7.7.2022
So I officially left Florida for Esmeralda Tour in May. I did a little test run for 4/20 and did Spring Pyro in Ohio. I just wanted to make sure I had everything I needed to be comfortable on the road long term. It was okay business wise. It would’ve made more sense if I didn’t have to drive back down south for SunFest but I did pack down the car perfectly. I have everything I need and home is literally where I park it.
I had to go back down to FL for SunFest in West Palm Beach before heading up North for the rest of spring/summer. That show was weird but great. I ended up selling a bunch of batteries because the guy selling delta 9 ran out. He was also selling his cartridges as if they were weed so that was annoying but I was grateful for the piggy back sales. The attendance for that event was surprisingly young. It felt like it was a bunch of high schoolers especially the night Little Wayne performed. From there I prepped my car more and made any inventory that still needed to be made. I’m pretty sure I decided I wanted to make sunblocks the day before I had to go cus I’m crazy.
I drove to Livestock Music Fest in Indiana which was a smaller event but honestly a great weekend. I got to celebrate my partners birthday and see him perform. The vendor fee was super low and the event was pretty well put together. I got to spin fire for the Brightside set and after letting the fire team make sure I was good to perform next to the stage I realized I met them a few years ago at Sugar Creek Music Festival (2020). I though that was funny because I didn’t realize it until after the fact.
After that event I went to The Lost River Hostel and decompressed for a few days with Michael. I love that place so much but there were mice running around the bedroom all night every night and it kept me up the whole time. I hyped up the place so much and it was just a little disappointing. After I checked out I drove to Rekinnection in Missouri and even though it rained quite a bit I did great sales wise. My tee pee tent and canopy tent did get ruined by my neighbors tents that were not properly secured. It sucked that they didn’t offer to replace it but I wasn’t going to make them do the right thing. They kept making comments like oh you weren’t even sleeping in there (like thank god I wasn’t or tent would’ve crushed me) and how’re you going to fix it / what’re you gonna do? It was just annoying to watch them buy cocaine and complain about not making money. After realizing both tents were unsalvageable it was hard to find empathy for their nonsense. I had to go to Summer Camp next and had to figure out how to replace my tents quickly.
I went to Wal-Mart and got a new Tee Pee (and I don’t like to shop there at all but sometimes I feel guilty I sleep in their parking lots so I cave every now and then). I found a canopy tent on Facebook marketplace but I ended up getting the wrong frame type and was so stressed before getting to summer camp. I booked a cute Tiny home with a nice bath tub to try to relax.
Summer Camp was honestly the most disappointing festival I vended and I was expecting it to be so much more than it was. They did not provide wifi which was shocking because the vendor fee was close to $2,000 dollars. When the rain made the entrance to where I was vending too muddy to walk through they refused to put down the mulch which was clearly a profit margin concern. Again disappointing. Then the last day my neighbors tent crushed my tent and ruined my display and some inventory along with my tee pee tent. When I contacted the vendor coordinator she said doesn’t it stick when your neighbors don’t set up properly. Like honestly the coordinator should have checked that every tent was steaked weighted and secured but the diffusion of responsibility was insane. I was honestly heart broken that I couldn’t finish out the event that my display got ruined and that there wasn’t anything I could do to continue to vend. My neighbor was cool as fuck and paid to replace both my tee pee tent and canapoy tent. She later offered me an Electric Forest Ticket so I could renegade vend. She was cool AF. I also spun fire for this event and the vibes were not my favorite. I spun for the sponge set and that was rad and people started tipping cus they thought the show was cool. But then the coordinator pulled out a hat and started collecting tips. I already knew those weren’t going to make to to the performers so I did not perform for them again that weekend. After the whole tent thing happened I tried to LED perform at the Wren set but the vibe was super douchey. The performers kept sending me to the “other” stage and would loop that instruction at both stages so I wouldn’t get to perform. Mean girls vibes. Wasn’t about it and I dipped so fast. I don’t like to hang out with ugly.
From Summer Camp I had to start the drive to Pyro in Ohio but I had some time to rest. I found a commercial canopy tent brand new at a flea market in Indianapolis and was so happy it was the price I wanted to pay. I paid $120 for both of my canopy tents when I first started my business. That same tent is now 200 dollars on amazon and I was like no. I found it for $100 and it was the brand I wanted and everything. I stayed a night in Indianapolis with Penny Lane and split a hotel. She got them to give us a room that had a hot tub in the bathroom because the app we used pictured it in the reservation. I can’t believe she got them to honor it but she did. I bubble bathed a few times before checking out and checking out the business club over there. The food was amaze balls. From there I drove to Michigan to check out the Recreational Cannabis. It was dope. After being out there I decided wherever I move next weed has to be legal. My drive to Pyro was easy enough and watching the gas prices has been dumb. I’ve been trying to stay in the $4.80 zone and map out my stops based on gas prices.
Pyro itself was the shiz niz. I did pretty great especially for how many vendors there were. I ended up spinning fire with the girls and that made my heart so happy. My neighbor was so nice but the kids were honestly a little intense. I could tell one them got into his parents drugs and that made me a little angry. I’m pretty sure that kid stole my coffee cup and probably hustled it to someone at the festival and that was also annoying but overall the vibes were great. My partner really wanted me to visit him after not seeing him for about a month. He was staying in Maine and I drove my butt all the way over there to spend some time with him. He had Covid and quarantined for the recommended 5 days and he wanted me there. I honestly think a lot of the information is bullshit and love how the quarantine time went down because it was original 10 day recommend to quoting but corporations probably complained and had the CDC recommend a shortened period. Capitalism…
I tested negative for covid before heading to Electric Forest.
Electric Forest as a production was amazing. The drive from Maine was intense but I did it. I helped the girl that gave me a ticket with loading in and 2 days vending the fest. In terms of renegade vending, I was so tired from working the booth that I didn’t have the energy to walk around the campgrounds and try to sell. It was a lot of walking and it was super hot with little shade unless you were in the woods. The vibes were heavy EDM and it didn’t really feel like the event to try to do the thing. I honestly want to be making the vip swag and headliner gift baskets for this event. I did it for Hulawaeen and Electric Forest is like the bigger version of it. If I could do that for both events that would make my life.
Now I’m in Maine and I’ve been using this time to decompress before doing another show. I was going to hop on dead tour but my ex convinced me to see him and kinda messed up my schedule. I’m still going to try to do the Citified show and after that is Reggae Rise Up Maryland. I feel like that ones going to be a good one.
The season did not go anything like I expected. After hearing so many people complain they can’t afford my product line but make room in their budget for ketamine and cocaine it just rocks my socks and can’t. I’ll be focusing my attention towards trying to drive traffic to the website and pushing out more content on the socials. I spent the day updating the shop and am working on making my social media content more engaging. Always open for wholesale orders for anyone wanting to carry the product line in their shop or just wanting to purchase gifts in bulk.
Until Next Time <3
