The Burning Man Experience - Part II, Page 2 The Burning Man Experience - Part II, Page 2 Things settled down, the sun began to set, and we turned our thoughts to the impending chaos of the evening's planned pyrotechnics: the burning down of the nearby Toyland, the unknown mechanical fire of the Seemen (consisting of some members of the industrial destructive Survival Research Lab team), and the incineration of a suspended rebar and sheet metal earth sphere known as "The World of Fire." Before any of these man-made performances could start, bright flashes began illuminating the entire sky. Yes, it seemed that the dust storm was only a precursor to mother nature's own light show, which was impressive indeed. What started as plate lightning filling up the entire sky soon became intermixed with astounding bolts. We nervously removed any metal from our pockets, "just in case." It was still fairly far away, so we mostly just sort of eyed it cautiously from time to time.
Thanks to the choice placement of our camp, all three events were layed out in a 45 degree arc around us, placing us in the enviable position of watching from our chairs. One of the shark cars had come up and parked by the art globe and as they worked in darkness, presumably packing this metal sphere, perhaps 4 feet in diameter, with as many fireworks as possible. the globe was then strung back up into it's holding place 8 feet off the ground suspended within a triangular metal structure.
![[World-1-PS]](../images/World-1-PS.jpg)
![[Burning Man: World On Fire Quicktime]](../images/tv-World_On_Fire.gif)
When we had first heard they were going to "burn" this hunk of metal, visions of a molten volcanic substance burning the metal white hot danced in our mind. That image turned out to be a bit off-base. The burning was more akin to a neo-pagan 4th of july ceremony. The crowd that had been slowly gathering formed a loose circle around the structure. The globe was lit amidst the sounds of not-quite-so-rhythmic drumming. The burgeoning fireworks which at first snapped, popped, & sizzled progressed to a five to ten foot shower of sparks, sending the globe into a glorious fireworks-induced spin. Unfortunately, the confused drumming and the unsurprising nature of the fireworks used ended up more comical than awe-inspiring. It was no less entertaining, however, as people danced about, hitting the dying globe with a variety of sticks.
As the globe's fireworks petered out, we redirected (turned our chairs 30 degrees to the left) our attention to the Toyland camp. One of the interesting facts about the Toyland setup was that in the dust storm earlier, it had been blown down and spread across the playa. In an impressive display, the Toyland staff (which disappointingly did *not* consist of clowns and dwarves) had entirely rebuilt it back up. From our vantage point, we had seen the rise and fall the large "T-O-Y-L-A-N-D" letters, which were again sprouting into the sky. The crowd of people grew in size, the distant lightning moved closer, the accompanying thunder crashed louder, and the crowd swelled, sensing that Toyland was going to burn, and burn soon. A roar of screams lifted into the air and as the night sky became illuminated with the unmistakable yellow flicker of flames, there was no doubt that it had begun.
![[Burning Man Hail Cloud Quicktime]](../images/tv-toyland.gif)
The dwellers of the Mer-camp, comfortably relaxed in lawn chairs and spread out atop the RV, looked on at the crowd and weighed the comfort against the thick crowd. There was no way any of us were going to fight our way through, especially with rain and lightning threatening. As such, our experience of Toyland's burning was a mixture of what we could make out through the bodies and what was excitedly relayed back from the danger zone. The mass destruction, involving a centerpiece featuring chain reactions of burning teddy bears and baby carriages, was like a demented art interpretation of Prometheus bringing fire to the humans and having it all go awry.
Perhaps that's a bit to deep for Toyland, which more likely was simply focused on the good clean fun of pyromania. But whatever the plan for Toyland's destruction, it was cut short as the rain finally arrived, pouring down atop a scattering crowd and shooting fireworks.
The rain kept up steadily for a while and the Seemen, who already had their scaffolding knocked over in the dust storm, opted for postponing their performance until the next day. As the skies suddenly cleared twenty minutes later, the general mood in camp was that it would have been *perfect* for the Seemen to go on as planned. No other major performances were scheduled for that night and the next night was the "big event" (the burning of the man). Alas, it was not to be, and so we did what any other group of musicians and a film crew in the middle of the nevada desert would do-- we plugged in the movie projector and presented some fine quality flicks on a huge screen hung on the RV. Our evening's selection featured a wonderful short from the 60s entitled something like "The Policeman Is Your Friend," and featured catchy informative still captions: "Policeman's Cap," "Car," and "Stop!" I know, I know -- you are thinking to yourself, "What could possibly be able to follow up such a film as that??" These film guys are pretty clever you see, and they make the rounds at garage sales and pick up these oddities and sometimes even come across something a little more accessible. In our case, we powered straight into a well-received old episode of The Twilight Zone. Next up was an episode of Rawhide, during which everyone left or passed out. As for me, I did both. After napping through potentially the dullest show of its era, I got up and embarked on a midnight trek through the darkness with Robin and Dave, destination: WBL Camp.
Walking through the middle of the desert at midnight is an experience I can't recommend highly enough. Here in Santa Cruz, CA when you look up at the sky at night, there is generally a bit of cloud coverage which reflects all of the business, street, and house lights, making it difficult to really enjoy the stars. The Lake Tahoe area, or perhaps the local Santa Cruz mountains, is a nice place to get a better view, but nothing compares to the pure brilliance of the stars in the desert. The dichotomy of walking through a small town as well as being able to see the stars so clearly was a truly memorable, surreal experience. You won't see any images of this here, as the sheer beauty and chill that you feel can not be distilled and captured.
![[WBL-Inside-JD]](../images/WBL-Inside-JD.jpg)
We walked through the other side of town, which I hadn't explored thoroughly before. It was a nice change from the chaotic fireworks elsewhere throughout the site. Upon arriving at the WBL tent, I was happy to discover that the new Team WBL musical lineup was just about to begin a set. We settled down under the remaining balloons (one had been damaged in the dust storm in the afternoon), I pulled my duster around me and laid back to have a cigarette and enjoy the electronic music mastery of WBL. After a short bit, Robin and Dave departed for a visit out to the rave camp and I remained until they closed up as it began to sprinkle and equipment had to quickly be packed away. I walked back, luckily not along the same path as the clouds, and quickly set up for bed and promptly passed out proper.
![[Playa-JD]](../images/Playa-JD.jpg)
Sunday, ah yes... the sabbath in the desert. Brings a tear to one's eye, not to mention visions of Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi (members of Black Sabbath, for those of you who don't get it). Once again, the sun got everyone up bright and early and the big plan for the afternoon was a trip out into the wide expanse of the desert with the van and Jim's guitar equipment for a performance of some of his "weird feedback ambient shit." Those unfamiliar with the Mermen's live sound won't quite feel the anticipation of Jim blasting feedback and loops into the hot desert air. We prepared ourselves, the film crew packed up, excitedly mumbling about "great footage", and we piled into the Mer-Van, turned away from camp, and drove into the empty playa.
![[Mermen Generator Cable Quicktime]](../images/tv-cables.gif)
After a couple thousand yards, we decided this space of nothingness was just as good as any other space of nothingness and stopped and surveyed the situation. After a bit of discussion, the plan was modified to include a DAT audio recording in addition to the film footage, and Martyn joined in some minimal percussion and gongs. As the unloading and setup commenced, we all soaked up the phenomenal absurdity of our situation. The generator puttered along at the end of multiple extension cords 200 feet away. Martyn suggested we trek back and get Allen out in order to play a full performance before Jim's fun. Not wanting to pass up an unrepeatable event like this, a messenger was sent and a short time later, the full band was set up. In defiance, some dark clouds zipped in and loomed on the horizon. I hopped on a bicycle and rode out to check them for rain. Two songs later, the plate lightning started up again and, feeling the first few drops of rain, rushed back. As the rain drew closer and began to fall, we succeeded in setting a new world's record in the "quickest tear-down time for a band" category.
Amid equipment which had somehow fit properly on the way out yet now was on our laps, we drove back to base camp. Someone opened the heavenly rain faucet and it really started to pour. Thunder shook the earth and bolts of lightning struck down in the distance. Other Mark sped the Mer-van through the playa, kicking up the forming mud, anxious to get us back to hide safely from the lightning. We didn't know a lot about the natural properties of lightning, but we finding out the hard way was not an attractive thought. Other Mark sped us along. The rain increased in intensity. Just minutes later, we were back. In a fit of stress reduction, cleanliness, and desert fever, people across the playa were pulling off their clothes and risking a being fried alive to take advantage of a free shower. Something snapped: perhaps it was too much exposure to the concept of mud wrestling as children, or perhaps they were having an Altered States-like bond with our caveman past, but suddenly there was a throng of naked bodies in mud. The rain fell. A natural Slip 'n' Slide emerged. The rain fell harder. People ran and fell in the mud. The hail started. I stopped caring about the people in the mud and retreated deeper into the RV.
![[Burning Man Rainbow Quicktime]](../images/tv-rainbow.gif)
The hail lasted a short time and within 10 minutes the sun was back out and the two-inch mud base of the playa was already beginning to bake back into it's previous crusty consistency by nightfall. In a period of one hour we had gone from experiencing the music of the Mermen drifting through the desert air to watching lightning and hearing thunder to a hail storm to strange mudbaths and then back to the usual desert heat. If that's not a unique experience for you, you probably just got your Internet access in the past six months and used to live a Grizzly Adams life in the wild.
TO BE CONCLUDED IN ISSUE 1.11, wrapped into one piece.
Related URLs:
