Now, I'm no festival goer like some of my friends, but sometimes life serves you a layer-cake of awesome so great that you have no choice except to pack up the tent, round up the friends, make a liquor run, hit the road.

The first Rothbury festival, in Rothbury, Michigan was such a confection. Three hours away from my house, it promised not only a gigantic list of some of the most random assortment of musicians ever (here's an example: Thievery Corporation, Iron and Wine, Snoop Dog, John Mayer, Primus, Of Montreal and Atmopshere).

Honestly, that alone was probably enough to make me show up, but there was something else that sealed the deal: festival ethics. Rothbury has them. In the beginning was the word, and the word was sustain.

A team of volunteers and handy compost and recycling bins EVERYWHERE, meant that the ground, which in a weaker festival would have been covered in cigarettes butts and bottles of all kind, was clean. Cups were made of corn. There were a dozen think tanks on environmentalism, with musicians acting as panelists or side entertainment. Food drives. Prizes for recycling. Voter Registration. A local organic farmers market. More!

Then there was the sustainability for the festival goers. A pine forest was hung with hammocks and amazing eco-art installations for that quick siesta between shows. Every morning there was yoga with music by one of the mulitude artists (I caught the Michael Franti one, one of the three times I saw him perform at Rothbury). There were water-refilling stations everywhere.

Only complaint was the pace, which made those hammocks not only a luxury but a necessity. Friday was 14 hours of straight music, sometimes with bands i wanted to see overlapping, while Saturday there was only two bands I wanted to see, and since I accidently fell asleep at 930, I missed one of them.

Overall though, it was crazy fun and crazy enlightening. You left the festival wondering why all festivals aren't as good as this and as green as this.

Maybe next summer, they will be.