Woogie Weekend turns wild and wet at Oak Canyon Park
Joe Giuliano on
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Only months after the ever-growing Lightning in a Bottle festival, the Do LaB’s beloved Woogie stage was granted its own festival. The inaugural Woogie Weekend, with its two classic Woogie-themed sister stages featuring house music and assorted variations of EDM, descended upon historical LIB territory at the fan-favorite Oak Canyon Park in Orange County.
Plagued by environmental disaster for the preceding week, it’s amazing that Woogie Weekend made it through the entire three days with only a few noticeable scrapes and bruises. First was the forest fire that took down a few hundred acres and forced evacuation of the campground only a few days before the festival’s doors opened. Also, and perhaps ironically, the festival nearly had to shut down as the skies opened up and dumped much needed rain on festival-goers Saturday and Sunday. Sunday’s downpour was so bad that attendees were floating around the flooded grounds on air mattresses. In a region plagued by drought, however, nearly everyone was celebrating the rain as if they were part of some sacred tribal rain dance.
Because the new event was hosted by festival aficionados the Do LaB, the environmental attacks were only speed bumps in an otherwise smooth weekend. Where many organizers would have figuratively and literally drowned, the Do LaB pulled through with another successful event to add to their repertoire. To everyone’s satisfaction, they will almost certainly be back next year for round two. With nostalgia from previous LIBs at this location, the hype reputation of the Woogie stage, and top-notch talent, Woogie Weekend is easily a recipe for success.
Highlights of the weekend were Tara Brooks’ haunting set of deep house under menacing grey skies and flashing red lights on Saturday night, Mikey Lion bringing the Desert Hearts presence that ended minutes before the storm turned the beautiful sunny Sunday into a drenched muddy party/native rain dance, after-hours sets by DJ Sabo at sunrise and Jamie Schwabl‘s daytime live set at the RevoLounge, and, of course, Lee Burridge and Friends’ “All Day I Dream” takeover that soldiered on through the storm late into the night Sunday evening.
The Do LaB returns to Oak Canyon Park on Oct. 2-4 with the Dirtybird Campout, a co-production with Dirtybird Records that features Claude Vonstroke, Justin Martin, Lee Foss, Daniel Bell, Nosaj Thing and more. Three-day passes for that event start at $145.
Holy CRAP! That’s my drone!! great shot!!!
Is there a way to get a full res copy?!
[…] Last year’s inaugural Woogie Weekend was a soggy affair, but promoters are hoping for better this year, hosting two stages (“The Hive” and “The Beat Nest”) with an array of electronic artists. […]