Raising Schell in McGill, Nevada

When I decided to go to Schellraiser Festival in McGill, Nevada, I had no expectations. Here’s this niche, underground festival in a tiny town outside of Great Basin National Park featuring an exquisitely versatile lineup—it seemed like an unlikely match for me. As I entered into cell service after 100 miles of sagebrush and rolling mountains, I had no idea the magic that Schellraiser 2024 would bring. 

The aforementioned sagebrush and rolling mountains make up the Schell mountain range of Nevada, hence the name of the festival. Tucked into the event space accompanying McGill’s local hot spring, Schellraiser harnesses a unique power to bring people together for community, music and connection—three core values that mainstream festivals seem to lack. This was Founder Rudy Herndon’s intention: To bring music and community to this “little corner of the West.” While the festival hopes to grow in future years, they will maintain their characteristic small-town charm. 

“From an artist’s standpoint, the sound and production team, equipment and organization has been better than a lot of the venues we play in bigger cities.”

People from all around the world came together to make this happen. I met attendees from Minnesota, San Francisco, Reno, Salt Lake City, Flagstaff and Boise, as well as musicians from Mexico City, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, Denmark, Liverpool, Portland and so many more. According to Ryan Delvie of Salt Lake band This Valley Glow, one of Herndon’s goals was to bring artists together to network and meet one another. He also mentioned how impressed they were by the organization of the festival. “From an artist’s standpoint,” he says, “the sound and production team, equipment and organization has been better than a lot of the venues we play in bigger cities.” This preparation is necessary for a festival in a hard-to-get-to location, and Operations Manager Sarah Jaeger knows that. Jaeger began coming to Schellraiser as a volunteer but quickly realized that she had a knack for organizing. A year later, she leads the fearless team and holds herself to incredibly high standards, and it shows. From artists to volunteers, no one had a bad word to say about Jaeger. 

For an event that is only in its third year and just beginning to grow, each individual is important. Each performer, attendee, vendor, volunteer and crew member is deeply valued, thanked and important to the festival. In the words of headliner Mercury Rev, “We have been fortunate enough to play a lot of festivals and I can tell you first hand … this is how the best ones start.” The general consensus was: Something special is blooming here and we are lucky to be part of it. 

The other headliners were We Are Scientists and Ladytron, though some of my favorite sets of the weekend came from the daytime artists. Standouts included The Raveonettes, MØTRIK, No Joy, Molly Lewis, Sinkane, Plague Vendor and The Plastic Cherries, to name a few. Choosing favorites feels impossible for a weekend so jam-packed with talent—not to mention the charismatic emcee of the weekend, music producer and composer Denney Fuller of The Mellons, coming to Schellraiser from Salt Lake City for his third year in a row. 

The three-day festival started on Thursday, May 30 with We Are Scientists bringing their signature indie-rock sound for the main act. Die-hard fans and locals showed up, but attendance was lower on day one because it landed on a weekday. Friday brought forth a perfect variety of artists, starting the day off with Eagle Rock Gospel Singers and This Valley Glow from Salt Lake. Everyone is Dirty cranked up the volume with a colorful set and the vocalist’s electric violin. The Besnard Lakes delivered one of the most musically exciting sets of the weekend with their reverb, shoegaze-style guitar followed by explosive choruses. The crowd was enthralled with this hodgepodge of musicians; afterwards, audience members buzzed about their ability to balance a powerful sound with a smaller, more intimate venue. No Joy and DAIISTAR both brought their indie style in their own ways, and No Joy went out of her way to point out how cool Schellraiser is. She herself looked pretty cool, donning a sheer white dress with embroidered flowers and round, white shades as she strummed along. 

“We have been fortunate enough to play a lot of festivals and I can tell you first hand … this is how the best ones start.”

During most sets, people grazed along the grass and tuned in for their favorite songs, but when Molly Lewis came on stage at dusk, the crowd was silent and still. It was clear that she’s a star. She wore a royal blue, floor-length dress covered in glitter and elbow-length gloves as she began whistling alone on center stage. That’s right: Molly Lewis is a whistler. She doesn’t sing. She would occasionally chat with the audience in a casual yet piercingly elegant manner, and for those 40 minutes, we were all transported to a swanky jazz club in New York City. When she came to a beautiful, airy end, Mercury Rev was ready to play. Mercury Rev’s expansive and emotional music touched a chord with this crowd, and the audience lingered even after their set was over. One of the most exciting parts of their set was the fact that they were clearly so happy to be there. “It’s taken us 35 years to make it to Nevada, but we finally made it,” lead singer Johnathan Donahue proudly proclaimed. 

As Saturday came into focus, so did the largest day of attendance. MYLO BYBEE kicked the day off with an indie set complete with flowered shirts. The Plastic Cherries represented Salt Lake well with a rock set for the ages—their stage presence is unmatched. They filled the space with red leather, sequins and electricity. 

Nothing could have prepared the crowd for who was to come next on the main stage: Plague Vendor. This metal band brings an energy nostalgic of OG punk rockers. Front man Brandon Blaine tugged on his clothes, spit, cursed at the audience, crowd surfed, put on everyone’s hats at once, teased the crowd, told us to come to the merch booth for a kiss on the lips, somersaulted off the speakers and even climbed over the barrier into the crowd with his mic stand. And the best part? He is charismatic and kind offstage. Plague Vendor is one of the best rock performers of this generation and they hope to return to Schellraiser next year. 

Sinkane’s soulful funk brought us back to reality, and by the end of their set every audience member was dancing, crying or both. It was spiritual as much as it was musically exceptional. As Sonido Gallo Negro from Mexico City filled the stage with instruments, it was easy to get lost watching just one performer, and it was clear that audience members did. Schellraiser was lucky to have had MØTRIK perform afterwards, delivering a transcendental krautrock set accompanied by their signature “kitsches,” as they call them: White mechanic jumpsuits, smoke emanating from a traffic cone and laser glasses. As the sun set, lead singer Erik Golts sang the lyrics “perfectly magic” from an unreleased song, calling the moment exactly what it was. 

“It’s taken us 35 years to make it to Nevada, but we finally made it.”

The Raveonettes seemed to agree as they pointed out how nice it was to play with such a beautiful view. Their stage was set with a simple black-and-white theme as their music sank into our bones like crushed velvet. Deserta took the stage soon after with their dreamscape sound, sending everyone into another dimension as stars poked through the sky and Ladytron set up on the other stage.

Between these two sets, the crowd buzzed with anticipation. The weekend was coming to an end and spirits were high. It felt as though we all knew each other by then and had become somewhat of a family for the weekend. Finally, Ladytron started. Their otherworldly synth sounds juxtaposed the deeply human experience of connection that the entire weekend had harnessed. Some people head-bopped while others watched from lawn chairs. I closed my eyes and moved freely, ascending into a realm only live music can create. 

As a music lover, it was incredible and rare to attend a festival like this. A front row seat to back-to-back artists with incredible talent is not something you can find every day. Every person I encountered was kind and welcoming, and everyone loves Schellraiser. If you missed it this year, you missed something beautiful and special, but I have no doubt that the organizers will put together another phenomenal festival in years to follow. Stay up to date on next year’s festival by following @schellraiser2024 on Instagram!

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