Root Society vs. Opulent Temple

[Simon of the Playa]

agreed......my friend....

and i mean that...some of my best friends, i have had knock down drag outs with, only to drink and think and laugh about it later.


i am all about radical self-reliance, and on the last night, i went out in a choke collar and chain, and when i would see a darkwad i'd foam at the mouth, snarl, and bark and lunge, only to be snapped back by my girlfriend and told that i couldnt bite the dirty hippies....she would then give me some kind of snack...

i chased a few hubcaps, buts thats another story...

i will apologize first, for my anger set forth in type...

and i do think we can address the concerns and problems with the big sound camps without throwing the baby out with the dustywater...

personally, i was planning on a santa-camp like thing next year, way the fuck out there, after three years of thumpy thumpy, it would be nice for a change...

and i have NEVER worn fake fur waders or whatever...

but i believe the ravers and e-tards and beatfreakz and hippy drippies as well as the death guild, temple of atonement, jiffy lube, camp carp (god those guys are assholes...i love them), the dpw, the center cafe yogaholics, and yes, even the dorks from silicon valley (now i just insulted 35,000 people at once) also known as the digirati, can all have a SPANKING good time out there with minimal intrusion into others burn...

in 96', the saying was, the right to your freedom of radical self-expression ends at the tip of my nose....i.e. dont hit me, especially not in the face...

now i guess we can extend that to our ears....with respect to both sides of the equation...


i'm all for that.

[[CDS] topher]

i'm all for that.

Agreed! It's a damn big desert, and even with as many of us as there are these days, we don't make a DENT in it, except for MOOP.

Find Camp Cul-de-sac next year, and we'll treat you to a good time...maybe even a few treats, as long as a couple of us I can think of get to pull out the cat-o-nine tails collection.

[draughtergirl]

Last year I was camped close to Root Society, which made walking home at 6am nicer, but ear plugs didn't dim the internal thump-thump that radiated from the earth outward. I did notice that camps a block or two away couldn't hear a thing. I never considered moving, or complaining. I put myself there on purpose, and if I didn't like it, I could always move. Like to Kidville, or closer to center camp, or anywhere else away from the sounds. The music is an intrical part of my playa experience. Earth shattering silence and deep contemplative days followed by feral rythmic tribal nights. I don't understand any complaint about being disturbed by the music. This year we camped one block from OT. Great sound, nice set up. I rode my bike back and forth across that desert each night to dance indoors or out, and especially at times when Jerf was scheduled in his dome, or to catch Oakenfeld. At no time did it cross my mind to criticize the efforts of either camp, as I was thoroughly entertained, and completely appreciative of the art and effort of those two groups to be out there on such a massive level. Thank you Root Society and Opulent Temple for adding so much to my burningman experience again.

[Simon of the Playa]

i will visit camp cul-de-sac, and i shall bring bad whisky, as is my habit...

and we will toast to the beautiful, and without rival, playa....


i am certain that as far as she is concerned, a tag team, or even group grope is appropriate....i love her dearly.


until then, i will personally work to address the issues you mentioned....as to whether or not anything will change, i do not know, but i will try...

i hope you like bad whisky.

[Craz-C]

Root Society, Opulent Temple, El Circo, all sound camps large and small had good vibes.

I really liked Giza of the Pyronauts in front of Etheon Village.

[jefr]

first off-great comments for all the sound camps!

im the guy that has been bringing the root society effort/momentum to the playa over the last 5 years. i dont know anyone-theres no politics. just a guy who started as a club dj in 1979 and never stopped...along the way i was blessed with the founding of monster.com and the rest is obviously open for great debate.

the interesting thing is no one cared much when we started with a 30/60 wedding tent in 03 but people danced and i fell in love with enclosed desert structures and big bass. over the years we switched to domes, got a little more organic and we've always been fueled by the energy of the playa.

this year we tried new things. bigger dome, new sound system, silk dancers and a combination of big desert dj's(lorin, freq and lee) with "new" dj's not heard from in the desert (jelo-toront and seth-vegas) and as many of you have pointed out -my little bonus is i typically DJ 3-sunrise.

we work hundreds of hours as a team(80 root burners this year-40 virgins) to put on the root society show. 20 of us spent 4 weekends building the chill dome furniture from scratch to give it the right organic feel.

i struggle with the "corporate/spoiled" affect that seems to kick around. i work around the clock the 6 months before each burn to make sure the mountain of details turn into one of the best parties on the planet. i want to thank all the burners that come and dance in our domes!

jefr

and ,per this post, all of you should take note that sid from opulent temple and clark from deep end and our team work loosely together to make sure were represented in BRC and get access to power and fuel vendors. there is clearly team in the sound camp community.

[Simon of the Playa]

as i have tried to say before, and i am not a fucking brown-noser as most who know me will agree, but THIS MAN GETS IT.....

what is it?

it's certainly not available on e-bay.

it's undescribe-babel, but anyone who makes that journey, rich or poor, strong, weak or clever, black, white, red, yellow, day glo lime green, gentile and jew, muslim and hare krishna code warriors, if they really strip away all of that crap we call ego, and stand naked before the playa, clothed or not, and come to terms that this is ALL WE ARE, AND THIS IS WHAT WE ARE TO RETURN TO....fire and ashes and dust.....

to dust....


this is it....love one another, feed the poor, be kind to strangers, be as children, and play with fire, dont worry about what happened to paul, oops, i mean prometheus...


and, most importantly, KEEP GOING UNTIL YOU FIND "IT"...

whatever it is, i'm sure there is a camp for it at burning man....


thanks again jefr for a helluva time.....i'm still wearing my beer non-losing prototype device....(can leash)


it's still works, but i keep peeing in my beer if i use my left hand.

[skygod]

Thank you Opulent Temple for churning my guts all night fri and sat!
The meteor shower early sat morn was a nice touch.

[joshyalaska]

[quote="jefr"]first off-great comments for all the sound camps!

im the guy that has been bringing the root society effort/momentum to the playa over the last 5 years.[/quote]

Jefr, thank you for your efforts. It was a blast playing in the dome and watching the aerial dance perfomance while we blasted the heavy heavy. And no matter what the comparisons may be between all the ranters and ravers - having myself spent a decade in event production doing everything from line array sound systems to theatrical lighting, your dome gets my vote for sickest lighting design and biggest sound system. I have no idea how it sounded in the club but on the monitor end I have to say I've never had so sweet a mix to work out of. The rest just boils down to everyone's personal preferences in music. Cause when you line it up - all the sound camps are pretty dope.

[SDG]

both camps rocked...but I think Root Society rocked a lil' harder! The setup was simply off the charts! And who didn't love the chill dome?! Simon did great work making all the furry love beds!

Also, I have to say, the lighting was really superb in the dome...the vids I took and DJ Jelo's girl took show how off the hook the lighting was...better than most clubs by far..the dome really lends itself to the lighting since it lights up across the playa!

I caught a few sick DJ sets at OT..and the place was rockin'...can't say anything bad about the Temple...great sound system too.

I love the Deep End as well...spent a good bit of time dancing my ass off over there....but since its a day club it isn't in competition with RS or OT.

It was a pure joy playing on the system Jefr set up...and it sounded fantastic from the dance floor! Teeth rattling bass just how it should be. Jefr really does all this out of love for the playa and to give back to the community. Thanks again for inviting me out Jefr, you rock!!

How Jefr will top the massive dome next year is anyone's guess.

[vertigo900]

I love the some of the postings here and miss all of you already!

Personally, I had a wonderful time dancing at both Opulent Temple and Root Society as well as other sound camps like Echelon, El Circo, Gravity Point, Green Gorilla, the Deep End and many more! Next year would be wonderful to see a camp that has the RS main and chill domes combined with Opulent’s outdoor sound and lighting set up. Domes are great shelters until they can become too packed to dance hard. During Lorin’s set at RS the dome was so packed one of my friends had to leave to dance outside after her nipples were getting killed by an oblivious person with a backpack.

Still one of the most visually and spiritually stunning sound camps was Sol System back in 2004. They had a large Stonehenge-like circle of towers draped in fabric and internally lit. At one side of the circle was a large pyramid covering their decks; at the opposite side just outside the circle were over a dozen 15 foot tall pyramids a line stretching out a kilometer across the play each with a strobe at the apex of each pyramid. The insane thing was each strobe was synced to the moment the beat reached it and created the appearance of sound being projected out from the glowing circle at the speed of sound.

Thursday night this year OT had an incredible belly dance performance. It began with traditional dance with the bells and chimes then transitioned into more modern styles and into fusions of breakbeats and down tempo and breath. On Friday night, the Arche Dream blacklight dance troupe gave one of the most amazing performances I have ever witnessed after eight years on the playa! If you missed them, hopefully they’ll be back next year. And of coarse, the performers at Cirque Berserk continue to inspire and amaze me!

I will agree to agree. I prefer practicing building community not competition. Sure, constructive criticism is very important. In my opinion, BRC is not a place for ridiculing the flaws of others to calm our own insecurities. It is a special place where we can be so inspired by others creativity, beauties, harmonies and chaos, our hearts begin to glow brighter, each breath is tastes better than the last, and we return the gift. It is a sanctuary where we are free of all of our parental and societal conditionings, expectations and judgments. This is the reason it is so important to not only appreciate and participate in BRC, but to selflessly gift back to others with a smile, laughter, respect, generosity, beauty, creativity, wonder, thought, bewilderment, confusion, or otherwise positively provoke or inspire. Please encourage your virgin friends to do so as well. They will get more out of it and your friendships will only grow stronger. Remember, under our masks of clothes we are all naked, have felt the soul sting of pain, bled the same color blood, and come from the same source of life. We are all very fortunate to have experienced a moment like Burning Man. Realize, you may not be back next year. Also, with peak oil on the horizon, Cheney about to start a war with Iran, our economy will not allow Burning Man as we know it to be around for a long time. Appreciate the experiences you have and the spirits you cross paths with on your journey. Share you photographs with your fellow burners as especially with the theme camps, artists and performers. Often we are too busy to document our work under ideal lighting conditions. Find the lessons and growth in your pains and setbacks; they are the most difficult but often the most important gifts. An experience missed at burning man is an experience you will never have. Don’t wait for tomorrow to experience what is happening now. Drop what you’re doing and chase rainbows.

Well BRC patriots. Once again, it’s been a glorious journey. I would like to thank all the theme camps, artists, and BRC citizens for all their hard work, creativity, and participation in making this the best year ever, that is until the next year! All of you ROCK!!! Btw, all of you reading this should Netflix the film A Crude Awakening right now! It’s quite a reality check. And don’t forget..Burning Man sucks! All the negative stuff you’ve heard..it’s true! But only if you prefer to focus on the negative.

[meetjane]

Jefr and the entire root society line up rocked my world nightly. Contributed to the best burn ever status for 2007 greatly. The bass, the atmosphere, the lighting...all of it. My dome away from home.

[ecsyle]

I dont really understand the need to compare RS against OT. Two completely different goals and sounds, and both have their merits. I wasnt into the music at all this year, just personal preference. I did hear some dope dub style from some camp that I dont remember on some day that is a complete blur, so I guess that would say that was the "best". Yay choice.

I do want to say that I have mad respect for any group that can pull of a large sound camp like RS and OT. Since I have been going to burningman they have constantly been my model for most pre/post bm raverish events. If only other people could put that kind of energy into their parties :?

[Simon of the Playa]

next year....angst dome.....come in, sit on hard institutional furniture, and worry about all the e-mail you're not answering, and whether or not you left the coffee maker on, and did you remember to feed grandma?

camp weltschmerz.

[Simon of the Playa]

next year....angst dome.....come in, sit on hard institutional furniture, and worry about all the e-mail you're not answering, and whether or not you left the coffee maker on, and did you remember to feed grandma?

camp weltschmerz.

[dizze]

As an OT member who put in large amounts of time on our camp, I'll throw my two cents in.

Huge, huge amounts of respect to Root Society for doing what they did. Their design, music, and overall vibe was fantastic. And the way they utilized that dome space with performers was amazing. It's almost incomprehensible how much work goes into producing these camps, and these guys stepped up and delivered. Moreover, the fact that they're on the East Coast makes it even more amazing- that's one helluva long way to transport their shit.

Is there competition between the camps? Is there competition between anything at Burning Man? I think that's a Yes and No answer. As a previous poster said- this isn't about capitalist-based market where we're trying to outsell or even eliminate the other. On the other hand, Burning Man is largely about going Bigger, Better, bouncing ideas off each other, artistic osmosis, and being pushed by others. So yes, there may be some competition, but it's very much encouraged and seen as a very good thing.

But I also think it's wrong to talk about which camp was "better". Each sound camp has it's own vibe, space, and special moments on the Playa, and this year had some fantastic new additions. CODA had some rockin parties, Green Gorilla stepped up, Green Moon rocked, El Circo is insanely inspiring, as was Deep End obviously, and did anyone catch the Space Cowboys hoedown where the art cars all surrounded the party and tuned their radios into the Unimog station frequency and blasted out what the Unimog was playing? Insane.

One thing to keep in mind with regards to OT is that what you saw out there was only part of what was supposed to go up. We had a massive bamboo structure that we spent months building that had a very unfortunate mishap with a crane at the very last minute. And trust me on this- it would've been gorgeous. And odds are, we'll have it back next year.

Don't know how other camps are feeling, but after getting over the initial exhaustion, we're just glowing over the whole experience, and ideas for next year are flowing (especially ones like how to bring ourselves out of debt!). One of the great things about this experience is how close it brings you to the people around you that are also contributing, and I couldn't be happier with the people that make OT what it is.

If anyone is looking to extend their Burning Man experience off the playa, I can't think of a better way than to become involved in a large scale project. It's an irreplaceable experience.

[jefr]

i know its early and we are supposed to let the playa rest.....
what could the large sound camps do better? our team goes into hybernation but my mind never stops working toward new organic evolutionary/revolutionary improvements around the music and the dance.
im thinking about more live music next year...a smaller stage which will create more space in the domes....love some opinions besides "no strobe lights :)" jefr

[Simon of the Playa]

if you can get Pat Fucking Boone out to the playa, i will personally dance a naked go-go on the dj stage...


tell him to bring the leather gear.

[SmokinOke]

:roll:
you guys are very funny!
after having shroomed six nights in a row starting on monday full moon eclipse/burn night, all i could do was smile have another bloody mary!
nice repartee, simon!!!
oke

[erny]

was new to BRC this year,but,will be back!! what an incredible experience!!
my heart was stolen by all the positive energy,the playa,the art,AND the music!! i danced at a lot of places,pink mammoth,opulent temple,deep end...and a couple of places i have no idea of the names...can anyone turn me onto some of the names of the music or djs and how do i find it? them?
i loved waking up to techno every morning!! thank u...what a trip!![/b]

[NeonBunny]

Comparing the OT and Roots society is like comparing the EPlaya with Tribe.net... They both suck...

Nah, seriously, I love them both. And there's so many great dance camps on the playa, not just these two.

I really love how the Roots camp spent alot of effort on creating space. All three domes looked great. The inside looked great. The covers looked great. The dj stage/platform looked great. The chill dome looked great (sex in the dome? I musta been oblivious, and I even sat on those beds!)

I love how the Opulent Temple puts alot of effort into finding dj's who not only dj, but make their own music. And not just established ones like Oakencrap. But artists who are doing groundbreaking work in the electronic music scene. Rabbit in the Moon... Gabriel and Dresden... So many more!

I'd like to thank both camps for providing such wonderful places to dance and hang out. And being camped just off of 6'O'clock, I wasn't really biased by one being closer to my camp than the other, as they were both equally as far away as could be.

[NeonBunny]

[quote="jefr"]i know its early and we are supposed to let the playa rest.....
what could the large sound camps do better?[/quote]

It's hard to improve on perfection, but here goes... (And this is more towards the Roots society).

What seems to work good for the smaller dance camps is specializing on the music. A camp for psychedelic trance, another for house, another for drum and bass. I don't think that would work for Roots. But perhaps some break down on the nights? One night could be more directed towards one type of sound and scene, and another in a slightly different direction.

Also, I would like to see more original music, less dj stuff. Although dj's are great too. Not necessarily rock music, can still be Electronic Music. But I'd love to see some original electronic music. Artists that create original music, and can mix in live instrumentation at the same time.

Also think it would be great to have a secondary sound system for the chill room. There's alot of great Ambient/Chill Out/Downtempo music out there that could go great with it.

The main stage did seem a bit high. Sure, it's nice when the dj is slightly elevated so you can see him from anywhere in the room, and he can see the entire crowd. Reducing the size of the stage would give you a little more dance space, but could also increase the connection between the performer/dj and the dancer/audience.

[coppo]

Located this in yesterday's boston phoenix.

http://thephoenix.com/Article.aspx?id=48720&page=1

[coppo]

[alt12]

well thanks to all the sound camps for their outstanding work and for contributing a fantastic musical experience to the playa. You are much loved and appreciated. As someone who runs a smaller and much less ambitious camp I can't even begin to imagine the level of work involved...as the years go by for me at bm and the spectacle of it all starts to lose its luster, two things keep brining me back. One is the community and my friends and the other is definitely the music. I don't know where else on earth I can get sounds like at root society, opulent temple, el circo, all of them...if someone knows please tell me.

I've been listening to playa music and setlists (thanks jefr for putting your shit on my space!) endlessly since returning and will probably do so for the rest of the year.... personally I thought the sound was good this year but have to admit I enjoyed the music in 06 more. none the less fucking awesome.

glad to have all the raging debates. whoever said "its not a competition its not what bm is about bla bla bla" totally missed the point of this post, which was purposefully provocative in the hopes of creating a discussion. also bm is about doing whatever the fuck you want and no one actually gets to say what bm is all about (woops just did that). Trading tales about what we liked and didn't like is part of the community experience for me...And I totally second what Dizze said about trying to go bigger and better every year...obviously its not a competition but of course we're all watching what everyone else is doing and getting inspired and trying to do it a bit better the next year and hoping that we're blowing it up..and.who doesn't want to be known as the baddest ______(fill in the blank) camp on the playa after working on it for 12 months?

...and as for ideas for next year for RS, I would request more chill space (more space and more comfortable: more sofas, pillows, carpeting, plus, plush, plush etc.) In fact I was totally blown away by the lack of chill spaces at all this year (only real chill space I ever found was the weird gnome done on the esplanade although anything playing the soundtrack to the wizard of us 24 hours a day can hardly be called a chill space)...maybe I'll bring one next year...

[Badger]

It's hard to improve on perfection, but here goes... (And this is more towards the Roots society).

What seems to work good for the smaller dance camps is specializing on the music. A camp for psychedelic trance, another for house, another for drum and bass. I don't think that would work for Roots. But perhaps some break down on the nights? One night could be more directed towards one type of sound and scene, and another in a slightly different direction.

Also, I would like to see more original music, less dj stuff. Although dj's are great too. Not necessarily rock music, can still be Electronic Music. But I'd love to see some original electronic music. Artists that create original music, and can mix in live instrumentation at the same time.

Also think it would be great to have a secondary sound system for the chill room. There's alot of great Ambient/Chill Out/Downtempo music out there that could go great with it.

The main stage did seem a bit high. Sure, it's nice when the dj is slightly elevated so you can see him from anywhere in the room, and he can see the entire crowd. Reducing the size of the stage would give you a little more dance space, but could also increase the connection between the performer/dj and the dancer/audience.

Cheezus fuck, you want fries with that as well?

[Simon of the Playa]

well, my idea for a genesis p-orridge / throbbing gristle like ultra low frequency experimentation AngstDome was nixed...

i was gonna hand out "adult Diapers" at the door...


when people would ask "am i going to need these"

i'd reply, of course,...."depends"....

[Simon of the Playa]

well, my idea for a genesis p-orridge / throbbing gristle like ultra low frequency experimentation AngstDome was nixed...

i was gonna hand out "adult Diapers" at the door...


when people would ask "am i going to need these"

i'd reply, of course,...."depends"....

[mo_corleone]

im the guy that has been bringing the root society effort/momentum to the playa over the last 5 years. i dont know anyone-theres no politics. just a guy who started as a club dj in 1979 and never stopped...along the way i was blessed with the founding of monster.com and the rest is obviously open for great debate.

hey jefr,

i've been camped near root society for two years in a row and i love being able to navigate my way back home by finding your awesome domes. i was wondering if you had any comment on how your camp fared on the MOOP map this year: http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/ph ... 55c0769440

according to that map, the root society location was labelled "redder than red". any insight on that? what sort of cleanup plan is in place for large camps such as root society after the raging party is over?

[Simon of the Playa]

i blame the hippies.