Category Archives: Music, Art and Yoga Festivals

What to Bring to a Festival

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Most festivals are just one big camping trip with great music and great people. When packing, think of what you’d bring on a camping trip. If you’ve never gone camping, don’t worry, I still included camping equipment in this list. Also: Check out the festival’s website. Most of them have a list of what to bring/what not to bring.

I’ve broken this list up into smaller lists to make it easier to follow. If you have any suggestions for what to bring to a festival, please let me know in the comments box and I’ll add it!

For the campsite:

-Tent: Before departing for the festival, set up the tent in your backyard to make sure you have all the parts and know what you’re doing. You’ll be glad you did when it comes time to set up your tent at the festival. Don’t forget stakes!
-Sleeping bag or if you prefer a blowup mattress
-Yoga Mat or mattress pad to put under your sleeping bag
-Pillow
-Blankets: Lay them out around the campsite for a nice lounging area. Bring them into the festival. Use ‘em for warmth.
-Folding chairs/camping chairs/beach chairs: Whatever works as a place to sit. Coolers aren’t bad seats either.
-E-Z UP or some kind of canopy area for shade
-Tapestries/sheets to hang in your shade area. (Bring clothespins or other tools to hang these up.)
-A tarp: For shade or to cover the ground
-Small table
-Trash bags for food at your campsite (Don’t forget a bag for recycling!)
-Head light: so extremely handy at night.
-Flashlights/lanterns
-Cooler

For your belly:
If you’re going to rely on buying food beforehand instead of buying festival food, there’s definitely a cheap, efficient way to do it. If you don’t have a grill- no fear- there’s a way to eat at a festival grill-less too. Just remember to get your daily servings of protein, carbs, fiber, etc.

-Water, water, and more water. Some festivals provide water fountains inside, but having too much water is never a bad thing.
-Ice
-Tip about ice: A week before the festival, freeze a case of water. When it’s time for the festival, the water bottles will act as ice and when they thaw out, drink em!
-Try to bring food that’s high in protein/fiber
-Try to bring food that doesn’t need to be kept cold in case you run out of ice
-Bagels: These are great for mornings and don’t need to be kept in the cooler.
-Cream cheese: I’ve kept cream cheese in a cooler without ice for up to three days and it’s been fine to eat.
-Canned food: For lunch at festivals I usually eat tuna fish everyday. You can’t beat the $.75 cans at the supermarket. I also bring canned green beans, corn, carrots, fruit and beans. All of this food is fine to eat right out of the can and it’s under $1. (If you’re going with canned food don’t forget to bring a can opener or another tool to open the cans.)
-Bread: Also doesn’t need to be kept cold.
-Ketchup, Mayo and Mustard Packets: great to bring unless you don’t mind bringing the whole bottle.
-Plastic utensils and paper plates, unless you prefer to bring real ones and wash them. (In that case don’t forget a sponge or soap.)
-Freeze-dried meals. At Ramsey’s Outdoor I bought these and loved them. They have dinner, lunch, breakfast and dessert options for reasonable prices: $3 to $8. You just boil water, add it to the bag, wait 10 minutes and then the food is ready. (Only get these if you have the tools to boil water.)
-Beef jerky: Great snack and great for protein.
-Fruit: oranges, apples, peaches, bananas, etc. Dried fruit is good, too.
-Granola/Trail Mix: Great for energy
-Energy bars/protein bars/fiber bars, whatever you prefer.

For your body:
-Clothes that are loose, comfortable for dancing and moving around (Suggestions for girls: scarves (these are very versatile: can use as shirts and skirts), long skirts, breezy dresses, soffee shorts, sarongs. At festivals I barely wear regular clothes.)
-Clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. Always be prepared for the rain and mud.
-Hoodie/jacket for night
-Rain gear, a poncho
– Colored/cool decorated sports bras to wear instead of shirts or to wear under shirts.
-Bathing Suits: Even if there’s not a swimming hole around, sometimes it just gets too darn hot to wear regular clothes.
-Extra underwear
-Clothes to sleep in
-Bandanas, headbands, hats…anything to keep your head and face cool. Bandanas are great to soak in water and then wrap around your neck or head.
-Sunglasses: Definitely bring more than one pair. The rule of twos. You never know what you’re gonna lose or break.
-Comfy sandals. Regular, thin, flimsy flip-flops usually don’t cut it for days of outdoor activity. You’re probably going to be trekking through dirt, mud, lots of grass, gravel- not to mention walking and dancing all day for days. You don’t want your feet to take a beating. I always bring my Reef hiking flip-flops and ADIAS hiking flip-flops. They both never fail me. Even if it’s not raining, rain boots are a huge plus.
-Extra pair of shoes: Whatever you bring, bring one more pair. Again, rule of twos. Just in case.
-Small backpack, fanny pack, knapsack: You probably won’t want to carry around a purse.
-Extra hair ties

For your protection:
-Sunscreen: You may not think you need it, but remember, you’re most likely going to be outside all day for days. There’s nothing worse than sunburn when you can’t escape the sun.
-Bug spray
-Citronelli candles
-Garlic: If eaten it helps keep the bugs at bay. I’ve eaten whole cloves before.
-Toilet paper
-Chapstick
-Hand sanitizer
-Baby wipes: When you don’t have a shower, these definitely come in handy.
– Toiletries: tooth brush, toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, floss, etc.
– Electrolytes, Vitamins, stuff of this nature. I usually bring the Emergen-C powder to put in my water.
-First Aid kit, band-aids
-Aloe
-Spray bottle/Mister with a fan: Instantly cool you off and guarantee you a ton of friends. Once someone sees that you have one, they head in your direction.
-Oxy Pads: Instantly wipe the dirt off your face.

For fun:
-Glowsticks
-Bubbles
-Instrument if you have one: tambourine, shaker, guitar, anything to jam with.
-Camera: Don’t forget an extra memory card and battery. If you don’t want to worry about ruining your camera, buy a disposable one.
-Glitter
-Costumes: When else can you wear a costume, feel completely free and get complimented? (Other then Halloween and Costume Parties, of course.) Think boas, capes, masks, fairy wings, headdresses, feathers, wands, leis, mardi gra beads, anything you want. Be creative.
-Flowers for your hair
-Water guns
-Body paint
-Devil Sticks
-Hula-hoops
-Frisbees, soccer balls, etc.
-Stuff to trade

Miscellanous:
-The most open mind you can possibly have. I can’t stress how important this is. You’re probably going to see things and smell things that you never have before. Especially at smaller festivals you’re probably going to meet people who lead completely different lives than you, and look extremely different than you. Despite all this, you’re going to experience and witness more love than you can imagine. Disregard appearance and look into people’s hearts.
-Remember who you are before and after the festival.
-Friendly positive attitude
-Smiling face and lots of laughter
-Journal: In case you want to record all those magical moments or want to get phone numbers of new friends.
-Towels. As the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ says, the towel is the most massively useful thing. You should always pack a towel.

XPoNential Music Festival: Day 3

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Hosted by wxpn 88.5, a radio station which broadcasts in the greater Philadelphia/South Jersey area, the XPoNential Music fest kicked off Friday and ran until Sunday. I only attended Sunday, Day 3.

My friend Lilly and I had everything planned out and were set to leave by 11 a.m. Plans tend to get a little fickle at times, and sure enough, the day began in limbo. Lilly’s link to print her ticket was broken. After waiting for awhile, she decided not to come and I trekked down to Camden.

When I pulled up around 2:15 p.m., I could hear Dawes playing, “Love is All I Am.” Dawes kept unexpectedly making their way to my ears at Bonnaroo, and I’ve been listening to them since. They’re a punch of rock and a splash of folk sprinkled with pleasant harmonies. Check out their myspace here.

I hurried inside the venue and ran down the hill to the main stage. (There were three stages-one was the kid’s stage. The main stage was set against the Delaware River with downtown Philly’s buildings sprouting out.)

Main Stage

I got there in time for, “When my time comes,” Dawes’ current hit. After partaking in some loud and cheerful singing with the people next to me, I took a look around. All down the hill people laid out blankets and chairs. Bleachers also lined the top of the hill.

With the city, water, and handful of trees peeking out in the background, the scenery made for one nice venue. There was definitely a big crowd, but it wasn’t too crowded and judging from the people I just met during Dawes set, people were friendly and willing to talk music. (The way music festival fans should be 🙂 We discussed Edward Sharpe and the magical experience we were all in for.)

After that song I met up with my friends, Bob and PJ. We finished watching Dawes then relaxed under a tree while The Holmes Brothers played.

Once they were finished, we moved closer to the stage for These United States.

Marina Stage

 I caught one of their Daytrotter sessions and was psyched to see them. Check out one of their sessions here.

While the crowd lounged on the grass/blankets, the five-piece band began their story-telling through music. When the lead singer, Jesse Elliott talks, he has a hush, low, sexy voice that reminds me of Adam Lazzara from Taking Back Sunday and reminded PJ of Fabrizio Moretti from The Strokes. Sidenote: I adore anyone who reminds me of Adam.  

As we got up to get a good spot for Edward Sharpe, they started playing my favorite song, First Sight. Check out the video. P.S. the lyrics are amazing.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Anyone who’s been to an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros show will look at you with a twinkle in their eye as a smile quickly approaches. Even though Edward Sharpe have songs featured on commercials and in trailers now, they’re still the same in-the-moment, child-like spirit, feel-good folk-rock-hippie-jam band they’ve always been. Don’t believe me? Check out their opening song:

Throughout the show the 10-piece took us on a journey of reconciliation, happiness, love, positive energy, whistling and confetti, lots of confetti. At one point, Alex, the frontman, (his name is not Edward Sharpe) said, “I just so happen to have this confetti in my back pocket” and threw it into the audience. Jade and Alex would randomly yell, “Namaste” and other small ditties about enjoying life, “Be here now.” 

Alex's infamous red scarf

Alex’s voice has a haunting, eerie quality to it that matches the intensity in his face. Sometimes he looks completely lost, or like he’s gazing off into some infinite abyss that only he can see. Shimmering light speckled through the trees and stage banners projecting a happiness only a band like Edward Sharpe could awaken.

Alex lost his voice, but it wasn’t a problem. Jade filled in. Jade and her big, bad, soothing, shy voice. The previous times I’ve seen them, Jade has been shy on stage. This time, she seemed completely confident. I was so proud of her!

Another thing I noticed about this performance: Alex and Jade seemed much happier and comfortable with each other. (quick interjection: they used to date.) During ‘Up From Below’ Alex grabbed Jade’s hand while singing, “All the friends I treated like dirt” and looked at her so sincerely as if he was apologizing. I felt like they finally reconciled.

I honestly don’t even know if they were fighting but at their other performances (Coachella and Bonnaroo) they seemed to be on rough terms. Even though I don’t know them personally, they bring me so much joy and it made me happy to see them happy.

After their set we moved up in the crowd and waited for Dr. Dog.

Dr. Dog

While I enjoy listening to Dr. Dog in my car and on my iPod, the music just doesn’t compare to their live performances. After seeing them, I am a fully converted fan; I want to see them again and again.

Their guitar thrashing and raw vocals blend together into a tasty rock smoothie that goes down tumbling but still leaves you screaming for more. And their energy on stage, awesome! At times their guitars took control of the guitarists, pulling them towards each other. The crowd went wild with every chord.

Check out a quick blurb from their encore:

Set list:

1. Shadow People

2. Stranger

3. I Only Wear Blue

4. The Beach

5. The Breeze

6. Someday

7.  Hang On

8.  Mirror Mirror

9.  Station

10.  The Old Days

11. The Way The Lazy Do

12. Shame, Shame

13. The Rabbit, The Bat, and The Reindeer

Encore:

Jackie Wants a Black Eye

We left after their set.

Small slurp of happiness from the day: On the walk to the car we saw Christian, the guitarist from Edward Sharpe. We walked right by him but didn’t say anything because he was engaged in conversation. A couple minutes later he started walking in our direction. I jumped up and walked over to him.

“You were awesome, man! Great show!” His face lit up with appreciation. We went to shake hands but it quickly turned into a hug.

Even though I got lost on the way home (by simply following signs for the NJ Turnpike) the energy and happiness from the festival ran through me, and I felt like nothing could shake me. While driving I turned on wxpn to hear the rest of the festival: the performance by Robert Randolph and the Family Band. I was definitely moving and grooving in my car. I heard bits of, “I’d like to hear some funky Dixieland, pretty mamma come and take me by the hand” and “Maggie’s Farm” by Bob Dylan. I could feel all their big ol’ soulful sound busting through my speakers.

After that I popped in one of my Sim Redmond Band albums and let the sweet, summer breeze and sounds of Sim’s voice guide me home. It turned out to be a great day.

 

Bonnaroo: Volunteering with Clean Vibes

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Where did everybody go?

On Monday when everyone was packing up and leaving the Bonnaroo community, we moved our campsite to the camping area for Clean Vibes volunteers. After re-setting up our campsite, we walked around for about 20 minutes to look for a shower. Every time we came to a shower and our hopes rose, they died instantly as we tried to turn the showers on. All of the showers were shut off.

While looking for showers we also looked around the fields. Ground scores. Think of all the things people bring to a festival. Now think of all those things left behind. You name it, it was left behind. We saw full campsites equipped with tents, chairs, couches, coolers, clothes. I honestly felt like it was the end of the world and we were the last human beings on Earth, just taking whatever we could to survive. We found at least three 30 packs of beer and four coolers so we were set for the night/rest of the week. I found a spray bottle/mister/portable fan and was happy.

After walking another 15 minutes back to camp, unshowered and sweating, we laid at our campsite and just baked in the sun. Without shade. All weekend I was fine, but my body was starting to feel every burn, ache and sun ray. After lying around for a while, I ventured back out to find a shower. I ended up sneaking into the medical tents showers and showering for at least 20 minutes. The water wasn’t too cold, but I didn’t even care.

That night I met a lot of really cool people, hung out, listened to music and played soccer.

The next day we were woken up at 7 a.m. to free breakfast courtesy of Clean Vibes. And boy did it feel good to eat a real meal. I was extremely grateful for every bite of my eggs, sausage, homefries and yogurt. And coffee. After an experience like Bonnaroo, a few days of eating whatever you can whenever you can, a homecooked meal is the best thing that can fall into your hands. You really lean how to appreciate things, even after a couple days. That’s another thing I love about music festivals- they open my eyes to things I don’t even think about missing.

We were all set scheduled to work on the purple team. We were excited to clean the fields and find more ground scores while working. Instead, we were sent to a giant pile of recycled bottles and trash. For eight hours we had to dig through the trash, sort through recyclables, cardboard and compost.

As bags would come in to the yard we would tear them open and sort through, leaving the recyclables behind and taking the compost away, but mainly just tearing open bags.

Shade under the truck, feeling like the Box Car Kids

The sun was shining all day and our only hope for shade was hiding under a dumptruck/leaning on a dumpster. We got an hour break for lunch with free delicious sandwiches, cookies, fruit, chips and water.

Once we got back to work, the clouds overhead started enclosing the sky above us. A girl asked our boss, “Can we still work in this?” He responded with, “Yea we’re fine.” Not even five minutes later, the thunder roared and the rain came down, “Seek shelter” our boss screamed. Everyone ran in every direction. We started running back into Centeroo and ended up seeking shelter in the back of a tractor-trailer. It was such a relief for rain to fall after five sweltering days in a row. The rain also cut two hours out of our day work day.

Blurb from my journal after Day 1:

“As we were digging through the trash this morning and sorting through recycle, compost and trash, I started seriously thinking about trash. What is trash? What makes the cut for the definition of trash? Who’s to say what’s trash and what’s not? Who’s to say what’s anything really? Life is all about perspective. How you see, view, feel, taste, smell, touch, experience things.

The only thing I was certain about was compost. So I pretty much stuck to that. A playground of trash. A sea of recyclables. A sea of trash, of plastic. Where does all the trash in the world go? The recyclables? How exactly does compost work? Recycling? I want to learn a step by step process.

I haven’t stopped sweating since I got here. Haven’t sweated for so much, so long, so consistently ever in my life.

It was a really humbling experience to go through the trash today- knee-deep and sometimes waist deep in huge piles of it. For the most part I did a good job of sucking in my breath and holding my nose so the sour-smell wouldn’t infiltrate my nostrils.

I’ve never been outside for so long in my life. I’ve been living outside for almost a week. That in itself has been a mind-altering experience.

“When outside every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of mind, from breathless noon to the grimmest midnight…To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.” -Emerson

 In certain ways I feel like I’ve lived here all along. It’s been so cool, so amazing to see the Earth at every hour of the day. At times it’s as if I’ve lost touch with reality, but then again, what is reality?”

A closer view of the 'trash'

After completing the second days 8-hour shift, I felt extremely good about everything. I was so happy to be able to help make the Earth beautiful again and to realize the impact we all made by volunteering. It was a very rewarding experience.

So would I volunteer with Clean Vibes again? Most likely.

The advantages:

-Meeting really cool people

-Making the Earth beautiful again

-Having a huge impact on the environment

-Finding sweet ground scores (Team Purple found the best ones out of everyone 😉 )

-Free meals

-Pretty much a free admission to the festival

Disadvantages:

-Working in the unforgiving southern sun

-Performing physical labor including bending and stooping

-Performing physical labor in the unforgiving southern sun

If you’re interested in volunteering with Clean Vibes, head to their website and fill out an application.

We did it!

Bonnaroo: Highlights Days 3 and 4

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All of our headdresses came out to play

 –Saturday: The day of the most beautiful harmonies. Great day to be a music fan. 

–Brandi Carlile. We knew it was going to be a great day when this was the first song we heard: 

(The video isn’t the best quality but once you hear the song, you’ll understand.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q0WNm0kxZQ 

-Then we let the music take us and came across The Sonic Stage: a small, intimate setting. Big Sam’s Funky Nation got all soulful and we all got down, way, way down. We set up our blanket and danced all over the grass. They turned ‘When the Saints Go Marching In,’ into ‘Oh when the saints, win the Superbowl’ And I felt like they just won the Superbowl that day. 

–Mumford and Sons. Again, the harmonizing took us up, up and away. As they sang, ‘Rain down, rain down on me,’ during ‘Thistle and Weeds’ the skies listened and the rain fell. The universe was working in full force that weekend. Sophia Bush and her boyfriend, another One Tree Hill cast member, also walked right past our blanket during this set. 

–Stumbling upon the Ford music tent and seeing Dawes play an intimate, acoustic performance. The band was sitting on stage and there were probably only 30 other people in the room. 

Our Savior

 –The Magic Mushroom. This was a highlight of the whole weekend. This thing literally saved our lives. 

 -Tennessee Sunsets: My new favorite time of day. Just as the sun was setting, it spewed out pinks, oranges, blues; a glow like no other. 

–Seeing Stevie Wonder (Even if I only caught the very end of his set, it was still awesome to see a legend) 

–Jay-Z. Similar to his performance at Coachella (check out what I had to say here) but he’s still my main man.

–After Jay-Z we caught the end of Thievery Corporation’s set. They called all the ladies up on stage to dance. I ran to the front, climbed over the bar, danced in the section before the stage, tried to climb on to the main stage, but got pulled off by a security guard before I made it. Still loved it though. 

–The community. Again, this was a highlight of the whole weekend. I had a blast with the group of friends I went with, and enjoyed getting to know our neighbors. Because of the tight quarters, everyone is basically forced to cozy up with their neighbors, which is a definite good thing. We met some really cool people. And everyone was willing to share and help out whenever they could.

Us and two of our neighbors

My wonderful friends

–John Butler Trio at the Sonic Stage. 

John Butler Trio

 As they sang, ‘Good Excuse’ I fell in love with the lyrics, ‘Go take a step outside, see what’s shaking in the real world.’ They jammed for at least 10 minutes in the middle of this song. All around it was just a good-feeling, happy, sun-shining set. 

-Our Gift Exchange. All five of us brought gifts to give each other during the weekend. On Sunday when we were just jamming and hanging out before DMB, we passed our gifts in a circle like hot potato and eventually yelled stop.  

 

 

 

–Dave Matthews Band 

Lanterns took over the sky during DMB's set

A great finish to an incredible weekend. 10, 15, 20 minute jams spread out over a few songs. Dave’s scatting, and free-styling throughout songs, the non-stop dancing and grooving and feeling-good. In the middle of ‘Jimi Thing’ Dave started saying, “All the sexy mother fuckers shaking that ass, shaking that ass, shaking that ass.” My friends and I just looked at each other in disbelief: “Is this really happening!?” As he kept repeating those lines, we kept shaking our asses.

Bonnaroo: Highlights Days 1 and 2

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–Settling into our new home. We had two tents, (one for sleeping, one for storage) a blanket area for lounging, and a kitchen/dining room/shade area under the canopy. 

Our campsite

Shade Area

Relaxing After Our 6-Hour Wait

 -Starting the weekend off with Neon Indian. Great group to get us ready for the dancetastic weekend. (This was not a highlight but a sidenote: During their set a guy right next to me started closing his eyes and bopping his head-but not in a groovy way- he passed out. After his friends caught him he looked up and said, “I’m fine. I’m fine.” Then they left the crowd.) 

–Two words: Silent Disco! We stumbled upon this magical tent after leaving Blitzen Trapper. When you walk into the small tent you’re handed a pair of headphones. A first glance inside provides a swamp of sweaty bodies moving and shaking all over the place to what appears to be no sound. But then, aha, the golden ticket: the headphones you’re holding in your hands. Take another look around the tent and you’ll see a DJ set against the side wall. Place your headphones over your ears and voila! You’re sucked in. You fell down the Rabbit Hole, got pulled into a vortex, and it’s the best thing that’s happened. You’re free to dance however you want to whatever rhythm you want as everyone around you does the same. Take your headphones off and the world around you seems like a lie, a fallacy. Put em back on and everything’s right again. Everyone’s smiling, laughing. People are dancing alone, dancing with strangers. Needless to say we spent a lot of time in this place. 

-Jamming at our campsite. Everyday we busted out the guitars, tambourines, shakers, and whatever else we could conjure up. On Friday we had a nice, smooth jam session to ‘Wagon Wheel’ by Old Crow Medicine Show. Later our neighbors thanked us for playing that song and told us that on their car ride down, their friend Mike said, “All I want this weekend is to have a jam session to Wagon Wheel.” Mike missed it, but we sang it plenty more times for him to hear. The universe was spreading the same ‘Wagon Wheel’ thought in everyone’s minds. Mumford and Sons played a cover of it on Saturday. It was officially the song of the weekend. 

Ed Sharpe and the Mag Zeros

-Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Seeing one of their performances is more than just watching, it’s being apart of it. They’ve been one of my favorite bands for a while now and every chance to see them live sends me shivers all over. We swiveled to the third row behind the bar and ended up on the bar for some songs. 

JadeWhile they forget their lyrics and were disorganized, I surrendered to their spirits, to their overwhelming energy on stage. They’re constantly laughing and prancing around stage. Alex Ebert, the frontman, shook so ferociously at times it looked like he was having a seizure. My favorite was their last song: Om Nashi Me. 

–When we all re-entered Centeroo at night without a plan we ran, galloped, jumped, danced and swirled to the first tent that music pulled us to: Eclectic Method at the Rave Stage. 

-Caught the very end of Michael Franti and Spearhead’s set. Guided by Franti’s voice we ran to the stage to see his last song, the song I wanted to hear most, ‘Say Hey, I Love You’. My friend Siserra and I danced like wild woman to those last three minutes. 

–Flaming Lips. This band is a must-must-must-see for anybody. For about 45 minutes they performed their own songs and then they performed Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’ During their performance the sky rained confetti and huge multi-colored balloons. When they sang, ‘I can be a frog,’ we all became different animals with every line. Thanks to Wayne Coyne’s suggestions and guidance, I gave peace to the world and all my love to the universe. The whole crowd also sang Happy Birthday to a band member. One of favorite songs: ‘Do You Realize??’ The whole set was the magical mystery kind. I went on an acid trip without any acid. 

-Lying down by the Ferris wheel at night. The lights constantly went from blue to yellow to red to purple to orgasmic flashes of every color. Brittany’s new friend gave us 3-D glasses. I could have watched the Ferris wheel for hours with those things on. While we were distracted by the Ferris wheel, Alex Ebert from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros walked right by us with a girl on his arm. Brittany leapt up, ran after him and hugged him. We still couldn’t believe we saw him just casually wandering around.

Bonnaroo: Getting there

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Strapped for cash and humbled by my experience with WET, I decided to volunteer at Bonnaroo. To my dismay and horror all the WET applications were filled up when I looked (they re-opened about a week later). So I looked at other volunteer options. And let me tell ya, I thought I was a pretty decent google-searcher, but searching for volunteer companies at music festivals showed me otherwise.

Luckily my friend told me about Clean Vibes,  a company dedicated to waste management. I signed up, anxiously waited 72 hours to hear back, and shortly after I was all set to work Post Shift Clean-up. My friend Brittany did the same, and we were ready to go.

One problem solved, onto the next.

We were car-less. Luckily my Dad is the man/the nicest guy in the world and let us use his car for the trip. My lovely little Saturn wouldn’t have lasted that long a drive.

Britt made this sign for our car ride!

We made it to Chattanooga, TN in about 14 hours. That night we stayed with a friend of a friend’s (now a friend of ours 🙂 ) We were exhausted from the drive, but still didn’t get to sleep until pretty late. We stayed up executing our plan to ensure a good camping spot. We all set our alarms for around 7 a.m. to try to beat the Bonnaroo traffic. Some camping spots are an hour walk to Centeroo, the main area of the festival, and we didn’t want to get stuck with one due to poor planning. (Turns out planning doesn’t even matter in regards to camping spots at Bonnaroo. Most of it is sheer luck.)

“Check your cars to make sure no one broke in,” We woke up hours late to our host, Beth, saying. Someone broke into her boyfriend’s car. Frazzled and suddenly alert we checked our cars and found out they were safe. It was time to depart.

Us with the whole city of Chattanooga behind us

After about 40 minutes of cruising down Route 24 we saw a huge trail of cars stopped on the shoulder. According to our handy-dandy GPS directions we were still a couple miles from the exit but this appeared to be the line. So we tried to cut in. Not a good idea. Out of nowhere a state trooper on a motorcycle appeared at our car window, screaming, “Are you trying to cut in line?”

-Me, replying meekly and weakly, “No.”

-Crazy testosterone-pumping-in-every-body part-man inches from my face, “GET OUTTA HERE! DO YOU WANT A TICKET!”

Bonnaroo Traffic use Shoulder

We quickly ditched that idea and tried to find a spot elsewhere. Luckily enough some cars let all three cars in our party in together. And it was miles from that scary, power-driven man. Two bad starts to the day, but the excitement and anticipation built up nonetheless.

We had about five miles, probably less to our exit. We waited in shoulder traffic for six hours.

My Coachella Experience

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After Coachella, I wrote an article about my experience for ronebreak.com. Check out my article here. While you’re at it, check out ronebreak.com, too. It’s an awesome website.

Here’s the full text of my article in case you don’t click over:

(Just warning you, this is a long one. Once I started writing, I couldn’t stop.)

Getting WET at Coachella

Back in the chilly winter months when the Coachella line-up was first released and I saw that every one of my favorite bands would be playing, I knew there was no question about it: I’d be going to Coachella.

As the days went on and my pockets grew lighter, I grew weary that my Coachella dreams would not become a reality. In order to splurge on the $269+ festival ticket I’d have to give up certain things in my life: grocery shopping, going out for meals, eating breakfast. Ya know, the things that don’t really matter. My rumbling stomach beat out my ears’ desire for live music and my Coachella dreams flew through the pipe hole.

Once the end of March neared, Coachella crept into my mind again. How can you so easily forget about me? For a whole weekend I’ll be home to all your favorite musicians. You know you need a break from school and you need a festival in your life. You neeeed me. In bursts, Coachella urgings took over my brain. I had to go.

After coming to grips with the fact that I couldn’t purchase a ticket, I began thinking of my other options. Suddenly it occurred to me. Why hadn’t I thought of it earlier? Festivals don’t run without help from others. Festivals don’t run without volunteers.

Because I have friends that volunteered at festivals before, I knew of a program called WET (Work Exchange Team). In exchange for working a minimum of 18 hours at the festival, WET provides you with a free festival pass. When creating an application there’s a $15 non-refundable fee and they ask for a $325 deposit to secure your spot. The deposit money is returned to you after you work the festival.

So I rounded up three of my friends and we were all set to get wet for Coachella.

Friday

7:25 a.m. Left for Coachella from Tempe, A

12 p.m. Received WET credentials and hopped back in the car to set up camp and hopefully check out some bands before our shift at 2:30 p.m.

3 p.m. Checked into WET 30 minutes late. We spent about an hour in traffic when the festival was less than a mile away. We spent another hour trying to figure out where our camping area was. Everyone that tried to help us gave us conflicting directions. Most people just shooed us away.

We received our schedules and the four of us had the same shifts.

First shift: Friday 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Second Shift: Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Third shift: Sunday 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.

I’d still see my top three bands that I asked to see when I filled out the application: Jay-Z, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Miike Snow. I’d be missing Passion Pit, She & Him, Them Crooked Vultures, LCD Soundsystem, Grizzly Bear, La Roux, and Vampire Weekend.

For our first shift we’d be stationed at Water World. Upon hearing Water World we automatically assumed we’d be playing at a giant water slide all night, spraying squirt guns and staying refreshed. My friend Brittany and I even busted into a Water World chant with another volunteer we just met. We were really ready to get wet.

One of our supervisors asked if three of us wanted to extend our shift until 10 p.m. and not work Saturday or Sunday. Because we were so caught up in our fantasy of Water World, we dismissed her offer. But I quickly realized that two more hours of working in exchange for a free day was much better than whatever mystery Water World held. We told her there were four of us and we took the two extra hours in exchange for a free day on Saturday. We got hooooooked up!

So we got shoveled into a crowd of about 20 other volunteers in yellow WET shirts waiting for orders. A truck came, five of us hopped in and they sent us off, destination unknown. We were clueless the whole time as to what was going on.

We arrived at the front entrance where people were coming into the festival. We got dropped off without any directions. It was a madhouse. Screaming festival-goers frustrated from waiting in line saw our yellow volunteer shirts and started attacking us like vultures. They swarmed us, encircled us, cornered us, and demanded wristbands.

An angry man wearing a cowboy hat leaned against the fence and handed us 10 wristbands at a time. We’d take someone’s ticket and sling a wristband on their wrist. Ten wristbands at a time were not enough. I’d run out in five minutes. Around 5:30 the crowd finally died down and we had a couple minutes to actually breathe.

Even though the scene was a mad house, I was on some kind of crazy adrenaline rush from the fast talking, repetitious motion of applying the wrist band, taking the ticket stub, and saying “welcome” over and over.  Also, it was a good feeling to be able to welcome people, to start their festival experience off with a friendly smile.

As the night progressed every volunteer had at least two bribe stories. In hopes of getting a ticket, hopeful festival-goers were offering wads of hundreds, jewelry, blow jobs, sex, you name it. By 9:45 p.m. with no food in my stomach and exhaustion slowly taking over my body, I could barely say, “Hello welcome to freedom brother,” one more time. I was ready to shove some dinner down my throat.

The granola bar five of us shared around 7 p.m. just didn’t cut it. While working we weren’t allowed to leave to eat and no one fed us. Our supervisors at the site didn’t even know what was going on.

 10 p.m. Freedom

 As soon as we got off, we ran to our campsite, changed, I split half a bagel with Brittany, we chugged some 40s and some wine, and sprinted to the festival grounds to see Jay-Z. For years I’ve been dying to see Jay-Z and damn, did he put on a good fucking performance.

Donned in all black, he rose onto the stage like a king and busted into, “Run This Town”.

He flawlessly worked the crowd, and had us throwing our diamonds up, chanting, “Jigga what, Jigga who, Hova,” singing, clapping our hands, and throwing whatever we had- -shirts, hats, hands, in the air. Frankly, I’d do anything he’d ask. He paused for a good 15 minutes just to holla at the crowd.

“I see you baby girl with your blue jumper. I see you with your pink aeroplane. I see you baby girl.” Apparently in Jay-Z’s world, every female is a baby girl and I’m totally fine with that.

He teased us with “Big Pimpin” and “’03 Bonnie and Clyde” then took us through a tutorial of his old jams. I screamed my ass off to every word of “Empire State of Mind”, and Jay-Z said, “I feel like I’m home,” as his monstrous stage, made up of cut out buildings morphed into the Manhattan skyline. Right after “Jockin Jay-Z” he went into “Wonderwall” by Oasis and the crowd went wild singing along to every word.

By the end, it was clear he poured his heart into the performance, his voice was dying and he kept saying he didn’t want to leave us. Then the magical unifying moment that everyone and their grandmother has heard about by now: Beyonce walked onto stage. I don’t think anyone has ever been more excited to see Beyonce. 

“I want you to do me a favor and always feel like this, always feel this good,” Jay-Z told us before breaking into “Young Forever”. In that moment as the fireworks sparked and the crowd roared, I felt like I could live forever. 

Saturday

8 a.m. Woke up to the sun scorching our tent, crawled out of the tent, and chugged some wine. 

1:30 p.m. Tried to bring my SLR into the festival, got denied, left the fair grounds, hid the camera in my backpack and walked back in. 

2:15 p.m. Went to the Gobi stage to see Portugal. The Man, one of my favorite bands. I saw them once in Tempe and was naturally super amped to see them again. When they took the stage, I was grooving and singing as much as I could. I had a pretty decent spot about five rows back, stage right 

However, not many people around me were grooving. If you’re gonna demand a spot up front and just stand there, you’re better off leaving. This happened to me throughout the weekend and left me very disappointed with the crowd. I can’t stand when people claim spots up front, and they don’t sing or dance at all. Then they get mad when I do. I came to the front for a reason: I love the band and want to sing every word. 

Portugal. The Man played a pretty solid set. Twenty minutes in they were still on their second or third song. When they play live, they are masters of shredding and jamming out songs for as long as they can, which is pretty sweet since you wouldn’t really expect that by listening to their albums. They also performed a quick cover of “Weekend Wars” by MGMT, which they did last time I saw them. 

The set was a mixture of songs from The Satanic Satanist, Censored Colors, and older albums. All in all it was a good set and I was pretty exhausted after–the combination of wine and little sleep contributed to that. 

Even though I wanted to catch some of Camera Obscura, Girls, and Beach House, I opted for a nap instead. I plopped down by the Outdoor Theatre stage and woke up to crowds of legs hovering over me. Temper Trap was about to start. I’d never heard of them but I stayed for a couple songs and definitely liked their sound. 

After that I met up with my friends, poured as much water over me as possible to cool down, and rushed the stage left to get a good spot for Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. They’re very much a commune band of sorts, with 9-12 members, tales of traveling around in a big white van, and lots of love and good feelin’ vibes. 

5:20 p.m. When they swayed onto the stage, I was ready for a magical journey. I wasn’t prepared for what came next. Alex Ebert, the group’s messiah, began the set by knocking his mic stand onto a member in the audience. Alex leaned down to the guy, ripped his own shirt off his chest and wrapped it around the dude’s head. You could sense the sincerity and empathy Alex felt. 

While he was wrapping his shirt around the dude’s head, the two of them had a sweet little moment. It looked as if Ebert kissed his head and whispered something to him. Heck, I wouldn’t mind trading places with that guy. After that Ebert jumped up and the band began with their most energetic song: “40 Day Dream”. 

It was such an intense moment from the mic falling, the apologizing, the jumping up, and going wild to “40 Day Dream”. My friends and I danced like crazy. 

The set was one of my favorites of the whole festival. Even though the band was a little disorganized and disheveled, they seemed so comfortable just walking around, dancing and bopping freely, just hanging out on stage. However, Jade, Alex’s gal-pal and lead female singer in the group, seemed a bit shy. She sat on the stage for most of the performance and kept shaking her head “no” when Alex would make suggestions to her. 

At one point they brought a baby on stage and sang and danced around the baby. They even mentioned Jay-Z, “Who saw Jay-Z last night? Fucking genius.” And shouted out to the crowd, “I see you baby girl with your pink flamingo.” 

All set I crossed my fingers and waited for them to play, “Home”. An uplifting, sun-shiney song that Jade and Alex sing to each other. It didn’t seem like they would play it but they finally did at the end and it was definitely a crowd pleaser. My voice was shot after belting, “Alabama, Arkansaaaaaaaas.” My smile never left my face their whole set and I can’t wait to see them again. 

We missed Dirty Projectors, the XX, and Hot Chip to go re-energize and eat at our campsite. 

8: 40 p.m. We made it back to the festival in time for MGMT. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, they were the biggest disappointment of the whole festival and they didn’t even play “Kids”. And I almost picked them as my top 3 bands to see. I am sure glad I didn’t. 

They started their set with two new songs off of Congratulations that were pretty slow and boring. Those themes continued throughout. By the time they sang “Electric Feel” and “Time to Pretend” I couldn’t even get into it. Their vocals didn’t even sound that good. They definitely sound better recorded. 

We were able to inch closer to the front without even trying because so many people kept leaving. I’ve never seen so many people leave a set. They seemed pretty unenthused and bored on stage as well. They had nothing to say other than, “There are a lot of people here and a lot of bands. Who’s on drugs?” and, “Go buy our new album.” 

Once MGMT’s set was over we sat in the back of the crowd for Muse. I only know a few of their songs but they definitely put on a good show. Their vocals sounded really clear and strong. The interjection of blue and green laser lights was pretty cool, and the crowd seemed way into it. It was cool to catch a glimpse of their set. Just the basic loud, rock band with clear, strong vocals. Nothing inspiring or moving enough to make me wanna get up and groove. 

Before Muse finished we rushed to the Outdoor Theatre stage to get a good spot for the Dead Weather. Just seeing Jack White and his musical genius was enough for me. He is such a bad-ass and front-woman Alison Mosshart is smoking hot. Their performance was one of my favorites of the whole weekend. 

When Alison took the stage she emanated sex and rock and roll. Every movement she made was filled with vigor, energy, and of course, sex. Clad in her all black outfit she ferociously wiped her hair and commandeered the stage. She was basically fucking the audience with her eyes the whole night. 

The best part of the performance came when Jack White got up from behind the drums, grabbed his guitar and duetted with Alison to, “Will there be enough Water?” 

Their heads were pressed together as they sang into the mic, “Just because you caught me, does that make it a sin?” Even though they were barely touching, it was like they were having sex right there on stage. With each word they got more intense, till they eventually backed off the mic and screamed the lyrics at each other. Sin or not, I felt damn good after their performance. 

As we were leaving we caught the sounds of Tiesto’s beats and decided to stay. His music gave me a second wind. We stayed pretty far back in the crowd so we could have as much dancing space as we wanted. Even though it was past midnight and the temperatures had cooled down, I sweated my ass off twirling, stomping, fist-pumping, and doing all sorts of grinding to Tiesto’s beats. It was the perfect way to end the night. 

Sunday

2:20 p.m. I was dying to see Local Natives at 2:10 but we got into the festival a little late. We still caught the end of their set, which seemed like the most fun anyway. I, along with everyone in the Gobi tent, raised both my hands in the air as they shouted the lyrics to “Sun Hands”. Really catchy song, tribal-y drums, has the “ahhhhhs” and quiet singing of the chorus then they bust into this back of the throat, husky singing that’s really fun to sing along to. Definitely a band that’s about to take off. 

After Local Natives my friends and I split. They went to Matt and Kim, and I went to Florence and the Machine. 

4:30 p.m. As much fun as a Matt and Kim set sounded, Florence is my girl. I knew I had to see her. And damn, I am glad I did. She was 10+ minutes late but when she came out she was an almighty goddess. She wore magnetic gold shorts and a white shirt with wide flowing sleeves that made her look like she just fell from Heaven. 

She opened up with, “Howl” and the audience howled along. Her voice was so powerful, and her energy was radiating as she jumped, pranced, and hopped around stage. She also knew how to work the crowd–constantly saying thanks, and encouraging us to dance. 

I almost lost control when Nathan Willet of Cold War Kids joined Florence to sing my favorite Cold War Kids song, “Hospital Bed”. It was one of my favorite performances of the whole festival. I felt very connected to Florence and could feel her energy throughout. It was one of the only times I felt comfortable in the crowd too. People around me joined in on the singing and jumping around and no one got mad when I sang too loud. 

5:30 p.m. After their set I met Brittany for a quick dance party at Club 75 in the Sahara tent. We snuck in the side and crammed in the corner but still managed to get our groove on as the collaboration of DJ’s spun energetic and dancey beats. 

Left the Sahara tent to get a glimpse of Julian Casablancas set and hydrate at the water station. We stopped the Outdoor Theatre tent to use the Port-o-Potties, and ended up lying down in the grass listening to the peaceful, melodic sounds of Jonsi’s set. 

Then it was off to another dance party. Time for my number 3 band to see: Miike Snow. 

6:45 p.m. We packed in the Mojave tent, stage left, about 10 rows back anxiously waiting to watch our favorite electro-pop Swedish lads take the stage. They came on stage wearing solid white masks and soon ripped them off as the synths and lights buzzed in and out. Most of their tracks started off slow and steady and morphed into an intense build-up of dancetastic sounds. The vocals were clear and almost sounded better than they do on their album. My favorite tracks were, “Silvia”, “Animal”, and “Burial”. I quite possibly danced more in the Mojave tent than I had the night before to Tiesto. Sweat dripped from every inch of my body but it was worth it with each and every beat. 

After Miike Snow, Brittany and I went to the water refill station and literally began bathing. Instead of drinking the water we dumped it over our heads, our arms, and our legs. While “showering” in the water tent, three guys came over to us and insisted we have a dance party. We danced all the way from the water tent to Phoenix’s set. The crowd for Phoenix extended on and on and on and on. We danced through too many groups of people to count. We caught the end of their set then watched a little bit of Pavement before we had to check in for WET. Phoenix definitely stole most of the crowd from Pavement. When we reached the Coachella Stage, we could have easily gotten up front for Pavement’s set. We heard, “Shady Lane”, and a couple other songs before heading back to our campsite. 

9 p.m. We checked in for WET, and this time we were really set to work Water World. We chugged some free Red Bull in order to make it through our 9 p.m.-3 a..m. shift, and rode a golf cart to a water station in front of the festival gates. 

Water World wasn’t the great big slide we hoped it would be. Once again we turned into greeters. We welcomed people into the water refill station and made sure they only entered with a blue water bottle. It was fun because a lot of the people drifting in were rolling or fucked up on some kind of drugs so we got to enhance their experience. “Welcome. You have arrived. Welcome to Water World,” Brittany and I would say in sync. Since we both lost our voices by this point, we welcomed people in lower, hushed voices. It was definitely funny to watch people’s reactions. Our supervisor was bomb and ended up giving us $40 for food. He even let us run into the festival real quick to watch the Gorillaz. We ended up staying at the water station till 1 a.m., walked around the campsites till 1:45ish and then we got to go home. 

Total Hours Worked for WET: 11 

Basically, I got WET at Coachella and I absolutely loved it. 

Overall Impression of Coachella: 

I got to see a lot of incredible performances and I loved the experience, but the festival lacked the community vibe I’ve felt at smaller hippie festivals such as Camp Barefoot and Grassroots. Then again 75,000+ people were at Coachella and less than 10,000 people go to Grassroots and Camp Barefoot. At Coachella I felt like I was going from concert to concert, not welcoming stage to welcoming stage where people are psyched to meet you. Although there were some unifying moments at Coachella that really captured me, I never felt an overwhelming rush of happiness and connectivity. Even so, I’d definitely go again. 

My Highlights of Coachella: 

I threw my diamonds up with Jay-Z and became a part of Roc Nation 

I danced in a field with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (their back drop was a picture of trees and a field) 

I succumbed to the techno bug 

I howled with Florence and the Machine 

I danced like a wild animal to Miike Snow’s ‘Animal’