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Lightning in a Bottle 2012: Respecting The Code

: By Andy Magnes and Shelly Siegel; Published on May 30, 2012

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Photo Credit: Shelly Siegel

Due to its proximity to Coachella and The Do LaB’s involvement in both, Lightning in a Bottle often gets compared to the large, much more mainstream event. However, the similarities beyond sponsors and locale are few.

Coachella has many rules (heightened security, electronic wristbands, camping restrictions) but no real code exists among its attendees. LiB is the complete opposite. And it’s only possible because everyone respects the code.

The campgrounds are kept impressively clean for a music festival. LiB takes environmentalism very seriously and there are signs everywhere reminding festivalgoers to leave no trace. Everyone in attendance appeared fully invested in fostering the best experience possible.

Photo Credit: Shelly Siegel

The crowd itself is literally a zoo, as people wander the grounds dressed in animal hoodies and other ridiculous getups. During the day, there are countless activities to not only occupy your time, but also enrich your experience.

In Upper Camp, the Lucent Temple of Consciousness is the centerpiece of the action. Large group meditations, speakers, workshops and hourly yoga sessions began at sunrise and lasted until sunset every day. New additions this year included a new meditation temple, a healing sanctuary and an art installation from Coachella that was transformed into an automated mechanical music-playing structure. Once the main stages closed, the Temple of Consciousness provided a late-night party destination that raged until sunrise.

From Upper Camp, a steep path along the impossibly scenic Irvine Lake leads into Lower Camp where the main attractions are. From the impressive installations to the amazing natural beauty of Silverado, LiB provides one of the most beautiful settings you will ever find at a festival.

Live paintings were scattered around the festival grounds and on the last day, every piece of art was assembled together and auctioned off. However, the most impressive artistic structures might have been the three stages, which hosted dance parties all weekend long.

On Friday, LiB wasted no time, kicking the festival off into high gear and never letting up. German-based Apparat hit the Lightning Stage at sunset, infusing the crowd with a variety of techno beats and ambient soundscapes.

Photo Credit: Shelly Siegel

Later on, we encountered our first difficult decision: Shpongle or Minnesota? Fan-favorite Shpongle provided one of the most talked-about setlists that weekend, sculpting sounds that ranged from techno to tribal to trance.

At the same, Minnesota was throwing down dirty dubstep beats all over the Bamboo Stage. Ultimately, there was no wrong choice – both absolutely killed it.

For the last show of the night, another choice emerged for many fans: the downtempo glitch-hop Tipper or the raging techno beats of Justin Martin. Fans who wanted to end the night with an exclamation point flocked to the Woogie Stage, where Justin Martin let loose with a two-hour dance-a-thon. An all-out tribal throwdown took place, as fans felt the earth shake in all directions from the strategically placed speaker setup.

The Lightning Stage concluded with Tipper, one of the most anticipated shows of the weekend. Mixing old-school scratching techniques with new-school styles of electronic producing, Tipper created some of the most complex sounds of the weekend in an engaging, albeit mellow set of glitch-hop.

Saturday began with the 1 Giant Mind LiB Experience, a newly featured group meditation at the Lightning Stage that sought to unify the thousands in attendance and get everyone in the right state of mind for the festivities that lay ahead.

Photo Credit: Shelly Siegel

When the sun went down, EOTO took the stage, unleashing perhaps the best set of the festival. Michael Travis and Jason Hann of String Cheese Incident have really poured their hearts into EOTO over the last 6 years.

What began as a dubstep side-project has taken on a life of its own. What ensued was a non-stop musical highlight that contained some of the most impressive technical playing of the weekend. And don’t forget it’s all absolutely improvised.

Travis shifted between his production setup, guitars and a variety of keys seamlessly as Hann added his own layers of electronic loops while never losing the thunderous beat on his drum set.

At one point, Hann rapped the lyrics to Busta Rhymes’ “Dangerous” as the crowd went nuts and sang along. EOTO added a ton of new converts and sent everyone off into the night giddy about what they just witnessed.

The Lucent Dossier Experience performed next at the Lightning Stage with their combination of gravity-defying acrobatic stunts, performance dance and live bass-driven music. LiB and LDE share a similar ethos and their partnership with The Do LaB has been rewarding for everyone involved.

The Lightning Stage closed with The Glitch Mob’s combination of downtempo glitch-hop and bass-heavy beat-driven dubstep, showcasing the latest technology and innovation in the production world. However, many regular fans lamented that the set was mellower than the occasion demanded as they dispersed off into the campgrounds at the close of the set and got ready for the final day.

Photo Credit: Shelly Siegel

Sunday featured a duo of highly anticipated shows at the Lightning Stage: Big Gigantic and Bassnectar.

Big Gigantic provided another high point of the weekend with their distinct brand of electronic music. Saxophonist/producer Dominic Lalli and drummer Jeremy Salken have been blowing up over the past year and on Sunday, they demonstrated why. In an unbelievable set that never let up, Big G infected the crowd with an energy and enthusiasm that was palpable throughout the festival grounds.

To close the festival, The Do LaB saved the biggest act for last: Bassnectar. While he provided his world-renowned brand of dubstep, the atmosphere was surprisingly lacking in energy. Maybe it was the downtempo nature of the set, maybe it was the collectively fatigue felt by the crowd after three days of hard partying, but something was noticeably more chill than usual.

Once the set ended and the art auctioned off, the crowd dispersed into the night for one last time. The Do LaB had just successfully pulled off their largest festival ever and will undoubtedly use that momentum to springboard their brand of events into the future.

However, their signature annual event will always be Lightning in a Bottle. In LiB, they have created a place for people to share, discover and experience an incredibly wide variety of spirituality, performance and music.

The transition from the idyllic bliss of the daytime to the rage-fest of the nighttime proved to be both enthralling and taxing. If you’re looking for a new kind of experience outside of today’s festival standards, LiB is the place to go.