Pacific Festival 2011 over the weekend

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Written by Melissa Garcia

Monday, 15 August 2011 23:23

On the remote plains of the Irvine Lake, Pacific Festival 2011 took place. This relatively small festival was chalk full of underground superstars like !!! (Chk Chk Chk) Afroman, Steve Aoki, Phantogram, Bag Raiders, Toro Y Moi, Cut Copy and the not so underground Snoop Dogg.

Without the cell phone reception to interfere patrons can pay their full attention to the well deserving artists.

There's nothing like a little bit of Afroman to not only lighten up the mood but to lighten up those joints. Wearing lime green from head to toe and rocking a double neck guitar is how he greeted the crowd.Unfortunately, the rest of his set up wasn't as spectacular. No Dj was behind him spinning his tracks just his personal iPod set up. Even with the simplicity of clicking the play button Afroman played the start of the wrong song... twice.

It's okay Afroman we forgive you and I'm sure your stoner squad of fans didn't notice or care. Especially when he opened with "Colt 45." If you weren't already drunk at 3:30 in the day time, Afroman had an anthem for you, "Let’s All Get Drunk Tonight."

Something all Southern Californian Sublime fans can appreciate was Afroman’s cover. "Smoked Two Joints," was his Sublime song of choice, and a smart one at that. The smell of Marijuana was in the noses of everyone within a 100 foot radius of the stage, all before he even ended with "Because I Got High," where he wailed on the guitar.

As entertaining as it was to watch Afroman dress in a lime green suit (with the gator boots to match) nothing could compare to the vivacious front man of !!! (Chk Chk Chk).

If he wasn't performing fake fellatio with the mic, he was jumping into the crowd in his short-shorts and fitted blue tee.

Singer Nic Offer has a no holds bar when performing, he's on the left side of the stage, no- he' on the right, wait! There he is playing the tambourine! He struts and thrusts, he fist pumps and makes dancing a must. !!! have been around for quite some time touring with big named bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and this relatively unknown band deserves some more coverage.

Make the time to come out and see these eccentric performers, it will be unforgettable.

The Pacific Festival crowd was unbelievably small for all the great acts performing, but they were a dedicated bunch staying at the festival close to 14 hours. I even got to witness minute long hand stands by a shirtless man. The lake is what makes this venue a tranquil one among all the insanity. Not to mention the ample shade provided by the wonderfully large trees.

But if the desert scene is more your style there was small Dj platform set up for you in the far reaches of the venue. The dirt hills didn't have a chance with Poolside spinning. The dirt created a huge cloud of dust that lifted about 6 feet into the air. The stomps and shuffling were contagious once your ear picked up the tribal drums and bass grooves your feet had no choice but to move.

Meanwhile, if the "Shaggadelic" bus (a huge fur covered bus with rooftop Dj spinning house music) wasn't enough, theses Redbull parachuting dare devils soared to the ground at dangerously hi-speeds just to land as gracefully as a gazelle.

While the sun went down Phantogram brought their best foot forward. Lead singer, Sarah Barthel mesmerizing even when rocking out on the keys. Their performance didn't gather a large crowd but once they got into the middle of their set, the crowd doubled. They mentioned a new Ep coming out soon, and introduced a new song from it called "Don't Move." They finished off their set with “When I'm Small."

Steve Aoki isn't your normal Dj who keeps to himself behind his equipment. He's the most active Dj I've ever seen live and his champagne spray down at the beginning of his set got the crowd riled up. He also sang ( more like screamed) over his music, after Pacific Festival, I don't see him as a Dj I see him as a full-blown rock star.

I had to drag myself out of the mayhem I called the Aoki crowd to witness the funk fest happening over at the Toro Y Moi performance.

As the night time crept in Toro Y Moi brought light to the dark. "Still Sound," and "New Beat," beat Steve Aoki out the urge to make me dance. There set was funky vibrant and dancey.

Snoop Dogg also showed up to please the rap lovers and weed smokers who missed their time to blaze it up for Afroman. I can’t wait for next year’s Pacific Festival.