Camp Counselor Carmel Reflects on Dominican Holidaze 2014

Dominican Holidaze was a complete circus where the booze flowed like a Bayliss solo and the party never stopped. Held at an all inclusive 5 star resort appropriately named Breathless, the setting of this festival was absolute paradise. Even the staff were overly supportive of our partying ways and I’m sure they made a killing off us ragers when all was said and done. The first night of music featured STS9 and the Disco Biscuits. I only caught the first set of Tribe which was super OG and locked in like a roller coaster. I couldn’t help notice how Tribe’s new bassist, Alana Rocklin, was loud as fuck. She crushed it in a mystical kinda way that really made me shake my ass. But I quickly became burnt out on a drink called dirty bananas and fell into a worm hole, curled up in a blanket, and journeyed into a silver frosted dream land. I guess a tropical storm rolled in for the Bisco set which some described it as a “monsoon,” but I slept right through it. I woke up the following morning feeling well rested and ready to rage. After breakfast I spent a couple hours at the beach soaking in the power of the Bermuda Triangle. With my inner crystals charged, I met back up with my crew for Rob Garza’s mid day pool party set. Raging at an exclusive elevated infinity pool above an even bigger pool party while waitresses brought us fruity cocktails with tiny umbrellas was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my trip. Next thing you know it was time for STS9 and then Lotus back at the main stage on the beach. In a strange twist of fate, Lotus had all their gear held up at customs so they ended up borrowing Umph’s instruments as well as LD extraordinaire: Jefferson Waful for their only show of the weekend. This wrench in the plan ended up being a magic stick of sorts. Lotus has always had a gradual approach to their music, but using a RAWK band’s equipment introduced a whole other level of unforgettable for this celestial music machine. Umphrey’s McGee of course killed it on Thursday night as well, loose as fuck and completely relaxed. Besides Lotus warming up their instruments, they never sound checked so the first couple tunes of their set were a little weird and that carried through to the rest of the night. “Utopian Fir” was definitely the highlight of the second set, along with the Police cover “Driven to Tears.” Overall, Umph was all over the place, even sloppy at times, which is virtually unheard of with this jam machine. It was almost as if they were on vacation or something… Throughout the weekend there were lots of special activities like “Waffles with Waful” which involved an early morning/ late night breakfast session featuring painfully awkward waffle references with Umphrey’s LD. But I chose to go a different route… On Friday morning I woke up early and spent the day cleaning up garbage in a town called Domingo Maiz with the non profit organization Positive Legacy. Besides tourism, the Dominican Republic has no real industry. In fact, it is actually a very poor country, which is something you only see glimpses of while at the resort. Though I was tragically hung over, the day of service was food for my soul and I’m grateful for the experience. I took a nap when I finally got back to Breathless that day, I deemed it necessary even though I once again missed a Biscuits show due to sleep. However, I was up just in time to grab a fabulous Lebanese dinner at one of the resort’s many five star restaurants and still caught my favorite band: Umph! They delivered yet another stellar show with lots of improv. “Ringo” and “2×2” were both spread wide open like a hooker on a Friday night. Speaking of which, they also played “Bad Friday,” which is always a special treat. Second set began with a “Hurt Bird Bath” that was more dance party than any other HBB I’ve ever heard live before, which is about 25 according to allthings.umphrey.com. At one point Bayliss shared that he had a dream where he and his wife had a threesome with Britney Spears. He then dedicated “Cut the Cable” to the washed up pop star, which I’m pretty sure has never happened before. STS9 closed out the night with another impressive set that was a bit more honed in than the previous nights’. I watched from fairly far back on the beach so I could really soak in just how beautiful the whole scene was. The tall palm trees towered over the stage while a cool breeze brought waves in off the ocean. Without words to distract, it was easy to get lost in my head during this STS9 show. Suddenly all the tiny elements were magnified, like the way the sand felt between my toes or how the smell of the ocean crept up my nostrils. The best part was I was completely sober and still had an absolute blast! For the final day of the fest, I took every opportunity to soak in the warm sun, the beautiful beach and the magnificent ocean. When the music finally began, I realized that this would be my last Umph show of the year and shit got a bit heavy… feeling feelings and whatnot as my favorite band journeyed from one emotional landscape to the next. Not to mention the sunset that surrounded the stage left us all breathless as we accepted the fact that this was to be our last night in paradise. But the night marched on and I finally made it to a Biscuits show. I decided to ride the rail because I really wanted to get in deep with this beast. This was my first time seeing the Disco Biscuits in many years and I completely forgot how much FUN this band was! Brownie dropped bass bomb after bass bomb while wearing a North Coast flat brim, which kinda made it all feel like home. Overall, their set was sloppy and dirty in the best way you could put those two words together. I was elated. Then theNEWDEAL came out for the final set of Holidaze and completely changed the game altogether. Jamie Shields is almost unstoppable… like he literally didn’t stop playing for 50 minutes straight. When he did stop playing, he shared with us how much fun he was having and to be honest, the dude seems like a bonafide nerd… but man can he play! tND straight murdered the night leaving me filled to the brim with gratitude for the experience. OR as the locals would say, “MAGNIFICO!” So now that Holidaze is all said and done, I really can’t believe all the amazing things I was fortunate enough to experience. Though rest and relaxation was an obvious priority of mine, the rage elements of my trip were truly unforgettable. I can’t wait to go back next year!]]>