The Do Lab – Page 3 – The Bouncy Kitty

When’s the last time someone not just asked – but insisted – you keep your childlike imagination and magic alive? For most people trying to make a name for themselves, it’s been a hot minute; and from a young age it felt like most of my friends from high school had their formula for success figured out. They left our hub in the Silicon Valley for a four year degree that would inevitably translate to infinite amounts of success in the “real world.*” Me, on the other hand, well….I had loftier dreams and less tangible goals. I found that love and happiness are better when shared, however you can’t hold them in your hands or stuff them in a box in a corner; a college degree doesn’t make either of them more valid and all the money in the world can’t replace them.

You can travel the world and have all the experiences you want, but there’s something so incredibly special and connective about music festivals. But take into account my generations propensity to say ‘fuck the man’ and ‘fuck the system’ and the fact most of our spiritual belief systems have little in common with organized religion and you’ll see that the festival is our ‘church’ and our friends are the ‘community’. Thousands of people jumping to the same beat, hearts syncing in time and singing along with the music; we are in worship and music is our savior. A recent study has even shown choral singing to be on par with the health benefits of yoga. My eyes were opened in 2006 with my first Electric Daisy Carnival and again in 2011 with my first Coachella; but if I said that either of these events held a candle to Lightning in a Bottle I would absolutely be kidding myself. Don’t get me wrong, the music and crowd at the other events are phenomenal in their own right – but Lightning in a Bottle is something completely and utterly different.

The other festivals are centered around music – and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that; but Lightning in a Bottle is about the culture that surrounds music. There were speakers on multitudes of topics, including authors Daniel Pinchbeck (“Breaking Open The Head“) and John Perkins (“Confessions of an Economic Hit Man“), yoga sessions taught by yogis from all over, areas where you could experience sound baths and even a ‘Pineal Playground’ set-up to warp that pretty little mind of yours. Live artists were out at stations around Lake Skinner during the day and had ample resources for inspiration; from light installations in trees to full on fixtures out in the parks – the people of LIB brought their A-game and you could tell how excited they were to share their unique visions and creations with the world. What’s more is that almost everything was interactive – you were encouraged to touch, play and experience. I felt like an overgrown five year old on vacation!

Now, I have to admit I was a little nervous going into everything – I haven’t been camping since I was five and my parents can tell you, I wasn’t exactly “good” at it! I was so nervous that I would be unprepared, so I made a lovely little cheat sheet with a list of all the ammenities I’d need for the 5 day, 4 night excursion and there’s a few things I can tell you off the bat, first and foremost: I TOTALLY overpacked! I could have brought half as much clothing and would have still had options on what to wear; and there was so much creativity that went into some of the outfits! Definitely something to take note of for next year.

And as far as camping is concerned….it isn’t exactly camping when you’re with thousands of your new best friends, kickass sound systems, awe inspiring sculptures and have Lake Skinner as your playground. Everywhere we turned, there was literally something new to experience and someone to meet that chances are – you have some ridiculous connection to. Before the festival even started, I realized in line for wristbands that I was in college dorms with the girl in front of me and for my phone being dead, I ran into at least 50 friends I’d made in college or at festivals. I even met a girl who used to live in my apartment complex in LA!

My friends and I decided to cruise in to Lake Skinner on Thursday night so we could get the whole festival experience; we wanted a chance to set-up our tent in a leisurely manner and explore the festival grounds. We waded through a sea of people to get our wristbands (one thing about hippies – they’re a punctual bunch!), we were lucky enough to have friends there starting at 2pm because the line took approximately 7 hours from start to finish for them, compared to our measly 3 hour wait. Once that was over, you could see eyes light up and smiles pop up on everyone: shit just got so real! Once we got our massive tent it was off to explore…

The second day started with exploring the Temple of Consciousness and the Pineal Playground; we got to be part of a sound bath and then headed down to the lake to catch the view. Between the swings, shade and speakers we had so much to do during the day before the music started; there was definitely a ‘sleep, eat, mingle, rave, repeat’ vibe going on all weekend and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Now, before I get into my favorite pictures from the weekend I have a little PSA about the event. As with every event, not everyone can have a life changing-best weekend of my life experience; it’s simply not feasible – but from the sounds of it people went to an entirely different festival than my friends and I. The Do Lab gave us more than I could have hoped for with festival grounds like Lake Skinner, top notch productions, amazing art and a culture of people that I can only describe as the middle section of a ‘Hippie-Carnie-Raver’ Venn-Diagram. I had the time of my life and I hope everyone gives the festival a chance to change them for the better instead of living vicariously through someone else’s bad dream. Though LIB has been around for a hot minute, being able to experience Lake Skinner together for the first time was such a great experience. Eyes, brains and hearts were wide open and ready to explore. I know a lot of people are whining and lamenting the fact their reality didn’t match their expectations but expectation hangovers happen when people aren’t willing to take responsibility for their actions. I got to explore the festival grounds on Thursday when no one was around and take full advantage of the art, fog machines and light fixtures before people got there; on Saturday when the music in the camp turned off, my friends and I hunted down some music and created our own little community within the LIB community and have created bonds to last a lifetime. Essentially the festival, like life, is an adventure and it’s up to us as individuals to make it magical; and for me – it was so, so much more than that! So on wards – to pictures!

Thursday night at the Bamboo Stage being silly with the boyfriend

Swings, for all ages!

Under the shade of the Tepees

Sunset on Lake Skinner

The people with signs made my day! Also, thank you Mud People for showing us how to get down!

Woogie Withdrawls: It’s a real thing.

Getting to connect with artists and watch them do their thing was awesome; the festival oozed creativity from every angle.

Before I get to the videos I just want to say a big thank you to the crews at the Do Lab and Lightning in a Bottle; this was a truly eye opening and awe inspiring weekend and I can’t wait to move the world the way the festival moved me. I’m a better person for being there and have made friends to last a lifetime. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of all of our hearts for the weekend of the year and can’t wait for the next one!

Lightning in a Bottle 2012 Timelapse by Aaron Rogosin presented by The Do LaB from The Do LaB on Vimeo.

Over the course of my time in Los Angeles, I’ve become a firm believer that if you don’t push the boundaries of your comfort zone – you’ll never truly understand how far it goes.

Retrospectively, this can all be traced back to my mystical, magical, eye opening experiences at Electric Daisy Carnival in 2006 and I’ve simply refused to look back ever since. Over the course of the last eight years, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the following epically amazing festivals – Monster Massive (back when it was still a collaboration between GoVentures and Insomniac, mind you), HARD Haunted, Together As One, The Love Festival, How Sweet It Is, Nocturnal Wonderland, HARD Summer, Beyond Wonderland, HARD 13 and Coachella. Suffice it to say, the folks over at The Do Lab, Insomniac Events and HARD Presents know what the hell they’re doing. But, after enough time the events, lineups and people watching blurs together until they’re more or less indecipherable – and that’s how I knew it was time for a change.

The Do LaB started throwing the event as a private birthday bash back in 2000 – it wasn’t until 2004 that they transitioned the evening from a private event into a festival open to the public. Though they’ve taken a few hiatuses, The Do LaB brought Lightning in a Bottle to the Live Oak Campgrounds in Santa Barbara in ’06 and ’08 while I was still in college. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I still wish I’d have known about this amazing community of tremendous artists and beautiful souls back then, but I know for a fact that my current appreciation for both runs deeper now that it possibly could have then.

In the strangest sense, LIB has always been my unicorn – my unattainable vision of the real life Venn Diagram where beauty, music and nature intersect. In 2010, I had a ticket but couldn’t go due to extenuating health issues; 2011 was my Best Friend’s bachelorette party and last year I’d simply given up on the notion that I wanted to go. In 2012, the EDM community watched as our brand exploded into the mainstream – at first, it was liberating: the masses were dancing to our beat! But after a few months, if you weren’t hit over the head with redundant, blase and boring festival lineups then I’d love to know what rock you were hiding under and if there’s space for me. No joke, you could essentially predict the Progressive House, Trap and Dubstep lineups at each and every festival. So we got to thinking, if you don’t like your scene – chance it and change it; so we slowly began looking into other opportunities to grow and thrive – low and behold, Lightning in a Bottle popped back onto our radar. By late February, Early Bird tickets were released at a price that my friends and I couldn’t refuse and without a lineup to catch us, we took a leap of faith.

Accuse me of being an urban hippie all you’d like, but one of the reasons that I’ve been gravitating towards Lightning in a Bottle is that simply put: it’s much more than a festival. Lightning in a Bottle boasts a community of people that want to leave the world a better place and a group of artists willing to gather the collective unconscious and proudly put it on display. Beyond simply being about music, camping and the friendships you form – Lightning in a Bottle is a personal exploration into your psyche, ego and superego; you have to set aside your propensity to be focused on the material possessions at your finger tips for a desire to be connected to the metaphysical world around you. There are there are ways to better every aspect of your life with workshops on yoga, meditation, artistic expression, sustainability and more. My friends that have gone before say it’s like a miniature Burning Man, and if so – I’m sure I’m in for the ride of my lifetime.

There’s a little something to get off my chest about LIB – I haven’t been camping since I was 5. So when I realized that I’ll be camping for fives days in the middle of Temecula, I got a tad nervous…but when the lineup was finally released, my heart skipped at least three beats – so many amazing artists that I have the honor of seeing! I’ve gathered some of the best podcasts and mixes from around the web to get in the mood for the festival; for the next few months I’ll be posting, raving and getting myself mentally, physically and spiritually prepared for one of the most exciting journeys of my 20’s.