Review: Washed Out at Forestry Camp

Almost a year ago to the day, chillwave icons Washed Out played the best set of AVLFest. 

The cornerstone show of a Saturday night with plenty of other enticing options, Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr. & Co. turned The Orange Peel into a zone of tranquility, treating festival-goers to their distinct blend of electronic loops and soothing vocals.

Back in town for a headlining performance at Forestry Camp, Washed Out naturally remained a priority event for music fans. But the outdoor summer setting at a venue not exactly known for its acoustics warranted pause.

Later that night, once Greene and his colleagues on drums and bass/guitar exited the stage for good, the lesson was clear: never doubt these guys. Their hypnotic sounds and the relatively cool temperatures for a July 26 evening turned the venue’s alleyway design into a sonically rich, open-air club where performers and fans alike could mellow out under the stars.

Adapting their sound and stage show to fit the venue, the trio ditched their semi-transparent partitions, behind which Greene’s bandmates could hide and occasionally be visible in shadow form. That was an inspired choice for the Peel, not Forestry Camp, though many of the same projections were used on the screen behind the unobstructed artists.

The result was akin to stumbling upon a secret, word-of-mouth show in the woods, put on by musicians whose incredible sounds remain impossibly cool and impressive to the extent that the specifics of their live conjuring feel utterly mysterious. A little enchantment is good for music, and that night outside of Biltmore Village, there was plenty to go around.

(Photos by Bryce Lafoon)