05-12-2014, 12:15 PM
This new festival was pleasant because it was local. It was held on the big field on campus and had some major hiccups, but I really hope it goes again because I had a great time. There were some fun teaching moments for some RM nooBs like showing a few frightened EMTs and our RN what the K-hole was all about (they were vaguely aware of Ketamine) And some fine covert ops with our RM vets, which of course, must remain confidential.
It was really windy, so much so that one pop-up was flipped and torn apart (fortunately before the show started so no one was hurt) and the fence kept blowing askew. Plus it was really cold - three layers cold for me - which made those skinny coeds in daisy dukes regret their fashion choice. The other odd side was that they put green screening over all of the cyclone which completely blocked the view of the ocean. And it was a gorgeously clear day - you could see Monterey very clearly. If you stayed outside the venue, where more people were playing about, you could see the stage from the hill, hear the music perfectly and enjoy the ocean view. There were way too many cops and they got in this feeding frenzy and busted at least 5 kids for being high. Two of them they took into medical before hauling them off for no clear reason, just to wake us up maybe. That was bothersome. UC cops have the greatest jurisdiction of any cop org in CA because they are statewide. We saved some others, but got off to a rough start. They were hoping for 4-5K attendees, but probably only got 1-2K.
The early acts were mediocre.
Ill-Esha is one gal with a lot of keyboards, and dancers. The dancer with the half-body tiger tattoo was amusing, but their was this guy called 'white tiger' that was damn annoying.
Two Gallants is a power duo akin to Black Keys. They had a good grungy sound and covered Metallica, but the wind turned their music to mush. And I didn't feel the drummer was keeping up with the lead guitar singer.
Zion I was great fun. In fact, the show didn't really kick into gear for DM until then. DM has seen them before as they are local (Oaktown) and have had them on peripheral radar as they have some reggae influence. Plus they have a tune called Shadowboxing which is very Wu-influenced. Everyone was jumping which is a mark of good hip hop. They were dropping those big bass bombs, and DM lives for those. DM started jumping at this point in the show too, and that kept up until the end of the show. But DM had a good dance partner, a vol named Molly that one of the JNK brought to the show.
There was an interim EDM DJ set which made no sense as the headliner was EDM and what's the difference between interim DJs and DJs that are on the roster? Anyway, the interim DJs were Basik and DJ Ewocks and they were fun too, keeping the energy rolling in the wake of Zion I. DM liked Ewocks more because he wrote in tag in Star Wars font.
The headliner was Dillon Francis. He was enjoyable too. Pretty standard really for EDM - DM couldn't really recognize a tune (save for a few samples). It's all about the crescendos and the bass drops and what that does to the crowd. If you can cut out your memory of what just happened musically, and just focus on the beat and the dramatics, EDM is really fun. Of course, it helps to have a lot of writhing scantily-clad coeds surrounding you too and a dancer like Molly.
It was really windy, so much so that one pop-up was flipped and torn apart (fortunately before the show started so no one was hurt) and the fence kept blowing askew. Plus it was really cold - three layers cold for me - which made those skinny coeds in daisy dukes regret their fashion choice. The other odd side was that they put green screening over all of the cyclone which completely blocked the view of the ocean. And it was a gorgeously clear day - you could see Monterey very clearly. If you stayed outside the venue, where more people were playing about, you could see the stage from the hill, hear the music perfectly and enjoy the ocean view. There were way too many cops and they got in this feeding frenzy and busted at least 5 kids for being high. Two of them they took into medical before hauling them off for no clear reason, just to wake us up maybe. That was bothersome. UC cops have the greatest jurisdiction of any cop org in CA because they are statewide. We saved some others, but got off to a rough start. They were hoping for 4-5K attendees, but probably only got 1-2K.
The early acts were mediocre.
Ill-Esha is one gal with a lot of keyboards, and dancers. The dancer with the half-body tiger tattoo was amusing, but their was this guy called 'white tiger' that was damn annoying.
Two Gallants is a power duo akin to Black Keys. They had a good grungy sound and covered Metallica, but the wind turned their music to mush. And I didn't feel the drummer was keeping up with the lead guitar singer.
Zion I was great fun. In fact, the show didn't really kick into gear for DM until then. DM has seen them before as they are local (Oaktown) and have had them on peripheral radar as they have some reggae influence. Plus they have a tune called Shadowboxing which is very Wu-influenced. Everyone was jumping which is a mark of good hip hop. They were dropping those big bass bombs, and DM lives for those. DM started jumping at this point in the show too, and that kept up until the end of the show. But DM had a good dance partner, a vol named Molly that one of the JNK brought to the show.
There was an interim EDM DJ set which made no sense as the headliner was EDM and what's the difference between interim DJs and DJs that are on the roster? Anyway, the interim DJs were Basik and DJ Ewocks and they were fun too, keeping the energy rolling in the wake of Zion I. DM liked Ewocks more because he wrote in tag in Star Wars font.
The headliner was Dillon Francis. He was enjoyable too. Pretty standard really for EDM - DM couldn't really recognize a tune (save for a few samples). It's all about the crescendos and the bass drops and what that does to the crowd. If you can cut out your memory of what just happened musically, and just focus on the beat and the dramatics, EDM is really fun. Of course, it helps to have a lot of writhing scantily-clad coeds surrounding you too and a dancer like Molly.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse