MF #19
Lightning in a Bottle 2018
Date
May 24th – 27th, 20118
Location
Bradley, California
Reason
Fun
The lineup for Lightning in a Bottle 2018 is incredible. Reading it, I was almost certain I had to go. It was a camping festival and Griz would be there. Just to be sure I was making the right decision, I texted one of my college housemates, Corbin who had gone a previous year. He let me know that he would be returning this year, that it was his favorite festival, and that I should go.
With the recommendation, I put in the request for time off work. Pro Systems wasn’t involved with the event and I wanted to go just for fun. With my recent success acquiring tickets late, I waited until just four days before Lightning in a Bottle to purchase a ticket. I found a pass for the 4-day festival on StubHub for $312. The original ticket price was $305 + fees so I didn’t save that much, but it was still cheaper to wait.
Unfortunately, the car camping passes were all sold out, so I was only able to get a general parking pass. At this point I had my car set up as a nice portable bedroom. I figured I could probably sleep in my car in whatever lot they stuck me in, but I brought a tent just in case that wouldn’t be possible.
Lightning in a Bottle (LiB) was in Bradley, California. This was 360 miles from San Diego. In between San Diego and Bradley lies Los Angeles. This is a hellhole of a city with some of the worst traffic in the entire world. Enter LA at the wrong time and it will take you over five hours to traverse the 90 miles.
In order to avoid LA traffic, I left San Diego at 1:00 am Thursday morning. I made it through LA without issue, arriving at a Bakersfield Walmart by 4:00 am. I took a short nap, waking with the sunrise. With Walmart open, I went inside and picked up the last of the supplies I would need for the weekend. I got back in my car and finished up the final three hours of the drive until I reached the venue.
While Corbin and Christina had a wagon for their bags and supplies, I did not have the same foresight. Thankfully, they let me throw my tent on top of their cart. I carried my bag on the 15 minute hike over to the communal camping area. We joined up with the rest of their crew. I set my tent up and as I was slowly introduced to the members of the group. Most people were from Seattle or connected to someone from Seattle. I immediately forgot everyone’s names, but they were all fun, welcoming, and ready to party.
There were over 40,000 people on the festival grounds this year. Driving in, I knew only one friend who would be there. However, this is a music festival. Things work themselves out. I reached the ticket pickup window and retrieved my wristband without issue. As I pulled back into the line of traffic, the car directly behind me started honking.
I look in my rearview mirror to see hands sticking out of both sides of the car, waving at me. It was my friend Corbin and his girlfriend Christina. While he told me to go, I never let him know I got my ticket. We met up by pure coincidence. Corbin and Christina were also parking in the general parking lot. Luckily, they had a large crew of friends who were all camping together for the festival. I was invited to join the group campground, which I accepted.
While Corbin and Christina had a wagon for their bags and supplies, I did not have the same foresight. Thankfully, they let me throw my tent on top of their cart. I carried my bag on the 15 minute hike over to the communal camping area. We joined up with the rest of their crew. I set my tent up and as I was slowly introduced to the members of the group. Most people were from Seattle or connected to someone from Seattle. I immediately forgot everyone’s names, but they were all fun, welcoming, and ready to party.
Corbin & Christina rocking out at LiB 2018
It was Thursday night and the Grand Artique was the only stage with an official schedule. Our group made our way from the campground into the venue for the first time. While many festivals have a strong distinction between campground and venue, LiB had very loose boundaries. Everyone is free to come and go from the stages to the campground without the need to go through security. You get checked when driving in for the weekend and that is it.
I first heard of this news at the campground and was immediately stoked. While it is always great to be able to bring beers inside without worry, as a beginner concert photographer, I was more excited at the opportunity to bring my camera everywhere. Most festivals do not allow DSLR cameras into the event without a media pass. While I was prepared to sneak my camera inside if necessary, without proper security I could finally shoot my first camping music festival.
I loaded my Canon T7 DSLR Camera into my CamelBak backpack, shoved a few beers in the outside pocket, and set off with Corbin, Christina, and the rest of the crew in search of music. We found the Grand Artique, along with pretty much everyone else. This was a small stage and as the sole focus of the already sizable crowd, it was jammed with people.
Cannibal Catering Company at the Grand Artique. – LiB 2018
Despite the size of the crowd, everyone was respectful and gave each other space. Cannibal Catering Company was the first band of the night. While I had never heard of them, they were rocking out. I pulled out my camera and began snapping my first photos of the festival.
As the set came to a close, our group decided to go checkout some other parts of the venue. We visited a few art installations, stopped by the ceremonial fire pit, and were on our way back to camp when we passed by the main Lightning Stage. As we walked by, the stage lit up and music started playing. I immediately started walking towards the stage. This wasn’t just any music – it was Griz! He was right in front of us, up on stage.
I turned around to see if anyone else noticed this, only to witness a Walking Dead scene. Everyone was moving towards the stage at various speeds. Some people swayed while others sprinted to be the first to the rail. We had a head start on the crowd, but it wasn’t long until we were overtaken. I had no need to end up in a crowd crush this early. I stayed back from the rail and found the audio sweet spot, dead center and about halfway between Front of House and the stage.
I stood there and watched the scene unfold as people flooded to the impromptu party. Griz played one song using his saxophone, then triggered one song on his DJ deck and that was it. It was just a soundcheck, but it was a beautiful taste of what was to come for the weekend. The lights shut off and Griz waved goodbye before retreating backstage.
I woke up in my tent Friday morning, incredibly excited to be back at a proper music festival. Camping at a music festival is an experience everyone should do at least once. Staying onsite allows for the freedom to party all weekend long. Within an hour of waking up I had cracked a beer and started rolling up joints for the day. I brought a full ounce for just four days with the intention of sharing. I rolled up a handful of small joints and loaded them into my sunglasses case, before sparking the first one up and passing it out to the group.
With the camp activities out of the way, we all donned swimsuits and took the short walk to the lake edge. The festival grounds butted up against Lake San Antonio. The weather was hot and the water was refreshing. An entrepreneur dragged down a large cooler and a table, quickly setting up a mojito station on the beach. He was charging $5 for a freshly made mojito featuring real limes and mint leaves on the beach. We all ordered several rounds as the heat of the day slowly slipped by.
I took my first tab of acid around 2:00 pm. This was a little gel tab that I had brought from home. Around 5:00 pm, I was offered another hit from one of the members of the group. I did a little mental math and figured if I took it now I would peak for Griz. That sounded like a fun time, so I accepted the additional hit. I stuck the small sliver of paper under my tongue and prepared for an adventurous first day.
We finally went into the venue around 7:00 pm, heading first for the Thunder Stage. This was a tent-like structure, with Gryffin on stage playing heavy bass music. We all got a little wompy, but slowly the group started to separate and take off into different directions. The night was calling.
Gryffin performing at the Thunder Stage – LiB 2018
I ended up sticking with Drew, a musician from Seattle and one of the members of the camp. I only had one item on my agenda tonight – go see Griz. There was no rush, Griz wasn’t scheduled until 11:00 pm, so we had plenty of time to go explore the venue.
While the festival grounds were next to the lake, the lakeside was full of natural canyons, creating narrow fingers of land with all sorts of interesting topography. The festival grounds were laid out like a spread out hand. Each stage was on a different finger, with the canyons forcing members of the crowd to cross narrow bridges in between each stage. Everyone was in an excited mood, and the single file lines soon started high fiving each other as they passed by, similar to the conclusion of a youth soccer game.
We spent the night wandering from finger to finger, checking out various stages and art installations dotted around the festival grounds while attempting to familiarize ourselves with the general layout of the grounds. While I thought I had the place figured out in the daytime, once the sun went down it was a whole different beast. Staying oriented was tough, but with enough wandering all the pieces slowly started to fit together.
While I let Drew take the lead early in the night, I made sure to push us to get to the Griz set a bit early. Despite our relatively early arrival, this set was jam packed. We were quite a ways back from the stage, with most of the crowd in attendance.
Griz headlining Friday of Lightning in a Bottle 2018
Griz never disappoints. This set fit the festival perfectly. It was hard, but it was still funky and jazzy featuring several impressive saxophone solos and a few classic Griz tunes. I danced along with the entire crowd, occasionally taking a moment to withdraw my camera from my backpack and capture a few photos. I had timed the acid perfectly. I was still feeling the effects, but I was on the far side of things and could just enjoy the set. This was my first opportunity to photograph a Griz set with a proper camera. While I wasn’t the most sober, I knew I had to get at least a few good photos. I did the best I could from my vantage point, before putting my camera away for the night and diving back into the music.
We ended the night with an incredibly intense Glitch Mob set. While I normally love heavy EDM, I was in a strange mental position. I had come down from the frist hit of acid, but I was still feeling the effects of the second hit of acid. I was over tripping at this point and the bass soon started to be overwhelming.
I sat down in the middle of the crowd, attempting to get control of myself, before finally finding the courage to get out of there. I retreated to the back of the crowd and puked in a trash can. No more mixing acid for me.
Luckily, once I puked I immediately felt better. I knew I had to get back to camp. Once I started to walk to camp, I had a brilliant idea. I should stop by my car now and pick up the case of Red Bull. I knew I would love one in the morning. I’m sure the rest of the camp would be grateful.
I took off in the general direction of my parked car. While this seemed like a good idea, after 30 minutes of wandering around rows of cars that all looked the same, I finally admitted defeat and headed back to camp empty handed. I was so tired when I finally got back to camp that I went straight to my tent and crawled in my sleeping bag. I felt so relieved to be back in a safe space. I had survived Day One, but just barely.
I woke up the next morning still drained. I collected myself, got dressed, and made the trip to my car. With the daylight, I instantly found the row of cars I was looking for and quickly returned to camp with the case of Red Bulls. I learned two valuable lessons the night before. 1. Don’t mix acid. 2. Just go home at the end of the night.
Thanks to the intense adventures on Friday, Saturday passed by like a blur. I followed a few members of the camp around, enjoying the comfort of company, but taking in very little of the event.
I woke up on Sunday morning and felt much more like myself. I was back in action. While I had hung out with most of my new camp friends, one of the guys seemed to be having more fun than anyone else. His name was Todd. He was always running from set to set, and three days into the festival he was still full of energy and excited to be there.
I wanted to feel that energy level. I told him straight up that he looked like he was having more fun than anyone, and if he was down I would be up to shadow him around the event today. I had nothing on my agenda but to find a good time. I was pretty sure he would make sure that would happen. He invited me to join him at yoga, the first planned event of the day.
We headed over to the yoga tent, arriving just a few minutes before the start of class. While our teacher started class with a few simple poses, it wasn’t long before she started off on some yogi planetary bullshit. Our teacher said something along the lines of, “connect with the planet Pluto..” Todd didn’t miss a beat. He just said out loud in the middle of his stretch, “Pluto isn’t a planet.” Brilliant.
Todd and I left yoga class feeling refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of the final day. There was no denying that my back felt looser and my head felt sharper after an hour of stretching.
We returned to an empty campsite. Everyone was down by the beach. We tracked them down and soon joined up with the rest of the crew enjoying another warm afternoon down by the water. Our camping group had become a close knit family over the previous few days. Everyone now offered each other the last of their supplies. While most people were out of snacks or drinks, we were all in this together.
Our Giant Camping Group for LiB 2018
While I planned to stick with Todd, our entire group decided to venture out together for the final day. That was totally fine with me. Everyone had spent all weekend running around the festival grounds in small groups, now we all just wanted to stick together.
We set off as a giant group right around sunset, stopping by the Thunder stage on the way into the grounds. While normally our group would fracture at the first set, tonight we all stuck together. We went as a group from stage to stage, enjoying the night as it passed by. We ended the night by getting up close and center for Clozee. I had never heard of her or her music, but when she dropped a heavy bass remix of Ratatat I quickly became a fan for life.
Clozee’s performance featured several flow artists and even a group of fire spinners. I found myself in a fantastic position to photograph the show. I took advantage of the location to capture my best photographs of the entire weekend.
I finally broke away from the group for the final show of the night. While I had come to this festival by myself, I had been with people the entire time. I needed just a few minutes in a festival by myself. I went to Zhu expecting to be blown away. While I love Zhu’s albums, this particular set was slow and rather low in energy, especially after coming from a high impact Clozee set.
The particular section of crowd I was in was stagnant. I was looking to escape and head for more exciting waters when someone tapped me on the shoulder. “Jimmy?” they asked. Looking up it was my old housemate Gabe. “What are you doing at my favorite festival?” he asked me.
One last look at LiB 2018
I finally broke away from the group for the final show of the night. While I had come to this festival by myself, I had been with people the entire time. I needed just a few minutes in a festival by myself. I went to Zhu expecting to be blown away. While I love Zhu’s albums, this particular set was slow and rather low in energy, especially after coming from a high impact Clozee set.
The particular section of crowd I was in was stagnant. I was looking to escape and head for more exciting waters when someone tapped me on the shoulder. “Jimmy?” they asked. Looking up it was my old housemate Gabe. “What are you doing at my favorite festival?” he asked me.
There was no being alone at Lightning in a Bottle, even if I tried. We spent the next half hour catching up and enjoying the second half of the set. With the end of the Zhu set, LiB was officially over. We said our goodbyes, wished each other well, and both headed back in separate directions towards the camps.
I slept in late Monday morning. While the festival was over, I was in no particular rush to leave the festival grounds. I had all day to make it back to San Diego and the later I got on the road, the better traffic would be. I enjoyed this final half day on the water with several members of my camp. I even got a pretty girl’s phone number. While I never followed up with this last second shot at romance, the post-festival confidence was with me. Lightning in a Bottle had been an absolute blast. While I was used to leaving festivals with confidence, this was when I started approaching festivals with confidence.
