Kaaboo

Kaaboo 9/14/18

Kaaboo 2018 Wristband

Attending all three days of Kaaboo the previous year was a little too much standing in the sun, drinking and spending a shit ton of money so Ingrid and I decided to cut it down to just one of the days this year. Based on the lineup of Everclear, Incubus, Blondie and Foo Fighters the day that was decided upon was Friday. Unfortunately Ingrid had to bail out at the last minute and sell her ticket due to an impromptu bachelorette party in Vegas.

The Charter Bus worked out well last year so I decided to do that again instead of paying for a surge priced Uber or staying sober and driving. After sucking down a tall boy of Bud Light on the way, our bus rounded the last corner to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to reveal a line of people trying to get in that nearly stretched to that intersection. I could not believe what I was seeing but thankfully there was a far shorter line near the bus drop off point because Everclear was set to kick off the festival about 10 minutes later. Even that line was moving slowly but moments later a festival worker announced that there was a line specifically for people without a bag that was empty. It is baffling to me that an expensive festival that expected 40,000 people could be so disorganized but what can you do?

I got in just in time to grab a cold 16-ounce Corona for $13 as Everclear took the stage around 2 pm. I had not seen Everclear for 17 years and had all but stopped paying attention to any new Everclear material since So Much For the Afterglow so I did not know what to expect. What I got was a band that passed as Everclear but did not go as full force as they could have with the songs at their disposal. I loved that nearly their whole set was songs from Sparkle and Fade and So Much For the Afterglow and it was great to hear those songs live again (especially “Heroin Girl”) but despite Art Alexakis’ best efforts the songs still sounded slightly lackluster. Maybe it was just impossible to impress me because of that time I saw them tear the roof off the place when they opened for Filter about two months before they hit it big with “Santa Monica” back in the day.

Near the end of the Everclear set I met up with Larry and basically just kept drinking and wandering around until Larry’s wife Christi showed up because the next band I wanted to see was Incubus and they were not on until just after 6. We went to watch comedian Tom Papa and quickly realized it was more of a plug for bread baking then it was a comedy show so we caught a little of The Zombies set before more drinking and wandering around ensued.

Close to the time Incubus was to go on I was reminded that every time there are too many people in one spot the woman’s bathroom line is always crazy and there are always a few brave women willing to go into the men’s bathroom. One particular pair of younger girls in front of us were not going into the bathroom to use the toilet but rather to go do some coke with a 70 year old billionaire. After we exited the bathroom Christi and Larry started chatting with them and the gold digging vibe was making me sick to my stomach so I ended up basically ditching them and standing by myself for Incubus because Kyle had come in later and found Larry and Calvin and Jane never returned my text.

This was to be my seventh time seeing Incubus but I had not seen them for nine years. Their newest effort was the album 8 that was released a year earlier but other than “No Fun” they stuck to older songs and treated us to a one/two punch of “Calgone” and a great cover of “Need You Tonight” by INXS. I feel like Incubus made the most of their limited time and age was not about to slow them down. Not that they are old by any means but they were still sounding fantastic playing the shit out of their songs with passion and enthusiasm after all these years.

SETLIST: Privilege, Anna Molly, Meglomaniac, A Kiss to Send Us Off, Circles, Pardon Me, No Fun, Love Hurts, Calgone, Need You Tonight (INXS), Are You In?, Nice to Know You, Wish You Were Here, Drive, A Crow Left of the Murder

Next up was Blondie. Even though there are only five Blondie songs I really like I was excited to see them because I had never seen them before. After getting a round of applause for basically telling some jerk chick trying to cut in front of everyone in the beer line to fuck off I got to see a 73 year old Debbie Harry do her thing. She was still pretty spry but something was just missing for me from the band as a whole. I got to see “One Way or Another,” “Rapture,” and “Call Me,” but had to get my ass to the other stage to see Foo Fighters so I missed “Heart of Glass” and “The Tide Is High.” At least I got to see someone playing the keytar before I left.

Once I made my way to where the Foo Fighters were playing I ran into Christi and Sierra. Larry, Kyle and Sierra’s boyfriend had gone to get beers so I just waited there and watched the Foo with that group. This was my eighth time seeing Foo Fighters but this time was not like the last time I saw them a year earlier at a festival made up of strictly rock and roll bands that they headlined. This was a diverse group of bands gathered so they knew their audience and filled the limited set time with mostly hits. To be fair they do have a lot of hits. Regardless of this a Foo show is always packed with energy and surprises. Taylor’s drum riser literally started rising during a drum solo tacked onto the end of “My Hero” that lead into him singing “Sunday Rain.” The most rocking song I got out of them was “The Sky Is a Neighborhood” but the most fun moments started near the end when Dave sang Van Halen’s “Jump” over the music of “Imagine” by John Lennon. It matched up surprisingly well. After that we got a little “Hey Ho, Let’s Go” from the Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” followed by a full on cover of Queen’s “Under Pressure” with Dave climbing behind the drum kit to let Taylor come out front and sing after he proclaimed, “Here’s one Vanilla Ice stole from Queen and we’re taking it back.” Those moments made the whole day worthwhile.

SETLIST: All My Life, Learn to Fly, The Pretender, The Sky Is a Neighborhood, These Days, Walk, My Hero, Sunday Rain, Another One Bites the Dust/Imagine/Jump/Blitzkrieg Bop, Under Pressure, Monkey Wrench, Best of You, Everlong

Kaaboo 9/17/17

2017_Comedy Lineup

Kaaboo Day Three

We had a couple of hours to get our shit together this morning before we had to catch the bus and it was quite literally the struggle bus. Two days of constant drinking in the sun on your feet will do that to a person but here we were about to do it for the third day in a row. You only live once, right?

T-Pain took the stage immediately after we arrived. I am not a fan whatsoever but he is one of those guys that you cannot really avoid exposure to unless you are living under a rock. Ingrid loved it. I do have to give credit where credit is due though and say I respected his enthusiasm and control of the crowd. There is something to be said about someone performing that looks like they are actually enjoying what they are doing.

We did run into Larry and Christi but Larry understandably did not want any part of our madness since he had to get on a 4:30 am flight the next day.

The first band I wanted to see was Live, who I had only seen one other time WAY back in 1995 at the height of their popularity when the album Throwing Copper was fairly new. I have always been a big fan and they sounded great. It must be weird for a band to go from headlining festivals to playing during the day on a Sunday at one but they took it in stride and killed it. It was an interesting choice to throw covers of “I Walk The Line” by Johnny Cash and “Like A Stone” by Audioslave into an already shortened set but it sounded really good.

At this point we were able to meet back up with Kyle, Sierra, Kyle’s friend Chris and his girlfriend to watch Alanis Morrisette. There is exactly one song of hers that I really like (“Joining You”) which I knew she would not play but I respect her as a talent. It was shocking to see her as a bleach blonde and playing a shimmery Stratocaster for about 1/3 of the songs but she was good. I’m sure her hardcore fans left satisfied.

The grand finale of the night and festival as a whole was none other than Mr. Tom Petty. This was my third time seeing him but the last time was about seven years before this. What can I say? He and the Heartbreakers crushed it in a way that you can only crush it from doing it as long as they have been doing it. They sounded fucking fantastic. If they sound great through laptop speakers on a YouTube video that was taken with a shitty phone camera then you can imagine how good they sounded in person. I did not get to hear my favorite tunes “Breakdown” and “You Got Lucky” but they played for a solid two hours and “Refugee” was about as good as it gets.

Once the bus dropped us off we made our Lyft driver take us through the Arby’s drive through. Three days might have been a bit much but all in all Kaboo was a success despite spending over $100 each per day on alcohol. Until next year…

 

Kaaboo 9/16/17

2017_Comedy Lineup

Kaaboo Day Two

To avoid sleeping in the car, booking an overly expensive hotel room or paying for a surge-pricing Uber we opted for a charter bus option that Kaaboo organizers set up for this year. The pickup/dropoff location was just down the road from our place, there were multiple time options and as a bonus we could drink on the way.

We awoke to a surprise text from our friend Dave who recently moved back to San Diego and informed us that not only was he going to go to Kaaboo with us today, but he was actually outside our place. Time to put some pants on. Our missing friends from the previous day Jane and Calvin planned on having people over at their pool for a little pre-party since they live just a short walk away from the Del Mar Fairgrounds. After we were unable to convince our bus driver that did not speak a lick of English to drop us off at their place we made the hike only to find Jane getting over a sickness and Calvin looking a little pale. They powered through and soon Larry, Christi, Bob and Bob’s brother-in-law showed up. By this time our friend Dave had downed a fifth of vodka and had stripped down to his underwear to get into the pool. He met his match in the form of Bob’s brother-in-law (who I had never met before) who was on the exact same level. On the walk over to the fairgrounds Bob’s brother-in-law decided to urinate on a sign at the busiest intersection of the entire area, which also happened to be approximately four feet from a woman who was throwing up. This was at about three in the afternoon so we were off to a great start.

Garbage was the first band of the day that I cared to see. It was at this stage we met up with Kyle and Sierra to enjoy a performance that was as fiery as Shirley Manson’s short red hair. It had been quite some time since I had seen them but they quickly reminded me of why I like them.

Jane’s Addiction was next up and they appeased my desire to hear “Mountain Song” and “Stop!” Always an enjoyable band to watch. Perry Farrell is a nut and each individual musician is borderline virtuoso.

The artist that I really wanted to see outside of my usual wheelhouse was Ice Cube. I love his fuck-you attitude and the guy is a legend. “It Was A Good Day” was the first rap song I can actually remember liking. “Fuck Da Police” and “Check Yo Self” were awesome. Ice Cube lived up my lofty expectations but unfortunately my good day ended without seeing him perform “It Was A Good Day” because I did not want to miss a note of Muse, who was set to start the moment Ice Cube’s time was over and it was a good 10 minute walk to get to the opposing stage.

Muse was incredible. The opening sequence of the new song “Dig Down” from the yet unreleased new album followed by “Pyscho” and “Hysteria” had me beside myself. The production of this show was not nearly what it was the first time I saw them but to be fair this was a festival setting versus their own show. Regardless they knocked my drunk socks clean off. I especially liked when they laced in Rage Against the Machine’s “Freedom” right before they played the ending of “Reapers” because I always thought the two songs shared a common thread. It was almost as if to say, “yeah we know it sounds like that song, but we’re trying to pay homage, not totally rip it off.” This also makes complete sense because Matt Bellamy shreds on guitar right up there with the likes of Tom Morello.

Thankfully the return bus we needed to board was directly behind the stage where Muse played. Once we got home our neighbor across the hall that we had only met once came out of nowhere at 1 am with a six pack of beer wanting to party. It was weird but I let her in and left her with our extremely dunzo friend Dave while I went to the bedroom to get an equally dunzo Ingrid. The neighbor quickly realized what kind of shitshow she walked in on and promptly excused herself. Good times.

Kaaboo 9/15/17

2017_Comedy Lineup

Kaaboo Day One

This was the third installment of the annual Kaaboo Festival and instead of only going one day like we did last year for our first Kaaboo experience, Ingrid and I got a ticket for all three days. Ingrid was not very excited about Friday’s lineup but the geniuses running the show gave three day ticket holders one bracelet (once again in an unnecessary box that surely jacked up the price) good for all three days which effectively made it impossible to sell any of your days as a one day pass.

Arseniooooooooooo Halllllllllllll! was pretty funny and a good way to start off a three day jaunt into debauchery. Much to my chagrin we left halfway through his set to go check out DJ Diesel a.k.a. Shaq. He seems like a cool guy but does not have “mad DJ skills.” He just kept pushing buttons and saying something to the effect of “hit the free throw son.”

After Shaq we were able to meet up with our friends Larry, Christi, Bob, his buddy Tim, Kyle, Sierra, Meredith and our long lost friend Mike who had just moved back from Arizona to catch Weezer, which was the first band I was looking forward to. They have become a sort of institution at Del Mar every summer but they seemed a bit off. They were awesome as always but Rivers seemed like he was a little depressed which translated to “phoning it in.”

The main draw today was Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is one of the only bands that have eluded me throughout the years. A rare occasion I got to cross a band that I wanted to see but had never seen off the list. After losing my wife to a competing stage I found they were nothing short of fantastic. True professionals in every sense. The “new” guitar player Josh Klinghoffer meshed with Flea swimmingly. Although I was not lucky enough to hear “Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik,” I did get to witness an on point rendition of “Suck My Kiss.”

I forgot my “cookies” at work but met a nice lad that let me take a few pulls from his joint so there was no shortage of “enhancement” after drinking all day. Then in a strange turn of events he offered me some LSD. My initial reaction was no funking way, then I thought maybe I would get it from him to hold for a future date, then I decided to take it on the spot and then I realized after awhile it was bunk. No dice. He claimed he was on it but it did not do shit to me and I know what acid is supposed to feel like. In hindsight this was probably a good thing.

I never did see our friends Jane and Calvin although Ingrid ran into them. Without a real getaway plan we just slept it off in the car for a few hours and drove home.

Link

Kaaboo 9/17/16

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Kaaboo is billed as an arts and entertainment “mix-perience” that combines art, bands and comedians rather than just a music festival. It is a three day festival held at the Del Mar racetrack/fairgrounds and this was its second year. I think organizers set out to have the event be an upscale Coachella with gourmet food options and craft beer. Single day passes were $119 and for that you get a fancy wristband that is sent to you in an even fancier custom box. Saturday was the only day I was interested in going because Lenny Kravitz was playing and he was one of the few musicians I wanted to see that I had not yet seen. As a bonus Aerosmith was also playing and I had not seen them for 15 years.

Ingrid and I, Ingrid’s two friends Emma and Jenna, Larry and his two Swedish friends all met at Calvin and his wife Jane’s place for a little pre-party since they are about a 10-15 minute walk from the fairgrounds. We then met up with Kyle and his friend who I had never met (cannot remember her name) at the venue. The first band Ingrid wanted to see was the Gin Blossoms so we left just in time to catch the last half of their set. Not really my cup of tea but I was amazed at how good the singer’s voice still sounded. After this I wanted to see what The Struts were all about just because the lead singer looks a little like Freddy Mercury but they were playing at the stage farthest from where we already were and majority won so I ended up staying at the stage we were at to see Flo Rida. This was REALLY not my cup of tea but it was entertaining and I somehow actually recognized almost all the songs he played. I remember thinking this was kind of like a hip-hop version of Slipknot in the sense that he had so many damn people on stage at the same time. After this we made our way over to see the end of Third Eye Blind (meh). The next band up I had half an interest in was Collective Soul because I like their songs “Gel” and “The World I Know.” Watching them was short lived since Lenny Kravitz was set to take another stage before Collective Soul was to leave this stage so I did not get to see them perform either song.

After much ado out came Lenny. At this point I may or may not have had a few drags off an e-cigarette filled with something other than tobacco concentrate…but I swear Lenny Kravitz only played about six songs during his hour and a half set. Alright I’m exaggerating but there were several times/songs where there was a lot of extended jamming going on. I guess I am just more a fan of the super tight set during the limited time on stage with festivals so more songs can be fit in, especially when you have a catalog as large as Lenny’s. Highlights for me were “Believe” and “Are You Gonna Go My Way.” Slowly but surely every person I was with left me until I was finally by myself watching Lenny. Ingrid and Emma were the last to leave to catch a little of the Goo Goo Dolls (meh). There was about 45 minutes after Lenny finished before Aerosmith would be performing on the same stage. I went to get a beer and then got a message that Ingrid wanted to meet back up with me to see a little of Aerosmith before going to see The Chainsmokers, who were playing on another stage at the exact same time as Aerosmith. I have to give it up for those old fuckers. They rocked! Their choice of songs spanned their 4+ decade career so there was a little something for everyone from the casual to more hardcore fan. They sounded great but should fire their sound guy. He kept turning down Steven Tyler’s vocals and Joe Perry’s guitar at different points where they should have been soaring. Some of my favorite moments were when they played “Love in an Elevator,” “Rag Doll,” Walk This Way,” and “Sweet Emotion” although it was pretty badass when they rolled a grand piano out on the stage for a performance of “Dream On” that brought down the house.

Aerosmith finished up promptly at 9:55 pm. There is a 10 pm noise curfew in effect due to the whiny ass snobs that live nearby… even though it was a Saturday night…even though the closest residences are not that close at all. Due to said noise curfew every performance after 10 pm was moved into one of the indoor buildings on the property. Just one problem: these two venues housing performances of Ludacris and Sarah Silverman respectively could only handle a small percentage of concertgoers in attendance, leaving a large number of attendees (myself included) unable to watch any of the remaining performances. This combined with extremely poor organization caused quite a chaotic scene outside of the venue where Ludacris was to perform. People were packed like sardines trying to force their way in and eventually about nine police vehicles had to storm in to break up the madness. Everyone I had come with was able to get in but me and they were my ride so I decided to just start drinking heavily…on $12 beer night! Not long after I grabbed a beer I ran into another friend I had yet to see that day and we decided to walk down the street to the Hilton that has a lobby bar to get a little better deal. After about an hour of drinking there I got a text that I could walk right into where everyone else was, where Steve Aoki was now doing a set. So I walked back and after some minor resistance from the guys manning the entrance I got in, found everyone and saw the end of Steve Aoki’s set.

San Diego Union Tribune Article

OC Weekly Article