Did anyone else appreciate the shortened pre burn show?

Dr Dilemma · Post by **Dr Dilemma** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 12:59 pm

So as you know, the burn was going to be possibly delayed last year due to high winds caused by a dust storm. I remember listening to Playa radio and waiting for word while we [Redacted to protect the guilty] and when they finally did have a go, they weren't sure how much of a window on the weather we'd have so got people rounded up quickly and skipped most, if not all of the pre burn show and got started pretty quickly. I remember thinking to myself, "self, oh dear god why can't they do it like this EVERY year!" It was so much nicer than the usual formula of find a spot, then wait forever for it to start, then wait through a 13 hour fire dancer show that you can't see anyway, then wait some more, then FINALLY it starts and you are just worn out and your [Redacted to protect the guilty] have worn off.

Who can we bribe to get the burn to happen like it did last year again. I mean, we all love fire dancing and all, but it always goes on WAAAAAAY too long.

ism · Post by **ism** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:27 pm

I think I lucked out...I arrived about a half hour before the bitch burned. Front row, fire spinning rocked. Of course, I had a perma-grin, thanks to some nice canadian comrades. Visuals were fun, made the whole trip worth while.

To be announced, though...yeah, most of us will be too wasted to pay attention, but I've got my trusty back-up step-dad that pays attention to everything...

This is a throw back to the the old days, and a complaint on "how it used to be", huh?

BurningJim · Post by **BurningJim** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:11 pm

I would have appreciated a longer pre-show. I realize the weather/wind prevented that. I'm looking forward to more fire this year

ism · Post by **ism** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:49 pm

Where I was sitting, it was bad-ass! 9 o'clock, front row...the fire dancers kicked it...and not just a sloopy jaunt, they kicked it!!! They kicked it hard!

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:15 pm

ism wrote:Where I was sitting, it was bad-ass! 9 o'clock, front row...the fire dancers kicked it...and not just a sloopy jaunt, they kicked it!!! They kicked it hard!

That is where I was - wearing turnouts and watching the fun.

Post by **AntiM** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:56 am

Our section, they didn't let the conclave spin. Those over at nine weren't supposed to light up.

lordgrizz · Post by **lordgrizz** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:20 am

Im with kestrel on this one. I really liked wandering around the perimeter of the man with out some one yelling at me to sit down. There are a shit ton of opportunities for the amazing fire spinner/dancer/performers to do their thing on the playa. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some fire dancers. The truncated burn last year just seemed a lot more natural to the event.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:55 am

Not having the fire spinners and poi players left a deep sense of regret in my soul.

Something must be done to ensure that the wind is not blowing like that on Saturday EVER AGAIN !!

Maybe we could build an Arena around Man in future years....complete with stadium seating ???

also......

BRING BACK the DPW Parade before they let the kids spin the fire.

It was always a treat to see all of those who helped build the city drive around the Man in thier
poorly constructed "artcars", regardless of thier lack of originality.

at least some of them had BIG pyro effects back then.............

* crawls back under the big rock I crawled out from under *

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:49 am

Ah. Sitting on the Esplanade, on the Contraption with good friends...a pretty nice way to see the burn, no preshow from that distance, but not having to deal with the freaky crowds when the energy changes...

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:24 am

Yep, with 50k in attendance, relatively few people actually get to see the fire dancers. We stopped trying a few years ago and now really enjoy watching from some lawn chairs out by some of the nearby art installations (keeps you from being run over in your lawn chair.)

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:52 pm

I left mid-morning to beat the exodus. I'll do the same this year. Go early and leave early. I'm starting a new trend.....

But I do have to say for the past 5 years before , we sat at the temple. Just gotta love the burn from the Temple. Words just can't describe the energy.

Dr Dilemma · Post by **Dr Dilemma** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:22 pm

Yeah, to be clear I love watching the fire dancers, its just that for a good majority of people waiting, you can't see or hear a damn thing so you have to sit there patiently waiting, and waiting and waiting some more for something you can actually see to start. If you are one of the few that are either high up in something or way up front in a primo spot, then yeah it looks fantastic. But in community events people have to think about what is going to be the best experience for the majority of people.

It would seem to make more sense to me for the fire dancers to be doing their thing much earlier, as people are gathering and could actually see them .

It's kinda ironic that the world's biggest constructed exercise in impermanence would have so many people so afraid to change. Hmmmm makes you think.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:32 am

I know several fire dancers who were really upset about their show being cancelled because they'd practiced and prepared so much for it, and I sorta feel bad for them...

BUT...

I really didn't want to see their goddamm fire twirling on burn night! Light the Man!

I hate the long pre-burn show that hardly anyone gets to see anyway. It's done more for the benefit of the people who want to go do it, not nearly so much for the benefit of the rest of us, no matter what they try to tell us. If it was really for us and not for themselves, they'd listen to us and not do it!

Sensei · Post by **Sensei** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:53 am

This is blasphemy!

Sure, it's basically the Orange Bowl halftime show year after year after year, but it's our Orange Bowl halftime show, dammit!

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:18 am

They made the DPW go off and do thier parade on thier own time...........

................just saying.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:21 pm

start grumble*

why cant we go back to the good old days of "Uncontrolled and Unscheduled" burns, like Drano, the biggest little shitty on Earth.

or like when the steam cannon exploded when the molten metal hit the wet clay and scattered white hot shrapnel into the crowds...

now THAT was fun....

end of grumble*

Post by **mdmf007** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:12 pm

Simon of the Playa wrote:start grumble*

why cant we go back to the good old days of "Uncontrolled and Unscheduled" burns, like Drano, the biggest little shitty on Earth.

or like when the steam cannon exploded when the molten metal hit the wet clay and scattered white hot shrapnel into the crowds...

now THAT was fun....

end of grumble*

That would work when there were only 5-8000 persons showing up, but with 50000 people in attendance the mayhem would be unfathomable. Chaos, and more than one death would result and the event would be banned by officials. IMO

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:59 pm

i know.

i was just grumbling.

now leave me alone, and let me be a stereotype, will ya.

Post by **mdmf007** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 7:11 pm

PavementBlues · Post by **PavementBlues** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:40 am

Agreed! Or rather, we should make the fire show fifteen minutes long and bring back the DPW. I never got to see that, but I just want to see the fucking DPW guys doing a parade. They seem like folks that would know how to do one.

Also, did anyone else notice that when the Man's left arm fell, it looked like he was saluting?

I appreciated that he was following theme.

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:01 am

PavementBlues wrote:Agreed! Or rather, we should make the fire show fifteen minutes long and bring back the DPW. I never got to see that, but I just want to see the fucking DPW guys doing a parade. They seem like folks that would know how to do one.

Also, did anyone else notice that when the Man's left arm fell, it looked like he was saluting?

I appreciated that he was following theme.

Yeah if your into mad max meets sense of entitlement get out of my way we built this place and can do what we want parades.

MoisturePup · Post by **MoisturePup** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 2:22 pm

I've been pretty bored with the burn for the last few years. So two years ago I stayed in camp and watched it from the roof of our camp truck. This year I went to the art car ring and partied with the art cars. Not once was I told to sit down. Not once did my ass hurt from sitting on the hard playa. Free drinks from art car bars, music to keep the energy high.

Thankfully they skipped the conclave that we wouldn't have been able to see anyway.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:14 am

Also, did anyone else notice that when the Man's left arm fell, it looked like he was saluting?

that was not a sieg heil. you never saw it. it did'nt happen. you have not stumbled into a secret enclave of neo-neo-nazis. now go back to sleep. when you wake up you will remember nothing of this forum.

and in 5,4,3,2, you are now awake and Burning man Loves you...

now kill for him.

ism · Post by **ism** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:04 am

AntiM wrote:Our section, they didn't let the conclave spin. Those over at nine weren't supposed to light up.

I must've been at a different burn...I saw an awesome show. It was so freaky I was worried my little sister would have a seizure, and I'm not shitting.

Someone mention the "mood" change, though...no joke. When people are ready to rush the man, it didn't feel near as "happy-go-lucky". As soon as they started rushing, I went the other way through the crowd and finish my night off perma-grinning and being a dark tard, until some hot chick took pity on me and lite me up.

Next year, more glowies and blinkies, didn't have enough, more Jack and Reds, too, didn't have enough of that, either.

PavementBlues · Post by **PavementBlues** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:26 pm

ism wrote:Someone mention the "mood" change, though...no joke. When people are ready to rush the man, it didn't feel near as "happy-go-lucky".

I enjoyed the rush of the Man in 2007. It felt very raw and intense, and when everyone got to the Man they started running in circles at full speed, kicking up a tornado of dust and yelling. This year was weird, though. People just sort of walked/awkwardly jogged when they reached the flames, and then some of them started burning pictures of Bush and making the thing political.

Blech.

ism · Post by **ism** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:47 am

I would've liked to seen something like that. My sd, and hs, and I got seperated right at the take off. His daughter and all. Made it back to camp, even though I still think he needs watching.

We went back out, and saw a bunch of hippies coupling up by the fire. Nice site, don't get me wrong, but just the "tng-tang-ting"...honestly...I had my camelback, I should've went all Lawrence on the shit and sat afar, but I followed my sd.

once it gets down to burn night, it seem's that there's nothing but inclusion...or exclusion...I didnt want to test it...I didn"t want people with me to, either..too many people around..too many places to watch and not enough protection. Had my little sister not been there I would have followed a group of people...had my Step not appeared at camp after we dumped her I would've been the wanderer...living in CA, now.

Did anyone else appreciate the shortened pre burn show?

Did anyone else appreciate the shortened pre burn show?

Shortened Pre-Show?

Bored