MF #13
Electric Forest 2017 – Weekend 1
Date
June 21st – 25th, 2017
Location
Rothbury, Michigan
Reason
Best Beverage Catering
My bartending connection came through! I was heading to Electric Forest. Better still, I managed to get my good friend Dave a bartending job alongside me. Now that we had employment, we had to actually get there.
Electric Forest is in Rothbury, Michigan. This is northern middle-of-nowhere Michigan. I was living in Santa Clara, California for the summer and Dave was located in Fenwick Island, Delaware. It was a camping festival and we had to report to Electric Forest by the afternoon of Wednesday July 21st. Around lunch time on Tuesday the 20th, I caught an Uber to the Oakland Airport and boarded a multi-stop flight through Denver to Baltimore, Maryland.
I landed at BWI at 1 am, picked up my luggage, and walked out to Dave’s truck. He was already loaded up with camping supplies, fueled up, and ready to hit the road. I warned him ahead of time that I would be pretty wiped from the flights, so he agreed to take the first driving shift. My job was to get some rest. We had a 13-hour drive ahead of us and we had to make it there today.
Blue – Uber (1 hour) + Red – Flights (8 hours) + Green – Drive (13 hours)
I slept in the passenger seat for ~5 hours before Dave woke me for my shift. We had 8 hours of driving left to go, but I was feeling great. I was super excited to be on another adventure with my good friend Dave. I took over driving and settled in. No traffic, good music, and cruise control helped the hours fly by. Dave woke in the morning, groggy but excited to arrive at the venue. He took over driving for the final few hours.
We made it to Electric Forest a bit after 3 pm, checked in, picked up our staff credentials, and drove into the festival grounds in search of our campground. We met up with a few friends at the staff campground quite a distance from the festival entrance. We were in for a 30-minute walk to the venue, but at least we were here.
Dave quickly started making food on a supersized easy-bake oven called a Camp Chef which he had brought along. Dave’s dad is an avid deep-sea fisherman. We were in a field in Michigan. Dave surprised the group when he started asking, “Who would like a shark burrito?” Apparently, his dad had caught a mako shark the previous week and he had brought some along to share. We all accepted the generous offer and quickly dug into delicious shark burritos.
One of our mutual friends from high school, Sydnee, was also working the festival. I sent her a text that we had arrived to the campgrounds, only to receive a call a few seconds later.
I answered the phone to Syd sobbing. She explained that she was sick in the medical tent. Her boss was busy getting ready for the event, and according to the medics she had been too sick for too long and it was about time she went to a proper medical facility. Understandably, she didn’t want to take an ambulance. We answered the call of duty, put the Camp Chef back in the truck, and drove over to the medical tent. Luckily we hadn’t set up our tents yet.
Syd was in rough shape. She was as white as a sheet and extremely weak. She had food poisoning or worse and it was evident. We cleared a bit of space in the cab of the truck and drove her to the nearest emergency room.
We got her checked in and Syd was soon shown to a room. I kept her company while Dave went and napped in the truck. The nurse gave her an IV and told her that she could have anti-nausea medicine as soon as she could produce a pee sample. They had to make sure she wasn’t pregnant.
I thought this situation was rather comical. She was too dehydrated to pee right away, which led to a hilarious delay where I kept inquiring if she was pregnant. She assured me that was not the case, but it was still a funny moment for one of us. Soon enough, the IV started taking effect and color returned to her face. Syd was able to produce a sample about 20 minutes later, finally confirming that she was officially not pregnant and granting her access to powerful anti-nausea medication.
With the medication and IV fluids taking effect, Syd was discharged from the clinic. She looked tired but seemed in good spirits and was still looking forward to the start of the event. Syd was working with Ground Score, a merch vendor that was camping in the “Sponsored Vendor” lot. This lot was nearest to the venue and had its own bathrooms and showers. As her chauffeurs, Syd directed us to the sponsored vendor lot, where we were able to set up our own tents among the small crowd.
Our first night on the festival grounds was wet. It poured off and on all night long. Luckily, the sun started shining early in the morning and by the time our group was moving most things were drying out. We reported to our first day of work early. Dave and I were sent to different bars. We would be working the entire day, but the bars would close at 2am and music would go until 4am. We made plans to meet up right after the bars stopped serving and headed our separate ways.
My first day of serving was relatively uneventful. I was stationed at a bar on the path between Tripolee Stage and the Ranch Area. We didn’t have a sightline to the stage and it was hard to hear the music, but the people were nothing but amazing. The job was easy but this bar was not in the best location. Sales were pretty slow.
Small Lines at our Bar the First Night of Electric Forest
Electric Forest truly came alive as the sun finally started to set around 10 pm. The festival grounds are located in a pine forest. The highlight of the venue is Sherwood Forest, a pristine patch of planted pine trees. Festival production teams spend months transforming Sherwood Forest into another world. Every tree is decorated, lit up, or enhanced. Projectors, lasers, lights, art installations, stages, statues, bars, mail offices… you can find anything in the Forest. You just have to look.
I was texting Dave all day. His bar was located in Sherwood Forest right off the main path. We finished serving at 2 am and I was quickly on my way to Dave. We both had great days serving fun festival goers. Now it was our turn to have some fun. Dave handed me a capsule of Molly, which I quickly swallowed. We had just worked all day! Now it was time to turn up. A little extra boost of energy was more than welcome.
We spent the night exploring the festival grounds and familiarizing ourselves with the layout. While Dave had been here before, everything was brand new to me. Music ended early Thursday night, so we spent a good amount of time just exploring Sherwood Forest.
I woke up Friday morning already feeling the travel and the previous night’s adventures. This was going to be a long weekend. I told Dave I didn’t think I should do Molly again. He just laughed, got up, and started cooking our group breakfast. As he was serving our food, a professional came by our camp. I’ve dealt with a lot of shitty drug dealers. This guy was a pro. He had pure MDMA in pre-filled clear capsules, a test kit, and a no-nonsense attitude.
He showed off his supplies. The Molly looked perfect. Small light-brown translucent crystals still in crystalline form inside of clear capsules. I had to have some. I quickly handed our new friend $60 in exchange for a weekend’s supply.
Thanks to Dave we had food. Our new friend made sure we had supplies. There was just one very important thing to do. For better or worse, I decided that I needed to break up with my girlfriend Kelly today. During the previous night’s roll, I came to the conclusion that the relationship wasn’t going anywhere and it needed to end. Now that my mind was set, I wanted the bandaid off as soon as possible.
I made the hard phone call and she took the news terribly. We had struggled in our relationship prior to my departure, but we had “patched things up” before I left. While I felt it was a temporary patch, she was still very committed to the relationship and wasn’t ready for it to end.
While dealing with constant phone calls and texts, I reported for work at my bar. I knew I had made a rash decision to make the call that morning, but it did feel good to have the feelings off my chest. I did my best to ignore my exploding phone as I received the news that I would be transferring to a different bar. This one wasn’t making sales and they needed my help somewhere else. I was happy to go as this was definitely not the most exciting spot.
My dreams came true when they stationed me at the bar at the Forest Stage. This stage is inside Sherwood Forest and is one of the most unique stages in the entire venue. It’s small, and extremely artistic, and from the bar, we had perfect sight lines for the music. My role was to check IDs and hand out wristbands. I stood in front of the bar, essentially in the crowd for my shift. When Chris Lake took the stage the crowd filled in so much that nobody could get to our bar. I did the only thing I could do. I danced to the music. Fuck the relationship. Fuck the worries. I was free.
The Forest Stage – I worked at the Pink Bar on the right side of this photo.
Dave and I met up after our shifts. Yet again, we took a little Molly, and headed out into the venue. We went over to the Tripolee stage for NERO’s set. This was a harder set than I would usually choose, but we both had a good time. Tripolee was right next to our campground so it was just a short walk home.
I slept well Friday night and woke up Saturday morning feeling much more like myself. There were still 2 more full days worth of Electric Forest. We were going to make the most of it.
They changed my bar yet again on Saturday. I was now bartending at the Hanger, a WWII inspired aircraft hangar filled with all sorts of activities. There’s a barber shop, a hidden speakeasy, and a tattoo parlor. Surprisingly, I had to wear a costume for this bar to fit in with the theme. I headed to costuming, was issued a wool shirt and some strange 1940’s pants, and reported back to my bar. While all us bartenders felt ridiculous, the energy was fantastic. Everyone embraced their roles and we set to work entertaining and serving. It was our job to provide a pleasant experience for all of the festival attendees. I was happy to play the part.
Inside the Hangar was a small stage featuring an eclectic mix of performers. We witnessed everything from a harp performance to burlesque dancers, to a Space Jesus dubstep performance. The only constant was the people. The Electric Forest crowd is among the most genuine, fun-loving, communal, and enjoyable group of people I’ve ever been around.
Taking my lunch break at the ThisSongIsSick Secret Set
Saturday night was an absolute blast. Dave and I met up after our shifts and walked over to Jubilee Tent to meet up with a few of his friends. We found who we were looking for quickly despite the large crowd, and started grooving to the music. On stage, a live band was playing funky electronic jams, but with live instruments and an amazing male singer. While we initially planned to hit other stages, our crew was not willing to walk away from this set.
We danced until the very last song of the night. It was a touch after 4 am when we headed back to camp. Everyone was buzzing with excitement. It could not have been a better day! On the walk back to camp, Dave looked up the band’s name. They were called The Motet and they would be playing at the Jubilee yet again next Saturday night. We knew we had to be there.
The Motet performing at Electric Forest – The set of the weekend!
Sunday was a work day. Music was ending a touch after 2 am and we would have a longer breakdown. I was back in costume at the Hangar Bar. I was happy to stay put, as this group of bartenders was a lot of fun. Everyone worked as a team and the bar manager kept things fun but focused.
Sunday flew by for me. I was in a total serving groove. My favorite part of the day was when we got hit with a huge rush. All the lines were 10+ people deep and I went into a flow. I was serving people as fast as possible, finding the ideal time to swipe a credit card, turn the device around so they could insert a tip, grab the drink, open the drink, then take the next order. I was trying to serve as many people as fast as possible. It became a game that paid pretty well.
At the end of the weekend, I averaged around $240 per day in tips. It was a far cry from the $420 per day I had gotten at BottleRock, but I was having a lot more fun and it was an entirely different crowd. Nobody asked me how buttery the chardonnay was at Electric Forest.
Dave and I met up for the final night with the goal of exploring Sherwood Forest. We just wandered among the trees, exploring art exhibits, finding small performances, and mixing with the crowd. It was a great final night and an amazing way to end the first weekend.
We woke up the next morning and packed up our camp. We would be back for Weekend 2, but we had a few days to kill in between and one of our good friends Damani lived in Chicago. It was a 4-hour drive away, but that’s about as close as any other place to Rothbury. Dave and I hit the road and headed to Chicago.