boom festival 1997

*phew*

Needless to say this was an extraordinary event. Such vibe, such weather, all that dust and the exquisite smell from the toilets (not!)... there are so many scents and sights and sounds that comes back to me as I sit in front of a stupid box trying to tell you all what it was like. Clearly, this was my best ever party experience up to now! I will not success in any way to give you a remotely close idea of it all, it had to be seen and lived through to be believed.

Ok, Thursday morning we stuffed the hired car (Fiat Punto, now that's a huge car!*) to the limits (3 bags with all kinds of canned soups, tins and weird looking dried pasta courses, tents, pillows, blankets, countless pairs of shoes, lots of clothes, the cooker, my cassette player, drinks, three ppl and a zillion of other things that we might need up there...you can probably imagine how fast the Punto ran after that!) and took off in a very good, very excited and expectant mood at around 13.30. Next year (if there'll be another boom festival then) I'll remember how nice it felt to fry in the car for three and a half hours in burning sunshine, with no airconditioning and the only breeze felt was the one gently brushing my skin as I stuck most of my upper body out the window to cool off. Guess you learn from your mistakes, right?

*Fiat Punto is quite a bit smaller than a Ford Fiesta

Taking off from the IP1 (all three of us screaming happily as soon as we spotted the Boom sign) onto a path just wide enough for a car to go in, we almost instantly met another car who asked us to pull over and before even saying hello, we were offered acid then and there. The people in the car needed money to get into the festie.

After getting our yellow-purple bracelets (that had to go on the arms and if removed left you no further access to the area) we parked the car and took the mobile homes to go find a nice spot to put them in. I was truly amazed about the amount of people who'd already put their tents up and arrived in the festie, and I was staring unsuccessfully for the 604-sheet Marita had been making for us to see. We did find some nice spots, at the very outskirt of the tentareaa (one guy in my company said he needed some rest now and then) and I stayed on there while the guys went back to the car to get more stuff. By the time they got back, the French guys that you must have heard about - shankar tribe - (with the full equipment, mixers, loudspeakers and the works) were done putting their stuff up right next to us and they put some awesome tunes on....so much for my friend's rest! (We agreed that camping in the middle of the main dance floor would have been like camping in a cemetary compared to this) but as we started to walk around I found a group of (really nice Swedish) friends and moved my tent again. I now ended up in the corner of a little square right in the middle of the festival area, which suited me perfectly.

The music in the main dance floor started at 5 pm (every day), so they had been going on for a while when I finally got there. I had had some nice wine and some hanging out around the tents and was basically just walking around, admiring the decos, exploring the area in detail and soaking up the slowly building up vibe (and a fair amount of dust as well) when I saw Marita.

I had asked all my friends to keep an eye open for a 604-sheet - but without success - so I kind of looked for red hair and kept both ears as big as possible to hear that broad Irish accent. Instinctively I knew it was her and I ran up to her and asked for her name....got a suspicious kind of look and an even more suspicious "Marita" and attacked her with a huggie and "I'm Chrissie!". The ice was broken. =:-) (it sounds as if it was really tough to break the ice and all, but no, in real life this was a piece of cake and talking to/smiling at/dancing with these ppl was *so easy* and came *so natural* ... easy going and friendliness to the full, almost as if we'd known each other for years)

More walking and talking and looking and sucking in the vibes and the tunes from every corner of the area, I felt as if walking on small pink clouds in heaven. I can't describe it to you, there's no way it will come out as good on "paper" as it was IRL. Daylight turned into dark night and all the glowing items, backdrops, fluoro cobwebs, bodypaints, glow-in-the-dark-clothes and decos shined brightly throughout the forest. It was absolutely beautiful ! magical ! amazing !

The huge screen with projections (coming all the way from Sweden, Timo told me) was also stunning. And we danced. I met up with Timo, Alistair, Thew, Sylvie and Johal and was told that Marita & Co had met Denis as well. Smiles, vibes, happiness, glow and that *SO* big feeling that almost took my breath away.

I haven't got a clue who was playing that night, except for Borelli. I really don't care either, as long as the music is stompy and powerful and makes me dance, I'm happy.

The only thing I reflected upon was the pitch dark night (with all the stars up in the sky, as they'd promised in the flyer!) which made it almost impossible to see where you put your feet but also hid all the smiles that I wanted in return for mine! =:)

Now I just have to make my first complaint...the camping area was very poorly lit up and naturally, same goes for the toilets. Judging by the smell, people had been trying something their stomachs didn't approve of =:) and I wasn't sure I could rely on their ability to hit the hole or the seat either ... so it was an experience itself visiting the toilets at nighttime. (I quickly learned, and tried to go only whilst daylight after that)

The trip up to the festie and all these overwhelming feelings totally drained me and I fell asleep during a nice little chat-session around our tents about 1am. =:( Woke up Friday afternoon with a temperature and an aching body, unable to even get up. My dear, sweet friends got me the necessary vitamins by buying me a lovely banana energy drink, freshly squeezed orange juice (yummie!), tuna sandwich from the stand right across our tents and some aspirins. I really regret it now, but I actually slept till Saturday morning (11am)!!! So sue me. =:) Whatever you say about this won't make me feel any better about missing two mornings, as I'm a huge fan of the morning tunes ... so please don't rub in what a lovely, great time I missed by being ill. I will never forgive myself for it.

Oh, and about that stand where they sold tuna sandwiches ... they were so hilarious over there, I tell ya! Not only did they make great sandwiches with tunasalad, lettuce, tomato and cucumber, the French guy over there deserved a diploma for making pancakes throughout the whole Thursday, Friday and morning of Saturday! *GOOD ONE* And, they had their own little performance going on as well. During daylight they were quiet and peaceful and when they opened their mouths, all that came out was "aqua, pancakes and sandwiches" without any devotion or loudness. But, as soon as the darkness fell over our community, they got their drinks out and put the music on and the yelling over there sounded more like "aqua ! acid ! ecstasy !acid punch!" - ... no food whatsoever ... =:)

After all that sleep (hrm!) I was so full of energy, and besides that I was now told that the party would end as planned on Sunday afternoon. =:( (I'd been told earlier that they might go on as Sunday night was a full moon night) In other words, I had a lot of partying to catch up on!

The entire Saturday was spent eating tuna sandwiches and drinking wine put in my homemade wine cooler with Sid, Anti, Ellinore, Sofie and Anette. Had a really refreshing shower, fed the little fluoro-painted dog with hotdogs (the poor thing got the paint in his eyes and they were runny and sore even though we tried to clean them ... really upsets me when people do things like these, what was the point?) and at 5pm I was down at the dance floor, ready to go and stay on till they closed. It was Frank Lorvik playing then, but I didn't know that.

Me and Sofie stood there wondering who it was, as we really liked the tunes coming out of the loudspeakers, and we had a little dance session then and there. More partying around the tents, some shopping in the clothes-stands, some energy-drinking and all of a sudden Anti came on and of course we had to support him. (Swedes and their sometimes stupid loyalty!)

It wasn't quite what I'd expected from him (he gave us this outcast about building it up and not letting go as we reached our peeks) but Tristan made up for that by far! Now, I'm not really sure about the order the guys played in (it was one big confusion and me, Marita & Timo never quite got to solve the mystery around it) but as I remember it it was Anti - Tristan - MFG - Mark Allen - Mammal - Troy and after that, the session where the awesome dj:s did a mix and took turns ... or something like that! =:)

I'm sure of Tristan's set 'cause I *really really* loved it! (unlike everybody else, I've noticed) Kaboom, and off I was again with his help! Btw, this is also when I spotted Denis for the first time, so HI! =:) MFG were also outstanding, Lella & her husband enlightened that set as well (two Portugese grandparents who came with their daughter and grandchild, there's a lovely pic of them) and (with the risk of being repetitive, Marita'n'Timo!) she called me up to the front of the stage, bent down, asked for my name and told me that I gave very good vibrations! =:) *proud*

Mark Allen was not bad at all, at least people danced like hell and smiled and I was totally blown away by the vibe as the sun was now well on the way up and the gals with the ropes to make soapbubbles with were so sweet and nice and....*sigh* ... take me back right now ... please ?!

Mammal came on with some powerful tunes and two artistic dancers, and cute Troy's set was more or less flawless. In my ears, at least! =:) The mixed session blew my head off, if I could decide they should have gone on forever! Unfortunately, they didn't. Around 15-ish the music suddenly stopped and a short while after that guys ran all over the place, collecting all the wires and basically wrapping it up. =:(

I spent some time up in the chillout with Marita&Co (Hi Leslie, Floyd, Hans, Cindy & rest!!!!) and got to say hi to Frank shortly after as well. (no, the parties in Sweden are in no way close to the vibes we felt during this festie!)

As my friends were really tired (they'd done the whole party-three-days-in-a-row-thingie) we soon packed up and left.

Sorry about not saying bye bye to you all (I left a message with Cindy for Marita & Co at least) but it all got a bit too stressy there and I spent a few moments too many queuing up for a shower and all ...

The following 1,5 week was spent horizontally on a sandy beach in Forte de São João with nights filled with loads of seafood and rest and also a visit to a huge houseclub (Kadoc) outside of Albufeira. Woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do, right?! =:)

Thanks to the organizers for putting this together. Enormous efforts and energies, I admire y'all! Please make this happen next year too, but don't let it build up and become a huge commercial thing!

Thanx to every entire little individual who built the vibe. From the small dog to the huge ones, from the babies to the *very* old ppl - I'm not forgetting anyone here!

I adore all of ya 604:ers and I really hope to meet up with you soon again! To dance and smile and enjoy life together again ...

*can't wait till next one*

Dust & Glow

~ chrissie ~