01-05-2015, 01:15 PM
I had Tara as my working +1 so it was the soberest NYE I have ever had, at least since I turned 21. Srsly, just a wee tipple of champagne after midnite. Nevertheless, it was quite fun as having T there, I got to see a lot through her eyes, and I also had more freedom to just enjoy the show as I was touring her about.
After another stunningly gorgeous drive up the coast, we had a lovely dinner at Ananda Fuara, and then over to the show. It was T's first NYE show, as well as her first major EDM, although in all fairness, SoD is also jambands. In fact, the main stage is all jambands, mostly instrumental, and it's only the two side halls that are EDM driven. Polk hall had a DJ plus a triple silent disco. A silent disco is where the audience wears headphones - the idea arose from late night campouts. Here, it was a mess - the headphones were color coded with bright lights matching one of the trio of DJs, but it put the audience on four different rhythms, the three silents and the one open air, making it impossible to navigate through the crowd as there was no consistent downbeat. The bulk of the calls came from here. Larkin Hall had one DJ at a time with some burlesque acts. We didn't really check those out because it's weird to watch burlesque with your daughter, plus most of the dancers were on the chubby side. In the main stage, Mikey Thunder was the mortar act - they had a good horn attack and rolling bass. Beats Antique was my fav act - lots of dancers and drummers, hotties with halter tops and feather fans, bookend bikini dancers with cape wings - but mostly good rocking dance music. Pretty Lights were the midnite band - I joked after with T that there wasn't enough lights. What a light show! Light shows today are over the top. One patron showed me this wristband he got at an EDM at the craneway earlier this year. Everyone got one with their ticket and they changed color, coordinated with the music at the show, controlled by the lighting guys somehow. Very cool.
We had two IPRS, one Asian dude (half Japanese, half Chinese) so I got to work my broken Mandarin a little - not sure if it helped. Back in the daze of the Dead, I talked down some Japanese tourist IPRS using my Dojo Japanese - our common ground was Godzilla. That still stands as RM legend. T got to see a classic acid trip, which was great as she was always told in the past to stay away from the psych tent. I almost had this patient down when a noisy drunk got him all riled up again. Then, enter a JNK master who had a ticket to dance with Mollly. She was deep in the zone and totally took over the talkdown, bringing him down with her magik choco-pretzels. I know, that makes little sense, but it was a demo of the JNK force at it's finest. There was another IPR who came in late in restraint and had two P.O. cards in his wallet. I think he got rolled but we didn't stick around as it was already late. In the end, T had a very good experience and continues her interest in volunteering for RM. She may become my ultimate JNK padawan. I often say that the main reason I've stuck with RM for so long has been to keep up with the music, but I've failed at that. Like I said above, T knew Glitch Mob and I had no clue. We'll see how this all goes. It's definitely good experience for her and she already has major bragging rights amongst her friends as she's seen more music than any of them.
After another stunningly gorgeous drive up the coast, we had a lovely dinner at Ananda Fuara, and then over to the show. It was T's first NYE show, as well as her first major EDM, although in all fairness, SoD is also jambands. In fact, the main stage is all jambands, mostly instrumental, and it's only the two side halls that are EDM driven. Polk hall had a DJ plus a triple silent disco. A silent disco is where the audience wears headphones - the idea arose from late night campouts. Here, it was a mess - the headphones were color coded with bright lights matching one of the trio of DJs, but it put the audience on four different rhythms, the three silents and the one open air, making it impossible to navigate through the crowd as there was no consistent downbeat. The bulk of the calls came from here. Larkin Hall had one DJ at a time with some burlesque acts. We didn't really check those out because it's weird to watch burlesque with your daughter, plus most of the dancers were on the chubby side. In the main stage, Mikey Thunder was the mortar act - they had a good horn attack and rolling bass. Beats Antique was my fav act - lots of dancers and drummers, hotties with halter tops and feather fans, bookend bikini dancers with cape wings - but mostly good rocking dance music. Pretty Lights were the midnite band - I joked after with T that there wasn't enough lights. What a light show! Light shows today are over the top. One patron showed me this wristband he got at an EDM at the craneway earlier this year. Everyone got one with their ticket and they changed color, coordinated with the music at the show, controlled by the lighting guys somehow. Very cool.
We had two IPRS, one Asian dude (half Japanese, half Chinese) so I got to work my broken Mandarin a little - not sure if it helped. Back in the daze of the Dead, I talked down some Japanese tourist IPRS using my Dojo Japanese - our common ground was Godzilla. That still stands as RM legend. T got to see a classic acid trip, which was great as she was always told in the past to stay away from the psych tent. I almost had this patient down when a noisy drunk got him all riled up again. Then, enter a JNK master who had a ticket to dance with Mollly. She was deep in the zone and totally took over the talkdown, bringing him down with her magik choco-pretzels. I know, that makes little sense, but it was a demo of the JNK force at it's finest. There was another IPR who came in late in restraint and had two P.O. cards in his wallet. I think he got rolled but we didn't stick around as it was already late. In the end, T had a very good experience and continues her interest in volunteering for RM. She may become my ultimate JNK padawan. I often say that the main reason I've stuck with RM for so long has been to keep up with the music, but I've failed at that. Like I said above, T knew Glitch Mob and I had no clue. We'll see how this all goes. It's definitely good experience for her and she already has major bragging rights amongst her friends as she's seen more music than any of them.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse