MF #15
Kaaboo 2017
Date
September 15th – 17th, 2017
Location
Del Mar, California
Reason
Tica’s Tacos
Getting fired at Electric Forest was the end of my festival bartending career. I had no interest in working for a company that didn’t allow me to make a single mistake. I had no idea if they would hire me again, but I decided not to pursue the opportunity. It was time to move on. I moved down to San Diego in July and was still figuring out my life in a new city. I was driving for Lyft, looking for a new job, and eyeing the approaching Kaaboo festival.
The lineup looked great, but without stable employment, there was no way I could afford a ticket. I went back to Craigslist in search of an opportunity. Less than a week before the event, a listing popped up. “Food Vendors Needed for Kaaboo”. I checked out the job listing and noticed it was for a taco booth. I already had experience serving tacos at a music festival. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to get paid to go to a music festival.
I submitted my application featuring my experience serving tacos at Desert Trip Music Festival. I received a phone call the next day for a short pre-interview. Mario was impressed by my relevant experience and quickly welcomed me to be a part of his crew for Kaaboo.
Arriving at Kaaboo excited to be back at a music festival
I showed up early Friday morning, met up with my new boss Mario outside the venue, and walked with him and his young child inside the event and to the booth. Walking into the booth, the setup felt familiar. I was back in a festival kitchen. I was given a quick rundown on operations, then was put in a position up front. My job was to take orders and pass them back to the kitchen. It seemed simple enough, but they wouldn’t need my help for the first few hours. I was free to go enjoy the festival. I just had to be back before 5 pm.
This was perfect. The Motet was performing Friday afternoon, and I would now be free for the show. I walked around the venue and checked out the various stages. I even tested a One Wheel in a sponsored activation before making my way over to The Motet’s performance. The show was great. The crowd was thin, but I was feeling the music. I even found myself able to shake the lead singer’s hand at the end of the show.
I ventured back over to the booth in time for the start of my shift. I started taking orders and quickly fell into a flow. Yes, I was working, but I was enjoying the experience. Our booth was in the VIP area right behind the main stage. We could hear the music and with a few steps outside of our booth we could get a decent side view of the stage. Weezer took the stage and launched into an amazing performance.
While serving customers, I started rocking out to the hit song Say It Ain’t So. As I was singing along to the lyrics, one of my customers noted, “You’ve found the right job!” I was having a great time and making money in the process. Could it get any better?
The headliners for tonight were The Red Hot Chili Peppers. They took the stage to tremendous applause. This was my first time witnessing a Red Hot Chili Peppers performance. I was awestruck. Our line quickly died down. I sang along to pretty much every single song. Hit after hit after hit. They just kept the good music coming.
With no line to serve and as the low man on the totem pole, I was relegated to dish duty. I was happy to get stuck with such a simple task. I just focused on the music. I wasn’t just scrubbing dishes. I was rocking out!
Friday was a tremendous success. My employer was happy with my performance. I got to watch the entire Motet performance, and I got to listen to and enjoy both Weezer and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The best part of the night was still to come. I left the venue, made the 15-minute drive home, and crawled into my own bed.
I’ve traveled the country working music festivals. This is still the only event where I’ve had the pleasure of sleeping in my own bed. Hotels can be fun, Airbnb’s can be cool, camping can be an adventure, but nothing beats sleeping in your own bed. I curled up and quickly passed out for the night.
I drove back to the venue around 10 am Saturday morning. I was excited for Day 2. I was happy to be working at a music festival again. Yes, it was just tacos, but it beat driving for Lyft. I had proven that I was a good employee on Friday. They decided to give me more responsibility on Saturday.
Machine Gun Kelley on the main stage at Kaaboo
I was put in charge of frying up chips for the day. With my added responsibility, I wouldn’t have time to go out to the festival today. That didn’t matter at all. I was happy to stay put. Just on our stage I was able to see Machine Gun Kelly, Ice Cube, and P!nk. The surprise set of the day was P!nk. While I didn’t expect to love the music, the performance was incredible. At one point she was flying above the crowd suspended on a trapeze line. It was fantastic.
I left the venue Saturday night feeling on top of the world. I was so excited to be working another music festival. I was enjoying the music, the people, the energy, and the ability to put money in my pocket. Leaving the venue, I wanted to give back to the crowd that was supporting my ability to work this show. I had my car parked for free nearby and I was 100% sober. I noticed a group of people that were clearly trying to call an Uber.
I asked them if they were headed north or south. They were heading south, the same direction I was headed. I told them I drove for Lyft, and I would be happy to drive them home. They accepted the offer of a free ride, and we walked up the hill to my car.
Ice Cube performing at Kaaboo Music Festival at Del Mar Racetrack
When I got to my car, I was surprised to find a parking ticket. While I had parked in a legal location, according to the ticket the hill was too steep, and I needed to turn my wheels to the curb. It was only a $30 ticket, but it was annoying. I collected the ticket, kept my cool, and dropped my new friends off at their place. They insisted on venmo-ing me for the ride. I accepted the payment and got my parking ticket covered. Yet again, things just work themselves out at a music festival.
I returned to the festival grounds on Sunday. Today, Mario’s entire family was on site. His partner Jess, his son Mario, and their new baby Marcello were all at the festival grounds. While Marcello was only 6 months, he had already been to twenty music festivals. That was more than me! What a crazy existence.
By this point, I had become part of the crew. When I was hired Mario made it very clear that there was no drinking or smoking allowed during work. Now that I had done a good job, the story changed. Mario let me know that there were beers in the blue cooler, to keep things under control, but to have a good time. I understood the assignment and downed my first drink. Today was going to be a great day.
I was back on chip duty, so I spent all of Sunday working the event. Once the chips were fried and we had a solid line, I made my way back up front. I was taking orders, making my way through my line, and enjoying the day when I noticed something interesting. Someone in my line looked familiar. I took their order for 2 chicken tacos and 1 pork taco and asked his name. “Tony” my customer replied. I shot right back at him, “Tony Hawk?” He confirmed my suspicions. I was taking Tony Hawk’s taco order.
To put things in perspective, I dressed up as Tony Hawk for Halloween as a child. Not just once! I was such a massive fan I dressed up as Tony Hawk two years in a row. While I attempted to play it cool, my hands were shaking. This was one of my childhood heroes. Just as I was finishing up his payment, one of the managers Dustin came up to the front. I knew he was into skateboarding form our causal conversations. I tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Hey Dustin, say hello to Tony Hawk!” His eyes went wide as he looked up at our customer. Tony handled the attention with confidence. He didn’t want the spotlight, but he knew how to operate in it. He even signed an empty taco boat for Dustin. It was such a cool experience meeting a legend.
A disposable taco boat signed by Tony Hawk
Our celebrity food orders were just getting started. Christina Agulera swung by our booth, and finally Tom Petty’s tour manager stopped by to place an order for the tour bus. We put together an entire catering order of tacos for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.
As the low man on the totem pole, I volunteered to hop of the dishes early. We had to have the entire kitchen cleaned and put away in the trailer tonight. This was a ton of work, and while the event ended around 11 pm we were cleaning everything until almost two in the morning.
I was running off the energy of the crowd and felt fantastic. I was happy to work to the very end of the show. I helped load the last items onto the trailer, receiving praise from Mario for my work this weekend. The crew invited me back to their campground. The work was over and it was time to party. They had a bag of goodies and I was invited to partake.
I followed the crew over to their campsite, arriving a touch after 2:30 am in the morning. Everyone was full of energy from a successful weekend. One of our coworkers JB had disappeared from the group during breakdown. I thought it was a bit weird to leave in the middle of the worst part of the weekend, but he had run an errand for the entire group. Back at the campground, he revealed the score. A bag full of molly pills and LSD-soaked sweet tarts. Everyone grabbed what they needed and we all dosed up at once.
We were in a San Diego campground on powerful psychedelics after working 36 hours in the previous three days. There was only one thing to do – go on an adventure. While I was full of energy, not everyone in the group was feeling the effects. Mario, Jess, and Gabby all decided to go to bed early. That left just a few guys up for the nighttime adventure. Dustin, JB, me, and two others decided to go on a late night hike.
We made our way to the top of the hill, discovering a water tower. We had to get to the top! We all climbed the water tower, happy that the girls decided to call it. Getting onto the initial ladder was definitely difficult, especially considering our impaired state. Regardless, we all made it to the top, sat down, and started soaking in the view.
Tripping on top of a water tower in the middle of the night.
Psychedelics and a good view will open up a conversation. While I had been a new stranger to this group just a few days prior, after a weekend’s work we were all now family. We talked through the night, sharing stories, life concerns, jokes, and personal history with each other. Soon enough, the color of the sky started to change. The sun was showing up. We knew we weren’t supposed to be on top of the water tower, so we called it a night, climbed down, and walked back to camp.
I didn’t even have a tent, so I just sat down by the picnic table for the sunrise. JB stayed up with me through the morning, enjoying the sunrise and California scenery. He was flying out the next day and needed somewhere to stay for the night. As he was now one of my best friends, I invited him to spend the night on the couch in my apartment.
Sunrise over the campground. No sleep for the weary.
We left the campground around 10 am. Before we left, Mario paid me for the weekend and invited me to join the crew for the next event. They were headed to Tennessee and I was welcome to join. I had a feeling I had made some new friends, but I wasn’t ready to abandon my life in San Diego. It was just getting started.
I should not have been driving, but I knew the roads and somehow drove JB back to my apartment safely. We both passed out for hours as we had been up all night long. I showed JB around San Diego before dropping him off at the airport the next day. I made sure to get his number before he flew away. I was pretty sure I had just made a new lifelong friend. I told him I would see him again soon and wished him luck as he continued touring the country with Tica’s Tacos. What a lifestyle! Maybe one day…