In the early part of the day, my friends and neighbors and I spent most of our time hanging out at the tent trying to stay warm. The neighbors were smart enough to bring a little grill and whipped up some hot dogs for lunch. 

I really thought I would have more of a drive to go out and do EVERYTHING I could possibly fit into my schedule while I'm here. However, the more new people I meet the more I really just enjoy hanging around and talking with them, then maybe going for a walk around the grounds before heading to a show. 

And that's exactly what I did. In the evening my friends and I left to go watch Earthgang, who I had never heard of before this weekend but now love, then hung around to watch Clairo and Bob Moses. It's cool how the music at this festival can go from rap to indie to house and still feel like it's perfectly timed. 

After watching those sets, we hiked back to the tent to grab more layers, as South Florida decided to be freezing for Okee. We hung out for about an hour before I met up with the neighbors to head to Vampire Weekend. 

While preparing to leave the tent for the main stages, I witnessed the creation of an abomination which is know known as the "Pirate Trash Can." The Pirate Trash Can, as created by my neighbors, combines strawberry lemonade, Malibu dark rum, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. I was not brave enough to try it, as it managed to smell like both sunscreen and bread at the same time, but apparently it wasn't the worst drink they had ever tasted. 

Vampire Weekend's set was easily the most entertaining thing I've ever watched. All the instruments come together to make this groovy, psychedelic sound, but they can also switch to funk and edgey pop with ease. They also had the best visuals, so it was an awesome experience. I pity anyone who watched me dancing, because I did not hold back. 

Next came Tipper, who I had never heard of before tonight, but quickly learned is a BIG deal. His set was at a smaller side stage, which I think took away from the performance. I couldn't hardly see the visuals for his set due to the crowd, but I could feel the bass in my chest before I could even see the stage. Tipper makes music for ragers, and people who dance with their whole entire body. I am not one of those people, but I could definitely appreciate the energy. 

Following Tipper, I didn't hardly have enough energy to keep my eyes open, so we headed back to the tent for bed. Today I'm interviewing the band Flipturn and watching Hippie Sabotage and Mumford and Sons perform. Be on the lookout for my final update and interview with Flipturn! 

I woke up around 8, thanks to the stagnant heat in the tent. After chilling out and eating a quick breakfast, I changed into my outfit for the day and headed out with the friends I came with. A lot of groups set up tents in one section and handed out information about their cause. We were given stamp cards and received a free pair of boxers (?) for talking with 4 of the groups. My favorite people to talk to were a group of veterans. I noticed one of them was wearing FSU gear, so naturally I had to hit him with a few of my favorite trash talk jokes. He was a good sport about it though. 

After walking around we went back to the tent to catch a nap. I can’t sleep in the heat though, so I just went to the neighbors for a while. We shopped around for cool festival gear and took another ride on the ferris wheel, which is super cool at golden hour. Festival gear is SUPER expensive, which is funny considering it’s actually very little clothing. We also got to pet some dogs that were very fat and nice, so that was a stand out highlight from the day. 

Gunna performed at 8:20, and he’s probably the artist I was most excited to see perform for the whole weekend. I was upset when his set only lasted 30 minutes, but it was the best 30 minutes of the festival so far. He was super engaged with the audience and was trying very hard to get security to open the barriers so people could go nuts, but unfortunately security was lame about it. Even still, the crowd was INSANE and it was incredibly hype. 

After Gunna we were mostly just waiting for Bassnectar, but watched Big Universe’s set in the meantime. They had very bright, trippy visuals and some awesome bass drops. Another group, Big G, came on and they managed to combine dubstep with a SAXOPHONE. And the dude on the sax absolutely killed it. 

It was also EXTREMELY cold after the sun went down, which I did not pack for. I can’t believe the week there’s a cold front in South Florida is Okeechobeefest. 

Things heated up when Bassnectar came on and the crowd piled in. His show was over an hour long but it felt like it was no longer than 20 minutes, just because of how fast paced and intense it all was. I have never seen a more... physical crowd. People were RAGING. But I guess this is the place to be for raging. 

The range in temperature at night from day 1 to day 2 made sleeping in the tent very interesting. Last night was FREEZING, but I managed to get a few hours of some good sleep. Washing my hair this morning has been the highlight of the day so far, but I’m sure Vampire Weekend Bob Moses will top it. More updates to come! 

Some of the stress is my fault, as I waited until 1 a.m. to go to sleep Wednesday night and woke up at 4:30 Thursday to finish the packing I’ve been procrastinating for like a week. BUT, I finished the task. 

My friends (Sara, Seth and Tucker) and I left at 7:45 Thursday. The map said it would take a little over 3 hours to get here. It lied. 

Traffic wasn’t too bad until we approached the exit for a town that is, no joke, named Yeehaw Junction. It took almost 2 hours to drive a mile and a half to the exit. After finally making it into the place where I got my media credential, it was another 2 hours to the festival grounds. It is also worth mentioning that my friends were passed out the entire time and NO ONE offered to drive a shift. So friends, if you’re reading this, you suck. 

Despite my exhaustion, we arrived safely and set up camp in about 30 minutes. The neighbors around us were all super friendly, so I was able to hit it off with them pretty quick. We’ve been hanging out ever since. 

After exploring around the festival for a bit and taking a ride on the ferris wheel, we stopped to watch our first set. It was by this DJ that goes by Said the Sky, and it was INCREDIBLE. His set was super high energy and combined new music I’ve never heard with classics like “Fireflies” by Owl City. Again, it was amazing. 

Arizona performed next and I heard about half of their set before I passed out on the lawn for like an hour from exhaustion. It was for the best though, because I had to prepare myself for Rüfüs Du Sol. They were the headliner for Thursday and my friends and I LOVE them.

Their set didn’t disappoint, and when they wrapped up we headed back to the tent to catch some sleep. It’s day 2 now and I’m counting down the hours to Gunna and Bassnectar! Updates coming soon.