etd.POP

Alright so here are my thoughts on the weekend. I left on Friday to go visit Shawns parents in Clear Lake. It was extremely nice weather there and I always love finding myself in the middle of the Black Forest, thinking, “this is nature.” We were only there for the night and a lot of our time was spent resting for POP. We usually play a game of disc golf in Lake Port but we unfortunately didn’t have time this weekend. We left Clear Lake around 12, hoping to be in San Fransisco by 3 but that did NOT happen. We could have gone the regular way that normal people take, but Shawn’s parents insisted on us going through Napa, as it would “save” a half hour. Well we took the Silverado trail, to go through Napa and that was the worst idea ever. It was beautiful, and seeing the vineyards I’ve only ever dreamed of seeing were amazing. There were all my favorite wines being brewed right there and I got to see the start of it. Duckhorn Vineyards, Clos Pegase, and Rom Baur all in a row. Amazing. I think almost everyone in that town owns a limo and has their own personal driver. It must be nice sitting on the balcony to your 5 million dollar spanish villa watching your mexicans pick the grapes your reaping the benefits of for you. How lucky is that? Ugh. Disgusting how much money is in that town man. No lie. So we get lost and end up going to back to the same fork in the road 4 different times. It was hell. The half hour we fucked around could have been the half hour we saved. We stopped between Napa and Vallejo for some food and then it was straight to our friends hotel in Oyster Point to get ready. I felt super bad for Shawn, he was ready to go within 10 minutes and us girls took forever. LOL, thats how it goes I guess. Anyways we finally get ready and drive over to the Cow Palace. I was not prepared for how big that venue was. After about 45 minutes of fucking around at the car, learning that we couldn’t bring backpacks in, running back to the car 6 different times for various things I kept forgetting and cutting some bitches from Reno we ran into to avoid the hour and a half wait in line, we FINALLY got in. When you walk to the main stage area it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I was fortunate to be one of the first thousand people in, so I pretty much got to see the venue empty and then later got to see it jam packed with people. The light set up was as epic as Ghostlands in the main area. The floor was literally a pro basketball arena with bleacher seats that wrapped around the whole thing area. The stage literally rotated. Rotated? Yes rotated with about 4 tables of decks setup for the djs. Deep Voices was playing when we first got in. I’ve seen Dyloot alone, but the pair are fucking epic. I am not a huge trance person either but what they throw down I can only describe as epic trance. We went from Deep Voices on the main stage to check out the venue and the merch. The Happy Hardcore room was just way to HAPPY and way to HARDCORE. I am not a fan. That’s where you can find the true kandi kids, dub steppin and rockin out to some ultimate rave shit. There was a lot of cool merchandise though. Shit that I have never really seen before. Glowing necklaces made out of kandi and Paul Van Dyk t-shirts. Water was 3.50, which is to be expected. We decided to go try and catch Alex Metric at six. We had pretty high expectations of him that unfortunately were not met. I wanted some dirrrrty electro and he was a little to happy. Unfortunately the Electro room wasn’t packed all night. Maybe when Freeland Live and Flosstradamus were on. But I guess when Alex was playing a lot of people weren’t even in the venue yet. And man did I feel sorry for them. Having to stand out in the wretched cold fog would have sucked balls man. After Alex Metric I am not really sure what came on. I know we chilled in the bleachers for a while, watching light shows and taking in the epic venue. I know we watched The Toxic Avenger [hella dirty btw] and then after that I remember Deadmau5. The night was a blur of ecstacy, love, and epic trance. Which I am pretty sure is what Skills was going for. Deadmau5 had the most legit trance set I have ever heard. Now like I said, I am not a huge trance fan. But I do love Deadmau5 and the night really made me appreciate him and trance a lot more. About 10 minutes before Deadmau5 finished up we went to catch Flosstradamus and jesus christ was it intense.That was one of my favorite parts of the night. I mean of course Deadmau5 was my favorite, but being able to see him and then go see Flosstradamus just tearing shit up was fucking awesome. I have such an epic video of where they shoot off some huge confetti guns right when the bass drops and it is insane. I will post many pics and many videos probablly later this week. That was so hardcore man. After Flosstradamus Freeland Live came on and literally tore shit up. I love live techno acts when people are still spinning but you got live drums, bass, and keyboard to accompany it. I remember we had to go sit on the wall for a few as it was to intense to handle up close and the distortion winding noise they were making with the track skipping was fucking epic. Ahhh. Shawn was like “man, if we were standing right there we would be dying right now…” Ya, pretty much. We went back to the main stage to watch the end of Ferry Corsten and the beginning of Paul Van Dyk. At this point in time we were kinda coming down and exhausted from driving all day and partying the rest. We took a seat in the bleachers which at this point were as packed as the floor. Every time we sat in the bleachers though, we met some awesome people. San Franciso ravers are so different then Reno ravers. Sooo much more PLUR. I can appreciate the Kandi Kids there a lot more than I can here. Everyone is actually happy and listens to actual happy techno instead of horrible gabber that you can’t even enjoy. Just to many BPMs and wayyy to much hardcore bass. Ek. I hate that shit man. The scene there is so much happier then fucking druggie downtrodden Reno ravers, for sure. Although I didn’t enjoy Ferry Corsten that much, I can say the he through down the best style of all night. I loved the trance electro mix he was playing. Great songs, and new exactly when to drop that shit. Paul Van Dyk came on, and right as he did so a fight broke out on the walkway below us. Security chased the guy into the electro room where he got swarmed (so I hear) by about 15 yellow coated security, causing Adam Freeland to end early and LA Riots to start late. Paul Van Dyk was awesome as expected, but I am just not a huge fan of main stream techno so we went to catch LA Riots, with our friends Joseph and Mike we had met during the Toxic Avenger earlier that night. Those guys are fucking awesome. I tell you this man, there are certain types of people that are a cut above the rest. People you can only truthfully find at music festivals. They ended up being part of the crew for the rest of the night and it was truly epic. And one of the best parts is that they’re going to BFD next weekend, and so are we. Shit happens for a reason and I can’t wait to party it up again in two weeks with those kids for sure. While we were waiting for LA Riots to come on Adam Freeland was on the stage taking his setup down and Shawn went and met him. Hella talked to him about his Opulent Temple Burning Man set and it pretty much made my baby’s night. He is so happy in the pictures that he got to take with him and it definitely shows. Shawn says that Adam was a really chill down to earth guy and he appreciated the feedback from his show. LA Riots FINALLY came on and we watched about 3 songs of his set, but had to leave due to ultimate fatigue. And we wanted to smoke a fattie with our new friends before we had to make the 4 hour drive back to Reno. Back at the hotel room Mike rolled one of the nicest blunts I have ever seen before of some kind medical and we smoked it on the balcony reminscing about our night and talking about how epic BFD was gonna be. I am so glad we made such good friends with those guys and I am glad the night went as smooth and as awesome as it did. The 4 hour trip to Reno ended up only being 3 cuz we were hauling ass, but we didn’t get pulled over and we were in bed safely by 5. It was definitely an epic night and I cannot wait to see our new friends again and party it up in the bay, two weeks from now. All in all POP was fucking insane, epic, and a definite runner up to my fun at Coachella (although it could never compare, and are two totally different experiences). My favorite moment of the whole night? Screaming to Soulwaxx’ “KIDS” remix, dancing crazily in the bleachers with Tarra and Makenzie as Blake Jarrell through that shit down hella hard. Will post pics and video later. PEACE YO.