Xara & Mutaytor Farewell To BRC - Burn Night 04

[Mark Hinkley]

Xara and The Mutaytor present:
"The Ascension Of The Man"

Our Supernova Farewell Performance

Black Rock City, Nevada, Burn Night, 2004
One hour after Manfall, within a circle of stars...

Six years ago, Xara and the Mutaytor were born together at Burning Man. And now, the green jungles of Xara and the green drums of The Mutaytor bid farewell to Black Rock City with a stellar production - the birth of a new world. Interactive performance in an interactive environment - the new people of a newborn world, risen from the ashes of the Man, ascending together the Vault of Heaven....

Half an hour after the Man has fallen and all is made new in fire, the jungle ruins of Xara will rise from the dust of the Black Rock Desert as the world, the stage, and the open-air theater for The Mutaytor's epic Burn Night show. A procession will then form at the 12:00 side of the Man’s pyre and begin the advance to our green new world, risen from the Abyss.

One hour after Manfall, when the procession arrives with lights and lasers and fire, this new world will be claimed as our new world. The Mutaytor will mount the stage: New Olympians of Thunder and Fire and Rhythm. Two hours of original and improvisational music, over 100 thundering drums, premier fire and hoop dancing, aerial performances, multi-screen video, big special effects, live horn section for cryin’ out loud, balloons for the kids, and much, much more. Thereafter, the night will be given to dj’s and dancing, with a Wolfie monster set and Moontribe dj’s & friends spinning the night into the first dawn of the new world. .

Don’t miss our Farewell Show - the last Mutaytor performance at Burning Man - the last apparition of Xara in Black Rock City. While Xara and The Mutaytor will continue to thrive and to grow together, this will be our last large scale performance at BRC. We will continue to bring the Playa spirit to the unreal world, and may develop lower-profile projects for future Burns, but the Xara and Mutaytor projects themselves - having gone as far as they can go at Burning Man - will reach critical mass and cascade to Supernova - on Burn Night 2004.

Particularly since this will be our last show in BRC, we want to include everyone. The outdoor theater we are creating is as big as the L2k circle of lights around the Man. It will be defined by sections of Xara foliage in a wide circle with giant video screens filling in some of the gaps. But we see the remaining circumference of the circle of stars as empty gallery space, waiting to shine with your art. We invite you to fill in these voids with any big, burning, bouncy, blinky or bizarre playa project you are willing to haul out there. We expect raging robots, rolling fire pits, mobile lasers, jets of green fire, you and all the constellations of your creations joining in the fun.

Sooooo... if you have a portable project and you're willing to transport it to our New Eden on Saturday, we can promise you that it will be seen and enjoyed by a really really huge number of people, all of whom will be in a really really appreciative state of mind. Interested persons should contact Buck at buckaedown (at) hotmail (dot) com to discuss details and to reserve space.

This fleeting star is our gift to you - a token of our appreciation for the love and imagination of the citizens of Black Rock City - the people who inspired and encouraged us. You have rewarded us richly with your love and appreciation all along, and on Burn Night 2004, we want to show you how much you all mean to us. The sonic vibrations from our show will be broadcast live so that art cars and playa radios can transport the music beyond the bounds of our new world - into the infinitudes of space, across all the Vault of Heaven.

But mostly, we hope you will journey to our new world to let us thank you in person, and with all the love in our hearts. The Ghost of the Man will mind your steps and guide your way.

[dj big E]

Thanks

[Mark Hinkley]

Every day this project grows bigger and better with new elements being added by all of you. But it is looking like the lighting on the stage will presently be a bit underwhelming, and far be it from us to leave people less than fully "whelmed."

Anyway, we could use a bit of help with the loan of lighting instruments for our Saturday only show, if'n any of you have any ideas about where we might borrow them. Halogen worklight would work in a pinch too. It seems we have dimming, control, and power, and just need a few more instrments to make the lighting design sit up and bark.

If you can help or have any ideas, please contact me to talk about them.

Mark

[thehunt]

Him and Danny Carey from Pigmy Love Circus and TOOL.

XARA is one of my favorite "tech-no" camps,
and I love Moontribe artists...

I know where I'll be the night of the Burn...
Thank you all for such great experiences out on the Playa every year...we really appreciate the great music and good times.


Eric @ Picasso Camp @ Center Camp & 9:15

[theBrooke]

Wouldn't miss it for the world!

Farewell,

B.

[Fightin' Fondle Flower]

I've been to party at Xara every year for the past 5 and I gotta say: that place fuckin' SUCKS! Lame ass music, cheap 2 bit decorations, and who's stupid idea was it to bring sod out there? It's not gonna grow. HEELLOOO?

Frankly, I'd like to find the guy who thought the whole thing up and KICK HIS ASS!

LATER DORKS!
-FFF

[MissNev]

It sucks so much that you go every year?????

[stuart]

if you had such an inkling and managed to find that lovely man you might be distressed to find a few thousand greatfull people who had his back. I would be the one with pick-axe. Swinging with anger.

[Mark Hinkley]

Fear not my friends, the cranky flower is one of our own, though amusingly, it could be one of a number of our own. Boy, you buy 'em books, you send 'em to school, you hook 'em up with your Miracle Grow connections and what do they do? They turn on ya. Now, where did I leave that emergency supply of Agent Orange?

[XARAKITTY]

I think I saw that guy get into a fight with another person dresssed as a flower at the Irish Pub that was next door to xara.

-XK

[smohq]

You can be sure I'll be there Mark. Xara has been one of my favorite havens, and I'm saddened to hear that this'll be it's last year on the Playa (hopefully the subtext I caught is true and there'll be some other incarnation at future Burns). O, but what of the beautiful monastery of Dulzura? Will Xara be gracing the grounds with it's stoic, jungular presence in 2005?

Say not Nay, Mark Hinkley, say not Nay!

[giantmonster]

wow - i've loved going to xara at every burn. lots of great memories there. many many many thanks to those who helped put it together and held it together. such an incredible amount of work and thoughtfulness towards providing a relatively wind/dust free comfortable place to dance, chill, escape the heat, and dance some more. sad to hear this is it's last year but understandable too considering the work involved. much love to the xara folks! you will be missed by a lot of people!

see you soon!

[Mark Hinkley]

Some flowers just make ornery drunks, you know?

To Smohq,

Right you are, we're not retiring - except from the playa. Dulzura is our new home and we will be back there next April. We expect to be a number of places this next year, putting our efforts into regional events. None of us are any less eager to bust out big shit to tickle everybody, but, in adapting our project to Burning Man as it adapts, we've reached a cul-de-sac on that road. I hope that was the "not nay" you were hoping for.

I've since been admonished that I should have allowed more of a stir before revealing that "I'm gonna find the guy who built this and kick his ass" is a common in-house Xara refrain. Maybe so, but it would be a cheap way to mooch compliments. Besides, I'm selective about my controversies and I always have bigger fish to fry than some misguided guy in a flower suit.

[smohq]

Beautiful! Yes Mark, that is the "not Nay" I was hoping for.

Swing by the Man on Thursday for a martini if you're so inclined.

XARA IS DEAD! LONG LIVE XARA!!!

[Mark Hinkley]

XARA IS DEAD! LONG LIVE XARA!

Smohq my friend, you just wrote our epitaph. Thank you.

Mark

Xara yet is still to come, yet Xara here remains.

[XARAKITTY]

Can I get a sweet vodka martini at the man? Or are they dry man martini's only?

This show is gonna Kick Ass! I haven't rocked out to Mutaytor since Dulzura this spring. It's been too long already. I think I'm getting Mutayted.

Peace an' Catnip
-xarakitty

[oddconvergence]

Mutaytor & Wolfie: sucking it up in Los Angeles and Burning Man for far too long.

[stuart]

word

[stuart]

word

[Crunchy Mama 2]

Had to chime in:
That's cool that you don't dig us. Everyone is allowed their own opinion - some people like us, some people don't. I appreciate honesty and have specific musical tastes myself.

For 6 years the band has tried to maintain our lives as burners throughout the year. At a Brewery event Larry Harvey thanked us for living the spirit of the playa like we do, and he asked and encouraged us to promote more regional events, which we have happily done (donating thousands to the BRAF in the process).

As a 9 year burner myself, I do try to pay it forward, and most who know me would agree that I've tried to instill in the band a sense of family. We have our good days and bad days like any family.

But to address both your comments, after 2 sold out shows at the Avalon (with over 1200 attendance), 3 sold out Key Club gigs (over 700 attendance each time) and the more than 10,000 who showed up for the Xara/Mutaytor Ascension of the Man last weekend, I personally disagree that we've "sucked it up in LA" for too long. To each his own.

Respectfully,
Crunchy
aka Mrs. Mutaytor

[Ivy]

Crunchy,

I'll fight to be the first in line to say I love you to death, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for you. You, personally, IMO, raise my opinion of Mutaytor.

However, I think your statement about all your sold-out shows in LA etc. did nothing but strongly reiterate Stuart's point. You hammered your own coffin nail on that one.

[oddconvergence]

But to address both your comments, after 2 sold out shows at the Avalon (with over 1200 attendance), 3 sold out Key Club gigs (over 700 attendance each time) and the more than 10,000 who showed up for the Xara/Mutaytor Ascension of the Man last weekend, I personally disagree that we've "sucked it up in LA" for too long. To each his own.

I had a friend say something similar about Wolfie - "I find it funny he sucks so much and people still love him". Just because a lot of people like you doesn't mean you're any good, nor does it impress me. Remember the anthem trance phenomenon? The 80s metal scene?

[Mark Hinkley]

gosh... I hope this is beside the point. Whatever anyone thinks of how anyone else makes their living in the outside world, what I saw was more than 40 people put in 3 straight 16 hour workdays, plus about 8 hours on two other days, plus mount a two hour show and a twelve hour party, all at Burning Man when there were other things to do, plus uncountable hours of advanced prep time, in order to give a goodbye gift to Black Rock City. All of the art, the music, the performances, the scenery, were all the original work of their creators. All of that was made possible by the year-round efforts of those participants. I think we created pretty exciting art and am proud of what was accomplished.

For my own part, I want to say how overwhelmed I was by the comments of so many people who hiked all the way out to our installation while we were building to thank us for what we had brought to the playa over the past 6 years. I suppose I knew we were showing people a good time, but there were so many stories that showed that our projects had come to mean something special and beautiful to many, many people. I just want to thank everyone for your wonderful words, and let you all know that they went to straight to our hearts.

I also want to thank all our playa friends that supported this project with every kind of help and who brought out projects of their own. I would like to thank all my Xara campmates over the years for all of their hard work, sacrifice, and playa sweat to create something magical and alive in a place so dead. Many came and many went, but they all left something wonderful and they all seemed to take a little Xara away in their hearts. I want to thank the Mutaytor kids for their critical labor and transportation support to make Xara's last stand in BRC possible; it was not going to happen until they opened the way. Penultimate thanks go to the Last Monkeys Standing, Jay, Casey and Erik, sole survivors of the first Xara in 1999, and the sinew and strength of Xara today.

But my ultimate thanks go to my wife, Sandy. Much of that was earned through her years of indulgence as I built Xara and before she became a Burner herself. Much of that was earned when she became a Burner in 2002 and our experiences together in this community transformed our love affair and marriage of now nearly 25 years. But there could have been no greater sacrifice of love than she made this year, staying home to cover her brother's wedding while insisting that I go produce Xara's farewell to Burning Man. It broke her heart. She knew what she was missing. She knew how much she needed it. And she knew where I was going without her. But she knew that Xara deserved a proper send-off and saw that the chance to produce this project with The Mutaytor was too exciting an opportunity to miss. She loved me - and Xara - and you - that much.

And so, I would hope that love could be our epitaph. Nobody has to tell you that a lot has been sacrificed over the years to make these projects possible - that's true of every project out there. We just wanted to make people happy. I'm quite sure that we have not taken anything away from anyone else, and by all appearances, we did give people something they appreciated. I liked "Xara is dead! Long live Xara!" as the last words on the subject, but wanted to say my thank you's and hopefully turn our eulogy away from unkind personal remarks.

Goodbye and thank you with all our hearts,

Mark,
Sandy, Jay, Casey, Erik, Andy and Lianna

[Crunchy Mama 2]

Aww thanks Ivy. It was so lovely to get to know you a little better this week. You were so generous with the water and Ice Cream suprise - please know how much it was appreciated.

It's so interesting to me the process that happens when something you love gets mass appeal. Working in the record business I have been witness to countless bands who I worked my ass of for...believed in, then saw them deal with becoming platinum commodities. I've seen this now happen with Burning Man. There were 8000 or so when I started going, about 30 theme camps, and look at it now. Do I still love those bands, or those trends I was on first, or even the event itself? Of course. I don't hold grudges when something gets popular...I know it's hard and it feels like something you believed in sold out, but it's a natural progression.

I won't get into a musical debate here, but as an example, Eddie Vedder told me all he and the band wanted their first album to sell was a gold record over 5 years. But you know, selling 25 million albums on your debut will obviously get everyone calling you all kinds of names like sell-out, and alienate some fans who just want to be ahead of the trends and like cool things before they hit the mainstream. You're damned if you try to put out your art/music to people, damned if it's embraced by the masses.

I respectfully disagree with the logic that because the Mutaytor continues to have sell-out crowds we're "suckin it up in LA for too long." Each show, over 1/2 are complete newbies...and the fans keep coming back. It's tantamount to saying to all the people who choose to come to see us that their musical taste sucks-not too cool in my book. This issue is all about your personal taste and CHOICE. Look, if our attendance slows down and people stop coming...then I'd agree that we've overstayed our welcome. But to say that when people are obviously choosing to support us just baffles me.

I guess you can't ever please everyone,
Crunchy

[Mark Hinkley]

A personal postscript...

If the couple who told me they named their daughter "Xara" will send me a private message with some contact info, I have something I would like to give to our little princess.

Mark

[oddconvergence]

I respectfully disagree with the logic that because the Mutaytor continues to have sell-out crowds we're "suckin it up in LA for too long." Each show, over 1/2 are complete newbies...and the fans keep coming back. It's tantamount to saying to all the people who choose to come to see us that their musical taste sucks-not too cool in my book. This issue is all about your personal taste and CHOICE. Look, if our attendance slows down and people stop coming...then I'd agree that we've overstayed our welcome. But to say that when people are obviously choosing to support us just baffles me.

You misunderstand my point. That was actually your point - you presented having sell out crowds in LA as meaning you guys are good, musically or otherise. I was saying that just because you have a following doesn't mean you guys are better than mediocre. There are a lot of lemmings that will listen to and be amazed by tripe, as evidenced by the examples of anthem trance and 80s metal, to name a couple.

Not to mention some of the personal commentary I've heard from the band that would indicate you guys are full of yourselves - I find it particularly distateful.

Just remember that my commentary about your band is just my opinion and opinions are neither true nor false.

[oddconvergence]

I respectfully disagree with the logic that because the Mutaytor continues to have sell-out crowds we're "suckin it up in LA for too long." Each show, over 1/2 are complete newbies...and the fans keep coming back. It's tantamount to saying to all the people who choose to come to see us that their musical taste sucks-not too cool in my book. This issue is all about your personal taste and CHOICE. Look, if our attendance slows down and people stop coming...then I'd agree that we've overstayed our welcome. But to say that when people are obviously choosing to support us just baffles me.

You misunderstand my point. That was actually your point - you presented having sell out crowds in LA as meaning you guys are good, musically or otherise. I was saying that just because you have a following doesn't mean you guys are better than mediocre. There are a lot of lemmings that will listen to and be amazed by tripe, as evidenced by the examples of anthem trance and 80s metal, to name a couple.

Not to mention some of the personal commentary I've heard from the band that would indicate you guys are full of yourselves - I find it particularly distateful.

Just remember that my commentary about your band and Wolfie is just my opinion and opinions are neither true nor false.

[GuinivereElise]

First, you are all beautiful. In every way imaginable.

I came to the Burn for my first time this year, and am impossibly saddened to learn that Xara and Mutaytor, as I was introduced to them, will not be joining me back again next year. I saw the show during the week, where I rocked out in a way I never thought possible. As an actor, dancer, singer, lighting designer, set designer, blahblahblah, the show in all ways gave me inspiration and hope and a wonderful sense of happiness and love for humanity. It was all I could do to keep myself from falling at your collective feet and begging "TAKE ME WITH YOU!" Hell, I'm STILL trying to keep myself from doing that...

I also made sure to see the Ascention of the Man show, and here is the only area of disappointment that I felt in concurrence with your lovliness: I was standing--hell, I don't really know WHERE--but there were some guests with video cameras in the front area of the stage near where I was standing. One, specifically, was planted directly in front of myself and my surrounding burners. This, in itself, was not offensive... we did the bob-and-weave of the heads, and we all got a great view. Until, that is, our burningcrowd was parted by a young man in a wheelchair. Daniel was a first-time burner, like myself, who just wanted to see the show that he'd heard so much about. I gave him my place in the front, right behind the orange fence, and was thanked kindly for it. However, when I tapped the videographer on the shoulder, and asked him, VERY politely, to maybe slide a couple feet to the side so that my new friend could see the show, I was rudely informed that he was asked to tape the show by Xara/Mutaytor and was not going to move. What a wet-blanket feeling! We weren't asking him to stop taping, or even to give up his position... just to shift slightly, or even to just duck down so Daniel could see over him. Instead, we were glared at and brutally rebuffed.

I don't know why I'm posting this, really. Perhaps he really WASN'T hired by you, and so my beef is headed in the wrong direction. I'm not asking for anything... I guess I'm just trying to let you all know, so that, in the future, if you DO ask people to tape the shows for you, that they be cautioned about being an obstruction.... (I'm travelling here on the hope that you INDEED DO want your audiences to see your shows! ^_^ ) It was just such a downer to see someone from your beautious realm being so unkind to the very audience that supports you whole-heartedly.


And now, I'd like to get off that nasty unfriendlyness and back into more praise para vous!!

Seriously, some of the best artistic work I've seen... ever. You rock my face off.

And that's about all I can say, without sounding horribly kitch and feeling like I'm grovelling. You are wonderful, and I look forward to seeing you again, hopefully in the very near future.

Beautiful beautiful...

[Cheesus]

GuinivereElise, I'm sorry to hear that happened to you and Daniel. We did have a few people filming the show for us, but there were also a lot of people in the audience with their own personal cameras. I would hope that none of the people we asked to film for us would be so inconsiderate - I don't suppose you got his name, did you?

I'd also like to offer a personal apology to someone. There was a lovely young lady in the front row, stage left, at about the middle of the frontmost stage, who was trying to take photos. I was crouched inside the fence beside the stage, doing fire safety, and she tapped me on the shoulder to ask if she could come inside the fence to take photos. I quickly turned around and told her, "No, sorry," then turned my attention back to the fire onstage. I hope I didn't seem rude, but I tend to get VERY serious and a bit grouchy when someone interrupts me while I'm doing safety. My apologies if I did come across as being rude - it was truly nothing personal, I was just trying to keep everyone safe.

[Tay]

Mutaytor ROCKED after the burn. Almost everyone in my camp went and we all loved it.