MF #10
Desert Trip 2016 – Weekend 2
Date
October 13th – 16th, 2016
Location
Indio, California
Reason
Peace Love Tacos
Heading back to Desert Trip was just about the most exciting moment of my life. I had such an incredible time the first weekend. It felt like a dream to have a chance to go back and do it all over again. The tough work was already out of the way. The booth was set up. We knew where we were going, how to get inside, and what to expect. Our only focus was on having a good time.
With our experience, we showed up well-supplied. This week we brought cans of beer instead of bottles, Dave made sure to grab an extra air mattress, and we actually had snacks for the campground. We were set.
We returned to the campground entrance Wednesday night, repeating the same security trick from last week. Once again, we managed to stash our car inside the staff campground and got to work setting up our camp and catching up with friends.
Headed back to Desert Trip – Good Vibes Only
Thursday was prep day. We spent the afternoon cutting up meat and vegetables, mixing sauces, and filling the booth with everything we would need for the coming weekend. One of our most popular items was the slow-cooked pork carnitas. Shappi owned an industrial vertical rack oven, and we would cook the pork in the oven for 6 to 8 hours.
Due to scheduling issues with load-in, the pork didn’t go in the oven until 8 pm. This meant someone had to come back to the booth around 3:30 am to check the temperature, pull it from the ovens, and put it in the warming racks. The whole process should only take 15 minutes, but it was vital for a successful weekend. Dave and I volunteered to be responsible for the pork.
Prep day was capped off by The Rolling Stones performing yet another extensive soundcheck. We all enjoyed the private concert. I was personally impressed by the repeated seriousness of the soundcheck. Everyone was 100% focused on creating the best performance possible. You would think The Rolling Stones would already know the perfect way to play their songs, but there was consistent banter among the band members and the production team on tiny little tweaks that would improve the show. There is a reason they are still the best in the business.
The Rolling Stones perform Angie during soundcheck.
Back at camp, I had my alarm set for 2:45 am. I was so excited to be back in the campground I could hardly sleep. I quickly woke to the buzzing of my phone, got up, and got ready for a night-time adventure. I went to raise Dave, but he was out cold. Dave can do a lot of impressive things, but waking up from a dead sleep is not one of them. I knew I didn’t need his help for this mission, so I set off into the night.
Desert Trip had a constantly changing staff entrance, but by weekend 2 it tended to be at the gate nearest the staff camping (this never happens). I headed to this entrance only to find it completely locked up. While I did have a staff wristband, I wasn’t about to scale a tall fence alone in the night.
I decided to head clockwise around the venue in search of an alternative entrance that might be open. Around 15 minutes later I finally found the golf cart entrance. The guards were rather surprised to see someone on foot entering at this hour, but I explained the situation and gave them the “I’m coming in and I’m allowed to” energy and talked my way inside.
I got into the festival grounds and enjoyed the incredibly unique experience of having the entire place to myself. There were a few late-night workers dealing with last-minute emergencies, but overwhelmingly the grounds were empty, quiet, and serene.
Luckily, the pork was at the perfect temperature as soon as I arrived and I was able to pull it from the oven, put it in the warming racks, and shut everything down for the night. I was buzzing with excitement as I made my way back to camp. The start of the festival was only hours away.
I woke in the morning to Dave poking his head in my tent. “Did you pull the pork?” he exclaimed. I told him it was taken care of and he immediately looked relieved. I guess he didn’t remember my attempts to wake him. Dave texted Shappi the good news that the pork was safe and we all started to slowly get ready for the weekend.
When I arrived at work, I heard the good news that thanks to my efforts in the night to save the pork, I could take off for the entire Rolling Stones set. I was pumped! Could this weekend get any better? The day flew by, and before I knew it Bob Dylan was taking the stage.
Sunset from inside the Peace Love Taco booth during Desert Trip Music Festival
Bob Dylan won a Nobel Prize in Literature on October 13th. One day later, on October 14th he was opening weekend 2 of Desert Trip Music Festival. We all wondered what we would say about the occasion. Being himself, he chose to say nothing at all. He simply played one song, then started into the next song. As far as I can remember, he never addressed the audience.
Our first dinner rush started as soon as his set came to a close. We were ready, willing, and able to feed the crowds. Our lines quickly started to flow and tacos began to fly off the line. We all fell into our flow, everyone fulfilling their own duties so the entire kitchen could operate as a single taco machine.
360 Degree Panorama during The Rolling Stones – Desert Trip 2016 W2
As soon as the dinner rush ended, I was cut to go enjoy the show! The Rolling Stones are the quintessential rock band. They quickly launched into yet another legendary performance. Mick Jagger started off the night by welcoming the crowd to the “Catch-Them-Before-They-Croak Festival”
Some of the most memorable songs of the night included It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (but I Like It), Angie, Paint It Black, and of course – Gimmie Shelter. In recognition of the opening act, Mick Jagger took a moment from the performance to acknowledge Bob Dylan and his accomplishment of winning a Nobel Prize, comparing Dylan to the American poet Walt Whitman and praising his influence on him and The Rolling Stones.
The encore ended with You Can’t Always Get What You Want, before they closed out the show with an amazing rendition of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. I can only offer a few words to describe the set – incredible, stunning, superb – but all descriptions will fall short of the in-person experience. You can read about live music, you can listen and watch the concert recordings, but to capture the feeling of having your feet on the ground is impossible. In my own experience, I was present. I was in the moment. I was alive. I was happy. I was lucky to be there.
Please excuse the terrible camera work – I was excited.
Saturday was set to be another exceptional day. Dave and I were scheduled to work pretty much the entire night, as we were already getting prepared to party Sunday night. This didn’t matter. Work was actually fun and very easy. The entire crowd was in a good mood. We dealt with almost no complaints or issues with customers, and the tips were good.
Neil Young opened up the night, serenading us all in melodramatic rock music. The real star of the night turned out to be Paul McCartney. Sensing my complaints that he always plays the same stuff, McCartney decided to offer the crowd an exceptional treat by bringing out Rihanna for a phenomenal rendition of FourFiveSeconds. McCartney quipped “we finally found someone under the age of fifty!” as Rihanna exited the stage.
The special guests were not done. Fresh off his opening set, Neil Young soon joined McCartney on stage for The Beatles’ classic – A Day in the Life. The duo followed up with yet another Beatles song, Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? During the entire show, Dave and I held down the booth serving the slow trickle of customers who needed a taco right now. Luckily, we could still clearly hear the performance on stage, and if we stood on our tiptoes or leaned our heads out of the booth we could catch a glimpse of the action. It was definitely a fun night, but our focus was on work.
Back at camp, Dave’s extra air mattress turned out to be an excellent idea, as his 1-week old air mattress popped Saturday night. After suffering a difficult night’s rest, Dave pulled both of his remaining air mattresses into the morning sunshine, piled them on top of each other, and slept well into Sunday morning attempting to recover. At this point, our entire crew was at the end of a three-week cross-country run. We could all use a little rest and relaxation. However, today was the last day of the festival. Nobody was going to miss out on the fun.
Sleeping on two deflating air mattresses is not fun!
As we walked into work Sunday morning, I found myself full of gratitude. I loved being a cog in the festival machine. Yes, I was just a small piece but there was no doubt I was making a positive impact on the event. Everyone loves tacos, and thanks to me and our crew, anyone could get a freshly made taco in the middle of the festival. People were genuinely thankful for the service we provided and I loved getting the opportunity to be a part of the event.
Sunday quickly flew by. The Who soon took the stage to open the night. We had caught a good section of The Who’s set during the first weekend, so I wasn’t too upset at having to work straight through the show. Our time was quickly approaching. At the conclusion of The Who, the dinner rush began. I manned the tortilla station while Dave went up front to take orders.
About 45 minutes before Roger Waters was set to take the stage I caught Dave’s attention and told him to come to the back of the booth. It was time. We were about to go on a trip. We had three tabs of Guy Fawkes acid on serrated blotter paper. I tore the strip right down the middle, ignoring the pre-cut lines, and handed Dave one of the pieces. I warned him things were about to get crazy and to keep it together until we could go to the show.
Despite the imminent ordeal, I was still in control of the staff speaker and I had put on my friend’s “Groovy” playlist of trippy 80’s rock dance songs. A mix of Steely Dan, The Doors, Blue Öyster Cult, and The Mamas & The Papas blasted from our booth. Our entire line was dancing and singing along to the classics. I was flipping tortillas, enjoying the experience, and counting down the minutes until we were set free. Tortillas soon started to dance along to Break on Through (To the Other Side). I caught Dave’s eye. He was feeling it too!
Luckily all I had to do was focus on warming my tortillas. We would soon be out of this situation. Dave kept his composure and kept taking orders, ignoring the rapidly oncoming effects of the LSD. This stuff was good! It was a much smoother come up than the previous week and I was able to continue working comfortably. Last week the tortillas were in a raging mosh pit. This week, they were in an elegant waltz.
Before we knew it, our time was up. Dinner rush began to die down, an ominous heartbeat started thumping across the grounds. Roger Waters was taking the stage. We looked at Shappi, he looked at us, and he said the magic words. “Good job you guys, go have some fun!” Dave and I quickly collected our belongings and set off into the crowd.
While there was only a single stage at Desert Trip, there were two large video boards about midway through the field, providing an up close view of the stage for those at the back. Dave pointed at the side video boards and said, “we need to get closer than those.” I was in complete agreement. We didn’t want any distractions. While other bands chose to use parts of the video walls for graphics and part for camera feeds, Roger Waters had turned the entire 200-foot video wall into a single massive screen, plastering intense visuals across the entire stage.
We made our way through the crowd and found a nice spot to settle down. We were in front of the side video boards and dead center. This was going to be our spot. As One Of These Days began, we decided it was time for a joint. Things were about to get crazy and a joint would be the perfect companion to our current state.
Sitting in the Grass during Roger Waters – even the moon was watching the show.
We sat down in the grass and I pulled out my papers and grinder. While I had all the supplies, I had underestimated the effects of the acid. My fingers were struggling. Weed was pouring out of the paper and onto the ground, and I was quickly getting frustrated at my inability to complete a task that would normally take a few seconds.
Dave was trying not to laugh at my attempts to put something smokeable together, while at the same time mourning the rapid loss of our flower to my incompetence. Of course, the festival provided. A stranger leaned down and tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Looks like you’re struggling there. Take this.” He handed me a lit joint. Of course – my fumbling fingers dropped the joint, but it was undamaged and still lit. Our savior laughed as I recovered it from the ground. He told us to enjoy it and have a great night and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
We passed the joint back and forth as alarm clocks started ringing across the entire field. The classic Pink Floyd song, Time was starting. Audio was coming from every direction. This was not just a stereo mix, it was a full on three-dimensional sound experience on the single most amazing sound system I’ve ever heard.
This performance remains the greatest live show I’ve ever witnessed. I look at this event as a turning point in my life. I was taking a short break from college while trying to determine my career path. While I went to school for computer science and chased the Silicon Valley dream, after a few high-powered internships I realized I wasn’t mentally prepared to get trapped in an office, no matter the salary. I was looking for a more interesting opportunity. Getting the chance to work at Desert Trip Music Festival came through my best friend and a random phone call. I knew I was supposed to be at this event on this field.
I immediately felt the pull to work at another music festival. I already had a suspicion that food vending and tacos would not be my life’s calling, but by taking this opportunity, I found myself in the production world surrounded by thousands of workers all playing their own roles in the event. I was certain I could find a place where I could be an asset.
I was so blown away by the audio and visual experience. Due to my passion for technology, I felt immediately curious about the technical aspects of the production world. Perhaps I could work as an audio technician? Setting up the audio equipment at music festivals sounded like an amazing time. I was already working at a music festival. It was a dream, but suddenly it didn’t seem like that far of a leap.
While I contemplated my future, my past experiences, my relationships, and my life, Roger Waters continued to put on the show of a lifetime. While many artists want you to dance, to release, to let go, Roger Waters wants you to think. The show was full of politically charged imagery. Trump was running for President and Roger Waters let the conservative wealthy southern Californian crowd exactly how he felt when he launched into the song Pigs. A giant flying pig started floating across the field, emblazoned with Trumps face accompanied with the text, “Ignorant, Lying, Racist, Sexist, PIG” and “Fuck TRUMP and his wall”
The crowd was mixed. Jeers and cheers echoed and competed. Roger stood firm in his beliefs and continued to criticize American international policy, war, racial issues, politics, and consumerism. You have to be politically tuned in to catch some of the messages embedded in the show. As an example, Roger included the footage released by Chelsea Manning of US Helicopter Gun Crews murdering two Reuters journalists. If you didn’t know the footage, it cut before they fired. If you know the footage, you don’t expect to see it in the middle of a concert. It’s jarring and will make you think of all the other “acts of war” that were never released to the public. But that is exactly the point. Stop being a sheep and do something about it.
Paise the cameraman – I held it (mostly) steady for this one.
Roger ended the show by reading a poem before playing Vera and Bring the Boys Back Home. He then closed out the night with an exceptional rendition of Comfortably Numb and excited the stage. Dave and I reconnected and were both in very interesting states. Dave was very much in the middle of his trip and was struggling to process the end of the show.
We went with the wave of the crowd before retreating to the booth. Dave locked himself away in the trailer in search of quiet isolation while I just sat on the cooler in awe. Shappi soon returned and wanted to know how we were doing. I was on cloud nine, and expressed my amazement at the performance. I let him know Dave’s state, and Shappi just laughed. He went and retrieved Dave from the trailer and expertly calmed him down. Luckily the sober minds had taken care of the clean up, so we could just catch a golf cart ride back to camp. We lit up a massive joint in Shappi’s RV as we all recapped the greatest three weeks of my life. It’s amazing how quickly you can bond with you coworkers when you work insane hours at music festivals. I was a complete stranger three weeks ago. Now I was an essential part of the team.
The next morning, Shappi gave me a bit over $700 for my work on the weekend. Even with the travel expenses, this three-week trip of a lifetime put well over $1000 in my pocket while giving me the opportunity to watch the greatest bands in the world perform at the best festival of all time.
There was only one question to answer – do we keep this party going and head to Las Vegas or do we call it a trip and return home to Santa Clara? With money in our pockets and no clear direction, Dave and I flipped a coin. Tails we chase tail in Las Vegas, Heads and we use our heads and go home. I’ve never been so happy to not go to Las Vegas. The coin landed on heads and we headed home.
Driving back up to Santa Clara, I knew my time in the festival world was just getting started.