Letters from the Reservation: Biggest Tailgate Party in Red Rocks History

Posted: 12:00 AM, Tue, Sep 09 2008

Holy shit, what a weekend. I am finally back home and I feel like i've been out to sea. 16 buses over the course of 2 nights, and all the aftermath that comes with. Fisk, Cody and Narns spinning on top of the warriors bus on Friday, Ryan Nelli on Saturday. 3-400 kids each night. The biggest single tailgate party Red Rocks has ever seen. Or at least, I'd be surprised if it wasn't. Throngs of us--geared up from here up, looking so good, uhnnnnhh!!! Everybody came to get down. A tribal pre-war party. Dance moves, hula hoops, beer cans, cups, glow sticks, trash, cartridges as far as the eye could see, chaos, mayhem, love, beauty, beautiful, ridiculous. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Ridiculous, and thank you. Thanks to everyone who rode our buses, or came down and partied with us in the lower south lot. We worked our asses off to throw a good party, and you guys showed up in droves. We were in disbelief. On Saturday after most everyone had gone in, Nelli was still putting up tracks on top of the bus and me and Charlie, at the same time on the same beat, just started throwing it down in the lot. cuttin the mud so fucking hard. The ultimate celebration. Dancing out all that joy, all that anxiety and planning and work not just for this specific night, but built up from all the nights and all the shows leading up to it and all the successes and failures and all the people and feelings and questions and me living on the bus last summer and Charlie living on it this summer, all the late night philosophical discussions about what we are and what we are doing, and what it means, and how it relates to the universe and how it relates to our own lives and our artists' lives, and the lives of the kids who ride our buses and the lives of their parents whose kids won't be driving fucked up, and the lives of the people in the bands we go to see and the lives of the other people in the industry and how all of our lives interact with--all of that culminating in one epic (yeah, epic) dance dance revolution with red dust flying up all around.

We did well this weekend, you guys. i am still trying to figure out exactly how well, but definitely well. We have already worked out sponsorship for our 4th artist, Ken Arkind, a poet out of Denver who, if you don't know his work, you should really get to know it. You can catch him at Pretty Boys' School of Public Speaking pretty much any time he's not touring the country. It's held every Tuesday at 7 PM at Common Grounds Coffee house on 17th and Wazee in Denver. And he's not the only talented person there either. There're lots. It's good. Check it.

Additionally, we are looking forward to putting some more work into the Worland Warriors bus, as well as the Epic so that they run perfectly all the time, and are more comfortable and accommodating to your headiest needs. Hopefully things will continue to go increasingly smoothly, and as a result, we will have to do decreasing amounts of crazy shit to get everyone where they need to be. Speaking of which, thanks for being chill about absorbing the Warriors bus crew--turns out the reason it didn't start on the way out is that the outgoing blower shaft, which turns the fuel pump, wore out on us and the bus was unable to deliver fuel to the engine. Don't worry, it's not bad enough to keep the Warrior off the road for more than a couple of days. We'll allegedly have it back in time for the last ever GSP Studio party on Thursday, and of course Crystallization on Friday and Saturday, then Justice/Monolith on Sunday.

Also, thanks for shuffling to accommodate the insane influx of people that joined our party after the show for free rides to the after parties or home. This is something that we've seen on a smaller scale before, and it's why we decided to start doing wrist bands, but, apparently we aren't that good at using them yet. It's weird though, I'm conflicted. I wonder what you guys think about this. On one hand, I don't want people who donated early to have to compromise their space and comfort, but on the other hand, I don't want anyone to have to try to drive all whacked out on goofballs and booze. It would also be nice if the people who jumped on without reserving would pitch or chip or tip, instead of just imposing without contributing to the cause. And there's another problem, too, and it's not necessarily the people who jump on for free, it could be anybody. Stealing. Guys. Come on. We're better than this. Worrying about getting shit stolen does not need to be a part of anyone's experience. This isn't third world anywhere, where you need to steal in order to survive. If you steal from our people you are a piece of shit, and you are reflecting badly on everything that the music we love stands for. We lost 2 cameras and a backpack off of one bus on Saturday, and if anyone reading this knows anything about it, please let me know. You can send me an email at dustin@thebasicsfund.org. Or if you have anything that doesn't belong to you, you can mail it anonymously to The Basics Fund, 830 Morgan Drive, Boulder, CO 80303. It's not too late to unsteal this shit. I will say though, that there has been remarkably little stolen off of our buses ever. Before STS9, we had only heard of one i-pod and one wallet being taken. So over all, we're a pretty impressively honest group. Even still, please keep track of your stuff and don't leave anything unattended that you are not okay with losing. We can't keep track of everything for everyone, even though we try.

In other news, if you haven't noticed, we've got some new drivers these days. In addition to me and Charlie and Erik; Skyler, Jeff, and Ben, have all gone through the process of getting their CDLs. Jeff came through in true Basics Fund style, by taking and passing the Driving Test on Friday, then going to the DMV to get the license issued, and making it back to the buses just in time to pick up his first crew ever. Epic? Yeah, pretty fucking epic. Anyway, our crew is looking so good right now. These are some of the smartest and most resourceful people I've come across, and everyone who rides should know that they are definitely in capable hands. Plus they're sexy as hell, and sexiness is its own reward. The best thing about these guys, though, is they've all come up through the bus. They know what it's like to ride, and they know what it takes to throw a good bus party, and they are going to go to great lengths to make sure that everyone has an amazing time. They have the stamina to drive on and on and all night long, into the wee-est hours of the dopest Euphonic Conceptions Re:Creation. They are doing it for the love, so please love them back and tip them with all your hearts….but not with booze, they have to drive, remember? Word.

So I guess that's where we're at right now. My sincerest of thanks to all you crazy freaks and your crazy freak friends. I love you all for real from the bottom right-hand corner of my own crazy freak heart. You're beautiful. I'll see you on the bus.

Love with every chamber,

Dustin (aka Mr. Frizzle)

Upcoming Events:

Please visit www.thebasicsfund.org/events for details. Call Charlie to reserve. 303.931.1904

Thurs 9/11/08 – Fi-Dolla-Shuttle from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to:

NEVER FORGET -- A RE:CAP feat JBOOGIE/GSP vs FREESTYLEMOVEMNT/IVY/JANTSEN/JAYCE/THE MECHANIK
Presented by: GREEN SPIRIT/4747 PEARL ST PRESENTS
Concert tickets at www.inticketing.com

Venue: Green Spirit Studios
City/State: Boulder, CO
Event Description:

Fri 9/12/08 – Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Crystallization at Quixotes/Cervantes (Denver) With FISK & CODY spinning on the way down.

Sat 9/13/08 - Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Crystallization at Quixotes/Cervantes (Denver) With FISK & CODY spinning on the way down.

Sun 9/14 – Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Monolith (Justice) at Red Rocks

Thur 9/18/08 - Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to John Digweed at Beta (Denver)

Thur 9/18/08 – Bus Party from Denver to Burning Spear @ Fox Theatre (Boulder)

Fri 9/19/08 – Bus Party from Denver to Railroad Earth @ Fox Theatre (Boulder)

Sat 9/20/08 – Bus Party from Denver to Railroad Earth @ Fox Theatre (Boulder)

Sat 9/20/08 - Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Deadmau5 at Beta (Denver)

Sun 9/21/08 – Bus Party from Denver to Buckethead @ Fox Theatre (Boulder)

Thur 9/25/08 - Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Infected Mushroom at Beta (Denver)

Thur 9/25/08 – Bus Party from Denver to Galactic @ Fox Theatre (Boulder)

Fri 9/26/08 – Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Papadosio, Ryan Nelli of GSP, and Fisk @ Quixotes (Denver)

Sat 9/27/08 – Bus Party from Denver to Tatanka Music Festival w/ The Disco Biscuits (Boulder Res.)

Sat 9/27/08 – Fi-Dolla-Shuttle from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Tatanka Music Festival w/ The Disco Biscuits (Boulder Res.)

Sat 9/27/08 – Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Sigur Ros @ Red Rocks

Sat 9/27/08 – Bus Party from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant, Boulder) to Dr. Dog at Hi-Dive (Denver)

Sun 9/28/08 – Bus Party from Denver to Tatanka Music Festival w/ The Disco Biscuits (Boulder Res.)

Sun 9/28/08 – Fi-Dolla-Shuttle from The Goose (Broadway and Pleasant) to Tatanka Music Festival w/ The Disco Biscuits (Boulder Res.)