I am a 23-year-old girl that loves classic rock. Actually, I am a 23-year-old girl who is so over
the top obsessed with classic rock that I relate more to 65-year-olds than most
people my own age. Some just don't
understand It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But
I Like It). Unfortunately, I missed
Woodstock by a couple of years so I've been in desperate need of a comparable
festival. When Desert Trip was announced,
not only did I have to be there, but I also had to get the Money for a standing pit pass.
This festival was also going to be my third attempt to get on stage and
signed by my favorite musician of all time, Paul McCartney.
If you didn't make it, I really do Wish You Were Here. I brought
along my little 35mm film camera to capture everything while I was Out On The Weekend so that all of you
could take part in the adventure. Here
is how I experienced the most Amazing
Journey of my life.
THURSDAY
The weekend fun started on Thursday when Paul McCartney
announced a surprise show at a little bar in Pioneertown called Pappy and
Harriet's. Even though my friend and I were numbers 165/166th in line and the
first 300 people were able to attend, we did not make it inside due to some
unfortunate circumstances involving line-cutting. (I [Couldn't]
Get No) Satisfaction from what
happened, but our hopes grew when we heard of a secret Rolling Stones
concert. We finished the night by
searching every single bar in Joshua Tree for the rumored show, but had no luck
and later decided to just Let It Be. Next time, we won't give into our
gullible natures so we Won't Get Fooled
Again.
However, Don't Think
Twice, It's All Right because we still had a blast and were then prepared
for the action-packed days ahead of us.
FRIDAY
When I woke up on Friday, I could not believe the day I had
been looking forward to for six months was finally Here Today. My friend and I
frolicked throughout the Desert Trip campgrounds meeting unique characters
every step of the way. I have been to
many festivals before (including Coachella), but have never experienced a crowd
so genuine with tremendous Heart[s] of
Gold. Every person we met was
extremely kind and clearly there because of their passion for rock n' roll, not
for the eccentric outfits and trendy pictures.
Once we were inside the festival, we spent some time in the
Photo Exhibition Room, which featured rare life-size pictures of the six Band[s] On The Run throughout their
past. The clarity of these photos dating
back to the early '60s made the exhibit incredible. However, I felt sad as I admired how much hotter
men were in the '60s and '70s!
Around 4:30 I headed into the pit to claim my spot. When I walked in I was in complete awe of how
close I was going to be to these rock legends.
I [Could] See For Miles and Miles behind me at the crowd of 85,000
people. I met a group of friendly rock
n' rollers who instead of making me feel alone and Helpless, let me grab a spot next to them on the rail facing the
middle catwalk.
At 7 PM, my life officially began as the first rock star
took the stage, Bob Dylan. This would be
my third time seeing Dylan, and the other times were quite a disappointment. In the past, Dylan would never sing any of
his original hit songs we all love, nor would he even look at the
audience. However, this performance changed
my whole perspective on the Old Man.
I've Got A Feeling
the Nobel Prize for Literature Bob Dylan had won a few days before the
performance might have perked him up because he was actually smiling at the
audience the entire night! My ears were
in shock as he opened his set with "Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35" and
continued playing hits all night including "Highway 61 Revisited",
"Tangled Up in Blue", and my personal favorite "Ballad of a Thin
Man." Although his voice has aged
and he still did not engage with the audience, I was pleased to see him happily
dance around with his microphone while wearing beautifully embroidered
pants. This was a very rare Dylan
sight.
After Dylan finished, my body went Comfortably Numb as I thought about how THE Mick Jagger was about
to be within a few feet of me. Suddenly,
the stage went dark, the audience screamed, and the opening riff of "Jumpin'
Jack Flash" began. There they
were...The Rolling Stones!! The energy
that poured out from the Stones was so contagious and impossible not to catch
as each person in the crowd went absolutely nuts.
The first time Jagger strutted down the center catwalk, I
began crying like a little 12 year old.
Even though I had seen The Rolling Stones once before, it was completely
different standing at a distance where I could see every detail of their
glorious wrinkles. It seemed like they
accepted me as one of their own and I really felt Like A Rolling Stone.
The only words I can think of to describe Mick Jagger is a
sassy alien monkey because it is impossible for him to be from the same planet
as the rest of us. As Jagger sprinted
back and forth across the monstrous stage while acrobatically swinging his
skinny body around, it was clear his spirit has not aged since the '60s. Jagger's
multiple flashy wardrobe changes proved he will never lose his rockstar soul. There was great chemistry between the
bandmates throughout the whole show as each one of them could not stop smiling
at each other. While Keith Richards
rocked his guitar as always, the face-melting guitar solos of Ronnie Wood were surprisingly
what blew me away.
The crowd Join[ed]
Together to sing all of the hits such as "Get Off My Cloud,"
"It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)", and "Paint It
Black," and everyone felt chills during the moving performance of
"Gimme Shelter." The Stones
encored with the touching "You Can't Always Get What You Want," which
transitioned perfectly into their biggest hit "(I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction" which kept the audience singing along all night long. Overall, The Rolling Stones' set was the most
fun and energetic of the weekend.
During The Stones encore, one of the security guards thanked
me for rocking out the hardest that night and then gave me a handshake. I felt Something
as he shook my hand, and as I pulled away I looked at what was in my
hand...MICK JAGGER'S GUTAR PICK! I
couldn't believe it...the same pick Jagger was just holding in his hand to play
"Sweet Virginia" with was now touching my own hand. Even though it had only been one day, Desert
Trip was already the best weekend of my entire life.
SATURDAY
This day was the most important to me. The way many people in My Generation have felt about Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber is how
I feel about Paul McCartney. Beatlemania
is still alive and can be found through my obsession. My goal is to be brought up on stage with
McCartney so that he can sign my foot, which I would later get tattooed. Since we learn in The Beatles song
"Glass Onion" that The Walrus
was Paul, I brought a full body walrus costume and a sign I would be
holding that read "Paul, I sold my Mini Cooper to be this close to you.
Please sign me," with a picture of McCartney in his mini cooper back in
the '60s. My friend would be holding a
sign that said, "This crazy walrus is telling the truth, Please sign
her," with a picture of me in my mini cooper. Yes, these posters are telling the truth, and
there just Comes A Time when you
need to be crazy to accomplish your dreams.
I knew I would to
have to be front row to really get Paul's attention so I was going to have to
stake out all day by the opening gate. At 8 AM I arrived Fearless at the gate, even though it would not open until 2
PM. I was so excited when I realized I
was the very first one there and that I would definitely be right in the front. Fortunately, I had Matthew, the gate's security
guard, keeping me company the entire six hours I was camped by the gate. I needed someone to Gimme Shelter since there was no shade, so Matt kindly stocked me
with water bottles as I was cooking in the 98-degree heat. The second person did not show up until 1 PM
and that's when it hit me...I really was the craziest Paul fan there. More people started showing up during the
last hour and by 1:50 there was a line of about 40 people. Each person treated me like royalty and made
sure everyone knew I had been there since 8 AM so they would let me take the
front.
As the gates opened precisely at 2 PM, I began to Run Like Hell faster than I have ever
run before (even though I was a cross country runner) to the stage, which
seemed miles away from the entrance.
Even though I had been sitting in the blistering sun for six hours, my
desire to be close to Paul gave me the perseverance I needed to Jet through the heat. By the time I got to the stage I fell to the
floor and almost passed out, but it was all worth it because I was FRONT
ROW! It took some Time and swigs of water for my senses to return and for me to grasp
that I was about to be as close as I could get to my favorite musician of all
time!
During the next four and a half hours of waiting I
befriended all the amazing Paul fans around me, which made the time go by fast. Desert Trip's security was incredible and constantly
brought us cold water bottles so that no one would faint from heat exhaustion In Spite of All The Danger.
Around 6:30, Neil Young took the stage. Although I primarily wanted the front for
Paul, I was stoked to have a killer view of Neil who is another one of my
favorite musicians. Young opened with a peaceful
performance of "After The Goldrush" on his piano. He then picked up his acoustic guitar and played
"Heart of Gold" with his hair blowing in the wind and the sun setting
perfectly behind him. The view was incredible. The most beautiful sight of the entire scene
was the glowing full autumn moon right above the stage, which fit in perfectly
as Young played "Harvest Moon" later in the night.
Neil Young and The Promise of the Real (which includes two
of Willie Nelson's sons) astounded the audience. The band jammed harder than many of the other
acts of the weekend, especially during the twenty-minute performance of
"Cowgirl in The Sand." Young made
his opposition to big corporations clear as he protested the California law
that prohibits organic seeds from being distributed to locations more than
three miles away. Young broke the law by
throwing seeds out to the audience and encouraging everyone to pass them
around. Not the most typical rockstar
law-breaking act, but is there anything really typical about A Day In The Life of Neil Young?
Young ended his set with an extra-long, jammy version of
"Keep on Rockin' In The Free World."
The way the audience chanted along to the chorus over and over again was
beautiful and I will have to admit I cried tears of joy at this point again. Neil, I really do Miss You.
When Young left the stage, I immediately put my walrus suit
on and my friend and I held up our posters during the entire hour Paul's stage
was being set up. I knew his important
managers and bodyguards who bring fans on stage with Paul were going to be
helping with the setup. I noticed many
of them staring at me and even caught one bodyguard take a picture of me and my
signs and send it to someone...Could it have been Paul?!
Anticipation was building as photos of Paul (ranging from
the Beatle days until now) spun around the giant screen while songs by The
Beatles and Wings played. Finally, around
9:30 the magical moment occurred and Paul entered the stage. Fans (including myself) went nuts, and right
away McCartney pointed to my sign and gave me a thumbs up. He opened with "Hard Day's Night" and
led into "Jet," which I was so overjoyed for since I had never seen
him perform that song live.
Paul's love for his fans is so apparent as he took so much
time to interact with the audience between songs. He told stories about Jimi Hendrix, his
bandmates in The Beatles, and even admitted to some embarrassing moments. At one point Rihanna joined McCartney on
stage to sing "FourFiveSeconds", the song they and Kanye West
collaborated together on. However, I was
much more excited when Neil Young came back to the stage to perform four songs
with McCartney. This included John
Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance" in which the entire audience sang
along while waving peace signs throughout the air and The Beatles' "Why
Don't We Do It In The Road" in which Young soloed so vigorously that he
broke all of his guitar strings.
Throughout the concert, Paul's head bodyguard was standing directly
in front of me. He was constantly
staring at my posters and me, and I even noticed him whispering to a security
guard while pointing and laughing at me.
You Better, You Bet I knew
something good was coming.
McCartney has hundreds of songs from his extensive career to
choose from, but I think his setlist was perfect. The mix of Beatles, Wings, solo, and cover
songs seemed to be exactly what the audience wanted to hear. There were cheerful moments with peppy songs
such as "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and "Love Me Do" and deeper
moments with songs such as "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Let It
Be." McCartney also gave heartfelt
tributes to the late George Harrison, John Lennon, Linda McCartney, and The
Beatles' producer George Martin. The
visuals were spectacular ranging from psychedelic colors to black and white
photos of the early Beatles days. During
"Live and Let Die" fire was blasted all over the stage and all of us
in the front felt like we were about to melt...in a good way.
I'm One of the
many that can say the most beautiful sight I have ever witnessed was when
McCartney played "Hey Jude."
The entire crowd of 85,000 gathered together and belted out
"Na-na-na-na-na-na-na" while waving their arms throughout the
air. It truly felt like every person was
putting behind all of his/her worries, as the song encourages, and focusing on
being with each other in the moment.
Realistically, I Can't Explain, but
it was fantastic.
After Hey Jude, Paul came back to encore with "Helter
Skelter" and "Birthday." I
held up my sign one last time and Paul looked at me and mouthed the words
"I'm sorry, it wasn't me" as if to say it wasn't his fault I didn't
get signed. Wow, he spoke to me! Before performing his last song, he thanked
his band, crew, the crowd, and then while chuckling looked at me and said to
the entire audience on the mic, "THANKS FOR SELLING YOUR MINI COOPER." I shrieked like a little girl. Paul knows who I am! Paul acknowledged my existence! Paul appreciates what I did! I couldn't Breathe; I was officially the happiest human in the world.
Soon After Midnight, McCartney
finished with the Abbey Road medley of "Golden Slumbers", "Carry
That Weight", and "The End."
As he bowed and waved to the audience he looked at me once again and
moved his arms around like a steering wheel.
One of his security guards then handed me a piece of paper and I looked
into my hands and there it was...Paul's setlist! I was starting quite a collection this
weekend. I may not have been signed just
yet (seems like this event was just too big), but I still could not have been
happier with how I spent that Saturday. You Can't Always Get What You Want, but
I tried really hard and got what I needed: an amazing performance by Sir Paul
McCartney. However, I promise this will
not be my final attempt to get signed. Why Try To Change Me Now?
SUNDAY
Ah,
finally a day to relax. I love The Who
and Roger Waters, but I was not dying to stand in the front so I took Sunday to
really enjoy what the festival had to offer.
I spent the morning in the activities area of the campgrounds with my
friends. We got our hair braided for
free at The Beauty Bar, painted some terrible pictures in the Arts & Crafts
room, and became Pinball Wizard[s]
at the arcade (that consisted only of pinball machines).
When we entered the festival we checked out the onsite
record shop and were pleasantly surprised the vinyl prices were actually a
pretty good Bargain. Throughout the festival grounds there were
also giant 3D billboards of an album of each of the six bands. These were popular photo opportunities so we
took the day to take pictures at each album cover.
Around 5:15 I
entered the pit, but this time I stood at the very back railing because the
rumor was that was the spot to get a full view of Roger Waters'
performance. Before The Who took the
stage, the gargantuan screen showed a slideshow of the band and their history with
the other bands performing over the weekend.
It was intriguing reading about how these bands really were friends
during the '60s so they must all have been having great fun reuniting for this
festival.
Around 6:30 The Who brought their energy to the stage as
they opened with "I Can't Explain", followed by "The Seeker". Some people complained that The Who's
performance was nothing extraordinary, but I would completely disagree. While The Who did not provide tremendous
visuals, I appreciated their focus on raw talent. Roger Daltrey proved he could still hit all
those difficult notes, including the scream in "Won't Get Fooled
Again." It was fantastic seeing
Daltrey feel so youthful as he unbuttoned his shirt throughout the night
showing off his gray chest hair. Pete
Townshend still windmilled his arm around as he plowed it through his guitar
strings.
While Daltrey began belting his lungs out to "See Me,
Feel Me" the screens showed Townshend bleeding from a gash on his
forehead. Apparently, this was caused as
he switched guitars with his guitar tech who seemed to make Townshend Pay in Blood. The blood did not even faze the guitarist as
he kept jamming all night. That is what
I call rock n' roll.
An hour after The Who finished with a dramatic performance
of "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again," it was
time for the final act of the entire weekend.
Roger Waters, the bassist of Pink Floyd, took the stage and opened with
"Breathe." Waters took full
advantage of the gargantuan screens and used them to help the audience feel
each song how they were meant to be felt.
In other words...the visuals were breathtaking. As he began playing the first half of the
Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon" colorful psychedelic bubbles
filled the screen. I would really enjoy
it if Waters could Live With Me so
he could peacefully sing me these songs to sleep every night.
The screen transitioned from vibrant colors to a realistic
galaxy of stars to political protests, and the surround sound brought all of
the noise to life. The sound effects caused me to believe a train was coming
through the audience to run me over and to feel like there was a little devil
laughing right behind my ear. Maybe I'm Amazed by this truly surreal
experience.
The heaviest moment of the whole set was during Waters’
twenty minute performance of Pink Floyd's song "Pigs." He made it very clear how he felt about
Donald Trump as obscene photos of the candidate flashed across the screen. A giant inflatable pig that read "F***
Donald Trump and His Wall" floated across the audience during the entire
song.
Before Waters encored, he played "Brain Damage"
and "Eclipse," and as the venue began to fill up with smoke,
multicolored laser lights formed an enormous pyramid above the crowd. Standing right beneath this colored pyramid
in the pit made me feel like I was inside of the album cover for "Dark
Side of The Moon." Waters finished
with "Comfortably Numb" as his guitarist appeared on a platform above
the screen with fireworks and Sparks shooting
up behind him. It was magical.
When Waters was finished, it hit me...It's All Over Now, Baby Blue.
I began to cry as I said my goodbyes to all my standing pit friends and
to the venue that gave me hope in the future of rock n' roll. I was not ready to leave...so of course I had
to buy a donut ice cream sandwich with all of the other Midnight Rambler[s] to make the night last longer. We all knew these had been The Happiest Days of Our Lives.
Even though Desert Trip is set to take place again next
year, I don't see how it could surpass 2016.
There is no lineup that could compare with the six legendary bands I witnessed
that weekend unless A Simple Twist of
Fate causes Led Zeppelin to reunite.
I left a piece of my heart in Indio that I don't think I can ever get
back. Thank you Desert Trip for saving
the true spirit of rock n' roll!
The End.
