I think I was in middle school when I found out about Hard Summer. It looked cool, and I had been wanting to go ever since. When I was in high school, my interest in electronic music grew even more. I couldn’t wait to turn 18 so I could go see all my favorite djs at these festivals and hit up the clubs when I turned 21. Then poo poo hit the fan, and my emotions were going out of control in a downward spiral. Everything seemed so out of reach for me especially because I would see other teens going to Coachella or even to hang out in LA without their parents supervision. That was something that would never fly with my parents. Even when I turned 18, stuff was still pretty out of reach.
I have a car now, and I also have a job that involves me driving home late at night. I kept telling myself this would be the year I went to this festival, and I’d fight hard and sacrifice anything I needed to so I could get my way. I also had a gut feeling for months that Diplo would be on this year’s lineup, so that was just another reason as to why I needed to go this year. If you know me at all, you know just how much I love Diplo and all of his projects.
Then that lineup dropped and I was like..
THEY REALLY DID THAT! I’m not even trying to sound like a millennial Buzzfeed writer or social media manager that tries to be “quirky” and “relatable” to appeal to other “millennials” (Gen Z-ers). You KNOW me. This lineup really was a work of art. I knew I’d only be able to go on Sunday if I could go at all, and the Sunday lineup had so many of my favorite people. Look at this.
“I Decided”
As soon as I got the green light to go to this, I decided that I was going to be at the barricade for Diplo B2B Dillon Francis. There were other artists I definitely wanted to see, such as MØ, Virtual Self, Travis Scott, A-Trak B2B Baauer, Trippie Redd, San Holo, Mija, Lil Xan, King Henry… I can go on. It was stacked. However, I wasn’t going to sacrifice my spot at the rail for anything or anyone else. Nothing was going to get in the way of me being at that rail during that sacred B2B.
Of course, it feels like forever when you’re counting down the days until an event. Time moved rather quickly, and my friend Krystle (who lives in Vegas but was going to make the trek to Fontana) and I would talk almost every day coming up with ideas for our outfits, a game plan for getting to the rail, and more.
“Know Yourself”
I stopped drinking soda at the beginning of the year. I took up drinking unsweetened teas, kombucha, and found myself drinking more water than ever. Having read so many of the (horror) stories of attendees from previous years, I knew that hydrating well and getting my body ready was going to be the key to survival at HARD. Standing all day long in the same spot wasn’t going to be a challenge for me, since my job requires me to stand all night long. All I had to do was wear a very comfortable pair of shoes, get a good Camelbak, wear something cute, apply plenty of sunscreen, be prepared to carry the totem and run like hell to the rail, and I’d be all set!
But there was one problem…
I knew there was NO way I was going to be able to hold my bladder all day long. The average person would pace themselves with the water, and not even feel the urge to go pee because they’d sweat out all their water. That is NOT me. I definitely sweat, but I don’t sweat enough. I wasn’t about to leave my sweet rail spot for any reason at all, so that meant one thing and one thing only – I proudly BOUGHT AN ADULT DIAPER. That’s how you knew I was dead serious about doing this whole rail thing in 100 degree heat.
“Stop Trying To Be God”
The day came. I woke up at 5AM to start getting ready, and I coated myself in pink makeup and glitter. I was READY to see and be seen. My parents were planning to go visit some relatives while I was at the festival, so everything worked out nicely for all of us. We picked up my friend Reina, and we ended up at the speedway around 10:20AM. We were supposed to be dropped off in a specific lot, but the people working at that lot told us to go to the Uber lot. Once we got to the Uber lot, the people working it did not let us through because my parents did not have wristbands (makes no sense, right?) so as soon as I asked to speak to the supervisor, we were let through. We were guided to a tiny parking lot, and then told to “walk straight in”.
So Reina and I did indeed walk straight, and as we passed some fences, I heard a guy say “HEY GET THAT GIRL WITH THE DIPLO SIGN” and right away a security guard came out and barked at us and told us we couldn’t be here. I explained the whole situation (the conflicting instructions we were given about getting dropped off) and told him I’d like to speak to someone higher up. It was as if it went into one of his ears and right out the other. He kept telling us pedestrians were not allowed to be down where we were, but it was as if he didn’t want to hear us out. Quite frankly, I was afraid that he was going to cut off our wristbands even though I’m sure he didn’t have the authority to do so. But seriously man chill, security and event staff do not exist to intimidate people.
Then a security manager for HARD came out, and I explained everything to him. He escorted us past the fence, and we walked towards the green entrance.
WE MADE IT.
Krystle arrived shortly after we did, and we were ready to figuratively roll, because what we were NOT about to do was touch any illegal substances, especially in 100 degree heat. I’m trying to promote a drug/alcohol free lifestyle here.
Some Insomniac employees asked us to take pictures of them, and they returned the favor for us!
“Skeletons”
By the way, Skeletons is the best song on Astroworld
Since we were the first ones there, we formed the line to get into the venue. I unzipped all the compartments in my camelbak, took my hat off, and I put all my belongings in a gallon sized ziplock bag. I even had the bladder hanging out of my pack. I wanted to get in as quickly as possible, because I knew we’d be up against Travis Scott stans to try to get that coveted front and center spot at the rail. Speaking of Travis Scott, we had ZERO intention to stay at the rail for his set. We all knew how rowdy rap shows get, so we wanted to enjoy that from the back. After all, we were at HARD for Diplo and Dillon Francis.
Security gave all of us bottles of cold water, which was a very nice touch. We got to stand in front of fans. I was glad that we got to be in the shade! More people started coming, and I started offering girls setting spray since I knew I was going to have to throw it out before going in.
I also freaked out when I saw that Mad Decent (Diplo’s label for all of u uncultured disappointments who didn’t know) had purchased a filter.
Many of you who rave will want to know for future reference – security wasn’t THAT strict. I had everything ready to go. I did have a packet of Propel powder in my clear ziplock bag, which I’m not so sure would have been allowed in (because how were they supposed to know whether it’s actually an electrolyte drink mix or not?) and I also had my diffraction goggles in a pouch. The guard checking me out did not ask to see what was in the pouch. She didn’t dig through the bag much. The patdown wasn’t too invasive either, and was given to me by a female. Males had their own line to get patdowns by males.
“God’s Plan”
Once we all got past security, we power walked (because running is bad, you wouldn’t want to run and then trip and crack your skull open amirite!!!) to the left side of the HARD stage. We were the first ones on that side, but I did my victory run anyways and we officially secured our rail spots. We were dead center, where the front barricade and center barricade meet. We really did it.
On the other side, there was a growing group of guys who were very excited to be camping for Travis Scott!
Auto Club Speedway is huge. The water station wasn’t too far from us, so we all took turns going to get food, water, and peeing during the first two sets. After that, there was absolutely no getting out of the crowd.
“Stargazing”
Being at the main stage all day meant that I was going to get to see Elohim, Petit Biscuit, San Holo, and Ghastly. While the sun was out, there were huge misting machines on both sides of the stage that would oscillate and spray everyone. It was a very nice touch, and (to me) it didn’t seem too hot because of them.
There were points when the machine on our side completely stopped, while the one on the other end was still going. It got hot so quick, and so I got out, let Ground Control know that I’d really appreciate if they could get someone to turn it back on, and then I returned to my spot.
The only downside to these machines was as it got much later, the water was overkill. Since there was a ton of dirt from the dead grass, this made things muddy. This didn’t kill the party though!
I was so excited to see San Holo, because I had been wanting to see him for a v e r y long time and I knew how good his sets were! I chilled, I vibed, but I also danced and sang.
“Welcome To The Party”
Once San Holo’s set ended, things started getting super real. I kept howling when I saw things being moved around on stage. Then we saw a race car get brought on stage… YES, an actual NASCAR race car. I knew that this set was going to blow my brains out. I began seeing people from Diplo’s camp and would scream their names, even though I knew there was no way they’d hear me. Jesus Christ my excitement was through the roof. I could not shut up. I was about to witness one of the best things of my entire lifetime. “Yaassss queen living her best life you go girl!” is an UNDERSTATEMENT because people will say that about girls just sitting around looking pretty drinking, trying to pick up a dude who has a billion STD’s. I was MUSTY from being in that same spot all day long. I was about to pee in my diaper. There was a ton of dirt all over my clothing. My makeup was coming off.
Not a single thing I mentioned above mattered when Diplo and Dillon Francis hit the stage. The guys started their set with Money Longer by Lil Uzi Vert. Their graphics featured logos with their names on them. I thought that was pretty cool, since my totem was supposed to be the Duplo and Lego logos!
Taco Dill haha… get it? The guys were also wearing custom racing suits, which I thought were really cute!
I went SO hard during their set. Two of my favorite people ever were right in front of me doing what they love the most, and that was so special to me. Their song choices were great! If you guys want to check out the video from their set, Dillon uploaded it onto his YouTube channel. How many times can you spot us? 🙂
“NEW RULES”
So for those of you who have never been to a festival or a rave, here’s some tips for you, especially if you plan on ever rail camping.
- Hydrate well the days before the event. Be sure to make Gatorade a part of your routine, and get in the habit of pacing yourself with how much water you drink.
- ARRIVE EARLY. If you want to be 10000% sure you’re getting your rail spot, plan on arriving at least an hour before the gates open. I know that at festivals many people don’t like to get there right when the doors open, and many people will also tell you that it’s not necessary to be there that early. If you want to GUARANTEED be at the rail for your favorite artist, you want to take every measure possible to ensure you’ll be getting exactly what you want. Don’t settle for being “close”. If you want rail, you need to go all out.
- Don’t bring anything that you wouldn’t want getting lost or ruined. It’s that simple. Leave the fan art, grandma’s special necklace that she passed on to your mom and then to you, your shoes that cost as much as a car payment… leave all of it at home.
- Travel light. All I had on me was a sealed deodorant, sealed bottle of sunscreen, lipstick, wet wipes, glasses, portable chargers, cash, my ID’s, and all of that was distributed in between my fanny pack and the gallon sized ziplock that went into my camelbak. There’s no need to carry your whole house with you, and you’ll be thankful you didn’t!
- Do your research on the festival and have a game plan. Try to familiarize yourself with the festival map before arriving. It’ll not only help you move around faster, but it’s also important incase of an emergency.
- HAVE A STRAP FOR YOUR PHONE. I can’t stress this enough! We all went to Walmart and bought waterproof phone pouches to have our phones hanging around our necks. It is a well known fact that at most large festivals, if someone has their phone in their pockets, it’ll get jacked before you can finish reading this sentence. They also came in handy because of all the water getting sprayed.
- INVEST IN A GOOD HYDRATION PACK. Whether you’re looking for a 2L, a 3L, or anything in between, you’re going to want to find a pack that you can use for years and years to come. I purchased this exact Camelbak at Dick’s Sporting Goods for around $160 (but of course it was cheaper on Amazon, and supply and demand made the price drop even more). My wallet was definitely violated, but I made a really good investment. It definitely didn’t match my outfit, but I feel like quality and comfort should be prioritized. There’s plenty of good brands out there though, and you can just swap out the bladder if you’d like!
- IF YOU PLAN ON WEARING AN ADULT DIAPER… seriously just go for it. If you know you’re going to need it, there’s no shame in wearing one. I wore some booty shorts under my skirt so I could have an extra level of protection. At first it was a really weird sensation, but I got used to it and I’m glad I wore one!
This was the best night ever, and I have to end this post by saying I feel sorry for anyone who thinks going to concerts and music festivals and seeing your favorite artists is not amusing. I can’t relate.
