In news out of The Palm Springs Desert Sun this morning, it appears that the world’s number one grossing music festival is once again making big moves. Over the last decade, The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California has shifted from a one day, one weekend occasion to a three day, two weekend phenomenon.
Last year alone, the festival drew 99,000 dancing, smiling faces each weekend – drawing 198,000 people with both weekends combined, and took in nearly $85 Million, according to Forbes. This past Wednesday, the Indio City Council approved Goldenvoice’s March proposal to increase the attendance cap for their April Festivities – with Coachella’s attendance blossoming over 25% from 99,000 a weekend to 125,000 a weekend; meaning total attendance rises to 250,000 from 198,000. Stagecoach, which occurs the following weekend, is expected to increase from 75,000 to 85,000 – raising by a mere 13%, in comparison.
Back in 2013, Goldenvoice, the parent company of Coachella, threatened to leave Indio over a 6% tax on tickets, which as you very well know cost in the ballpark of $350; meaning $21 of every ticket would have gone to the city, or roughly $4.15 Million. Instead, Goldenvoice set an agreement with the city that will keep them there at least until the year 2030. Within that agreement, Goldenvoice agreed that it would give $5.01 of every ticket sold to the city of indio – a 200% increase in profit. The agreement also paved the way for Goldenvoice to increase their festival breadth in the city from three events a year to five, two of them in the Fall! (Also, WHAT?!)
But, back to the original point – with Coachella’s attendance alone (198,000), Indio makes nearly $1 Million in taxes, add in Stagecoach and you have $1.36 Million. With the increase in capacity of 62,000 extra audiophiles, Indio is slated to add an extra 20% in profit, making nearly $1.67 Million. With the current supply and demand economy of the festival world, this news truly drives home the idea that we’re swimming in a money market with the sharks and are too blinded by the glitter, lasers and confetti to see it.
With Coachella already feeling like it’s pushing capacity and it’s internationally renowned cast of musicians drawing exponentially large crowds – it will be interesting to see how this impacts the flow of the event, or if they will choose to increase the festival grounds to account for their growth in attendance.
What are your thoughts on the raise in attendance?
Here’s some music while you get those thoughts together.
For more on Coachella, head to their social media channels:
With Coachella less than two weeks away and hype about the East Coast’s Panama Music + Arts Festival premiere later this year, it’s refreshing to hear that AEG is finally gearing up to bring the Music, Art and magic back into Los Angeles – where it belongs! With great excitement (and some slight disdain from Pasadena residents who fear for their musical tastes to be expanded), The Arroyo Seco Music Festival is slotted for 2017 – and it’s got this East LA resident all sorts of pumped.
“As we embark on another busy events season, we are always thinking about the future. To that point, the Rose Bowl Operating Company and the City of Pasadena continue to evaluate potential opportunities which fit with our community and which could contribute much needed revenue to maintain the historic Stadium for years to come. As you may be aware, one such proposed event is a Music & Arts Festival at the Rose Bowl and we wanted to share with you a little about the concept and also key aspects of the decision-making process.” – Official Rose Bowl Statement
The Arroyo Seco Music & Arts Festival stands to be a world class event eliciting massive acclaim from audiophiles, musicians and fans alike and Pasadena is the perfect city to carry on the tradition that Coachella would set forth. Proposed to be held over either a two or three day period in June of 2017, the ASMAF would hold true to the Coachella tradition of artist tastemakers and bootyshakers from around the globe.
With the magnanimous amounts of internationally renowned talent, Coachella has always been a current Who’s Who of the Music circuit from across the genres, Funk, Folk, Big Band, Rap, Alternative, Disco, Dubstep, EDM, Punk Rock and so much more; bringing a festival of this caliber back to the city of Los Angeles that so desperately wants a festival they can at least metro to would be sweet, sweet music to our dancing ears.
Now that Spring has officially sprung, it’s been a personal mission of mine to get out and enjoy every ounce of sunshine I possibly can. Depending on your perspective of Los Angeles, it’s easy to flounder under the incorrect assumption that the city is a concrete jungle – but quite the contrary: in the midst of the hustle and bustle of our go-go-go lifestyle are a plethora of green spaces waiting to be explored. From The Huntington Gardens to Pasadena’s Arboretum, Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon – there are a lot of amazing nature hikes to offer, and you don’t even have to go far to get it in.
When we first set out for our hike, we only had one thing on our mind – it’s a beautiful day to get some exercise in. We packed a little pack of water, snacks and goodies and were off, off and away on a Saturday adventure. Not gonna lie on this one, the struggle was definitely real; we haphazardly decided to ascend the Tree of Life Trail to Cahuenga Peak so we could get as close as possible to the Hollywood Sign. Depending on your source, the tree in question is equally referred to as ‘The Wishing Tree’, ‘The Wisdom Tree’ ‘The Giving Tree’ and ‘The Magic Tree’, but whatever you choose to call it – it’s a beautiful hike up a ridiculous incline; meaning you’re going to want some badass shoes to accompany you. As a fair warning, this hike is not for novices or beginners – and I only say this, because I consider myself both, especially when it comes to this trail.
If you’ve been following my adventures over the last few years, I’ve evolved into a nature nymph of sorts and I absolute adore it. There’s nothing like the brisk air and fresh breeze of the great outdoors, but man – was I a sweaty, panting mess by the end of it. This hike is one puppy that you want to pack some supplies for – some snacks with sugar to keep up your blood sugar, sunblock to prevent heat stroke, tons of water to rehydrate yourself and some quick to eat protein like nuts or beef jerkey. Overall, I would say it took us about two hours to get to the top with a few pit stops along the way to stretch our muscles and take in the view. It was only later that we discovered a simpler way to the view, where you can park on city streets and take a paved, lazy river of an incline to the top. Definitely not as gratifying but thank goodness we could take that route out of the park!
Overall, the view from the Tree of Life Trail is breathtaking, and the aerial 360 of the city is as stunning as it sound. This is one hike that I not only recommend, but will be doing far more frequently – after all, we didn’t actually make it over to the Tree of Life – we caught ourselves a stellar view of the city instead – so that’ll have to be a day-venture for another time.
Once Spring has sprung, it can only mean one thing – it’s time to fest with the best, On the West Coast, you’ll find droves of party people, festival families – and actual families, flocking down to Weekend 1 and Weekend 2 of the Coachella Music and Arts Festivals, and then again the following weekend for the Stagecoach Festival – but the later is definitely for another time and place 😉 Over the last few decades, the pull of the music community has been strong with Coachella – eliciting the creme of the crop from each and every far reaching corner of the music industry. Originally founded in 1999 by Paul Tollett, Coachella is now in it’s 19th year and produced as a beautiful byproduct of the California based AEG subsidiary, Goldenvoice. Like Coachella, Tollett has only magnified his position in music culture as the President and CEO of Goldenvoice and a Board Member of AEG.
A dynamic, ever changing event – many of us have been witness to the pure expansion of the festival and it’s widespread cult-like appeal. At it’s inception, Coachella boasted one day of decadent dancing; in 2002, the festival had spawned an extra day of extravagance, by 2007, a thirsty third day was added into the mix and in 2012, Coachella had grown large enough to warrant double weekends. As of 2016, we’re all anxiously awaiting the global takeover – and it starts g as the best of the West heads East in the form of New York City’s Panorama Music, Arts and Technology Festival, held on Randall’s Island July 22-24; not to mention this week’s announcement of 2017’s Arroyo Seco Music + Arts Festival, which wistfully ushers music festivals back into Los Angeles proper.
Now that we’ve had ourselves a little history lesson, it’s time to prepare for our Adult Spring Break the only way we know how – an official playlist of all the artists you’d be a fool to miss while you’re imbibing, indulging and enjoying yourself in Indio’s desert landscape. We don’t know how the stages are going to tear our groups apart quite yet, so until then we can all share this proverbial dancefloor together and groove to the collective tunes of the esteemed Coachella cast of 2016.
Each weekend’s music is a cascading arc – from Friday’s dynamic stage presence of James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem, to Saturday’s historic sounds Rock and Roll sounds of Guns N’ Roses and then closing it off with Calvin Harris, in an ode to the sheer power and prowess of EDM. There’s definitely something for everyone at the show, but at The DJ List, we want to give an extra special shoutout to the BPM brothers and soul sisters, booty shakers and dance music tastemakers that have ushered in stages like the Yuma, overrun the Gobi, scared the over-30 crowd away from the Sahara and coveted the Do LaB stage all for their own.
The dance influenced acts of this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival are: the emotive and brooding Underworld, M83, bass heavy, crowd pleasing DJ superduo Jack Ü, made of Skrillex and Diplo ( does this mean we should be prepared for some Bieber fever?!), Purity Ring, 2manydjs, DJ Mustard, Snakehips, Bob Moses, the queen of Techno Nicole Moudaber, Sasha (and will be maybe bring Digweed on stage?!), Disclosure, Zedd, RL Grime, Tchami, ZHU, Nina Kravitz, RÜFÜS DU SOL…..and I’m not even halfway through the second day, not to mention the EPIC lineup from the Do LaB camp!
I’ll be out at Weekend 2 of Coachella representing The DJ List with some of my press besties, including Danny who’s shooting the event as an on site photographer for Getty Images; I can’t wait to show you guys the magic he captures! don’t be afraid, to share some grooves, moves and or beers with us as we enjoy the 17th anniversary of The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
For more on Coachella, head to their social media channels:
“Just because sandcastles are ephemeral and doomed to be washed away, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t build them, for they are still beautiful and fun to build. Life itself is not very different.”
The caveat of growing older, is understanding that as cyclical as we might imagine life to be – life also comes with an expiration date. For as superhuman as we can feel, we’re also exceptionally fragile, like a basket of fresh egg on a Spring day,a newborn baby seeing the world with fresh eyes and your great grandmother’s China that you only use for special occasions. As much as we prance, pounce and push our way to the top of our own proverbial mountain, it’s often in disregard that the quality of our time on this wonderful planet is also quantifiable. Life is the synthesis of years, months, weeks, hours, seconds, and fleeting moments that have the weight of the world on their shoulders; and yet, it can be taken away all too soon. The irony of maturing is recognizing that the beauty around you, as minute or magnanimous at it stands, is ephemeral.
This year especially has been an emotional rollercoaster of losses for the Entertainment community. More often than not, what I’ve found is that while mourning comes from the best of intentions, it eventually becomes a self serving reminder of our own mortality and accomplishments – or, usually, the lack thereof. But this weekend, the dance community was shattered by the unfortunate passing of a man known for making the most of the moment, finding beauty in breakdowns and providing an uplifting reprieve from the world we live in.
Sunday of my first Lightning in a Bottle, my dancing feet were failing me and all I wanted to do after three days at kittens first camping festival was take a serious snooze on the lush green grass. As we sat near the Woogie, collecting our final marbles and exchanging hearty laughs, a slow beat started moving my whole body and I couldn’t help but bop in place to the infectious intonations. Donned in pastel technicolor parasols and androgynously amazing apparel, what started as a sleepy morning manifested into a musical menagerie and what felt like the soundtrack of my life. Eclectic and electric, I marinated into a moment that I never wanted to leave as Pumpkin delivered feel good hit after feel good hit.
It was music that transported us across generations and genres, initiating an evolution from unique, individual snowflakes into a haphazard but uniform snowstorm of happiness. A warmth filled my body as the music cascaded from expertly mixed oldies to emotionally driven four to the floor beats, from Jackson 5 to Fleetwood Mac, into Feed Me & Crystal Fighters ‘Love is All I Got’. It as only later once I had time to refer to the lineup that I realized that it was Pumpkin, who I’d later revere as a West Coast Festival favorite.
Pumpkin was always an artist that my crew and I vehemently looked forward to, regardless of whatever nonsensical residual feelings echoed in the background – he brought us together. Whether we were mainstage waiting for the next act or blissfully taking in the sunshowers from every direction, Pumpkin had a smile and a song for all of us. From Sea of Dreams and Shambhala, to Lightning in a Bottle and Woogie Weekend – the one common denominator was how much the community was looking forward to his set.
One of those few individuals that was more than the sum of his parts, Pumpkin was more than a man and his music, he was a movement – a love train where he was the conductor, a sunshine soaked cruise with Pumpkin proudly at the helm; Pumpkin was a pastor, preaching love, kindness, happiness and warmth at every chance he could. Pumpkin was a humanist, believing the best in the world around him and instilling the world with an effervescent heartbeat that will unequivocally live on. His passing is more than a tragedy, it’s a communal travesty – a man revered for distilling vast amounts of happiness, he will be sorely missed. Pumpkin’s musical legacy will live in pride on the dance floor even though his heartbeat is missing from the soundtrack of our lives
There’s no way around it, it’s sad….I’m sad, what’s forever missing from our community is sad….but it doesn’t have to be. Dance with joy and hug with love, be one with the world and don’t let one second go that you don’t exclaim to yourself, the world and the people you share it with how much you love them.
In memorial, friends of Pumpkin have set up a GoFundMe to provide for his family in this trying time, any little bit helps – and is a small price to personally pay for the amazing legacy that he’s left.
“Initial funds will go towards memorial costs and all the rest will be put towards some sort of charity involving music and children, to be specified by Nick’s family. As time goes on it’s our hope that Nick can continue to support the charity of their choosing, as we’re sure his big heart would have wanted.”
Every day is a delightful dance of dichotomy infused with synchronicity, where we’re flirting with paradoxes and adapting to chaos. We’re perpetually awarded the opportunity to pursue our destiny and unearth our desires; though, to do so, it’s imperative that we’re constantly discovering ourselves, in an ever evolving fashion. It’s not about reinventing the wheel, rather shedding our skin like snakes and blossoming like Babushka Dolls.
“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”
– The Red Queen, Alice in Wonderland –
Life, it seems, isn’t much different – working tirelessly to stay above water; where too often than not, we’re a victim of our own feedback cycles, part of the mundane 9 to 5 trivialities where we’re exhausted by the end of the work day and have to ration our passions. But, when you go beyond yourself, beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone, and beyond your preconceived notions, you can be free; when we go Beyond Wonderland, the possibilities are beautifully infinite and infinitely beautiful.
Ten years ago when I was still at UCSB, a few friends threatened me with a good time and convinced me to go to my first big music event: Electric Daisy Carnival 2006, or as they referred to it – a ‘rave’; and now, almost 10 years later, I was heading back to San Bernadino for my first Beyond Wonderland. Rave, Massive, Music Festival …whatever you want to call it, what it ended up being was life changing. But what the media reports, is an entirely different story, and it’s imperative that we acknowledge the connotations surrounding the word.
One look at any mainstream media source and you’d believe that the events run rampant with illicit drug use and explicit, if not deadly, amounts of consumption, a place where rules and regulations are replaced with dystopian views of reality. But spend one day engrossed in an event, one moment in the dancing shoes of someone who’s been there…come over to the other side just once and you’ll be singing a different song. Our festivals are explorations of time and space, creating a world that celebrates the moment and the best that humanity has to offer, where attendants have each others backs and look out for each other. The current negative stigma surrounding raves is even more unfortunate because these events more than live up to the literal definition. One look into the linguistics and etymology of the word, and you’ll understand why.
Rave descends from the Old French raver, a variant of resver – meaning ‘to dream.’ By the 1700’s, to rave meant to discuss something with great enthusiasm and admiration. During the 1950’s and 1960’s in England, ‘rave’ was a term used to describe wild bohemian parties, a word revived by the electronic music scene of the 1980’s. The rest you could say – is dance music history.
But, it’s the second denotation that gets me: a rave is a physical framework added to the sides of a cart to increase its capacity. Over the course of this ride we call life, a rave absolutely can increase it’s capacity – by increasing our emotional magnitude for understanding and the depth of our being by enriching us and enlightening us to the wonder we cultivate. Built on individuality and creativity, raves are for the odd balls and weird eggs, the rare birds of a feather that get down together every blue moon under an electric sky.
Last weekend on Friday, March 18 and Saturday March 19,over 60,000 music fans arriving in festival families flocked to the stunning landscape of the San Manuel Amphitheater to dance away the last moments of Winter and Danny and I were both honored to capture the magic of the occasion.
From lovely lightning on the overhang of the entryway to decadent decoration adorning literally all of the trees, the entire park was illuminated in a warm technicolor glow as an array of costumed characters filtered in, filling the grounds. With the combined Friday night and Festival traffic, we didn’t reach the festival until almost 10. Dancing our way in to the sounds of Chris Lake, we gave our legs a quick stretch while we jumped in line for some tasty cold beverages.
After quickly surveying the scene, we scampered from the Queen’s Domain, through the Cheshire Woods where Kink was throwing a good old fashioned House Party, and made our way to the Outer realm hosted by Dreamstate to scope out the very end of Myon & Shane 54’s Trance Showcase. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to an Insomniac show, and there’s no better feeling than the inspiring tones of trance booming from a glorious PK Sound System. Next, Giuseppe Ottavianni & Solarstone dazzled the crowd with their ethereal, spine tingling performance as Pure NRG – but I had to pull myself back to the main arena for some feels as Galantis pulled out all the stops.
A supergroup made from Christian “Bloodshy” Karlsson of Miike Snow fame and Linus Eklöw, best known as Style of Eye, Galantis’ blissful beats layered over crooning vocals and textured synths made for one of the best sets of the weekend, playing hits from their debut album ‘Pharmacy‘ like ‘Runaway (U+I)‘ and my personal favorite’Peanut Butter Jelly‘. In a fit of irony, I tried to get a picture of their amazing Seafox visuals on my phone – but my phone apparently had other plans and took a hearty bath in my mixed drink. Originally annoyed, I quickly remembered that I knew all of three people out of the thousands in attendance, one of them being my fiance. Almost immediately, I let a smile wash over my face as I resolved that the universe did me a solid by forcing me to forget about my electronic leash. Plus, Danny is an exceptional photographer and I knew I’d be able to rely on him to snap some stunners – which he definitely did!
After another quick boogie with Kink in the Cheshire Woods, it was back to the Outer Realm to hear what Andrew Rayel had to offer: an uplifting, progressive Trance set that rattled your bones; a brand of ‘festival’ Trance that I immensely enjoy. While we were comfortably waiting on the lush grass, a jolly gentleman skipped by with his hands full of water bottles. Eagerly, he turned to all of us – ‘Do you need any water…Would you like a bottle?’ He echoed, effusing the area with his infectious spirit. ‘We’re giving them out for free; here – have one!’ It’s this kind of spirit that creates the ethos of our community, and the type of giving that’s a cornerstone of our culture.
And then, what I’ve personally been waiting forever for – Ferry Corsten’s new live concept show: Gouryella. From ‘Beautiful’, ‘Fire’ and’Into the Dark’ through ‘Black Velvet’ and ‘Twice in a Blue Moon’, I’ve been a huge fan of Ferry’s for almost a decade now and I find solace and strength within the weight of his music. And Gouryella did not disappoint – the poignant, visuals containing emotive questions forayed into mathematically influenced nature sequences as his driving brand of trance brought the music home. At the end of the night, we made it back to the Queen’s Domain for some good, old fashioned champagne and bananas with Dada Life, as we kicked out the epic motherfucker to wind down the night. The crowd was amped, with banana inspired totems, flags and costumes…which for the most part were amazing, but I have to admit that with a vast sea of totems clogging the bottom of the stage I feel like I’m missing part of the show.
As I lamented the premature black screen of death on my phone while we sauntered out of the grounds, Danny and I were gleefully surprised as one of our favorite humans, and photographers, Juliana –known in the scene as Get Tiny,popped out of the woodwork as we made our way to our car. If you haven’t seen her pictures, do yourself a favor – scope her out. One of the other two people I knew at the event, I was beyond ecstatic that our paths had crossed – but with the way festivals and coincides work, I was definitely not surprised – we were exactly where we needed to be.
Get Tiny for Insomniac Events
With the last minute decision to attend Beyond Wonderland, I’ll be the first to admit that we weren’t the most prepared – but we did finagle a last minute hotel about ten minutes down the road from the event. Decompressing, we basked in the afterglow of Day 1. As we cataloged memories, swooned over our favorite sets, I began to mull over the last few months and the direction of my life. Somewhere along the way, I’d convinced myself that I was growing up and out of the festival circuit. It’s not that I don’t, or didn’t, enjoy them – quite the contrary: I love festival. Maybe it’s the energy necessary to last at top emotional, mental, physical and spiritual shape for the entirety of the weekend events, or the detailed preparation that goes in from outfit choices to set times, the cacophony of personalities whose paths you cross…and on top of that, camping and surviving in the elements; but, within that unique mixture of quality and quantity, I had burnt out. Give me one night back at an Insomniac event, the music and the magic of community surrounding the event and the sheer ethos of it, and the fire inside has been reinvigorated ten fold.
After an incredibly haphazard Saturday morning and afternoon that included absolutely no dull moments, it was time to don our dancing gear and Caturday best to prepare to do it all over again – but with a twist! Two of our good friends surprised us on Saturday afternoon after springing for a pair of tickets and we were excited to have our squad double in size for Day 2. We made sure to get there with daylight to spare and headed straight through Sleepy Tom at the Queen’s Domain to the Outer Realm for Spag Heddi, one of our friend’s personal favorites and must see’s of the weekend. Hosted by the Bassrush Imprint on Saturday night, The Outer Realm highlighted the key players, movers and music makers currently in the Dubstep and Drum and Bass scenes…and not in Miami, but I digress. It’s always more difficult to navigate a festival in the dark than the day, so we were on a mission to find the Ball Pit, the ‘Turning Wheel’, Insomniac’s steam punk inspired art boat – the Beyond Wench, and their illusive fourth stage – The Upside-Down Room.
As we took in the sunset from the top of Lookout Mountain, it felt like the event was evolving in front of our eyes as layers of lasers at every angle cascaded through the cotton candy skies; and once again, we were off, off and away on the night’s musical adventure, gleefully bouncing back and forth between the stages, making sure to dance our way through each nook and cranny of the festival. Friday night had ample room to roam around, but with Saturday’s sold out status – I definitely felt the claustrophobia creeping in. Good news is that I’ve never been around a more gracious group of people in my life, constantly with the ‘Please’ and ‘Excuse Me’…well, except for that one guy. But apparently, more of the venue was used for last year’s festival and with the amount of flow toys that are admitted into the venue, I wouldn’t mind them expanding the grounds again for their next event.
Klingande was an absolute delight, but I had to tear myself away for some Delta Heavy – but not before getting down to bangin’ Dirtybird sounds of Will Clarke. One of my favorite groups for quite some time, I finally had my chance to catch Delta Heavy live. Their euphoric drops and booming bass were doctor ordered and hearing ‘Ghost’ live was just as good as I expected. Then it was back to the Queen’s Domain for a sonically salacious set from Slander, back again to the Outer Realm for an unbelievable set from Troyboi, who threw a full on electronically infused hip hop party.
After, we went back to the Queen’s Domain and headed front and center for what I consider the best set of the weekend – an artist that refuses to fit into any one genre, Seven Lions. Within one fell swoop during the height of his set, Seven Lions expertly fused ethereal Trance into a Bassnectar-esque breakdown and immediately into a Drumstep beat; I even had a few good cries to an incredible remix of Ferry Corsten’s ‘Beautiful’ and ‘No One On Earth’ from Above & Beyond.
With a few last minute changes, Doctor P was replaced on the lineup by the notorious NGHTMRE; I thought that my friends with last minute tickets would be a bit bummed by the revelation, but to the contrary – they were stoked! After a few flight delays, NGHTMRE took the place of Ghastly on the Bassrush stage and oh my goodness, did he deliver – even giving us a hearty mix of ‘Gold Dust and closed out by bringing Slander on stage for one last song together. Then, you guessed it, back to the main stage for the beginning of Deorro to get our Melbourne Bounce on. As usual with the genre, there’s only so much I can take so I was thrilled to close out the night with some grooves on the giant Boombox, and then back to Datsik.
While the clock neared 2 at the end of the night, Datsik started to close out his set with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ classic track ‘Otherside.’ I can’t tell you how many times I’ve actually heard the song remixed, so I was delighted to hear the emotive chord progressions of the original, an ode to our childhood and the music that inspired our musical tastes – the music that pushed us to where we currently are today. As the soundboard insisted they cut the music, Datsik turned to the audience and urged us to sing along a capella – and sing along we did: tens of thousands of us, with an abundance of voices there were so many harmonies, scales and tones that regardless of how loudly or softly, on or off key you sang – you fit, you had a niche, your voice had a place, and the collective brevity of our voices can move mountains.
“I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night. Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
For one weekend, thousands of friendly faces put their regular lives on hold in order to release themselves into a world where anything is truly possible. A world where we give more than we take, offer compliments not condescension, decorate ourselves as loudly and boldly as we choose and can become whoever or whatever we desire. We come together to celebrate the music and the moments, the beauty and the bass, while rediscovering our individuality within a heart warming community. For one weekend, we went Beyond Wonderland, and we’ve left forever changed.
Over the last twenty years, Pasquale Rotella and Insomniac Events have carefully created and curated an unshakable dynasty within dance music. The production value of the stages was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, it’s just as ostentatious, colorful and out of this world as it should be – and then some. I mean, did you see the water spouts on the Queen’s Domain, or that thrilling, shooting fire from the stage and sides of the Outer Realm, or any of the incredible fireworks shows? Attend justone Insomniac Event and you simply won’t be able to take Fourth of July Fireworks seriously ever again. Between the precise attention to each detail of the festival, pristine PK Sound System, ornate dancers and costumed characters in envy worthy costumes, a vibrant community with deep roots in the evolution of the dance scene and world class musicians, Beyond Wonderland proves once again that Rave is King.
When I moved to Los Angeles in my early twenties, I quickly realized I had the entire world at my proverbial fingertips and set out in a determined fashion to conquer most, if not all, of it. Maybe it was a byproduct of my 20-something, 20-anything phase, or maybe it’s simply an ode to the fact that I love making lists – but as I was rounding out the last decade of my life, I found myself insatiably devoted to the litany of bucket lists that I’d created.
As I approached 30 and 31, my lists extensively cataloged places to go, things to do and personal mountains to climb. Each was carefully curated with the best of intentions in mind, playing on my zest for life while rediscovering a purpose in my passions. As the beginning of the year came and went, I realized that though my lists were representative of the person that I was driven to become – between the constant stroking of the go and daily reminders of what hadn’t been accomplished, they were also slightly exhausting. As John Lennon so famously said, ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans‘
Instead of limiting myself to resolutions I tried to start at the inception of the calendar year, I’ve decided to maintain a fluid list of small ideas where each day holds a unique opportunity for growth and a resolve for evolving past who we were, to become who we want to be. Regardless of when you set your resolution, it’s important to understand that it’s really the intent that matters. Sure, a ’31 Before 31′ Bucket List was great – but I found myself so wrapped up in checking the boxes and heading into the next goal, that I couldn’t stop and simply appreciate my small moments of accomplishment; and that’s when I realized that my focus was in the wrong place. Contrary to my previously held popular belief, It’s not important how many goals you accomplish, or how ‘much’ you grow – but that you have the will and wherewithal to grow in general. We must be willing to step out of the mundane routine of the every day, and into the novelty of creating magical memories where even the most minute metamorphoses can equate to a massive internal shift.
Over the past few years I’ve inched towards several goals, some haphazardly while others have been more wholeheartedly. Tthis year, instead of a compiling a concise list or a ridiculous repository, I’ve decided to keep it rather short and sweet – well, all things considered. No joke, going back and looking through these lists is a bit emotionally exhausting – not the kind of feeling you want to have when you’re gearing up to accomplish greatness! Instead of a grandiose number of accomplishments, I’ve whittled it down to a few that I’m set on taking up.
First and foremost, I vow to give less fucks. Less fucks? Yes, a whole lot less. I suffer from this incurable disease called ‘caring too much about everything’ and not only is it time consuming, but it’s simply exhausting. Giving less fucks has freed up more time to care about what’s truly important – me, my cats, my husband and this beautiful life that we lead – and less about isn’t – like a past that can’t be changed, unwelcome opinions and toxic friendships that in the grand scheme of things don’t matter. Coinciding with giving less fucks,
Next, I really want to get back into reading. When I read, my writing improves tenfold and my imagination runs rampant – it’s like a vacation in my hands, how could you not love it?? I implicitly understand that reading more than 10 books a year is a lofty goal; one that can basically be accomplished only if you choose to live inside a literary world and essentially ignore the real one that we’re living in. Instead of a list of 20 books, I really just want to get through five good ones. Just five. I think that’s pretty solid.
Now that I have a plan to engage my mind, I also want one that engages my body and spirit. Creating a militant workout routine just isn’t my style, because give me rules and watch me avoid them – but I’ve rediscovered a love exploring the great beyond, and have found that being outdoors reinvigorates me from head to toe. Instead of inundating myself with gym time or diet plans, I’m choosing to eat healthier – with less processed foods and more time at the Farmer’s Market.
When it comes to the my professional life, I’ve realized that I need one job that pays the bills and another that makes me happy; and if they can be the same – even better. By in large, they aren’t though and you have to be willing to subsidize your happiness somehow – take a course at a local community college, join Toastmasters, volunteer at an animal shelter, join a neighborhood council, take up an instrument, join a choir, write for a local paper, read to schoolchildren, start up a kickball team…the opportunities are endless once you open your mind beyond your 9-5. And working from home, I’ve also realized that when I’m done with work for the day I need to be done – put the laptop away, get off social media, and get into myself.
Lastly, when I think of my friends – I want to let them know personally. Not post on their Facebook wall or send them a Snapchat, because really – those aren’t for them, it’s for you – I want to reach out and tangibly touch them with my words, hear the nuances in their voice as they tell me about their day. I want to be present in the moment with them, and by in large that means getting offline and into a real conversation.
Whether you’re carving out a solid block of a few hours every weekend, or devoting 30 minutes a night, it’s important to set aside some personal time for yourself to dive into your dreams and rediscover who you are at your core.
What are your personal goals for this year? Where’s your resolve for growth?
“As we embark on another busy events season, we are always thinking about the future. To that point, the Rose Bowl Operating Company and the City of Pasadena continue to evaluate potential opportunities which fit with our community and which could contribute much needed revenue to maintain the historic Stadium for years to come. As you may be aware, one such proposed event is a Music & Arts Festival at the Rose Bowl and we wanted to share with you a little about the concept and also key aspects of the decision-making process.” – Official Rose Bowl Statement
The Arroyo Seco Music & Arts Festival stands to be a world class event eliciting massive acclaim from audiophiles, musicians and fans alike and Pasadena is the perfect city to carry on the tradition that Coachella would set forth. Proposed to be held over either a two or three day period in June of 2017, the ASMAF would hold true to the Coachella tradition of artist tastemakers and bootyshakers from around the globe.
When we first set out for our hike, we only had one thing on our mind – it’s a beautiful day to get some exercise in. We packed a little pack of water, snacks and goodies and were off, off and away on a Saturday adventure. Not gonna lie on this one, the struggle was definitely real; we haphazardly decided to ascend the Tree of Life Trail to 
Overall, I would say it took us about two hours to get to the top with a few pit stops along the way to stretch our muscles and take in the view. It was only later that we discovered a simpler way to the view, where you can park on city streets and take a paved, lazy river of an incline to the top. Definitely not as gratifying but thank goodness we could take that route out of the park!
The Bouncy Kitty 
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