LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE 2024 DID NOT DISAPPOINT. It was just last week that we were living in a magical Do Lab dream and we are already missing it. This year’s festival included some amazing music, art, movement, workshops, bodywork, and so much more.
Welcome to Buena Vista Lake
While the truly committed LIB-ers arrived on Wednesday, we pulled up Thursday afternoon amazed to discover box office and security lines with virtually no wait. Despite the festival being in a truly remote location, getting in and getting settled could not have been easier. Even without being the first to arrive, our group secured a prime camping spot in the GA Sunset camp that ended up being only a 10 minute walk to the main Lightning Stage.
The Do Lab gets five gold stars in the camping category this year. Squeaky clean porta potties all weekend long, LIB rangers prepared to assist with any trouble or emergency situations, and terrain that partially included grass (not straight dust, we’ll take it!)
Photo by @jamal.eid
The Music
Let’s kick off with some of the spicy sets we saw during the weekend. Thursday night was for settling in and just getting started. We thought we were going for some chill wubs at The Stacks, only to discover Mythm was not messing around! After we got our fix of metaphorical rail riding, we popped over to House queen, Honey Dijon at Woogie.
Friday is when things started to get extra saucy. All in one day we had sets from Oakk, PawPaw Rod, Machinedrum, Mura Masa, James Blake, ISOxo, and Skream (dubstep set.) Skream’s dubstep set featured an ultra silly emcee, marking this one as the best set of the entire weekend.
Saturday was a morning full of workshops and exploring, with the wubs coming out at night. Featured favorites included Of The Trees, Josh Teed, and Tipper. The crowd for Of The Trees at the Thunder stage was a little too crowded and stressful to fully get to vibe out, but fortunately this took us to The Stacks to see Josh Teed. We already knew it, but Josh Teed is a legend! His set was insane. ‘Day ‘N Night’ flip with violin accompaniment was wild. Tipper closed the evening out, to seal the day with a chef’s kiss.
Sunday featured the infamous surprise Rufus Du Sol set at The Junkyard Stage. It was fire, but an interesting stage choice with a lot of sound bleed from the DNB set playing simultaneously at Thunder. M.I.A. put on a dazzling performance in her 5G protective gear, alongside her golden backup dancers. CloZee played one of the best sets of the entire weekend and had people literally dancing in the trees. To close the weekend out, Skrillex delivered all of the bangers, and fireworks (okay!)
Expand Your Mind – Movement, Workshops & Panels
Lightning in a Bottle is such a special place because the experiences, the art, and the learning are all just as important as the music. Throughout the weekend, there are dozens of lectures and panels that are truly eye-opening. We stumbled upon a few talks that absolutely captivated us as much as the music.
On Thursday evening, we were able to drop in, in community, and set some intentions before the party picked up. The Women’s Circle: Embrace Sacred Sisterhood with Vaza Racinet was a lovely bubble of peace and connection for women to drop in with themselves and each other after arriving to this overwhelming alt-reality.
On Friday, we started the day with Molly Barber’s Awakening Alchemy Morning Yoga Flow. This was a personal favorite of the weekend!
On Saturday, we went over to Yoga Luna for Joyful Flow in the morning and then Yoga Sol for Embodied Breath Somatic Movement in the afternoon. This was a great way to ground and check in with the breath and body before a night full of dancing.
On Sunday, respected Apache elder, Grandmother Twila, told connection to Mother Earth Apache creation stories at the Oracle Cauldron. We absolutely loved this offering, especially knowing that Grandmother Twila is one of a few respected Indigenous elders around to share this wisdom with us all, following the pandemic.
@aniwa.co
“When we walk on Mother Earth, she hears our heartbeat. And when she hears us, she doesn’t see color. She doesn’t see ethnicity. She doesn’t see religion. She doesn’t see ceremony. She hears our heart.” -Twila Cassadore (Apache – United States) This year at Aniwa Gathering, Twila Cassadore will lead participants through a healing connection with Mother Earth. This offering will teach how to work with stones to release stress, grief and negative energy and receive the blessings of teachings, togetherness, and connection to life. She will also share a beautiful story of the Indeh (Apache) beginning and healing, the story of creation. This is about a time when people were sick- from greed- and worldliness- and how a great gathering came about, where healers came together to pray for the people- where visions were brought to life to heal people, similar to Aniwa Gathering in some ways. There’s still time to join the magic of Aniwa Gathering! It’s almost our favorite time of the year and we are so grateful to be able to share it with you! Aniwa Gathering 2023 is exactly 1 week away. We can’t wait to connect with new and old family in a magical container where we all get to come together for a heart opening experience to encourage personal and collective growth, cultural exchange, and deep connection with the planet. Participants of all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to receive ancient teachings from all over the planet- sacred tools that can be used throughout a lifetime. Led by 40 world-renowned indigenous leaders, discover the transformative power of ancient wisdom as we plant seeds of change for future generations. Join us in Big Bear, CA, from June 8th to 11th for an unforgettable opportunity to come together and plant seeds of change for future generations. Single Day Passes are now available. www.aniwagathering.com Video edited by: @dirtysurf
♬ original sound – Aniwa
Art & Experiences
The Do Lab has deep roots in providing unique experiences. One of their main novelty experiences involves stages that are on actual, moving cars. On top of that, there is a roller rink in the middle of the venue with a DJ jamming out all night long – free to partake! The big gem this year was The Brodega.
The Woogie stage was revamped this year, with the light up wiggly towers replaced by the flowing colorful scarves we saw at Coachella. (We kind of missed old Woogie tbh but this new installation was fun too.) Thunder stage got a little bit of glow-up with some added side walls and increased mist making the space feel more isolated…in a good way!
The Do Lab really upped the ante this year with the giant wooden Mama snail structure that you could climb into. She had babies too! Other notable interactive experiences included tesseract scultpures, live paintings, and the phone booths that connected to real people on the other side.
Photo by @Jamal.eid
Lightning in a Bottle is truly one of the wildest experiences available in the electronic scene. If you have any interest in art, enlightenment, movement, meditation, or music, this is THE fest for you. Connect with The Do Lab at any of the links below! And be sure to sign up for 2025 pre-sale.
Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – Website – 2025 Pre-Sale
Featured Image By @Jamal.eid
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE 2024 DID NOT DISAPPOINT. It was just last week that we were living in a magical Do Lab dream and we are already missing it. This year’s festival included some amazing music, art, movement, workshops, bodywork, and so much more.
Welcome to Buena Vista Lake
While the truly committed LIB-ers arrived on Wednesday, we pulled up Thursday afternoon amazed to discover box office and security lines with virtually no wait. Despite the festival being in a truly remote location, getting in and getting settled could not have been easier. Even without being the first to arrive, our group secured a prime camping spot in the GA Sunset camp that ended up being only a 10 minute walk to the main Lightning Stage.
The Do Lab gets five gold stars in the camping category this year. Squeaky clean porta potties all weekend long, LIB rangers prepared to assist with any trouble or emergency situations, and terrain that partially included grass (not straight dust, we’ll take it!)
Photo by @jamal.eid
The Music
Let’s kick off with some of the spicy sets we saw during the weekend. Thursday night was for settling in and just getting started. We thought we were going for some chill wubs at The Stacks, only to discover Mythm was not messing around! After we got our fix of metaphorical rail riding, we popped over to House queen, Honey Dijon at Woogie.
Friday is when things started to get extra saucy. All in one day we had sets from Oakk, PawPaw Rod, Machinedrum, Mura Masa, James Blake, ISOxo, and Skream (dubstep set.) Skream’s dubstep set featured an ultra silly emcee, marking this one as the best set of the entire weekend.
Saturday was a morning full of workshops and exploring, with the wubs coming out at night. Featured favorites included Of The Trees, Josh Teed, and Tipper. The crowd for Of The Trees at the Thunder stage was a little too crowded and stressful to fully get to vibe out, but fortunately this took us to The Stacks to see Josh Teed. We already knew it, but Josh Teed is a legend! His set was insane. ‘Day ‘N Night’ flip with violin accompaniment was wild. Tipper closed the evening out, to seal the day with a chef’s kiss.
Sunday featured the infamous surprise Rufus Du Sol set at The Junkyard Stage. It was fire, but an interesting stage choice with a lot of sound bleed from the DNB set playing simultaneously at Thunder. M.I.A. put on a dazzling performance in her 5G protective gear, alongside her golden backup dancers. CloZee played one of the best sets of the entire weekend and had people literally dancing in the trees. To close the weekend out, Skrillex delivered all of the bangers, and fireworks (okay!)
Expand Your Mind – Movement, Workshops & Panels
Lightning in a Bottle is such a special place because the experiences, the art, and the learning are all just as important as the music. Throughout the weekend, there are dozens of lectures and panels that are truly eye-opening. We stumbled upon a few talks that absolutely captivated us as much as the music.
On Thursday evening, we were able to drop in, in community, and set some intentions before the party picked up. The Women’s Circle: Embrace Sacred Sisterhood with Vaza Racinet was a lovely bubble of peace and connection for women to drop in with themselves and each other after arriving to this overwhelming alt-reality.
On Friday, we started the day with Molly Barber’s Awakening Alchemy Morning Yoga Flow. This was a personal favorite of the weekend!
On Saturday, we went over to Yoga Luna for Joyful Flow in the morning and then Yoga Sol for Embodied Breath Somatic Movement in the afternoon. This was a great way to ground and check in with the breath and body before a night full of dancing.
On Sunday, respected Apache elder, Grandmother Twila, told connection to Mother Earth Apache creation stories at the Oracle Cauldron. We absolutely loved this offering, especially knowing that Grandmother Twila is one of a few respected Indigenous elders around to share this wisdom with us all, following the pandemic.
Art & Experiences
The Do Lab has deep roots in providing unique experiences. One of their main novelty experiences involves stages that are on actual, moving cars. On top of that, there is a roller rink in the middle of the venue with a DJ jamming out all night long – free to partake! The big gem this year was The Brodega.
The Woogie stage was revamped this year, with the light up wiggly towers replaced by the flowing colorful scarves we saw at Coachella. (We kind of missed old Woogie tbh but this new installation was fun too.) Thunder stage got a little bit of glow-up with some added side walls and increased mist making the space feel more isolated…in a good way!
The Do Lab really upped the ante this year with the giant wooden Mama snail structure that you could climb into. She had babies too! Other notable interactive experiences included tesseract scultpures, live paintings, and the phone booths that connected to real people on the other side.
Photo by @Jamal.eid
Lightning in a Bottle is truly one of the wildest experiences available in the electronic scene. If you have any interest in art, enlightenment, movement, meditation, or music, this is THE fest for you. Connect with The Do Lab at any of the links below! And be sure to sign up for 2025 pre-sale.
Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – Website – 2025 Pre-Sale
Featured Image By @Jamal.eid
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