MF #17
Air & Style 2018
Date
March 3rd – 4th, 2018
Location
Los Angeles, California
Reason
Fun
Griz, one of my favorite artists, was performing at a music festival up in LA. Working for Pro Systems in the live event industry, I wasn’t sure if I would be free for the event. It was the first time that I checked my schedule and was actually happy to receive only warehouse days. This meant I would be free Saturday and Sunday and I could attend the Air and Style Music Festival.
Less than a week before a festival is a fantastic time to look for cheap tickets. Multi-day events are big commitments and it is inevitable that someone will not be able to go. While concert tickets tend to hold value in the secondary market up until the start of the show, festival tickets crash hard in the final few days before the event.
Looking for tickets so close to the event, I found a listing on Stubhub for a 2-day ticket for only $38. All the other listings were over $100. I snatched it up as fast as I could. Interestingly, the Seller attempted to void the sale, but this was back when Stubhub cared about their customers. I contacted support, who was able to find me a free replacement ticket under their “Fan Protect Guarantee”. Good luck trying to use their support service these days.
Air and Style was the brainchild of Olympic Snowboarder Shawn White. He helped organize a music festival right in the heart of Los Angeles at the Memorial Coliseum. I drove up from San Diego early Saturday morning, arriving at the event just as the gates opened. While this was a music festival, it was also a skateboarding and snowboarding event. Somehow, the production team built an entire snowboarding trick course featuring real snow on a black asphalt parking lot in 80 degree LA sunshine. This feat was extremely impressive and I still don’t know how they kept the snow from melting away.
I wandered the venue, checking out the snowboarding and skateboarding demonstrations. While the snowboarding course was neat, it was a short run. I found skateboarding to be a bit more enjoyable to watch. Skaters could get a real flow around the temporary skatepark, stringing together impressive and fun lines. While most of the skaters were adults, there was a small child that was skating the smoothest lines of them all. He was incredible. After a little digging, I discovered that this skater was CJ Collins. He was only 14, but he was already gaining attention nationwide for his smooth style and competence on a skateboard. I immediately followed his Instagram and have been watching his continued growth in the skate community to this day.
Skateboarding at a music festival? Only at Air & Style
For a two-day music festival in a parking lot, the production level was extremely impressive. Rat Sound had a full L’Acoustics K1 array on the main stage. As a new audio guy, I was working with a $500,000 L’Acoustics K2 system at Pro Systems. This was our brand-new gear and our highest-end system. A K1 system is the big brother, with a $3 million price tag on the conservative side. It’s expensive but it’s worth it. The K1 line array is capable of sending a clean audio wave about three times the distance as its smaller K2 brother. As a new audio guy, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the equipment. Every stage had L’Acoustics equipment, with the side stages featuring K2 systems.
The talent was impressive as well. It turns out Shawn White and I have very similar tastes in music. Mura Masa put on an incredible performance. Cashmere Cat had the full crowd dancing. Speaking of the crowd, it was a respectable size, but it was still pretty easy to get up close for the shows. I was having a great time up until Zedd took the stage.
If you’ve seen Zedd once, you’ve seen him a hundred times. It’s that repetitive. I decided to head out early to check into Hotel Swanson. One of my best friends from college was now attending Law School at UCLA, and if I needed a place to stay in LA he always opened his doors. I texted him that I was on the way, only to get told to meet him at the bar. This was not a surprise.
I drove over to the bar and quickly met the group of soon-to-be attorneys. His crew were all downing copious amounts of alcohol as they practiced for their law careers. While Swanson normally brings out the worst in my drinking tendencies, I was feeling the music festival energy. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and I had no interest in being hungover. I kept the drinking to a respectful level, had fun, and settled into the group. Soon enough we retired to Swanson’s place, where I caught a few hours of sleep on his couch.
Staying at Swansons made the morning commute very easy. I saved about 6 hours of late night and early morning driving by sleeping on his couch. The festival was only 20 minutes away. I said my goodbyes and checked out of my free hotel around 1pm, heading back to the festival grounds for the final day.
Sunday was hot. The festival was on an asphalt parking lot. Security wasn’t allowing liquids into the event and you had to purchase water for $5 a bottle. Even worse, it was those cardboard Box Waters that taste like paper. Festivals should always give out free water. It’s the safest move for everyone.
The snowboarding run featuring real snow at Air & Style Music Festival
Security made me dump my Camelbak, but I still had it with me. I headed to a quiet bar with a plan. I knew the bartenders had unlimited ice. Maybe I could get some? I ordered two waters from a bartender while informing her that I worked as a festival bartender as well. I then asked if she could dump a few scoops of ice into my Camelbak. She looked over her shoulder, checking for her bar manager, before quickly dumping two large scoops of ice into my open Camelbak. I gave her a cash tip and a huge thank you. I now had my own cold water supply. Things were looking good.
Sunday’s music lineup was incredible. Mija started the day off with a DJ set on a side stage. As the sun set, Phantogram took over the main stage. At this time, Shawn White was dating the lead singer of Phantogram. He was supporting his girl while standing less than 10 feet away from me for her performance. While he was safe behind barricades and I was in the crowd, it was still super cool rocking out to the same music next to a sports icon.
Griz would be performing right after Phantogram. He was the reason I made the effort to come to this event. I wanted to be as close as possible for Griz, so I stayed put in my upfront and center position. I was only about three people back from the rail and dead center near the barricaded cable runs.
Griz performing at Air & Style Music Festival
I made friends with the people near me as we all waited for the show to start. Griz took the stage to tremendous applause. Here we go! He immediately launched into a heavy set. I had seen Griz perform a more laid back set at a smaller venue a few months prior. Now he was tuning up the energy for a full festival crowd. I was getting blasted by the sound system, squished by the masses, and loving every second of it. I sang along with the music surrounded by fellow fans.
I must’ve been putting out a good energy, as it wasn’t long until a cute girl started backing into me. At first I thought it was accidental, but then she gave me a look. It was clear, she wanted to dance. I slid my arm around her waist as she grabbed my hand. Without exchanging a word, we danced together for the rest of the show.
We exchanged numbers, but her group was leaving the crowd. I planned to stay put for the next set. Phoenix was closing out the show! I was finally getting a second chance to see them live. I wasn’t about to miss it.
As I waited for the next set, the person next to me asked if they could get a swig of my camelbak. While it might not be the most hygienic thing, I’ll never deny water to someone at a music festival. I let the stranger take a swig, only to have the person next to them ask. Once they got the go ahead, it was like the gates had opened. The crowd was thirsty and I had water. One by one they all started taking small swigs. I took my camelbak off my back, held it above my head and walked out of the crowd giving sips to anyone who needed it.
While my original plan was to stay put, it felt great to exit the crowd. I found a quiet space to sit down and relax for a few minutes. I felt amazing. My body was buzzing from the bass. My ears felt fantastic. I had recently invested in Earasers Ear Plugs which I had been wearing all day. They are awesome! There is no distortion to the music or discomfort. Get as close as you want and just enjoy it. I had been upfront for hours putting them to the test.
I didn’t feel like fighting back up front, so I settled into the middle of the crowd for the start of the Phoenix set. This was totally fine, as Phoenix is a rock band not a dance act. There was no need to be smashed up front.
Finally caught Phoenix live at Air & Style
Being further back, I had a fantastic view of the light show and visual effects. Both were stunning. The lights and the video worked together with the music, creating a comprehensive show. It was clear that there was thought and intention put into the production for every single song. These guys had that star-power energy and a world class production team. After witnessing this performance, I have no problem stating that Phoenix is one of the best rock bands touring today.
While I stayed until the very end of the Phoenix set, I slowly slid towards the back of the crowd as the set was coming to a close. While I was worried about the traffic, I had parked in a neighborhood about a 25 minute walk away. Nobody else was near me when I finally got to my car. Better still, midnight on a Sunday is the perfect time to drive from LA to San Diego. I made it back to my apartment before 2:00 am. I had to go to work in the morning, but I had just pulled off another music festival on a normal work weekend. I got to dance to one of my favorite artists and go to sleep in my own bed. Life was good. Air and Style was great.