MF #22
Motet on the Mesa 2018
Date
July 27th – 28th, 2018
Location
Taos, New Mexico
Reason
Photography
One of my favorite bands, The Motet, announced they were throwing their own music festival in Taos, New Mexico. I became aware of The Motet when I stumbled into their incredible Electric Forest performance the previous summer. Like any good fan, I followed the band closely on social media. I was excited to see them take the step into festival production. The lineup looked amazing, but New Mexico is not exactly close to San Diego so I didn’t purchase a ticket. Still, I followed the event page itself just to stay up to date.
A few weeks prior to the show, the event put up an Instagram story asking for photographers to apply for the media team. I submitted an application, using my Instagram account as my portfolio. I was rather surprised to be accepted. I recently received my first DSLR camera and was only about 6 months into the hobby. This would be my first official photography gig. I was offered two free VIP tickets if I would come photograph the show.
I checked in with work to see if I could take that Friday off. They approved my request, so I signed the photography contract and set about figuring out logistics. Taos is a 14-hour drive from San Diego.
I went to work Thursday with my car already packed for the adventure. I hit the road straight from work, leaving San Diego right at 5:00 pm. I had a hotel booked in Flagstaff, Arizona, about halfway to Taos. While I left as early as I could, thanks to the evening traffic I arrived at my hotel after midnight.
I woke up early in the morning and was incredibly surprised by my surroundings. I had traveled to Arizona before, but this was different. I found myself in a mountain town surrounded by pine trees and steep mountain peaks on all sides. It was July and the weather was cool and crisp. I could see my breath in the morning chill. While the town looked amazing, I didn’t have time to sightsee. The show started today and I intended to get there right on time. I hit the road before 8:00 am and completed the last 450 miles, arriving at Taos Mesa Brewing around 3:00 pm.
Taos Mesa Brewing – Host Venue for Motet on the Mesa
Taos Mesa Brewing is a super unique venue for a music festival. This was a camping festival hosted at a functional brewery. All camping was right behind the brewery building in dirt parking lots. Arriving early, I snagged a camping spot right by the venue entrance and set about exploring the place. There was a small stage inside the brewery and two additional stages outdoors. The main outdoor stage was an amazing amphitheater structure.
Slowly the crowd started to fill in. My phone started buzzing. Todd from Lightning in a Bottle was arriving. I invited him to come to the show and use the second VIP ticket I had received as part of the photography offer. Despite the late invite, he immediately accepted, made the drive from Colorado, and even brought a friend along.
Camping in the parking lots behind Taos Mesa Brewing
The music started right on time. Mama Magnolia led off the event, playing an incredible folk music set. They were fun, funky, emotional, and a perfect taste of what was to come. The Suffers followed up the intro performance and officially opened up the main stage. They played a soulful set as the sun set across the desert sky. They continued to play into the night, helping ease the transition from day to night before a short intermission.
Mama Magnolia warms up the Main Stage at Motet on the Mesa
It was during this intermission when I decided to get my first beer. Technically I was working, but it was photography so I knew I could have a little fun. I went to the bar, ordered one of the Taos Mesa IPA’s and passed over my credit card. The bartender asked, “Would you like to keep it open?” Of course I did. I had never been to a music festival where I could keep an open tab. This could get dangerous.
The Motet were headlining both nights of the festival. This was their event and they took the stage to tremendous applause. While the crowd wasn’t massive, it was incredibly lively. Everyone was dancing hard. I took advantage of my media access and ran around, capturing photos from all over the place. While normally photographers are only allowed to go certain areas, limited to the first three songs, and relatively controlled, for this event there were no real rules. I could go anywhere I wanted and photograph the entire set. As a photographer, it was a dream come true.
The Motet headlining Friday Night at their own music festival!
I made sure to put the camera down for a few key moments and soak in the music. This was one of my favorite bands after all, and they were playing their hearts out on stage to some of their most passionate fans. As I was enjoying the show, I received a tap on the shoulder.
“What’s your name dude?” asked my new friend. “I think I know you.” I told him my name was Jimmy and he just laughed. It was my old coworker Chris from Desert Trip Music Festival. He had spotted my Desert Trip Sweatshirt, then looked closer and noticed my Peace Love Tacos hat. Chris said when he spotted my hat he knew he had to say something. I was dressed this way for a reason. Rumor had it our old boss Shappi was somewhere in New Mexico. Chris let me know that he was indeed nearby and would be coming to the show tomorrow night. What fantastic news!
We parted ways and I found Todd and his friend Mike. They were having a great time. Mike asked us the question, “So who is playing tomorrow night?” and was completely stoked to find out The Motet would be back for a second headlining set. I guess Mike didn’t do a ton of research before coming. Todd and I just laughed.
Break Science finishing off the night with a live drummer.
Break Science closed off the night with a heavy dubstep DJ set featuring a live drummer. It was a fantastic break from funk and jazz and a perfect way to cap off the night.
Todd, Mike, and I were all pretty groggy in the morning. Friday had been a big day of travel and music. We took it easy, slowly waking up while attempting to recover from the night before. Around 11:00 am, a guy drove by my car. “Laguna Seca?” he called out, admiring my Laguna Seca Raceway license plate frame. We struck up a conversation about his festival experiences at Laguna Seca Raceway. We must’ve left a good impression, as our new friend invited us to come checkout a river in a canyon with him.
He seemed super cool and there were three of us and just one of him, so we accepted the offer and climbed into his truck. Our friend drove us about 20 minutes down the road to an amazing natural canyon. We spent the day relaxing in the shade by the river, soaking our feet and sharing stories.
With the heat of the day over, it was time to return to the festival grounds. Organ Freeman led off the night with jazzy instrumental jams. While not every band at this festival had the largest social media presence, every single band could jam. All the musicians were insanely talented and deserved their spot on stage.
Sunsquabi kept the instrumental jams going as they opened up the main stage. While I had been a fan of Sunsquabi for years, this was my first time catching their performance live. The first two songs were insane. Just as I was getting into photographing the show, Chris tapped me on the shoulder. He had found me in the crowd. He told me to follow him as he led me to the back of the crowd. There was Shappi! My old boss who had pretty much vanished after Desert Trip. We were both excited to see each other. We caught up at the back of the crowd for a few minutes before I pulled out my phone and called Dave. While I had worked 3 shows with Shappi, Dave had spent the summer on tour with Shappi and admired him both as a friend and as a boss. I reconnected them as Shappi had gotten a new phone number. We stood in the back of the crowd as the sunset exploded across the sky. Dave chatted with Shappi as I snapped a few photographs of a hula hoop dancer. The set was perfect.
Sunsquabi performing as the sun sets
As soon as Shappi was there, he was gone. Unfortunately he couldn’t stay for The Motet and took off less than an hour after arriving. I went back to photographer mode for the final Motet performance of the weekend. I went to the back of stage and found a little window where I could get a view of the band and the crowd. I climbed into the window sill and spent pretty much the entire set sitting 3 feet from the trumpet player, pretty much on stage but hidden from the crowd.
From my perch, I snapped some of my favorite concert photos of all time. I was living my dream. I was working for one of my favorite bands, capturing their show as I saw fit, and I could go wherever I wanted. I tried my best to do a good job capturing the show as I knew I wanted to land another gig.
The Motet absolutely rocked out for the second night in a row. Tonight was a harder and funkier set than the previous night. The Motet had the whole crowd dancing and grooving to the music, before closing out the night with a family jam session featuring members of some other bands.
Guitarist Ryan Jalbert taking us all on an adventure.. 👌
The jams just kept coming at this festival. Just as we all caught our breath from The Motet, Tauk took the stage inside the brewery. We were back to instrumental jams in the best way. Tauk’s drummer has the cleanest snare drum hit I’ve ever heard. He provided the heartbeat to an insanely technical and impressive performance. The inside stage had a small catwalk structure which I took advantage of to get some top-down shots of Tauk in action. This was the last set of the weekend. I wanted to make sure I captured it all.
Finding a unique vantage point for Tauk
With a sufficiently stuffed SD card, I made my way outside to catch some fresh air when I ran into Todd and Mike. They were sitting at a table with one of the oldest guys at the event. He had a big bushy white beard and long hair, and was telling us stories of past Grateful Dead shows. He told us no matter the event, he always dresses the same. He told me that I should always wear a backwards flat brim hat, something I was doing for this event. He said you need to pick your look and stick with it if you want to get known in the scene. Just keep showing up in different places, but always look the same so people can put you together. They might not talk the first time, but the third time they notice you they will be excited to say something.
I found that to be a sage piece of advice and I continue to wear a backwards flat brim hat to all music festivals. While it’s not my style outside of the festival world, at a festival a flat brim hat is still my calling card.
We sat outside sharing stories and talking music as Tauk finished off their set, closing out Motet on the Mesa for good. While we could have all sat and chatted until the sunrise, we soon accepted the end of the show and decided to retire to camp.
I woke up early Sunday morning ready to hit the road. The festival had been incredible, but I had 900 miles of driving ahead of me and work on Monday. There was no time to mess about. I quickly said my goodbyes to Todd and Mike and hit the road. Leaving at 8:00 am, I was able to take a two-hour pitstop at Meow Wolf, an incredible interactive art installation in Sante Fe, New Mexico. It’s hard to describe Meow Wolf in words. If you’re ever in the area (they have multiple), go check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
With my pitstop over, I hit the highway and somehow made it back to San Diego in one straight shot, occasionally stopping for gas or fast food. I had driven 1800 miles round trip to take 1500 photographs in my first official photography gig. I found Shappi, I made new friends, reunited with old friends, and had another amazing adventure. My passion for photography was rapidly exploding. My camera was starting to open doors, and I couldn’t wait to see which door would open next.
