Story by Ross Field, Contributing Writer
2025 Electric Forest Festival photos courtesy of www.electricforest.com
ROTHBURY — While the Electric Forest is widely known for its electronic dance music (EDM), it has always had a broad array of different acts on the schedule including bands such as My Morning Jacket,
JJ Grey & Mofro, the bluesman Gary Clark Jr., Michigan’s Greensky Bluegrass, Umphrey’s McGee, Galactic, blues-rocker Anders Osborne, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and even REO Speedwagon at the first Electric Forest festival in 2011.
That said, EDM has become more and more predominant in the last few years. However, there are a handful of great acts from the rock, R&B, soul and jam worlds appearing during the 2026 Electric Forest festival.
Thursday night don’t miss Eggy opening up the Sherwood Court stage. A jam band formed in 2016 by high school friends in Connecticut, Eggy is an accomplished quartet of musicians who incorporate pop smarts in their lengthy jams and cover and transform the occasional classic rock song.
After Eggy, head to the Honeycomb stage for Magoo, a progressive bluegrass quartet from Denver that will be featuring its great new album, “What a Life.” Magoo’s music will bring back memories of the String Cheese Incident’s much-beloved Sunday afternoon bluegrass sets.
Friday night don’t miss the band, Couch, at a late afternoon show at the Sherwood Court stage. Hailing from Boston, the seven-piece Couch creates a huge soulful, melodic pop sound featuring the wonderful vocals of Tema Siegel.
Then head to the Observatory stage to catch the electrifying Iniko, a Brooklyn-born soul-singer and multi-instrumentalist whose single, “Jericho,” has over 211,000,000 listens at Spotify.
Following Iniko at the Observatory is Dogs in a Pile, a quintet out of Asbury Park, New Jersey, which conjures up a funky jazz-rock mix of music perfected from its countless months on the road since forming in 2022.
If you’re still up, and wanting to hear some Detroit techno and house music, Claude VonStroke, a late addition to the festival, closes out the Tripolee stage. His set will most likely feature mixes from his excellent new album, “Wrong Number.”
Saturday is the only night The String Cheese Incident will be playing this year, and the Ranch Arena is sure to be packed to catch this incredible band’s mix of bluegrass, rock, jazz, and EDM.
With it being Saturday night, the set will include the annual Shebang, an over-the-top spectacle of aerial artists, fireworks, lasers, surprise cover songs, and this year featuring an appearance by the EDM artist, Shpongle.
If the crowd at the Ranch Arena becomes a bit much, head over to the Honeycomb for a set from Rochelle Jordan, a progressive R&B artist whose latest album, ‘Through the Wall’, is a beautiful collection of soulful songs featuring Jordan’s ethereal vocals.
Closing out the Observatory Saturday night is EOTO, the EDM-infused collaboration between String Cheese Incident’s percussionists, Michael Travis and Jason Hann. EOTO hasn’t played the Electric Forest since 2019, and their show will be a great way to end the evening.
Sunday is all about Daniel Donato and his band, Cosmic Country. Rolling Stone called Donato “Nashville’s Newest Guitar Hero,” and his music is a hot mix of country, roadhouse twang, and psychedelia. The song “Chore,” from his 2025 album, “Horizons,” starts out with beautiful harmonies and melodies and ends 11 minutes later after a wild series of guitar histrionics.
Playing at the same time as Donato over at The Observatory is the Canadian band, Bombargo. Bombargo is a band of young musicians whose music is a bright uplifting mix of pop hooks and soaring harmonies.
River Tiber is the stage name for singer-songwriter and producer Tommy Paxton-Beesley, a Toronto, Canada native. River Tiber started crafting hip-hop beats for various acts and then branched out on his own. His mellow soulful tunes will be the perfect way to end four nights of music in the Sherwood Forest.
Don’t forget to check in at the Grand Artique Trading Post as they will post the acts that are taking the stage each day. The Grand Artique is the smallest stage area, and it gets some of the more interesting bands each year. While it can be crowded, it’s usually not hard to find a seat in the shade and enjoy a respite from the larger stage areas.
EF is set for Thursday, June 25, through Sunday night/early Monday morning, June 28 and 29, at the Double JJ Resort. Tickets to the event that attracts tens of thousands of fans are sold out.
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