Posted by: beatmassa in music, lakeland, florida, community, burning man, burners, afterburn on Nov 17, 2008
This weekend marked another occurrence of the Afterburn, which had started out in 2005 as "Sun Burn", an outdoor festival put on by Burning Man fanatics and others.
The very first impression I got was that some people really take their role in all of this a bit too serious. I realize the need for the organizers to be able to plan in advance and to take as much funding in, however I don't understand why you have to get treated like assholes for not having bought the tickets 3 months in advance. It would appear to me that if you plan this properly, you know how many tickets you need in order to break even and once that point is passed you can stop being a nazi about it. I mean I was threatened with being sent home and that they had no problem sending people back home that drove there 4 hours. I don't know about you, but I can go to any Club in Miami or Fort Lauderdale and be treated like a Shmuck, I don't have to drive 4 hours to do that. I also wonder the "committee" is going to send all the people that weren't able to attend their money back - it would very much surprise me.
Anyway, that first impression was quickly forgotten as we mingled with the campers, linking up with all our local and distant friends. It was amazing to see how many people we saw in 2005 were there again this year. The Hippie couple that ran around naked all weekend back then, were present again this year with the difference that we got to enjoy them jumping on a trampoline. I hope you understand that I'm writing this with a rather sarcastic undertone and none of this should be taken too seriously. Like the bouncing nut sack wasn't enough, Keekay (how do you spell that anyway?) was as good as to give us the joy of seeing his hair scrotum until it THANKFULLY got too cold for any of the bare backers to continue. I must say I've had my share of naked men for a while, I respect your right to live out whatever exposure issues you're dealing with, and I'm simply exercising my freedom of speech by writing about my take on it.
Now that I have the smack talk out of the way, there was of course more to enjoy than Keekay's hairy ass. Indovisual and the Phisonica Boys put on a great performance made up of a mix of funky groove and phat beats, which was well received by the crowds. Unfortunately nobody recorded the show so you'll just have to wait for another event to hear their stuff live.
I myself was set up at Jack Trash's trailer and for that I'd like to thank him and particularly his lovely wife Elaine, who pampered me with custom made Mochitos, Thanks!
Just to sum it up, the area included two mini domes, one featured the PVM crew, the other dome right next to it was run by Steve and Pascal - both of which turned out to be extremely solid individuals. Apparently our main man Doug encountered some problems with the setup at the PVM dome so Pascal was asked whether Doug could spin in a set on their setup, and he said "no problem!" - those are the kind of people we all appreciate at events like this, way to go.
All and all the event left very little to wish for (except not being treated like scum by the personnel). Surrounded by friends and good people, interacting with people of all walks of life, and every age group this event helped me appreciate the fact that there are good, kind and creative people out there who's energies collectively bring me inspiration.
Thank you for everyone's hospitality, I enjoyed myself greatly this weekend and I know my Alligazm did as well :)