The weekend started for Jamie, Natsuko & I early Friday morning. I think Jamie awoke to his cat licking his face before 6am...and he was up early...and we were on our way to Tango. We kind of knew the amount of work that was ahead of us...and we knew that it was going to take 2 days of full-on work to get everything set up in time for Saturday evening. Anyway, we cruised our way North...and stopped to get tons of food and beer.
When we finally reached Tango Hanto, it was about 12:30...and we immediately got to work. Our idea was to set up Jamie's stage creation in a different location than last time because the typhoon kicked up tons of sticks and garbage on the other site. First, we put together the DJ table and the VJ table. Then, Natsuko immediately got to work on making signs for the party, I started carrying old bamboo poles, about 4 meters in length, across the beach to the other site, while Jamie jumped on his laptop and started to use MAYA to draw up the design.
Jame is a genius, and through this idea came together in about an HOUR while sitting in the car (and ridiculously exhausted no less). We finally decided how much bamboo we needed, and went up to the old temple to get all the final pieces that we needed. After enduring countless mosquito bites from where the bamboo was, we brought it all down to the party site, and decided to celebrate our hard work with our FIRST meal of the day and a some chu-hais...while watching the "Dragon Sunset" (as Natsuko liked to call it).
Around this time, Matt showed up and started to set up the food stalls. Jamie and I realized that we still had a lot of work to do, and that we needed to set up lights and try to get the stage frame built by the end of the night or else we simply would not be finished in time for the party. So...thats what we did. We were really on our last bit of energy...but...with the alcohol flowing...we got to work and started to construct the frame. After setting it up (and then putting it back down to get the flags on), it was finally looking like a stage. At the end of the night (around 11pm), it looked something like this.
That was about it for the first day. We enjoyed some relaxation with some friends, and quickly passed out...until the morning.
The sun came up, and we were back at it around 8 or 9 in the morning. We still had tons of work to do...and really wanted to have the party place looking like a party by the time people started showing up. So, we started to get the final bamboo poles set up on the stage, and started to place the white cloth on the back for the projection. We also got all the sound set up, and tested. It was so nice to have tunes to listen to while working, and we listened to tons of OASIS DJ sets throughout the day. That really made it easier to work!
Everything was ready to go, and DJ Kamon started to spin some really old-school reggae tracks while we finished up. The sun was starting to set, another yet amazing sunset blessed us all.
One thing I forgot to mention was that one of our KEY team members was not there. The last "Summer Love" party we did...Jamie, Natsuko, myself, & RICK were dubbed "Team Hurry the Fuck Up". Well, Rick wasnt able to make it until later...so we decided, for him to hold his place in "Team Hurry the Fuck Up"...he would have to redeem himself. I think it was Natsuko and Jamie's idea...but we had decided to BURY Rick in the sand. But, to add insult to injury, we were going to make him dig his own hole, and tell him that it was for part of the stage.
Whats even funnier, is I clearly remember Rick saying at this point "Do you guys really need this hole". We were laughing harder than ever. Anyway, he dug a HUGE hole, big enough for him to sit in...and we buried him....all the while laughing our asses off! He became the Mer-man!
We also got this beautiful sunset shot.
So, the sun was going down...and Dan Kane, Darren, Tender, Dan Hart, & all their friends played an AMAZING acoustic set while the sun went down.
The sun went down on the acoustic set, and it was time for the DJs to start the night. I was the first DJ...and it was the first time the visuals were able to be seem in full force. The set up looked AMAZING!
The party was pumping...and people were dancing. FroBot (myself), Joey, and Nori all were lucky enough to lay down sets before the "RAIN MONSTER" came. It was crazy!!! It went a little sumthin like this.
Around 9:30pm, someone comes running into the party yelling "WERE ABOUT TO GET NAILED BY A RAIN STORM!!!!". The tone of voice is what got me....it was DEAD SERIOUS. I looked at Jamie and we both knew exactly what had to be done. Luckily, I had set up a tent for equipment, and immediately started getting out tarps and whatnot. Literally 1 minute after this, the sky lit up...and rain came down like jungle rain. There was no indication of this storm...and if it wasnt for someone using an iphone and looking at the local radar...we would have been up shit creek. We got the gear out of the rain JUST in time...and...of course...have no pictures to show for this. The last thing on our minds was "taking pictures". The rain didnt last long, but the radar showed a bunch more rain coming throughout the night....so we were hesitant to put up the expensive sound system again. After a little bit of drizzle...and some brainstorming between Jamie and I....we set up the tarps over the stage, put the speakers within them...and set up the ipod for about a half hour. This at least kept the music going, and people were ready for a party again.
However, Jamie and I made a BONEHEAD move. Remember, that if you STAPLE a tarp to bamboo poles, it NO LONGER works as a tarp is intended to! HAHAHA. Needless to say, water was kind of dripping into the stage...and we were worried about gear. Never-the-less, DOM PANG said he would risk his own gear....so we left the mixer only...and he set up. He started to pound an AWESOME techno set...and people were again, dancing and partying it up!
The party was supposed to end around 2am...but...well...it didnt. It went all night. Dom rocked out for a while, Asogi too, Alex aka Freebass, then Karla jumped behind to the wheel for the sunrise set (she had eagerly wanted!!!).
I fell asleep for like an hour around this point...and Tim spun for a while, then Karla again...and they made sure that this party wasnt gonna stop!!!
The weather was looking promising, so we set the gear back up...and the DJs who use CDJ's were able to get on. Hiran played a nice chill morning set...and kept it moving through morning.
At some point...Hiran looked me straight in the eyes and said "Tsukarata!" (im tired). I couldnt agree with him more. I was running on 1 hour of sleep, and most other people were at about the same point. I needed to find a DJ or SOMEONE to go on to make sure that this party didnt stop....and then, one of the locals showed up with his FLUTE and did a small performance for us. It was FUNNY to say the least.
When he finished up, I was unable to find any DJs that were still awake who hadent played already...so I jumped back on for a long 2 hour set. It was at this point people started to take pictures again...(sorry to the DJs who there are no pictures for...it seems everyone dropped out of picture mode from like 12pm-9am).
I was dead tired...so Masamune jumped behind the decks for the final set of the party. People were still dancing away until about noon.
When Masamune finished... Jamie, Natsuko, and I were feeling pooped...but knew there was still a ton of work ahead. We decided to tear down everything while we still had help from everyone else. We started to tear down...and it happened in a fraction of the time it took to put up.
We packed it all up...enjoyed some swimming for a bit...and then got on the road. I passed out within a few seconds of leaving...only to awake to some ice cream (yea, team hurry the fuck up LOVES ice cream).
With everything finished, Summer Love II was a major success. The energy was great, the people were so friendly, and Love & Peace was in the air. This party would not have been possible without everyones help. Matt, Jamie, Natsuko, Joey, & all the artists, performers, & food stall friends....thank you so much for all your hard work. I hope we can continue to do parties like this in the future....where LOVE & PEACE are the only things that matter!
