KICKAPOO CREEK screening
After playing several central Illinois dates in the summer and fall of last year, the documentary INCIDENT AT KICKAPOO CREEK seemingly disappeared into the same historical haze that once obscured the event of its title, a Woodstock-inspired music festival from May 1970 that took place in Heyworth, Illinois, just outside of Bloomington-Normal. Luckily, the Castle Theater, 209 E. Washington St., Bloomington, IL, has revived this decade-in-the-making project for a one-time encore happening tonight, Friday, July 14, 7 p.m.
National cable-television producer and Bloomington-based filmmaker R.C. Raycraft pieced together his account of the “Incident at Kickapoo Creek” concert from stills, home movie footage, and original interviews. Notable acts in that Memorial Day weekend line-up included Canned Heat, Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes, Country Joe & the Fish, B.B. King, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and a group that C-U music fans might know a little something about, REO Speedwagon.
Sparse information exists about INCIDENT AT KICKAPOO CREEK apart from the local press it has received over the past 10 years; even the official Web site is practically barren of details. It will be interesting to learn about Raycraft’s future plans for this movie, presuming he will attend tonight’s screening.
– Jason Pankoke