Photo by Wook Vision
Take a majestic mountain; add a cute snow town resort and a dash of EDM music and you have Minus Zero festival. This festival while not on the survival level of Burning Man, did have some barriers to entry. The first was the obvious physical. 100% of attendees were wearing pants. And most people had warm winter coats, blankets or fantastic onesies to keep their bodies warm. The vibe was friendly, cautious, and courteous. Music festivals notoriously give attendees the chance to express themselves through attire, and this one was different in that so little of the body could be exposed to the elements. I had never noticed it before, but it made you have to approach people more and get a little closer to feel out who they were under so many layers. What I enjoyed the most about this unique festival vibe was that the survival mode gave us all a genuine sense of camaraderie that we really wanted to be here and would brave any weather to get here to see our favorite artists perform.
The staff at the festival were perfection. The level of professionalism was more than I expected and I was treated with kindness and attended to at all times. For the most part, everyone was staying off the festival grounds in cabins. Drinking alcohol at the cabins made the most sense financially, thus the lines inside the festival for alcohol were generally reasonable and inexpensive. I loved the resort village. A quintessential component to any mountain resort and this one did not disappoint. Restaurants, bars and a café for morning coffee, this snowy town really had it all. I can see how the founders saw the location and just knew it would be perfect.
Nature has always soothed my soul. Taking in the beats of headliners Illenium, Zed’s Dead, Griz, and Bassnectar with the backdrop of snow while breathing in clean fresh air was an out of this world experience. Finally, something must be said of the people that I met at Minus Zero. It’s true that the EDM community has evolved from what was once known as PLUR but this festival was cozy, warm and fuzzy despite the cold temperature. I didn’t know where I was sleeping the day I got a ride to the festival from strangers that I digitally met the day before on the Facebook page. So I rode up with really nice strangers, then met new really nice strangers (shout out to the Griz crew) who allowed me to crash in their swank cabin only moments away from the action. And finally, I’ll finish with my antidotal Minus Zero ending.
I had no ride off of Stratton Mountain. Sunday morning I went to the customer service desk and inquired about a shuttle to New York City. Unfortunately for me, there was no shuttle this time of year, but they gave me two phone numbers for cabs and sent me on my way with directions to take the taxi to the Grey Hound station in Manchester thirty miles away. I was discouraged and walked around talking to people to see if anyone had info about transportation. Everyone kept telling me to talk to the customer service desk, which I had done so I figured I wouldn’t waste any more time and finally called the cab.
“Hello,” said a gruff voice on the other end.
“Hi there, I’m strande….”
“I’m not coming up there,” he said not letting me finish. I asked him why he wouldn’t come and he told me that it had been too many rides up and down the mountain and that he was burned out and “sorry that I was stranded, “ but he wasn’t going to come up there again. I called the second cab company that was given to me and no one picked up. Feeling totally discouraged I did the one option I thought I had left and stuck out my thumb for what I hoped was the way down the mountain. We live in a wonderfully mysterious universe because no sooner had 60 seconds gone by but a person walking by me stops me and says,
”Wait, pull down your glasses.”
I pull my glasses down.
“SHIP FAM!!” he exclaims, and I feel my entire body relax as I gaze into the eyes of an old friend, in fact, two that I met this January on Holy Ship. The Ship Fam duo took me to Albany where I caught a cheap bus to NYC and was home by dinnertime.
Thank you Minus Zero, I will see you next year!
