MF #25
Same Same But Different 2018
Date
September 22nd – 23rd, 2018
Location
Lake Perris, California
Reason
Pro Systems
A music festival was on my official work schedule! Pro Systems landed the audio and lighting contract for the first year of Same Same But Different Music Festival. Produced by a local group of San Diego music fanatics, my employer would be supplying both equipment and operators for the two day event.
The lineup looked amazing. The Floozies, Lettuce, Dirtwire, Capyac, Boombox, Moon Hooch, Late Night Radio, and more.. Every single band was right up my alley, mixing live instruments with electronic beats. If you know the scene you’ll recognize a few of those names. For the first year of an event, that lineup was extremely impressive.
At this point, everyone at Pro Systems including the CEO Brad knew I loved music festivals. I was the only person on the crew routinely going to festivals for fun. For the rest of the team, it was work and most of my coworkers would not think of paying to go to a camping music festival. Thankfully, my passion for festivals helped me land a place on the crew for the weekend.
Our crew arrived on site Friday, the day before the start of the festival. Our crew for this weekend was great. My good friend Harrison the freelance audio engineer would be joining us. Another friendly audio freelancer Garret, Harrison, and Wylie would be running the audio equipment while Cesar would be taking care of the lighting equipment. My job was to run between stages to help with each set change and interface with Peter, the lead of the entire event. We had a few extra hands for setup and tear down, but us four would be staying the entire time and were responsible for running the show.
We had the entire day to set up the equipment on both stages. Usually we operated on a much more compressed time schedule, regularly setting up a show, operating it, and breaking it all down in a single (long) day. Having a full day to setup was downright relaxing.
The festival grounds were spectacular. Two stages were facing each other on a grass field. Sets were scheduled to alternate between stages. There was no need to worry about overlapping or competing sounds. Everyone could see every set. Not only were we on grass, but there was also a large sand beach leading down to the lakeside. Swimming was allowed and the festival did its best to provide ample floats and even set up a few art installations in the water.
Harrison Sound Checking the Stage the Day Before SSBD 2018
We were in the desert about an hour north of San Diego, so the weather was perfect. Hot in the day, cool at night. It was a state park with a large amount of built up camping facilities. There were proper toilets, hot showers, and quiet campsites for all the attendees. The lake was surrounded on all sides by mountains. We enjoyed the scenery as we set up all the stages and started soundchecking and programming lights as the sun set into the distance.
I would have been happy camping on site, but we received hotel rooms as part of our contract. With the equipment set up, programmed, and ready for the following day we retired to the hotel. Our crew took it relatively easy, as we had an early call time the next morning and the coming days were set to be long.
We left the hotel at 8:30 am, arriving back on site before 9:00 am. Almost immediately, we had work to do. Lettuce was headlining tonight, and as headliners they would be soundchecking first thing in the morning. While they had their own audio engineer, they had six band members with about a dozen instruments in between them. The band took up so much space on stage that the festival had to have one of the stages extended at an additional cost in order to accommodate the performance.
Members of Lettuce and their crew were all extremely professional, nice, and accustomed to the hassle of their setup. We were able to help them get situated and put in place, and ready for that evening’s show while sticking to a tight schedule. With Lettuce soundcheck, we got to work on the opening acts. Things were flying by smoothly as I bounced from stage to stage, helping out wherever I could.
Music started promptly at 12:00 pm. The first few bands were ok but there were just a handful of fans at the stages. Everyone was down by the water. When The Routine took the stage, things started to change. The Routine played a funky and jazzy set to the first group of fans that made their way up from the water to the stages. As the first groups started dancing, the party kicked off. The crowd wasn’t huge, but it was vibrant. Everyone was here to dance. As the music played on, the crowd size and vibes only escalated.
The Routine opens up Same Same But Different Music Festival
When The Routine finished up, the entire crowd made the 150 yard walk over to the other side of the field to enjoy The Family Crest on the Different Stage. When The Family Crest finished their set, the crowd walked back to the Same Stage for Within. Everyone had a great time going back and forth between the stages, providing just enough time for the crowd to interact with each other without loud music. New friends were made, conversation was had, and soon everyone seemed to know everyone. As soon as the group reached the other stage, the next set would start. It was a unique festival experience and a breath of fresh air from the large multi-stage music festivals where it’s impossible to see every set. This was a family affair for an amazing group of likeminded music fans.
While there was fantastic music all night long, Lettuce proved they were the true headliners. They put on an outstanding jam performance, playing one of their best sets I’ve ever seen for the intimate crowd. Lettuce has no lead singer, no lyrics at all, but they jam so hard it will take your breath away. I joined our audio engineer Garrett on stage and sat down in a folding chair on stage about 5 feet away from the action. Lettuce had their own audio engineer running the show, so all we had to do was sit back and enjoy the show. My respect for the Lettuce crew only grew when the monitor engineer passed us back a lit joint in the middle of the set. I took a few short video clips and a bunch of photos with my camera, attempting to capture the magic.
On Stage with Lettuce – SSBD 2018
Lettuce played for a full hour and a half, finishing up their set just before midnight. We helped them strike their gear as Late Night Radio entertained the crowd on the other stage. While I had admired Lettuce and their music from afar for years, I was now helping them strike their gear. I kept things professional, but this was one of those “I can’t believe I’m getting paid for this.” moments. With Lettuce packed up and happy, we said our goodbyes, wished them luck, and I headed over to catch the end of Late Night Radio.
Boombox finished off the night with an amazing DJ set to the final group of party goers. With that, day one was complete. We hit the road and made the 15 minute drive back to the hotel. We all retired to our rooms immediately upon arrival. It was closing in on 3:00 am and we had to leave the hotel at 9:30 am.
While it wasn’t the longest sleep, it was nice being in a hotel. I woke up excited to head back to the festival. This was the last day after all. Compared to the usually 3 or 4 day affairs, this was a walk in the park.
We returned to the site and immediately got to work soundchecking The Floozies. When they were done, Wylie told me to strike the boxes which were taking up the front of stage. I wasn’t quite sure what they were, but I marked their locations with electric tape and moved the equipment to the back of the stage.
This turned out to be a horrible mistake. The boxes were lasers. Rob, the lighting guy for The Floozies, had worked from 2:00 am until 5:00 am programming and perfecting the performance and they were not to be moved. Thankfully, he was super cool and understanding of the situation once he found out I had marked the locations properly. With the taped spots, we were able to get them set back up and dialed in in just a few minutes.
After this calamity, Sunday seemed to fly by. I took advantage of some free time in the afternoon to grill up burgers for the crew. I had brought my little mini portable grill to the event. We had all been working non stop since the start, so the good meal was appreciated by the whole crew.
Sunday was hot and sunny and the majority of the crowd spent the entire day swimming in the water. While not everyone was aware that swimming was allowed prior to coming, having a swimsuit or not did not seem to be a problem. For such a small crowd, everyone was very comfortable with nudity. Both girls and guys enjoyed the water unencumbered by clothes.
Capyac signaled the end of the beach time and start of the nighttime festivities with the start of their insanely fun performance. They hopped on the Different Stage around 7:30 pm and played through the sunset. By the end of the set, the crowd size at the stage had at least tripled and everyone was ready to spend the night dancing.
Dirtwire followed up Capyac, playing on one of my favorite sets of the entire weekend. Dirtwire gives off an old-western Desperado feel with electronic beats. The three main artists mix live instruments into modern sounds in a way that is completely unique. The electric slide banjo plays a vital role. It’s both old fashioned and extremely modern. When they played a cover of the classic Led Zeppelin tune When the Levee Breaks, I had a moment. It was perhaps the coolest cover of a Zeppelin song I have ever heard.
Moon Hooch kept the party going with a Saxophone heavy set, but for me I had my eyes on The Floozies. This set was going to be a good time. Harrison had brough just a touch of Molly and dumped it into a water bottle during Moon Hooch’s performance. We split it and started to come up as The Floozies took the stage.
The Floozies did not disappoint. From the start to the end, the crowd never stopped dancing. While it’s just two people on stage, the duo can play! They combined drums, live guitar, vocals, and electronic beats into an unforgettable performance. The laser light show was pretty spectacular as well.
I spent some time in the crowd just dancing by myself, spent a little time at front of house photographing and enjoying the show with Harrison, and then I spent a little bit of time on stage getting close up photographs of the set. I tried to get a little bit of every kind of experience during this set.
Matt Hill of The Floozies performing at SSBD 2018
The Floozies played for over an hour and a half, rocking out the entire time. With their set completed, it was time to start packing up the main stage. Lyftd took the crowd back over to the Different Stage as I got to work helping The Floozies get all their gear together and removed from the stage.
As we were packing up, the festival coordinator Peter came by to thank us for our efforts this weekend. I was determined to thank him. I had purchased a bottle of champagne at the grocery store on the way into the event that morning. I grabbed it from my supplies and presented it to him. I was so grateful to be working a proper music festival. I let him know that it was an honor to participate with the show.
We said our goodbyes, had one big group hug, and then went back to work to finish putting everything away. Luckily, we were able to box everything up and leave it in place for tonight. We would have all day Monday to take down the audio and lighting equipment.
It had been two super long days in a row, but as we drove to the hotel I was smiling from ear to ear. I had just played a pretty big role in a brand new music festival. I crossed my fingers that this festival would keep going. I knew if I had a amazing time working it, the fans in attendance must’ve had a blast. Thank you Peter and the SSBD team!
