Sierra Nevada World Music Festival @ Boonville

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Travel safe, post often.

[Drunk Monk]

Drive was good - only a bit of traffic north of Petaluma. Got solid parking and a shady tent spot. Had a lovely retirement dinner for 2 couples stepping down from their roles with JAH Med. There are like half the vendors here than usual and Thursday night is cold and super quiet - all except the camp next to ours who are having a raging game of beer pong.

---

‘Everything else is bong-like’ 

Enchanted Forest was just prior to SNWMF and attendance was really poor. Many didn’t get paid and the infrastructure was lacking. I’ve put out that I may bail on RotR. I’m still skeptical that it will happen with any magnitude. The festival scene has saturated the market.

[Drunk Monk]

Good day. Good night.

[Drunk Monk]

All irie. Very hot. Attendance is really low. Too many festivals have saturated the market.

They switched the logo from the Jamaican doctor bird to a Maori owl totally messing up my laminates.

Also a blackballed member hanging out with us spilled two beers on several of us at the front speakers inna dancehall. I wuz wet for the rest of the night. 

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

At least it was not syrup.

[Drunk Monk]

Lovers rock & ska.

And there was a white rabbit but it’s not what you might think.

[Drunk Monk]

Back at bungalow

In bed

It was an irie time. More complete report to follow. Stay tuned.

[Drunk Monk]

Yay! One complete sleep cycle done. At least one more to go. The last two nights went til 3am and my circadian rhythm barely allowed for a complete cycle.

Midnight thoughts: I’m sore. Both from so much driving over the last week and so much partying over last weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve partied like that. I mean honestly, the white rabbit play was beyond the pale (not what you think and will explain - soon come). Well worth the cost of brain, lung & liver cells. Nevertheless, I must schedule something with my chiro very soon. 

Also my iPhone is suspiciously sticky. 

But back to the beginning - I had a perfect landing on Thursday - ideal parking & camping, plus tent set up complete by 4:20 on the dot. My JNK staff applauded that timing as I raised my arms like a gymnast sticking their vault in victory and I knew I was off to an irie start.

Weather was perfect. 90s during the day - 92 degrees in the shade - hot enough to expand the bass but not intolerable. Only Thursday night was chilly. I woke to T-shirt weather each morning. 

My trepidations about JAH Med all vanished when we reunited. Such a wonderful loving crew. I am honored and priveledged to stand among them. The JNK were on point and the crew assembled gloriously. I went on a few calls but only actually encountered one patient, and I let other JNK deal with that.

Basically, I posed all weekend... and it was good.

Now I seem to be experiencing a bit of dancehall hangover. I’m feckin wide awake. I need to put down this phone and catch that second sleep cycle. Big week this week - lots of work to be done and then the Oakland Museum talk on Saturday the Dead & Co the following Monday & Tuesday.

[Drunk Monk]

Cho! 2am and still tweakin. I hate this part. Claaat...

[Drunk Monk]

yay work.

So I came in wearing my collared SNWMF shirt from over a decade ago.  It's a common play for me to enter with this, and because there was a retirement dinner, I thought I'd go with a collar, which is about as formal as reggae gets unless you go full out JA bling.  That retirement dinner was nice.  We had reserved a table even though we were there first when it opened and there were only a few more diners when we left.  We gave the retirees these nice plates made from recycled glass or something, sort of a local favorite I'm told, but the text on the plate was silver so that didn't really show on a clearish glass plate.  

Friday I changed into my THE JEDI MUST END shirt to mess with my krew.  With me dropping out of RotR, there's rumor of my retirement, which Doc fostered even more at the staff meeting.  Friday afternoon, I changed to my Dreadlock lion because Dirty Ho had his Dreadlock lion with the snapchat sunglasses & spliff filter.  Turned out his son had the same one I did, so I grammed a selfie.

Saturday I started with my Dreadlock lion with the snapchat sunglasses & spliff filter just to mess with JAH Med.  Only a few noticed, but that was many many more than when I did the same at Rock Med for Cali Roots, and there, I was wearing both shirts because it was chilly and I was sick, changing them whenever I had a moment of privacy.  Later I swapped to a tie-dyed JAH Med SNWMF shirt.  

Sunday I donned the SNWMF25 shirt.  I looked very official because it was clean and white, and I had black BDU style pants and a radio.  People asked me stuff, like where to get ice, and cops nodded to me as I passed.  I was only there until noon.

[Drunk Monk]

The White Rabbit

Overall, SNWMF25 was super mellow for the JNK.  The only major thing that happened was that so house guy stole our cart because he had a master key on Saturday night.  I was asleep and my krew told me in the morning - it was rather funny.  

We had a few last minute cancellations like always, and I filled a vacant slot with a local JNK member who only came in for Sat night thru Sun.  She's got a dog companion, so she can be logistically a bit challenging, but it worked out.  After midnight, as the JNK were preparing to head to the dancehall, she says she has this white rabbit mask from some play she was recently involved in - and my ears prick with any mention of Wonderland.  So she brings the mask and although you couldn't smoke thru it and half the face was smashed (oddly appropriate) it was comfortable enough.  I donned it and ran amuck, much to my JNK's amusement.  We always say that if there's nothing happening, we'll make our own mischief.  Several JNK joined us later, unaware that it was me under the mask for some time, which made for a hilarious reveal when joints were passed around.  The best part was the eye mesh made the lights squiggly as octopus tentacles.  But it was a hot mask and I had to give it up around 3AM.  There was a silent disco afterwards, and I had met the guy running that through another friend, so I hoped to make that but at 3AM after chasing that white rabbit, I was done.  But still, it was the climax of the weekend.

[Drunk Monk]

Really missed this last year.  2018 may have been it.

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Dear SNWMF Family:
We hope your year will be rewarding, even despite the turmoils of our times.
We have struggled for many months now to make tough decisions about the future of SNWMF, but have been forced to again conclude we cannot adequately present it this year. Time has flown, and despite great effort to move 2020 forward, we just are not at a point where we can do so.
Our founder and guiding light Warren Smith’s health will not allow him to put in the time and energy required to pull together the “best fest in the West” as we have always aimed to present it.  He is at home, relatively stable, but it is a very challenging situation requiring constant attention and too unpredictable for us to commit to all the many months required.  Epiphany Artists has always been a very small team. We have conferred with veterans of our and other festivals, including exploring possible new partnerships and/or a smaller event, but have been forced to this sad conclusion.  It is one which Warren fully supports and in fact proposed some time ago - although all of us have hoped against hope to still be able to pull everything together.
As we noted last year, nobody wishes for SNWMF to continue more than we do - for 25 years it was a joyful and proud highlight of our lives - truly a labor of love and music.  But alas, we cannot in good conscience or health put on an inferior version of the festival, even though we still so wish to gather in June and see you all.
We trust and hope you understand this difficult decision.  Your support and patience thus far has meant the world to us. We will keep our website, phorum and Facebook pages open for the community to continue to be in touch.  While we hope to return in 2021, we cannot with confidence say yet if that will be the case, based on what has happened this year.  But we will think, hope, and act with as much positivity as we can. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and blessings to all.
Yours in music and unity,
Epiphany Artists

The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival is dedicated
to nurturing a world family peacefully united in celebration
of the universal spirit of music.

[Greg]

No Bueno.

[Drunk Monk]

Next weekend - solstice & father's day - should've been SNWMF. But it's been offline since Warren fell ill. I haven't kept up with his status (although I imagine I'd've heard if he passed). Nevertheless, it was doubtful that there was going to be an SNWMF 2020 even without the pandemic. 

I just reread this whole thread from the beginning. So many memories. Ironically, it starts when SNWMF moved to Boomville and JAH med took over - never mind those delicious SNWMF at Calaveras with Rock Med, back when it was still in SN. Those were so wonderful - I do have notes locked away somewhere but not here on DOOM.

SNWMF was always the summer pinnacle festival because it was on solstice. 

I will be so grateful when I get back to another festival. But who knows when that might be? Who knows? You never really know how good you have it until it all goes away.

[Drunk Monk]

Rest in power Warren Smith. 

I just got word.