July music festival returns to Idaho Basecamp after 5-year absence
By Eric Valentine
A music event that figures to bring in 350 people to the area over a three-day period in July is returning in 2021. And no, it wasn’t canceled last year due to COVID. Lost River Disco successfully launched in 2016 but got put on the backburner by its founder Luke McNees, after the now 30-year-old’s career in music tour management really began to take off.
“Back then I was already working with Third Eye Blind but pulling off an event in Idaho was still doable,” McNees explained. “But I live in L.A. and these last several years I’ve been on the road 300-plus days a year.”
Among a number of other major recording artists McNees has done tour management for is the uber-popular DJ known as Diplo. It has helped connect McNees to, literally, a world of world-class DJing talent he’s been able to lure to the Gem State, where most of them have never performed before. From July 23–25, dozens of techno and house music artists will converge on Idaho Basecamp—the 12.5 pristine acres of land overlooking the Big Lost River, just 45 minutes from Ketchum.
It’s a big deal. Think “The Three Tenors” at Sun Valley Music Festival, Dalai Lama at Sun Valley Wellness Festival, or Darren Aronofsky premiering his latest movie at the Sun Valley Film Festival if you’re not in touch with the DJ world and want an idea of how huge this could get.
“I definitely want this to be annual, but I’m capping it at 350 people now and I want to cap it at 500 people at most in the future,” McNees said. “I call it the anti-festival.”
McNees said that his experience over the years on tour with major acts—yes, 30 years old in the house music world is veteran-level experience—is how quickly an event becomes all about the performer, the number of tickets sold, and also the VIP experience that gets hawked by the business element in all things entertainment.
“My passion is for this to always be about going somewhere with friends and meeting new ones once you get there,” McNees said.
He added that the 2016 version of Lost River Disco had connected one set of his friends and acquaintances with a new set and today some of them are doing things like traveling together and more.
McNees said he has also brought together an eclectic group of DJs who cater to both the dance-minded folks and the mellow-groove types, too.
“I want the old guys to come out and have a good time, too,” McNees quipped after mentioning that he had recently turned 30.
A Family Affair
Although Lost River Disco is strictly a 21-and-over event, it is a family affair of sorts with a setting developed by children. That’s because McNees is not alone in his planning and management skills. He is the brother of Whitney McNees and brother-in-law of Mathew Gershater, the Idaho Basecamp founders who developed the area over the years in part with help from the kids who attend their summer camps at the location.
“It’s so cool that all of the little pathways and side areas where people can hang out and some of the music acts will perform were all built by or named by kids,” McNees said.
According to McNees, the volunteer-run disco event is made up of a leadership team consisting of his immediate family. And he’s quick to describe himself as a facilitator of a passionate group of people, more than head honcho of an enterprise. From a mom skilled in administrative execution and a sister who can assist with food and beverage (she’s the owner of Jersey Girl in Hailey) to a brother with a local fire department who helped with safety protocols, McNees’ role seems to have been written in the stars—just overhead of where the festival will be