While I immediately blogged about the experience in the post Rock and Roll Photographer For a Day at Outside Lands, it would take another few months until I finally saw the issue my photos appeared in. So, without further adu, below is page A5 of the August 17, 2010 issue of the Benicia Herald.

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Al Green Enters His Performance at Outside Lands

When my buddy Marc needed someone with a “nice camera” to take photos at the 2010 Outside Lands music festival for his newspaper, the Benicia Herald, I jumped at the opportunity. The unpaid but totally awesome gig came with a VIP pass and special entrance to the photographer’s pit right in front of the stage for the first three songs of each artist’s set.

Al Green: Gospel and Soul Music Singer

First up was Al Green and I arrived in the pit around 10 minutes early and staked out a great spot directly in line with center stage that also had a ledge for me to stand up on and get a more level shot. As Al came on, the crowd went wild and he began throwing kisses and roses to the audience while I snapped away.

“Zoom in, pull out, change a lens on the quick, try and get a drummer in the background, focus on just Al’s face, get his whole body in, up on the ledge, shooting from the ground.”

Thomas Mars and Laurent Brancowitz of Phoenix at Outside Lands

Before I knew it, Al Green’s three songs were over and I had managed to take more than 200 photos in around 12 minutes. I was also completely hooked on the rush of being in the pit, searching for the perfect photograph and jockeying my way around a sea of fellow shutterbugs.

Phoenix: French Rock Band

Phoenix came on a few hours later and I found that arriving just as the set started was not a good idea. The sparsely populated pit from Al Green’s performance was now teaming with photographers lined up in rows clamoring for the perfect angle. I couldn’t get by them to return to my prime spot and had no choice but to start shooting from the far left of the stage.

As luck would have it, the right moment fell in my lap when Thomas Mars, Phoenix’s lead singer, decided to climb into the crowd directly in front of me and serenade the crowd. Though his back was to me, I stretched out my arm and used every bit of leverage my 6’3 body could muster to position my wide angle lens as close to his face as possible and held down the shutter. I’m quite happy with how a few of them came out and literally being a foot away from the action was a heart-racing thrill.

Phoenix Lead Singer Thomas Mars Goes Into the Crowd

“OMG, he’s right next to me going into the crowd – let’s hope some of these come out because I can’t see what I’m shooting. He’s back on stage rocking out – try to get some motion in the images. Wait, my three songs are up already?”

I’ve heard a few different theories as to why photographers are only allowed in the pit for the first three songs. One idea is that the artists don’t want photos taken once they start to sweat. Another is that they tailor the beginning of their show to the photographers and then once we are all gone, the artists are freer to “go wild” without worries that their “rock-out face” will be miscaptured.

NAS and Damian Marley: Rapper and Reggae Legend

NAS Performs at Outside Lands

Crossing the length of the festival grounds, I once again arrived at my next concert – NAS and Damian Marley – moments before it began. Upon arriving at the entrance to the pit, the security guard in front looked at my wristband and decided he detected fraud. “Where did you get your wristband,” he asked. “From the Benicia Herald,” I replied. “Who is that?” was his response, at which point I quickly explained why I was legit. All the security guard could come up with next was “so do I have to let you in?” I quickly said yes as I walked by him and pulled out my camera.

“Get the Jamacian flag in the shot. Wait for the flag to be behind his head. Come on guys, stand next to each other and sing. There’s too much space between NAS and Damian. Switch lenses real fast and take closeups. Too much NAS, not enough Marley. I’m still waiting for my money shot. Throw your hands in the air…wait, gotta concentrate. There it is. A few more. Wait, I don’t want to leave yet.”

Photographer Pit at Outside Lands

With that final ushering out of the pit, my day as a rock and roll photographer had come to an end. I did not have the credentials to enter the pit for the headliner, Kings of Leon, so instead I retreated back to the Chase Freedom VIP lounge where I had spent much of the day enjoying free food and beverages while chatting with other photographers.

The whole experience was a wild ride and one I hope I get the opportunity to do again. I loved the rush of being in the pit, shooting by the seat of my pants and making constant adjustments to the camera as I followed the artist’s every move on the stage waiting for that perfect moment to click the shutter. It was also pretty great having pretty much full access to the entire festival except for behind the stage. So thank you to Marc and I can’t wait to see my photos in tomorrow’s Benicia Herald.

Tweeting the Experience

A Large Crowd at the Nas and Damien Marley Set at Outside Lands - Fisheye

When I wasn’t taking photos, I did a little bit of Tweeting about the experience. Below are all of my updates from the course of the day.

Tweeting random thoughts frm press #photo access to #outsidelands in #sf.

Taking pics frm the photog pit up front is like having 1st row seats but still watching it from a small tv in my hands.

After 3 songs all photogs must leave the pit. God forbid a musician gets a sweaty pic taken.

Theres so much free beer, wine, food, water and soda in the media areas its a wonder ne1 stops to take pics.

Getting yelled at by a bouncer on a power trip is funny.

Its all about luck when the lead ringer frm Phoenix goes crowdsurfing right in front of the spot i got cuz i was super late 4 their set.

Guy @ NAS show asked me who i got my photog band frm and if he had to let me in. I simply replied yes then walked past him to the pit.

Follow my semi-regularly tweets about photography and life observations.

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Photo Gallery

My VIP, Media and Press passes for Outside Lands, 2010

The MUNI 33 bus during a going away passenger appreciation celebration

NextMuni.com says my bus arrives in 18 minutes and the next one comes in 32 minutes. Next I check it’s 9 minutes and 23. Then the ETA jumps up to 12/18…then 13/16…and finally 4/4. By the time I get to my stop, both buses are pulling in together. Just another typical morning waiting for the 33 in Upper Haight.

I hop on the first one, frustrated that yet again it would have been faster to drive. The bus driver apologizes, saying the two buses that were supposed to be in front of hers aren’t running today. Then she offers me my choice of wrapped candy from a dish by the fare machine and for the first time I actually look around at bus 2442 driven by Tammy.

It’s like a Fourth of July party inside Tammy’s bus. There are red white and blue streamers, balloons, coils that say “happy,” banners and party lanterns hanging from the railings. Large handwritten posters adorn the windows thanking her riders and spouting truths such as “Until MUNI realizes that without our passengers there’s no MUNI!” and pretty much everyone has a smile on their face.

The sign in front of the MUNI 33 bus

As I sit in the bus watching new passengers board, I witness a MUNI miracle: a sea of frowns turn into big grins as people enter and see what awaits them. I overhear nearly every newcomer commenting on the scene to either Tammy or their fellow straphangers. “How cool is this,” they ponder aloud. “Is this for Mother’s day?” “Is someone retiring?” “I can’t believe I got candy.” Even the woman on her cell phone discussing how her doctor just found a lump in her breast seemed upbeat, enjoying her Tootsie-Roll lollipop with her lips curled up from ear to ear.

Pretty much everyone who boarded asked Tammy a quick question about the decorations. “I just want to show appreciation for my passengers,” was her standard response. Those who pressed further often heard “If not for the passengers, drivers and managers have no job.” Tammy also was more than happy to advise passengers frustrated by the delay. “I strongly encourage you to call MUNI and complain,” was advice that seemed to be doled out at every other stop.

Tammy, the driver of the MUNI 33

The bus thinned out just before I got to my stop and I had the chance to briefly chat with Tammy and ask her what inspired her display of gratitude. “It’s for all of you. I drive this bus every morning and have the most amazing relationships with my passengers.” She next revealed that her last day is this Thursday, but when I wished her an amazing retirement she responded, “nope, not retiring, just moving to the 24 line.”

So to all you lucky folks who take the 24, please greet Tammy with a smile and enjoy the ride, because she is one of the rare gems in the MUNI system who makes the inevitable delays bearable.

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I originally wrote this post for the San Francisco Web site, Muni Diaries on May 4, 2010. Since submitting it, the story has been picked up by the San Francisco Chronical and CBS5 Web sites. In a time when MUNI is facing service cuts and fare hikes, it seems to have become a rare feel-good story about the beleaguered San Francisco public transportation system.

• SF Gate (San Francisco Chronical) coverage – if you click this one, be sure to read through all the fascinating comments about MUNI and other people’s experiences with it, both good and bad

• CBS5 coverage
• My original article, as posted at Muni Diaries

A rainbow over the restaurant and bar-filled streets of Vang Vieng

I’ll admit it; Vang Vieng sucked us in. We came to the city for a lazy inner tube ride down the river, as advertised in our guide book, and figured we’d be there for a day or two max. However, upon arrival we were greeted by streets filled with rows of bars and restaurants: most of which have TVs going 24/7 playing Friends, Family Guy or The Simpsons. Catering entirely to western tourists, these places have low tables, comfortable mattresses and pillows to recline on. The food is average, but after the sixth episode of Friends in a row it doesn’t seem to matter.

Instead of a quick stop, we wound up spending four days relaxing, drifting from restaurant to restaurant, taking in marathon TV sessions while waiting out monsoon rains, surfing the Web and sleeping in. We were also reunited with Claire, who we had been in Malaysia and the Full Moon Party with, as well as her friend Ellen. It was with these two that we set forth on the adventure known as tubing in Vang Vieng.

Anything but a lazy ride down the river, tubing would better be described as spring break for late teens and early 20s kids from Australia and Europe. The goal is to visit a series of bars, all very close to each other, while swinging off of high platforms into the water and partying with fellow travelers. In fact, a tube is not needed at all. A tuk tuk drops tubers off at a row of three bars connected to the mainland. After that there are dozens of other bars, all accessible by water. Were bars not involved, the total tubing time would be at most 30 minutes. In reality though, those who rent tubes spent about five minutes total in them. Knowing this, we opted to swim.

One of the swings used to drop into the river

Each of the first three bars has a rope swing with some sort of rollers attached that tubers line up to use. The process is simple: climb up, hold on and jump off. Some allow you to hold on indefinitely, swinging back and forth until you are ready to let go and fall into the water. Others are just a straight line and, if you haven’t let go before the rollers hit the stopping point, your entire body is catapulted forward. While all swings can be done solo, a few of them allow two participants to go at once. Carrie and I tried this once but didn’t make it too far before both falling into the water.

After finishing up at the first three locations, tubers can finally toss their rings into the water to float for less than a minute to the next bar. As we had been told that the tubes were pointless, we jumped into the water and swam. Things got a little scary for a minute for me when the river split around a little rocky island. A mix of the strong current and my lack of strong swimming skills pulled me to the far away side while Carrie was safely at the shore of the next bar. I clamored for the rocks of the island and finally, grabbing onto branches dirt, was able to pull myself out of the water. Barefoot, I hobbled across the island and jumped back in before the guys on the shore tossed out a soda bottle on a rope to pull me in. Not my favorite part of the day.

The local bus stop in Vang Viang

Safely back on land, the main activity of the fourth stop was two mud water pits where everyone spent hours wrestling, jumping in and basically acting like big kids. This was my favorite spot of the day and we spent so much time there that by the time we swam to the fifth place it was dark and time to take a tuk tuk home. After my troubles with the water in the day, a night time swim did not interest me at all.

While we thoroughly enjoyed our day of “tubing,” one day was more than enough. The same can not be said for many other people there who were on their fourth, fifth, sixtieth or even hundredth day of tubing in a row. It’s almost like a mini-cult, and repeat tubers have their consecutive day number proudly written in Sharpie on their arm.

I hate to say it, but Carrie and I found ourselves wondering how much longer we could even do things like this without being dubbed “the old people in the corner.” Most tubers were in their late teens and low 20s. True, there there were plenty of other folks on the other side of the age spectrum but we were definitely outnumbered.

Monsoon rains were a daily occurrence, like this one I filmed while watching Friends and keeping dry

Dancing under the full moon

Imagine a beach with a few hundred feet between the water and a row of bars roughly a quarter mile long. Each bar is blasting music at concert volumes and selling buckets full of alcohol to anyone regardless of age or level of intoxication. Add some blacklights, body painting, glow in the dark items, food stalls and stages for people to dance on. Now put 10,000 people on the beach and see what happens.

While many revelers arrive on the day of the party, we got to Koh Phangan a day early so we would have time to check it all out before the madness began. After waking up in the late afternoon on our first day we wandered around and saw everyone setting up. That evening we attended a pool party next door to our hotel that was filled with a combination of people having a great time horsing around in the pool and others dancing on the dance floor. A wild scene unlike anything I’ve seen before, but as we were not in bathing suits or dancing, it was time to check out the beach.

Even though it was a warm-up night, there were still a few thousand people dancing away on the beach. The music was great, though it was a bit hard to hear at times as the bars are all right next to each other and the different songs mix together. As for the selection it was mostly trance, techno and an occasional hip hop song.

Over the course of the night our group was both together and separated, but every time we saw each other it was like finding a long lost friend in the crowd. At around 5am a flaming jump rope came out and we had a blast watching the drunks try and play. Carrie and I spent the night and early morning dancing our hearts out until the sun came up over the ocean behind us and they shut the music off. By the time we finally made it home it was past 7am.. Quite a warm-up.

While we all slept until 5pm the island underwent a transformation. People arrived in packs, every local was out selling something and the island felt positively electric. Tonight there was no pool party, no other activities…just the beach. The sky was clear, the moon full, the music blasting and we were ready to go!

Upon arriving at the beach the first thing we noticed was a huge police presence that was lacking the night before. There was also a “sleep area” where people who had a little too much fun could go and be kept safe by the on-site medical staff. It was good to see that precautions were being taken, as we had heard horror stories about full moon parties in the past.

Carrie shows off her glow in the dark tattoo in front of a wall filled with all of the options one could get painted on them

For those not needing police or medical attention, there were rows of stalls with blacklight body paint. Each one had pretty much the same designs, which they would paint on you for a price. The beach was also filled with people selling glow in the dark bracelets, hats, glasses and necklaces. Pretty much everyone on the beach had some sort of neon aspect to them. Mine was a bright green neon stick around my wrist.

Food stalls were set up all over the beach and taxi speedboats were waiting to take people to private parties on yachts anchored just off shore. Countless people were out in the water swimming, sitting, standing or laying down in one of the boats foolish enough to park there for the night. Pretty much everyone had a bucket of booze.

The actual party was the same as the night before: just about five times bigger. Pretty much the entire beach was filled with people dancing, talking, walking around, flirting and having a great time. There were fire dancers, people blowing fire, guys and girls spinning fire and, of course, more fire jump rope.

When sunrise finally came, there were tons more people on the beach than the day before. The music also never stopped. While we went back to the room around 7:30am, we met people who were dancing until nearly 3pm. Crazy!

Carrie and I in front of a full moon sunrise

So is it the greatest, biggest and best party in the world? That’s what they say and I do see some merit in the statement. The beach layout is great and gives people a large area to do things without having everything too spread out. Even with 10,000 people there is still room to move around.

At the same time, the closeness of the bars gets a bit old when the music mixes together. Also, if dancing the night away isn’t your thing then this is not the place to be. I feel like the best party in the world would have more options. For now I’ll label it a pretty awesome party and revisit the statement when I go to more of the “best parties in the world.”

Sunrise dance party at 530am

The beach is full of people partying

Pool party at Coral Bungalows

Firedancing with a double sided light saber stick

Blacklight body painting