When I first heard about Lightning in a Bottle a year ago, my first reaction to the question “Do you want to go?” was “No, absolutely not.” The event sounded like raves I had been to a few years back in the mountains of Santa Barbara (I know that makes you curious, but that’s another story). Anyway, those parties were basically a bunch of hippie looking people doing acid and playing Physcadelic music - that’s too much for me, I’ll stick to clubs and pools thank you.
So I said no to the idea of LiB for many weeks, and then, when the weekend finally came, the pressure from all my friends just proved to be too much. Peer pressure works on me-what can I say. I finally gave in and agreed to attend LiB for one day. We got there Sunday morning and by that time most of the campers had been there all weekend. The first thing I noticed was how relaxed and happy everyone looked. We first walked through a sort of bazaar where crazy costumes and art work was being sold before coming upon the center where there was yoga classes and seminars going on. It was a beautiful environment; we had a view of Irvine Lake and were surrounded by trees. Oragnic food trucks were set up and art work was displayed around the area. The attendees of LiB did look like hippies- but some costumes I saw were absolutely wonderful. I realized then that maybe I should have listened to my friends and spent the whole weekend there.
The nice thing about this event (which I also noticed at Burning Man) was that there was all different kinds of people there- people at different ages and different stages of their lives. Little children ran around with their parents and grown woman walked around dressed up in great costumes. Some of the woman did not wear tops and the strangest thing about this was, it didn’t seem to matter. There was definitely a safe feeling at the event and I felt very comfortable- nothing like the raves in the mountains. When night time came, the real fun began. We ran around to different music stages and listened to some very good music ( Lee Burridge spun one of the best sets I’ve heard him spin) and if you like Breaks, this would be a great event for you- there is a whole stage dedicated to it. Heads up-most of the music you hear at this event will either be Breaks, Dubstep, Electronica, or Tech house.
LiB was dusty (keep in mind, you are out in nature camping) but it wasn’t dirty. Another nice aspect of the event is that there are food trucks there (serving organic food as well as pizza and beer) so, unlike Burning Man, you don’t have to take all your food with you. Also, the feeling of the crowd is relatively the same as Burning Man- Respect, Love, Giving, Acceptance seem to be the main themes. I was cold at one point during the night and a beautiful woman gave me her sweater. When I asked her how I would give it back to her she waived her hands at me and said “Don’t worry about that. It will come back to me. Take my sweater, you are cold.” Wait….I was thinking…where are we right now? Mars maybe? I still keep in contact with this wonderful woman and met a few more people at this event who I believe to be amazing human beings. I definitely recommend this event if you are thinking about going to Burning Man but aren’t sure.
Irvine Lake doesn’t come close to what you experience at Black Rock City but it does show you a little glimpse of what is to come. It is also about 20 minutes from Costa Mesa so if you don’t feel comfortable and decide you are miserable, you can leave. If you are open minded and want a new experience other than your everyday club, this is a great way to hear some good music, meet different people, and surround yourself with nature for a weekend.
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