We are slowly making our way back to Default World reality of the San Francisco Bay Area, after 8 days on the Playa. Even after hitting Reno’s newest spa resort, 12 hours of sleep in a real bed and 2 hot shower I’m still feeling pretty shattered: bruised, blistered, burned out, tired and sore. Very much looking forward to some pool time and a massage this afternoon at the Atlantis, followed by some “hair of the dog that bit ya” tonight with the Reno after-party Burner crew at the Grand Sierra.
Despite all the shenanigans of BMOrg during the year, and the frankly ridiculous amount of paperwork, bureaucracy, and surveys we all had to deal with, this turned out to be one of the best Burns ever. There were 15,000 early access passes granted, which meant that once the gates opened, a lot of it was ready to go. The first night was Sunday – in the past, with gates opening at midnight, it has been Monday – but there were so many art cars and theme camps already up and running, that it felt like a Thursday.
Opulent Temple and Root Society were great. Osiris has some good music but I was disappointed not to see their DJ booth lighting up. Robot Heart was a good place to see the sunrise, their music was consistently excellent and a few people commented to me on how powerful their bass felt travelling up their legs from the desert floor.
Overall though, Burners.Me would like to hand the crown for Best Sound Camp At Burning Man to Distrikt, particularly for DJ Kramer’s set on Saturday afternoon.
There were so many beautiful people, you hardly knew where to look. I’d see one girl and think “wow, she’s a 10” – and I mean an LA 10, not a San Francisco 10. Perfect hair, perfect tan, perfect teeth, perfect body, ultra-fashionable outfit. Then I’d notice that her friends were all equally as gorgeous and fabulous. Looking in the other direction, I would see a girl so beautiful that the “10” label didn’t do her justice – we were calling these ones “Miss Universes”. And I must have seen half a dozen of them.
The best thing about this plethora of beautiful people was they all seemed happy, carefree, dancing, having fun – not posing on the dancefloor in Christian Louboutin heels and Prada handbag with a haughty “don’t speak to me unless you’re a Russian billionaire” attitude, as you see with many girls in London, New York, Paris and Los Angeles. Everybody was there to dance, and the music and vibe were so good, nobody wanted to leave.
The bar at Distrikt was packed, and of course, free. I grew up in the “Land Down Under”, where one of the skills you learn is how to navigate quickly to the front of the bar, when the queue is packed 3 deep or more. Those skills weren’t necessary – as I’m waiting in line, a lovely young lady dancing on the bar leans over and hands me a beer. You didn’t even have to make it all the way to the bar to get your free drinks, although that didn’t stop some of my friends hanging out there for 8 hours or more.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, someone looking official in a police hat and Distrikt t-shirt comes over to the art car. I thought he was going to ask us to move or something – instead he was just gifitng 6 cases of free beer to us.
Other camps had good music, good sound, beautiful people. If there were other major sound camps offering free drinks next to the dance floors, I didn’t notice. Distrikt had the best of EVERYTHING. It’s hard to get much better than that. The time I had partying at Distrikt last Saturday, was better than anything I’ve been to in Ibiza, Miami, St Tropez, Byron Bay, or anywhere else with scantily clad girls partying outside in the sunshine. Distrikt rocks – can’t wait for next year!
