Afro Monk

Lightning in a Bottle 2010 was THE Greatest experience in my life so this maybe extremely bias =)

LIB is a festival that goes on for three days in Irvine, California. The location is outside of civilization so majority of people who attend camp for the week-end. Luckily I have such great friends I was able to fly in with just clothes and a sleeping bag. As soon as you drive into the parking lot you’ll realize how serious this thing is. People of all ages, colors, shapes, and mindsets are flooding in, carrying essential supplies. Once you’ve entered the parking lot you’re great with a spectacular view of the lake with mountains surrounding it. Shuttles await you as you carry your needs to the line. Shuttles take you to all the four camp sites. I was surprised how efficient the shuttles were considering most people were taking a crap load of things. Thankfully a few friends had already arrived earlier Thursday to setup camp. Arriving early and picking out a good campsite is key! You’ll be coming back from the festival at night and a close location when it’s pitch dark helps!

The music couldn’t have been any better. The Do Lab out did themselves with the line up this year! The main highlights of the festival without looking at the line up are: Nosaj Thing, Stephan Jacobs, MartyParty, Mimosa, Vibesquad, Lucent Dossier, Jupit3r, Daddy Kev & Nobody, Eliot Lipp, Heyoka, & Daedelus. I’d go into detail of each of these magnificent performances but this post would end up being pages upon pages long. Please ask for any input out of these. It was asked numerous times who was my favorite of the festival. I’ve thought long and hard and decided that I came up with my favorite, NOSAJ THING! The man was completely live the whole time and on point. The music was absolutely amazing incorporating many of his own tracks with many others. The amount of skill and talent was clearly shown. He had no shame to hold back and tweak and glitch everything on the fly. After Nosaj I’d probably say it was Stephan Jacobs, MartyParty, and Mimosa. You might notice that I never mentioned The Glitch Mob in all this… I might just have an entire post about what I thought of the NEW Glitch Mob. Another name I didn’t mention was Kraddy. The reason for this was because since he was on the first night and much later on I ended up making a serious mistake of not wearing warm clothes since it was so furiously hot during the day. The cruelest joke of the trip was how insanely hot it was during the day and beyond a comfort level of cold at night. I ended up missing half of Kraddy’s set because I had to go to camp to change.

The experience of camping was something completely new to me. I had never gone camping in my life. I have to admit I was quite intimidated by going to a festival alone and be outside camping. Thank God I had one of the best group of people around me. If you are new to festivals I highly recommend going with someone who has been or has experience. Be warned there are TONS of hippies which can be a good or bad thing depending how you look at it. I was raised in very comfortable living situation and too be honest camping wasn’t that bad. Many even say camping at a festival isn’t really camping at all. Keep in mind that many festivals are in the dessert or remote locations so it can get insanely hot and become unbearably cold at night within a couple hours. The major experience of camping was in the community of people around you. It’s a very hospital environment where everyone is sharing and looking out for each other. Having a solid group makes a huge difference. It’s almost a barter system. I’ll tell you I spent so much less money than I could have imagined. Most of the money I spent went into buying food that I didn’t really have to have and merch. Having free running water all over the festival helps tremendously. The Do Lab clearly made camping quite easy. The one catch that everyone couldn’t help but notice was the whole leave the camp ground as if we were never there. It’s a great mentality to have BUT there weren’t enough trash cans. You would think that there would be more so this was possible. It truly surprised me how much people cared about this when it came to leaving the camp grounds. You would find people walking around with trash bags cleaning up.

The last thing I want to talk about is the amount of stores and shops available. The amount of art and merch areas was impressive. You could find all sort of fun exotic clothes and memorabilia at the festival. Everyone around was expressing themselves in the way they dressed, danced, or even communicated. A conversation came up on how some people go completely all out and look insane. We concluded that it might just be us that the joke is on and those people who do go all out truly get it. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t mind the beautiful outfits that people were wearing but you have to wonder where all the these people hide during regular life.

All in all the festival was the greatest experience of my life and I’m hooked! Everyone speaks of Burning Man but considering I’m in Miami and work during the week it won’t be possible. Lightning in a Bottle is a perfect festival to start. It’s a long week-end and it’s not as harsh conditions as some of the other festivals out there. The music is absolutely top notch and so are all the performances. Festivals is a great place to meet new people who share your same interest and taste. Let’s not forget the amount of partying and networking that goes on. Thank You The Do Lab! Lightning in a Bottle changed my life.

Another thing I’d like to mention is that there are camps specialized for families and quite camp. This is to all the people camping around us who kept complaining about us staying up all night talking and making noise. If you have kids in your camp and actually want to sleep when it’s night time… GO TO THE SPECIFIC CAMP FOR THAT! =D

If you are looking for photos or have any photos feel free to post them on the Flickr group:
Lightning in a Bottle 2010 Photos

Here is a great video that was posted that has some photos of the festival this year:

Bwomp Camp Memories:
HOOOOTTTT SAAAKKKIIII
The Apparatus
Spacedust
Jesus
Nibbler
Pirate Flag
Mirror Shot
Skirt Beetle
Vagina Crystal Necklace
It will find you
That EP better be coming out soon
BAACCOOOONNNN
Heat Exhaustion
Stupid Ugly Girls
Go
Space Hawk
Atari
Bachard
Spaghetti

Lightning in a Bottle Music Festival is less than a week away. I’ll be flying out of Miami straight to California via Virgin America Friday morning. One of my great friends, Sugarpill will be picking me up from the airport and we’ll begin our journey!

Let me first tell you that I’ve never been camping in my life nor have had any interest in camping. You could probably call me a prissy bitch but honestly that’s just how I was raised and never got into the whole outdoor thing. I’m a huge geek/nerd and always spent my free time usually on the computer. Don’t get me wrong I played base ball, soccer, football, and track & field but probably would prefer being at home playing StarCraft while listening to music being young. I’ve become an adult and spent more time inside now when not traveling because nothing is better than a long night with a beautiful woman being inside listening to music, talking, and cuddling. WAIT a second…! That can all be done at this festival with the stars staring down at you?! NOW IT MAKES SENSE! hahaha

Afro Monk’s Must See List @ Lightning at a Bottle 2010

An-ten-nae, Apparat, Beats Antique, Booka Shade, Daddy Kev, Daedelus, Eliot Lipp, Emancipator, EOTO, Heyoka, Jupit3r, KRADDY, MartyParty, MiM0SA, Nosaj Thing, R/D, The Album Leaf, The Glitch Mob, & VibeSquaD. Let’s not forget the BREATHE TAKING performance of Lucent Dossier!!! (see below)

Everyone on the East Coast please take notes of these… I can’t explain to you how talented each of those acts are. I have no idea how I’m going to catch all of them let alone catch some new music in the process!

EVERYONE MUST WATCH THIS VIDEO!!!
It’s absolutely hilarious and shows off some great photos!

Besides the unbelievable amounts of music there is endless amounts of art! When I mean art I mean it in every aspect: fashion, installations, gallery’s, sculptures, lights, dance, etc..

Must Read Guides From Two of My Favorite Bloggers!
Shilo’s Guide
Boho Crush Guide

I’ll be meeting up with Shilo and part of the BWOMP Camp! Come say whats up and introduce yourself! Going with only knowing about a handful of people and hope to come back with many new friends! I’ll have stickers and cards so feel free to ask for some!

THANK YOU THE DO LAB!

Some epic videos of past LIB’s!