MF #8
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2016
Date
September 30th – October 2nd, 2016
Location
San Francisco, California
Reason
Peace Love Tacos
Dave was coming to California! I had missed Firefly that year to stay and work in Silicon Valley. It had been too long since I had been to a festival. I was extremely excited to hear the news that my best friend was driving across the country for multiple music festivals and that I was invited to join in on the adventure.
Dave is a professional chef and had decided to combine his passion for music festivals with food. He found a summer job working with the food vendor Peace Love Tacos exclusively vending at music festivals. Dave worked several festivals with PLT, proving himself as a capable chef. He earned the invite to travel cross-country for a three-show run, an opportunity I’m so grateful he decided to take.
Dave pulled up in front of my college house in a giant Ford F350 dually pickup truck, complete with an in-bed camper, pulling an additional 20+ foot trailer. This ride was a beast! Shappi was Dave’s boss and owner of Peace Love Tacos. While many business owners are closed off with their new hires, the first thing Shappi wanted to know was if I had the ounce of weed they had requested. I had my medical card at the time and was happy to provide the supply, but coming from the corporate world it was a bit of a culture shock.
We quickly said our hellos and piled into the vehicle. Hardly Strictly is located in Golden Gate Park, and luckily we were staying in an AirBnb not too far away. While Dave drove us the majority of the way there, once we got on extremely tight San Francisco city streets, Shappi took over. Shappi was an incredible driver of the massive vehicle, especially considering he was actively taking bumps of cocaine while navigating the city streets.
Our Peace Love Tacos Booth – my first time working a music festival.
Arriving at the airbnb, I met the rest of the crew and we all headed out in search of dinner. We found a reasonably priced Chinese restaurant and had a great time. The next day was set up. While I wasn’t officially working yet, I was grateful for the chance to stay in the AirBnb and the opportunity to come along for the experience, so I helped out anyway I could.
While the event started Friday, it was slow. The whole event is free and it’s over by 7pm, which leads to the majority of the crowd showing up on Saturday and Sunday. I did get the opportunity to work my first few hours at a festival. Having spent a summer working in a kitchen, I quickly picked up on the flow. There is nothing complicated about cooking festival food. The difference between a good and bad employee comes down to speed. Speed is everything and the ability to push through a line quickly will determine the overall profit at the end of the weekend.
Saturday was much busier and my help was actually needed. I enjoyed the experience immensely. While it was just tacos, I felt like a part of the event. I was playing a crucial role in providing an amazing experience. A delicious taco is the perfect compliment to live music, and I was happy to facilitate that connection. I was outside, I could hear the music, and I was a part of the experience. It didn’t feel like work, it felt like fun. The day flew by.
Cake performs at Sunset – one of my favorite sets from the weekend.
Sunday was much slower than Saturday, but that turned out to be for the best. Several of my friends from Santa Clara were coming to the show that day. Not needed at the taco booth, I was free to go enjoy the event. I met up with several friends and we all had an amazing time. We hit the mosh pit for the Dropkick Murphys and caught a fantastic set by Cake. John McCrea, the lead singer of Cake did slur his way through a mediocre speech about how the festival was only put on for hotel revenue reasons. This made no sense, given the free nature of the event and the overwhelming local attendance. Luckily, the speech was sort and he was still coherent enough to sing and put on a damn good show.
At the end of the weekend, Shappi thanked me for my work and stuck $500 in my hand. I would have done it for free. He told me to get ready, next weekend was Desert Trip and it was going to be a whole different ball game.