The Future Goes Better With State Parks
We’ve got a real doozy of an announcement to make today. Being late summer, if you live in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles and…
- love punk rock
- enjoy stand-up comedy
- just like lurking around community-based independent music festivals
- or all of the above
…you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Hey, isn’t F Yeah Fest # 6 supposed to be happening soon?” Yes, you’d be right.
Indeed, if you’re in one of hundreds of bands from around the world that has played FYFest over the years, you’re probably wondering, “What has that wily Sean Carlson conjured up this time? And, will I be roped into playing it?” Yes, you probably will be.
At 23 years old, to already have six festivals under his belt is either a testament to Carlson’s vague genius and gargantuan will power or its an ode to our collective powers of mass amnesia. Every year he manages to add more bands, more venues, more comedians, more contests and more mayhem… and yet, he always pulls it off. Everyone goes away having had a great time and at least one transcendent musical moment— if not five—if not fifty.
So, after many months of planning, Incase Music & Events is very excited to announce we’ve come aboard as the main sponsor of this year’s F Yeah Fest. However, things are waaaay different this time around. Instead of simply throwing an indie music fest here in the hood, Sean and his cohort Phil Hoelting (tour manager/Crystal Antlers) have decided to make F Yeah Fest a celebration with a purpose. Namely, drawing attention to Govenor Schwarzenegger’s multi-million-dollar budget cut to the California State Parks Department. In a show of solidarity, FYFest is gonna spend the day outside!
Renamed Save Our State Parks, the fest happens Sept. 5th at the beautiful Los Angeles State Historic Park situated between Chinatown and Downtown LA. This all-day concert will feature more than 25 independent bands on two massive stages, loads of stand-up comedians, endless trailers of taco carts & other food vendors, and thousands of indie rockers & hipster lurk-logz all coming out to enjoy music and celebrate California’s beloved State Parks.
Bands not to miss: F*cked Up, Black Lips, Lightning Bolt, No Age, Glass Candy, and Cold Cave. More to be announced in coming days! Guaranteed to be a good time for a great cause. *And we haven’t even mentioned FYF’s upcoming Walk-a-thon for Charity (Sept 19th), the Annual LA Scavenger Hunt (Sept 26th!) or the Fall ‘09 FYF Tour across North America and Iceland. So much music & events, our heads are caving in.
FYF & Incase Present:
‘SAVE OUR STATE PARKS’
Outdoor Concert & FunFest
Los Angeles State Historic Park
Sept 5th, 2009
The Future of America Loves Incase
This past Sunday & Monday, August 23-24th, Incase was at CalTopia screening Tony Mech-illustrated tote bags and discussing our range of Fall 09 products. What is CalTopia you ask? Good question. It is the biggest student orientation fair in the known universe and it happens every year on the UC Berkeley Campus. For two days 37,000 students + their families & friends show up to learn about California schools and sample food and other products. All kinds of stuff…. Mountains of free giveaway products, miles of food, oceans of beverages, piles of pamphlets…. The fair is designed to let incoming college kids know about all the many things awaiting them in the California university system—good and bad.
Our onsite production manager for CalTopia was none other than celebrated rock photographer & epic rager Michelle Pullman (a/k/a The Shellzbot). Here’s her recap of the event. Take it away Shellzbot!:
The Incase booth at Cal Topia was by far the most exciting. The event took place in a gymnasium and many of the vendors worked the crowd with noisemakers and ring toss games. Whereas our booth had a colorful onsite screen-printing activation, a bin-station full of free product, and an excellent group of five fun people to talk to. Kids lined up and waited 2 hours for our tote bags. They were very excited about watching the screen-printing as it took place.
Throughout the two days I overheard people say many times that the wait was worth it. It was a good opportunity for students to get to know each other better before the first day of school. They didn’t stick around to hang out at any of the other booths. Not everyone enjoyed the wait though. One kid curled his index finger at me, urging me over to the farthest quietest corner of the booth and offered to “help me out” (with cash) if I could hook him up with a tote bag. I smiled sweetly and said, “Sorry dude!” The students loved our free bin station and couldn’t get enough, really. Every time they went for the plunge and were thrilled with their new iPhone and iPod cases, Notebook Sleeves and Incase stickers!
At the beginning of our second day we already had a line out the door. Wild. People said they’d heard about our booth from friends that had been there on the first day. Many people asked me about our range of products. They wanted to buy them off of me but I directed them to the Student Store. One girl wanted a Notebook Sleeve from us because she said she liked the simplicity of our designs over other vendors. Several people proudly waved their iPhones at me, already sporting Incase covers! We were definitely the life of the party. The Target people even came over and told us so. They were a little jealous, but they couldn’t help but love us. They got Incase totes too.
The BBQ is Dead. Viva La BBQ!
Ohhhh, sigh…. four months of free barbecue & mellow buzz action has now come to a close. So sad. Last Wednesday marked Finger On The Pulse’s final Summer BBQ Blow Out at the Hope Lounge in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
From May through August ‘09, come rain or shine, brothers Greg & Darin Bresnitz provided the neighborhood with the mellowest mid-week lurk in town. Friends + FREE BBQ + free beer + legendary chefs + good tunes + free Incase products. Everybody just lazin’ around with full bellies…. Summery Wednesday nights at an indoor/outdoor lounge…. Sounds pretty good. And now, sniffle… sniffle, it is over.
Here’s what Greg Bresnitz had to say about the final BBQ (note—the reference to 250 people eating “pork belly” makes his email recap an instant Incase blog classic).
“We had great weather and one of the best turnouts for the final BBQ. 250 people came through and ate more pork belly than was humanly possible. The Dap-Kings spun throughout the night and kept the crowd moving with deep soul cuts. People grabbed up the Incase products as soon as they came in and were showing them off to each other. It was a great night.” —Greg
Thanks again to the Bresnitz Brothers, no doubt Incase & FOTP will cook up another Music & Food series again together quite soon. Stay tuned.
Swimming With Sharks Rooftop Pool Party #2: Shark Attack!
Sometimes a dude just has to get out of town and play motorcycle soccer for a few days. So last weekend we had our friend Baby Kelley, (a/k/a The Bubba) shoot photos for us at the Standard Hotel’s Swimming With Sharks rooftop pool party. If you don’t know The Bubba, here are a few qualifications worth noting:
- She outfits hot lurkers & human babies with hand-drawn sloth bear t-shirts.
- She recently recorded the rap track “Shake It Like a Single Mom”.
- Via her legendary LA public access variety show, she wrecks minds with The Mystical & Magical Show Show
- She plays boingy noise guitar in God’s Gang
- And last but not least, she runs three super brilliant blogs:
And her three favorite things are kitty paws, PBR and minimalist industrial design. Basically, Baby K is a one-woman exercise in takin’ it easy, gettin’ weird and havin’ the right ‘tude for the job. Asking her to shoot half-cocked, blurry event photos at the Swimming With Sharks pool party worked out great! It appears a fine lurk was again had by all— lots of splashin’ and spazzin’ out with Incase water guns and Slider Cases for iPod and iPhone. Thanks to the Standard Hotel and MFG Productions (JMZ Outlaw, Matt & Mahtab). Enjoy the photos! Thanks, Bubba.
Be on the lookout for future guest photog & brog-log from our heavy bro—The Shellzbot.
Another Swimming With Sharks Pool Party
Last month’s Swimming With Sharks pool party—SURPRISE!!!—turned out to be a totally worthwhile lurk in the sun. Great tunes, good BBQ, harsh golden dudes, cold brews, and uber babes in the right shoes. See photos for proof.
Thanks to James Outlaw & his cohorts at MFG Productions, we’ve decided to do it again this Saturday, August 15th. Free Incase squirt-guns battles, Free Slider Cases for iPhone 3G & iPod touch. This time around, Baby Kelley from the Butt Blog & Professor Von Slothheim is gonna be our guest events photographer, so watch out. She’s all about it. To MAKE IT HAPPEN RSVP.
Swimming With Sharks Pool Party
Standard Hotel Rooftop Pool
This Saturday!
August 15th
Finger On The Pulse BBQ #3
Upon reading Greg Bresnitz’s email recapping this past Wednesday’s Incase-sponsored Summer BBQ Blowout #3, I’ve decided we’re not gonna bother trying to explain. Sounds too hectic, too fun and way too wet. Here it is straight from Greg’s Finger On The Pulse fingers to you:
“It was a monsoon the entire day through the night. Despite that we had people standing in line in buckets waiting for Sam Mason’s food (Head Chef at Tailor). We sold out in an hour and half, the fasted of any BBQ. I guess Tailor and a recession really gets people to sacrifice comfort for amazing food. Sorry for the delay, we are painting the apartment.”
My favorite part of his email is that last bit about “painting the apartment.” In the relatively short span of nine days, Brothers Greg & Darin Bresnitz have successfully managed to party like wild manimals at Pitchfork in Chicago, play records at Swimming With Sharks in LA, and produce a BBQ during a monsoon in Brooklyn. Now they’re painting the interior of their new TV studio/professional kitchen/production office/dance party loft apartment. Of course. If you attended the BBQ, kudos for braving the weather. Chef Mason’s food is plenty worth it.
BBQ #4 happens at the Hope Lounge on Wednesday, August 26th. This will be the final BBQ of the series (and possibly your last chance this summer to lurk/score free Incase Slider Cases for iPhone & iPod). Take a zillion! Pass ‘em around.
Until then, please enjoy Nicky Digital’s photos of the BBQ series.
Squirt-guns, Tight Buns & Bad Puns
Only 72-hours after saying goodbye in Chicago to the Bresnitz brothers (from Brooklyn’s Finger On The Pulse Productions), I found myself yet again in their sonic grasp at Saturday’s Swimming With Sharks rooftop pool party in Downtown Los Angeles. From New York to Chicago to Los Angeles in less than a week, these twins get around. Both always rocking that classic identical glasses, beards, tank tops, no shoes vibe… It’s like constantly seeing a variation of the same guy in two places at once. Trippy. How they have time to throw their Incase-sponsored Summer BBQ Blowout Series at Brooklyn’s Hope Lounge while also djing their asses off around the globe and producing Dinner With The Band on the IFC Network, I will never understand.
As a general rule, hipster hotel pool parties can be a real crapshoot, especially when promoters are looking to attract that Chrome Hearts crowd, (you know what I mean), but fortunately Matt & James of MFG Productions were handling the hysterics. Creators of the long-running Dance Right events, day or night these two lurkers know how to make a party feel like you’re relaxing in your own living room, albeit with 400 screaming, wet, spastic teenagers-for-life running around wearing little to no clothing.
This installment of LA’s now legendary pool party was about 85% more bonkers than I figured it would be. Between the rooftop pool’s panoramic city views and the Incase-branded squirt-gun wars; to the blazing bikini situations and random muscle dudes with bad tattoos; to the deeply mind blowing Goth chicks with vampire teeth (wearing black knit swimsuits, velvet capes and platform boots); to the exceptional DJ skills of Mr. James Pants *[that was for you Apple & Rachel]; to the creepy/funny contests dreamed up by James Outlaw, (of course); to the free BBQ; to Totally Tammy’s crushing yellow outfit and Baby Kelley indiscreetly shooting photos for her burgeoning “Butt Blog“… — the party was total chaos. Wonderful, barely contained chaos.
Winners of the gummy worm/make-out/whipped cream/balloon contests went spazztastic for their Incase gift packages (nylon backpacks, neoprene sleeves and Slider Cases for iPhone & iPod). Like, you’ve never seen dudes without shirts so stoked in their lives. Check the photos, you’ll see what I’m saying. So much happy.
Now that the June gloom is gone, it’s summer here in Los Angeles; people are finally out of their shells and enjoying themselves. Thanks to MFG & Finger On The Pulse for throwing such a quality poolside lurk.
Enjoy the photos!
Swimming With Sharks Pool Party
Incase is sponsoring the Swimming With Sharks pool party at the Downtown LA Standard Hotel. Happens this weekend, Saturday, July 25th. We will be on hand gifting Slider Cases for iPod & iPhone, as well as doling out prize packages to contest winners, etc….
Incase at Pitchfork Music Festival 2009
Now in its 5th year, it is just about time for the Pitchfork Music Festival and its 55,000 attendees to again swoop down on Chicago’s Union Park. Held over the course of three long, loud days & nights, Pitchfork is by far and away the most anticipated outdoor music event of the summer. Most anticipated that is, if you’re an indie rocker in skinny jeans with an ear for clanky-clonky twee jams made by other indie rockers in skinny jeans. Psyche! That’s not entirely true.
In addition to 39 other celebrated independent acts from across the musical spectrum, this year Pitchfork plays host to the behemoth reunion of The Jesus Lizard, hands down one of the greatest live bands of all time.
As a sponsor of this year’s festival, Incase will be on hand with bin stations spread out around the events grounds gifting attendees with a rainbow avalanche of free slider cases for iPod & iPhone. Also, be sure to stop by Pitchfork’s Recycling Store for additional Incase prizes and recycling contest giveaways.
Word to the wise— Wear a hat, drink water. Maybe bring a sheet or small blanket, you’re gonna want to lay down now and again. Seriously.
Have fun, we hope to see you there.
July 17, 18, 19th
Union Park
Chicago, IL
BFF SF
The Bicycle Film Festival is starting today SF. There is way too much to do and see, so make sure to check the schedule and plan accordingly.
