – and a No Conclusion + All Everyone United party. The bands were good, but the air in the main room was unbearable, I couldn’t stay inside long. Until I had to. For some two hours at that, as it was my first party DJ set! Got a few hugs afterwards so I guess it went alright. Rado and Jakub from AEU kept the party going til the wee hours.

All in all I had a great time at Creepy Teepee. The overall mood was super friendly and relaxed so I believe everyone enjoyed the festival. I was sorry I couldn’t be there the first day, as I mostly hung out with people who played day one – Nikki Never from Terror Bird, the folks from Collapsing Opposites, Love Cult, Pictureplane… Good times. And I’m sorry I couldn’t stay for the last day to see Captain Ahab, Memoryhouse, Nadja and others. But hey, I can’t complain since the two days I spent there were pretty much awesome. Hope to be there next year!