NO GOOD MUSIC IN 2006?

[trilobyte]

I don't think it was an issue of El Circo (or any other camp) running out at the beginning of July and having the audacity to ask or demand funding so much as it was people's reactions to El Circo quietly announcing that they weren't coming out this year.

Lorin hopped on a soapbox in his tribe, and viewed his personal opinions on the matter, which subsequently led to a lot of discussions in other tribes (as well as e-playa). I consider Lorin a friend and I do completely understand his position and his frustration. He wasn't so much planning to attack anyone or anything, so much as expressing how he felt about a place he knows and loves not being able to pull it off. I won't ramble on about that aspect of it, anyone who's interested can check the debate thread in the Bassnectar tribe easily enough to see what people have to say. If you do check it out, I highly encourage you to read the post that Matty Dowlen of El Circo wrote.

As for the issue of sound systems, sound camps, and their being on the playa this year? I'm fairly certain there will be some great music out there. Be it on a bangin' system you can feel at the core of your being, or on something smaller and more intimate, it's still going to happen. It will be different from last year - but thank goodness for that (who wants the same thing over and over?).

Musically, I thought last year was incredible. Inside the dome, other camps, on art cars, or as I made my way from camp to the porta-potties. It was all pretty amazing, and I'm looking forward to hearing how things change and grow or improve over last year.

[theCryptofishist]

Lorin hopped on a soapbox in his tribe, and viewed his personal opinions on the matter, which subsequently led to a lot of discussions in other tribes (as well as e-playa). I consider Lorin a friend and I do completely understand his position and his frustration. He wasn't so much planning to attack anyone or anything, so much as expressing how he felt about a place he knows and loves not being able to pull it off.

I know I was the first to trash him; for what it's worth if it has been phrased more as "I just heard that El Circo won't be coming and I feel that I'll be missing one of my favorite things onplaya" I would have been welcoming. That "I message" thing.

it's true, even if you don't believe me.

[Oblique]

The amount that Burners bitch about each others' tastes in music, who is WORTHY of $$$$ and who isnt, and who has a bigger Playa dick sure is annoying and really takes away from the event. If I had not been 5 times, I would look at these threads and think how political the event must be and lose interest right away.

Anyhow in my opinion, El Circo is one of the best performance camps, is very spiritual, has great music (the only reason the likes of Freq Nasty even come to the event) and great people. If it isnt there, I will miss it like crazy!

As far as music. Having been into over a dozen music scenes I would say that the Boom Boom Boom from a rave, a passing by flame shooting vehicle, a congo drum, or a bass guitar is equally significant when ear plugs are in place....if you dont like sound at the event, get good ear plugs or go to Hushville. Either works very well, but bitching gets you nowhere.

Ob

[trilobyte]

I hope I'm not beating a dead horse here, but since I've got this stick, and the horse is just laying there

Here's a partial list of camps that will be bringing out large-scale sound. All of them are going through the BMOrg for placement, and I'm sure the placement teams will take the noise levels into consideration when placing them....

Disorient - back for more and bringing their art car, the Disorient EXpress (DEX)
The Fringe - cool camp/collective, they're bringing out a mobile stage & sound system called the Space Ark. Should be good
Nexus making some significant increases in size and scale of their entire camp this year, teaming up with House Of Lotus. They'll have massive indoor and outdoor systems.
Opulent Temple - likely better than ever
Space Cowboys - back and with a bigger and better UniMog Art Car.
The Deep End - back again, the only major change I'm aware of is that this year you'll need to bring your own cup.
XEssential - a new camp/collective, involving some of the folks behind Sol System. I understand that they'll be focused more on downtempo stuff and art.

That's just a partial list, there will also be a number of newcomers out there. I don't expect any of us will have any shortage of places to dance our asses off or hear the most amazing music (whatever your musical tastes may be).

~Trilo~

[coppo]

Hello all,

This will be the second year heading to BRC for my fiance Jade and I! Just wanted to include the camp we will be with as well for some good people and big sound.....We will also have additional DJ's and artists joining us from some of the absent camps so there will certainly be enough places for the dancing of the asses.


Root Society - 60' and 30' domes, massive sound, art, bloody mary's, lions, tigers and bears......oh my!


I hope everyone is well.........see you on the playa!!!


off to bed........over&out

[Oblique]

Yep!

Nexus has some of the most original music out there! Opulent Temple had Oakenfold, Tiesto, Lee Coombs and a lot of other great DJs last year....and the Playa wouldnt be the same without Space Cowboys and the Deep End.

Ob

[trilobyte]

Yeah, Lee's coming back again this year for sure... he's also signed on to play a mid-week soiree with us, but we're not a sound camp per se...

~Trilo~

[Oblique]

NIce. Lee played the best set on the Playa, last year, IMO.

WIll come check him out with you guys and at Opulent!

Oblique

[trilobyte]

My personal favorite performance was a tie between Lawgiverz and Oscure, both on Wednesday night at the Temple Of Breaks (Temple Of Dreams). I missed Lee's set at Opulent Temple, but also enjoyed Adam's set (on Friday night), David Starfire (he played before Adam on Friday night), and Freq Nasty's throw-down at El Circo on Saturday night. I wish I'd caught more of Lorin's El Circo gig on Saturday night, as well as Thursday night into Friday morning with some of my campmates (who also head up the LA Breakbeat Association), and then Random Rab in the wee hours.

If you haven't caught Lorin lately, definitely try to on the dust... I enjoy most of his stuff but he's been reaching new heights the last few times I've seen him.

Random Rab is another must - he's got a new album of material (and probably then some), his set at Raindance in early June blew me away.

I'll shut up, I could ramble on for hours...

~Trilo~

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Thanks, all. Just lurking and enjoying the "sounds". Good points from d6 about the riggors of audio work.

Don't you just hate loading monster speakers onto a truck at 2:00 AM while a drunk guy pulls on your coat about his idea for a band name? Oh wait... that was nightclub work.

[Ron]

.... That "I message" thing.

it's true, even if you don't believe me.

Sharing the same pet peeve, I believe you.

Ron

[alienfry]

my vote goes to radical self reliance.

having created and managed a theme camp myself, i can't imagine asking braf or bmorg for a grant to do our thing. no way. like, what?

figuring out how we're going to execute our plans with the resources we have is half the fun. planning fundraisers, painting t-shirts to sell, building a Bazaar in my backyard, hosting a Beer-Drive... it's FUN.

and it's stressful. and hard. and scary. and that's why when we get to the Playa and set up and look at our camp, well, that's why we smile. we perservered. we came. we give.

if it were easy, everyone would do it. hell, nothing would ever change.

i prefer exploring 10 or 12 different dance floors in an evening with 30 to 40 people rocking out on them rather than navigating through a handful of sound titans who are so big i couldn't reasonably expect to meet and thank the people who set it all up.

no way. not for me. i mean i'll go look, but i don't see as much opportunity to participate as there are at the smaller camps.

our camp is celebrating its 5th year in 2006. =)

we're a Plaza operation with sites on the Esplenade within the next year or two. and if we ever bring a large-scale sound system i assure you no one will mistake us for being just another sound camp. the challenge isn't just making-do or expanding what you have. it's also making-AMAZING and giving something unique to the participants who visit you.

just saying.

[PORN&EGGS]

PORN & EGGS will miss those large bastions of pumping bass and writhing bodies as well. However, there are many smaller camps like ours that are increasing their presence and investment in our community.

Knowing that some of our favorite hotspots are experiencing a bit of strain we at PORN & EGGS have shared resources with other camps and have personally more than DOUBLED our physical size, and the number of events and treats that we are bringing to the table.

We may not be able to replace long time favorites like LUSH and LOTUS (nor would we want to, our role is very different) but there are numerous camps like ours that want to offer you another flavor of Burningman. Albeit in a smaller more intimate setting, however, certainly no less committed to fun and self expression. Come try us.

Remember, it's not necessarily the destination, but the journey you take to get there and the persons you go with.

That's the beautiful thing about our city, YOU make the experience, not any specific location or event.

[Oblique]

This is not really a "VERSUS" thread. Just because one goes to large sound camps does not mean they do not go to smaller camps too. I personally enjoy dozens of sound camps on the Playa...

No problem given props to the likes of El Circo though. Just giving props where they are due! As far as grants are concerned, I guess Burning Man grants are just as political as any grant for company or government work, so no acceptions, even for Burning Man, I suppose.

Anyhooo.....Burning Man will always have tons of wonderful sound camps, big or small.

As far as the radical self-reliance thing. You see this on all kinds of Burning Man threads, but we all build our places, we all live there for 10 days, but with 35,000 people around it's hardly "roughing it" or "self sufficient". I would say what makes BMan great is the neighborhood attitude offered by "most" of the people at the event.

Ob

[Oblique]

Yep! PORN & EGGS is always fun!

See ya there!

Ob

[ghost_horse]

Although [b]El circo[/b] will be absent this year, the bulk of their sound system will not be. The specs come out to be (16) 18" subs and 4 monitors i believe. Our Camp will be [b]Lhasa 2012[/b]. There will be a large open air dance area surrounded by pray flags and tibetan decorations and a 30 foot high tibetan stupa in the front.

Our location is on 2:00 and Eager


Hope to see you There!!

[trilobyte]

Ghost Horse, Matty and Diego brought something in the neighborhood of 100 Bag End cabinets (between bass bins and tops) last year, and more amp racks than I could count. You're bringing out a Bag End system? I'm not familiar with Lhasa (whether that's a brand name, or one of the line that Bag End offers).

~Trilo~

[soupman]

I won't ramble on about that aspect of it, anyone who's interested can check the debate thread in the Bassnectar tribe easily enough to see what people have to say. If you do check it out, I highly encourage you to read the post that Matty Dowlen of El Circo wrote.

Link please? Can't find it... I'm sure there will still be a good amount of well thought out, inspiring, visually and mentally stimulating sound camps with great vibes this year... looking forward to it at any rate!

[Marmot]

BTW, here is the criteria for determining bad v. good music. Definitely check out the "The Most Unwanted Song". Applying solid research principles, it is estimated that fewer than 200 individuals of the world’s total population will enjoy this.

...and that is what makes it so deliciously bad...

http://www.diacenter.org/km/musiccd.html

[trilobyte]

You can't find tribe.net, or you can't find bassnectar when searching on that site? Bassnectar on Tribe

Look on the page of topics, you'll see the thread titled 'the burningman debate' with 200+ replies.

~Trilo~

[timber mischief]

Just so happens I'm on my way out the door to hear Loren Bassnectar spin at the Vue nightclub here in Colorado Springs ! (believe it or not, it's not all right wing fundamentalists here) We actually have fun!

[Mozy bonz]

I think to just write off El Circo as a "sound camp" or throw snickety rave and drug jokes in there is both juvenile and short-sighted.

It's not just a dome and some speakers, folks. And it's not just oontz oontz oontz of DJ's playing techno. Last year I heard everything ranging from ambient/downtempo to funky breaks to asian underground to live musicians and back again. I heard just about everything in there - it was one of the most musically diverse places on the playa.

The dome is huge, and requires a crane for setup/teardown (no idea what the rental is on that). The lighting and rigging inside is elaborate, as well. Aside from the costs of buying it (which is what they've done over the years, I believe), the cost of replacing lamps and gels alone after a trip to the playa has got to be pretty high. The sound system, like the lights, is bought and paid for but there's a cost to replacing parts and cables that get worn through the course of the week. Talking to one of the organizers last year, I know that the cost of the generator rental was around $5K. There's also the cost of hauling all that stuff to and from the playa (not just speakers and lights and the steel frame and canvas of the dome, but the stages and other support structures for the camp itself).

Inside that dome were some of the most amazing performances I've ever seen. The fire/fashion show in 2004, the vaudeville-ian burlesque in 2005, and even the Sunday morning puppet show. Forget about all the time and energy involved (we all put our time and energy into things we do on the playa), the cost of raw materials alone has got to be enormous.

If you never actually took the time to explore the El Circo dome and really only think of it as a sound camp, my condolences.

I'm not going to get into the issue of BRC grants or any of that because I don't really know any of the details on either side of that argument (other than good people are involved on both sides). But I think writing El Circo off as just a sound camp or implying that they spend all their money on drugs is just plain wrong.

sorry I missed them sounds like my kind of camp...

[Gizmo]

Young people take note. Invest all your 401-K money in hearing-aid
stocks. You will retire rich.

[Mozy bonz]

amazing performances I've ever seen. The fire/fashion show in 2004, the vaudeville-ian burlesque in 2005, and even the Sunday morning puppet show

you must of not read all of the Quote not just music

[geekster]

We had some 15 bluegrass musicians at our camp on Saturday at noon. It not only filled our main tent but people spilled out in front and all were packed around all the way out to the street. Probably close to 200 people at the peak. There is appreciation out there for good acoustic music and our little non-event event showed us that. We will be having another next year, probably the same time, Noon Saturday at Iron Rose. We might even have one earlier in the week too. There's more to "sound" than decibels. Hearing all these people singing along with "Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms" was just fucking awesome.

I would encourage other camps to set aside dates and times and post an invitation in the WWW inviting musicians of your favorite genre of music to come over and jam. It could be jazz, rockabilly, swing, country, folk, whatever. Our experiance is that if you build it, they will come. One thing we did learn, however, was the Sunday isn't a good day. Only one musician showed up for Blues day ... probably because everone was tearing down and packing up. Besides, everyone knows that Monday morning is the best time for the blues.

[Mozy bonz]

We had some 15 bluegrass musicians at our camp on Saturday at noon. It not only filled our main tent but people spilled out in front and all were packed around all the way out to the street. Probably close to 200 people at the peak. There is appreciation out there for good acoustic music and our little non-event event showed us that. We will be having another next year, probably the same time, Noon Saturday at Iron Rose. We might even have one earlier in the week too. There's more to "sound" than decibels. Hearing all these people singing along with "Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms" was just fucking awesome.

I would encourage other camps to set aside dates and times and post an invitation in the WWW inviting musicians of your favorite genre of music to come over and jam. It could be jazz, rockabilly, swing, country, folk, whatever. Our experiance is that if you build it, they will come. One thing we did learn, however, was the Sunday isn't a good day. Only one musician showed up for Blues day ... probably because everone was tearing down and packing up. Besides, everyone knows that Monday morning is the best time for the blues.

That sounds great also sorry I missed that one too. Your right there is more to "sound" than just decibels.