Posted: April 10, 2015 | Written by Alejandra García
Spring time is festival season. Among the many is Burgerama, where the stage and the mosh pit fused and created a different kind of spark which Burger Records built between burger fans and burger artists.
There’s nothing better than that, not only is the weather great for wearing shorts or floral mini skirts, but it’s also the time to start crowd surfing and dancing to the fresh tunes of your favorite bands.
Burger Records held it’s fourth Burgerama festival this year with Weezer, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Ty Seagall at The Observatory venue in Santa Ana. The two day festival was on consecutive hyperactivity with burger fanatics moshing and head banging to the beat of any music that came their way.
If you’ve never been to The Observatory, it’s known to be a small venue, but the small record label has experience in pulling this together. The festival consisted of three stages. Two stages which were indoors, the Observatory stage and Constellation stage. The Rama stage was outdoors and held bigger acts such as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Ty Seagall.
As an editor of a college newspaper, I delayed in requesting for a press pass and didn’t obtain one. However, as the active journalist but poor student that I am, I only bought the second day ticket and basked in the experience.
Day two of Burgerama was probably not as hyped up as the first day, yet there was so many great performances that burger fans couldn’t help to keep the party going.
Meatbodies, a local band from the LA area, put on a fun show to watch. They had a full house on the Observatory stage. A sea of people could be seen from the bar area, and they bounced up and down making a crazy wave effect. The music was infectious; you couldn’t help but to head bang just a little. This stoner heavy metal vibe brings to the mind the cult classic film “Wayne’s World” mixed with the children’s T.V. show “Adventure Time.”
Followed by Meatbodies was The Aquadolls. Their surf pop jams were a complete opposite from the previous band, but they proved to be equally as groovy. Plenty of moshers still remained for their set as they performed love inspired songs “Our Love Will Always Remain” and “Wander.” Lead singer, Melissa Brooks, also introduced a new track that night, “Girl Riot.”
On the Constellation stage was Canadian musician Michael Rault. The smaller stage provided a better experience, as getting front row was easier with the only consequence being how hot the space got with many people trying to catch a glimpse of the show.
Rault captured the audience’s attention with his catchy guitar hooks and when he began to sing, the show only got better. He performed his singles “Nothing Means Nothing,” and “Still Not Sad.” His psychedelic inspired songs left a spell as much of the audience just stared as he jammed along side his band.
Ty Seagall’s set was one of the most anticipated. Burger fans swarmed any area within the vicinity of the stage. Seagall would growl into the microphone as fans would echo the growl back to him. The stage itself got crowded with Burger musicians watching and singing along to “Girlfriend.” Seagall closed his performance with a rendition of Black Sabbath’s cult hit “Paranoid.”
Friendly vibes were all around, and the whole event felt like a huge party that everyone wished would last longer. Strangers danced together, shared food, and bummed cigarettes from one another becoming instant friends. So it’s safe to say that no violence ever occurred during my time there, even though there was a rumor that a fire occurred during Ty Seagall’s set.
As both music lovers and fans of having a good time, the boundaries between artists and fans is completely blurred, adding to the immense sense of community this record label has created.
Even if it was crowd surfing, musicians interacting with the audience, signing t-shirts or an artist safekeeping a record for a fan until the end of the night, the obvious barrier fades with fun.
