Do you believe in magic? If you’ve ever been to Lightning in a Bottle, there’s a pretty decent chance that you do.
Lightning in a Bottle is epic. It’s huge. It’s vast. It’s challenging. It’s breathtaking. It’s beautiful. It’s exciting. It’s exhausting. It’s rejuvenating. It’s colorful. It’s fun as all hell. And It’s magical. Truly magical.
This magic isn’t achieved by coincidence, nor is it supernatural. This magic is in fact created and curated by the fine folks at Do LaB. This magic comes as a result of ambition, creativity, and an awe-inspiring level of production value and top-notch infrastructure. It comes from Do LaB’s mission to create the best possible festival environment that they can, and share it with as many people as possible. Mission accomplished.
Lightning in a Bottle 2016 was, in short, incredible. Like actually, truly, unbelievably good. It may seem like I could sit here and write that about any festival. “Oh man, it was so good!” “Ah, this one was GREAT!” “This festival rocks! Incredible!” Well, guess what. It was so good. That one was great. That festival does rock. And Lightning in a Bottle is no exception. Do LaB knows what they are doing. They know what they have created. They know the influence they have on the global festival community, and the strong influence they have on people’s lives who attend this festival. As such, they put a lot of work into continuing to push the boundaries when it comes to providing a quintessential festival experience in California. In its third year at the dried up Lake San Antonio, Do LaB has officially found their groove in throwing a really good, really huge festival. Like it or not, the days of an intimate Lightning in a Bottle are gone. It has grown at an astounding rate just in the three years it has been in Bradley. It’s really big, it’s really popular, and it’s still really freaking good. THIS. This is how you throw a huge festival.
So, you ask. What’s so good about it? Where to begin… The thing that stands out the most is that there is just so much going on at every hour of the weekend. There is just so much to do. Flip through the schedule and look past the music programming on the three main stages, and you will find an overwhelming amount of workshops, activities, lectures, yoga, dance classes, performances, parties, and so much more. Just take a look at the festival map and prepare to be overwhelmed. A first-timer literally came up to a friend of mine and genuinely asked, “How do you decide what you’re supposed to do?” The dusty remnants of Lake San Antonio are populated by an abundance of art installations, shops, interactive areas, and immersive environments. In short, this vast venue of rolling hills and a dried up lakebed and its surrounding peninsulas is transformed into an ultra-stimulating dreamscape that will have your eyes and ears engaged at all times. You could easily have the time of your life at Lightning in a Bottle without ever visiting one of the music stages. More than the incredible music acts playing the main stages, it is the many immersive and interactive environments at LIB that stick with you and make this weekend an unforgettable and unreplicable experience. From late-night acoustic jams at the Grand Artique to fire dancers, burlesque, and piano tunes at Amori’s Burlesque at Casino, to all-night renegade dance parties at theme camps, to karaoke under a bridge, ecstatic dance at the yoga dome, food and wellness workshops, and ceremonies at the Temple of Consciousness. The top-notch music lineup of the festival is what draws people in, but it is the random encounters, the immersive environments, and the pure plethora of interactive experiences and options that will keep them coming back.
Probably my favorite little random interactive experience was wandering into what seemed to be another universe, where Bingo and funk are God. I am speaking, of course, about The Great Bingo Revival. These guys hosted an absolutely incredible and hilarious late-night Bingo party each night, and when I discovered this gem at 4:30am on Saturday night, my mind was blown. Yes, at 4:30am, walking into Bingo was the most ludicrous, high-energy, smile-inducing moment I would experience throughout the entire weekend. Funk and disco jams were blasting as people smiled and danced and followed along with the Bingo caller, the Rev. Red Lion, filling out their lucky Bingo cards that they received from Miss Bingo. The afroed Bingo go-go girls danced upon table-tops, shaking their booties, each of which were illuminated by the respective letters “B-I-N-G-O.” Bubbles floated through the air, tambourines were tossed into the crowd, and the lucky winner of BINGO won a freaking bicycle! When I returned on Sunday night, I caught the beginning of the show this time, and once again, I could not help but grin like a giddy schoolgirl. Once again I felt as if I teleported to another reality. Here we were, at 4am on Sunday night / Monday morning, “Eye of the Tiger” blasting through the sound system, and on comes the MC Rev. Red Lion once again: “Are you ready to fucking party! It’s Monday morning, and we’re just getting started, Lightning in a Bottle!” Holy shit. Yes. Bingo, you are my everything.
Lightning in a Bottle also introduced an absolute gamechanger this year in the form of a communal fire spinning circle. This was a surprising addition and one that seemed to operate smoothly and safely. For the fire spinning community, this is such a huge addition to the festival. For a festival of this size, scale, and popularity to include a designated community fire spinning area isn’t exactly common, but Do LaB found a way to make it happen. Fire art and fire spinning is such an integral and iconic aspect of the West Coast festival and Burner community, and it’s something that has been missing from one of the West Coast’s biggest festivals in LIB. Sure, professional performers have been able to perform with fire on-stage and at Amori’s in the past, but now the public fire spinning community has a place to showcase their talents and share their performance art with the festival. Here’s to hoping for many more years of fire jams at Lightning in a Bottle.
Oh yeah. There’s music at this festival too. And it’s really freaking good. And really freaking loud. And it plays at three really awesome main stages with powerful sound systems across the three spacious peninsulas that comprise the main festival grounds. There is the Lightning Stage (main stage), the Thunder Stage (bass music), and The Woogie (house & techno). Each stage is totally unique, visually pleasing, and totally worth spending a lot of time at. This isn’t the type of festival where you worry about set conflicts. Just go with the flow because every set you see and every place you go is going to be awesome. Some highlights for the weekend were Minnesota b2b G Jones, Sabo & Goldcap, Guy Gerber, Bleep Bloop, and Big Gigantic, to name just a few of the incredible performances of the weekend. Oh, and everything at Woogie. Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie Woogie! Woogie! Yes. Woogie is life. Seriously. Woogie. It’s the only way. Once the main stages wrapped up at 2am, the night-owls had their pick of the litter when it came to after-hours music. Side-stages, bars, renegades, theme camps, and official immersive environments were all home to all sorts of fun late-night dance parties scattered all across this massive place. If you like dance parties, there is a lot to like about Lightning in a Bottle.
Woogie Woogie Woogie
Those who live in the past never hesitate to point out that LIB isn’t what it used to be. It’s not intimate anymore. It’s too mainstream now. It’s not as good as it used to be. But that’s just wrong. Yes, it’s more popular. But it’s also bigger and better than it has ever been. The environment Do LaB creates at the dried up Lake San Antonio is a marvel that has to be seen to be believed. And it’s not a secret anymore. It’s more accessible to more people. Some despise the fact that Do LaB advertises LIB so heavily to the Coachella crowd. Although this is an understandable complaint, it is also an attitude that totally ignores the principle of Radical Inclusion. LIB exists as a bridge between mainstream festival culture and this alternate, counter-culture festival scene that we love so much (go ahead and call them “transformational festivals” if you so choose). There’s nothing wrong with inviting some fresh faces to partake in this culture. Do LaB has had a stage at Coachella for more than 10 years now, and that stage is what got me into this festival scene to begin with. Them advertising at Coachella is nothing new. And LIB growing into the massive festival that it is today isn’t a bad thing. It’s different, sure, but it is growth. Lightning in a Bottle has evolved into one of the most well-run, awesome-sounding, beautiful-looking, impressively-produced festivals on the planet, and I have nothing but praise for what the Do LaB has done. It’s just… incredible.
That said, the festival’s growth is not without its problems. Those who are angry about LIB advertising to the Coachella crowd have a point. Lightning in a Bottle is not supposed to be a shitshow. On Monday, when this weekend of magic and excitement comes to an end, this place unfortunately does indeed turn into a shitshow. People who have never dealt with a festival exodus before turn aggressive, because apparently they are entitled to exit the festival sooner than others. Mountains of trash form as people decide they are above LIB’s “pack-it-in, pack-it-out” policy. Leave No Trace, they say. Unless you’re an asshole, that is. If you are, then feel free to disrespect this amazing land you just called your home for four days. Don’t worry, it will be beautiful again, no thanks to you, when you return in one year for another awesome party. Others, perhaps, just don’t know any better. In this regard, if LIB wants to stay true to its ethos of “Leave it Better, Leave it Beautiful,” it is Do LaB’s responsibility to properly educate the masses and enforce their sustainability initiatives when they invite a crowd of this size to their party. Camp trash at a festival is expected. It just happens. People leave it behind. People don’t care. People don’t know. But when it happens on this scale, when the festival is this big, when thousands of people are leaving bags of trash behind at a festival that supposedly prides itself on sustainability, eco-education, and greening– well, it’s problematic, to say the least. It’s up to Do LaB to fix that problem, and it’s up to LIB attendees, old or new, to hold themselves to a higher standard when it comes to respecting this land if they want to participate in this festival.
All things considered, during the actual event days, Lightning in a Bottle is a glowing example of absolute top-notch production value and infrastructure. Lightning in a Bottle, in 2016, is officially the gold standard for how to run a huge festival. The vast, spacious landscape is fully populated by people, ideas, art, and creativity. There is a sense of adventure every time you leave camp. You are never confined. Never bored. Never committed. The possibilities seem virtually endless at Lightning in a Bottle. Each step in every direction can lead to a different well full of unique life experiences And there will be many steps. This terrain is spacious, rugged, dry, dusty, hot, and physically demanding. This is a physically demanding festival. I choose to embrace this aspect of it. Hiking often leads to stunning scenic rewards, and Lightning in a Bottle, if anything, is exceptionally scenic. Yes, the spot has blown up. Yes it’s popular. Yes it’s crowded, and yes, much of that crowd is young newcomers. Oh yes, Lightning in a Bottle has changed. And it is awesome. It is epic. It is pulsating with positive energy. It is filled to the brim with art and excitement. It is Do LaB at their best, pulling out all the stops and curating a truly magical festival experience. Lightning in a Bottle, you rock.
*All words & photos by Babak Haghighi (aka Spirit Shutter)
