In between songs at her Shabang set, Kate Bollinger — bundled in a draping black trenchcoat, hair floating with the blustering wind — giggled to herself before looking out to her soggy crowd pooling around the Laguna Lake stage.
Recalling a story of getting stuck in the rain on a walk with her friend, still a mile from home, Bollinger spoke of a freeing moment where she decided to embrace the unanticipated weather and find pure joy in the immersion of the elements, even pausing to wonder why people don’t purposefully rush out of their houses as it starts to rain to experience it.
Her innocent anecdote garnered cheers from fans, who recognized their own opportunities in that moment to embrace the rainy turn of events on their second day of Shabang, on May 4.
This easy-going compliance with the weather, still dancing hand-in-hand with friends and loved ones as the downpour persisted, is the spirit of the ever-growing, annual festival, born from two Cal Poly students’ pure love for music atop Cuesta Ridge 10 years ago.
Shortly after, as lead vocalist of The Walters Luke Olson, in his bright yellow “rush” t-shirt, danced around the same stage and sang with fervent passion in rhythm with his fellow bandmates to “Cottage Roads” and the crowd favorite “Sweet Marie,” the evening sun instantaneously peeked through the thick clouds, causing a cacophony of sound and mass celebration.
“You guys have no idea,” Olson said, as he queued a pause in the song, sank to his knees and raised his arms to the sky in prayer. Heads turned from the stage and towards the scene, with Cerro Romauldo’s peak now beaming in light.
Though still frigid, the warmth of that innocent moment coupled with the crowd’s energy radiated through the festival grounds, as a vibrant rainbow stretched across the dark sky; a perfect juxtaposition of two opposites.
And just like how the harsh cold of the afternoon rain cannot describe the Shabang experience without the mention of the golden sun’s return, what fills the festival with life and sets it apart is not only the die-hard music fans showing up to rail ride the barricades of their favorite artists, but also the ones yearning to find community connection.
The biggest fans
As the Friday sun dipped and the temperature dropped, waiting patiently at the barricade of the Cuesta Ridge stage was Willem Crader and his girlfriend, Indigo, who traveled all the way from their homes in Alaska to see George Clanton. With no prior knowledge of Shabang before stumbling upon an Instagram advertisement detailing Clanton’s place on the festival’s lineup, Crader knew they had to make the trip along with his sister, a Cal Poly alumna and die-hard Clanton fan.
Their dedication to the artist paid off, as Indigo — bundled in a black and white cheetah print fur coat purchased from a vendor earlier in the day — excitedly detailed what happened to them only hours prior to Clanton’s set.
“We got to meet him and take a picture, it was so cool. We saw him just standing there and we were like, ‘Dude that’s George!’” she said. “When we told George that we came from Alaska to see him, he was like ‘You could have gone somewhere for so much cheaper.’ But it was the only ticket and we just thought we had to make it happen.”
To Crader, the familiarity with the Shabang lineup stood out to him compared with other festivals, like the Alaskan music festival Salmonfest, which he’s attended nine times.
“I don’t normally know any of the musicians [at Salmonfest]. It’s a lot of folk and slightly R&B, but I would just go because I was going with my friends in high school and it was just a fun time to go see musicians local or outside of Alaska,” Crader said. “Shabang differs because there are people we actually want to see.”
Peach Pit, another one of the couple’s favorites, was set to play last on Friday. What followed Clanton’s set was a mass migration of fans coalescing around the Laguna Lake stage, as Neil Smith, Christopher Vanderkooy, Peter Wilton and Mikey Pascuzzi of Peach Pit performed songs everyone knew and loved.
Before Peach Pit and George Clanton’s sets, Margot Sinclair arrived at the Cuesta Ridge stage. Sprawled out on the grass near the stage were friends and family of the band’s bassist, Owen Rice, including his mom, Kathleen Rice.
Drawn to Shabang for the first time, after her son earned a spot on the lineup after winning San Luis Obispo’s Battle of the Bands in April, she traveled down from their home in the Bay Area to support him.
“He’s been with the band for a little over a year now,” Kathleen said excitedly. “It’s just a spectacular venue, it’s a good size, it doesn’t feel too big, it feels just right. We’re excited to see them but see the other bands too.”
Michelle Sack, mother of DJ Stoley, traveled from Los Angeles to see her son take the Funk Safari and Silent Disco stages on Saturday.
Sack danced with a raincoat and umbrella as she soaked in her son’s successes, regardless of the downpour. Stoley, otherwise known as Michael Sack, graduated from UCSB with a degree in financial math but has always had an undeniable love for music, according to his mother.
Among the silent crowd of drenched dancers, Michelle moved with the rain as her headphone settings shined bright blue for Stoley’s music, which blends club and EDM beats.
“Go blue! Go blue! Go blue!” she said.
Founder of Channel Frequencies, a Central Coast booking and media organization, Reau celebrated a humble victory with other local bands that took the stage last Friday and Saturday. Bands The Framers, Mom Cars, Couch Dog and Earthship performed at Channel Frequencies-supported house shows before stepping onto the big stages at Shabang.
“I’m proud of everybody,” Reau said. “I want smaller bands to be a part of bigger stages of focus, that’s my goal in everything that I do.”
In a similar fashion, Shabang was born within San Luis Obispo’s DIY music scene in 2014. It started with a hike to Cuesta Ridge and house show enthusiasts hoping to escape the City’s strict noise regulations.
“To see that all this can happen from DIY beginnings is really cool. The fact that there is enough support from the local community to have a music festival for half local acts and half big acts is insane,” Reau said.
Cal Poly students Zoe Deyoung and Ben Johnson arrived at the Laguna Lake stage early to secure a front-row spot for those headlining acts.
“I feel awesome because I am right in the front for Peach Pit’s set,” Johnson said as clumps of fans began to swarm the area on Friday night.
Saturday night left Deyoung anticipating Thundercat’s performance, motivating her to scope out the stage ahead of time.
“Thundercat is an incredible bassist and instrumentalist. I’ve been a fan since I watched his Tiny Desk Concert with Mac Miller,” Deyoung said.
The friendships & families
Off to the side enjoying the music of the Laguna Lake stage was Ryan, a Shabang first-timer who recently moved to California. Having heard from others that Central Coast music festivals are like no other, he was driven to see for himself.
When asked what artists he was looking forward to seeing, his excitement was centered more around his friend Alex sitting next to him, who flew out from Connecticut to enjoy Shabang with him.
The plan for their weekend, as he said, was to kick back, relax and listen to music because as a social engineer, escaping the work life for a completely different environment was a much-needed change.
Performing aerialists Kurt Zeller and Marian Maile found no better freedom than creating shapes on dodecahedrons together at Shabang. The two are involved in aerial arts, where they demonstrate both strength and artistic flair.
When performing with a partner, connection is a necessary component, they said. Though Maile is based in Santa Monica and Zeller San Diego, festivals like Shabang present the opportunity to unite with each other and the crowd.
“It’s important to get together. We’ve been practicing moves and seeing how we could make reflections of each other,” Maile said.
Zeller, a Cal Poly alumnus, was present at the first Shabang and feels a strong tie to the mission of the festival and the San Luis Obispo area.
Shabang’s commitment towards celebrating music and fostering a community based on the arts resonates with families, as well.
Caroline Duell and her two young daughters Allegra and Kalia attentively admired the artistry of a body painter on Friday, as she applied coats of blue tint to her canvas. The girls were decked in glitter and jewelry and, despite their young age, considered themselves avid festival-goers.
Kalia had been anticipating Shabang for a while, eager for a chance to have fun. Allegra was thrilled to be swept to another realm as she approached each stage, while Caroline was pulled in by the strong sense of community at the festival.
“It’s sweet to see festivals where people participate. I think a lot of really cool values have stemmed from the consciousness of people coming together as a community and making sure there are no materials out of place and people are being cared for,” Caroline said.
The San Luis Obispo County family spent their first Shabang handing out free homemade sun sticks and sunscreen from her brand All Good to visitors at the entrance. Caroline finds common principles between her business, family and Shabang.
“Our common value is just providing products that give people protection and safety and comfort while they’re out moving around and having fun,” she said.
Standing with tall stature in the VIP booth of the Laguna Lake stage, with a tan cowboy hat and long, beige fur coat — which was bought after browsing And Beyond’s array of coat racks — Waffles, as he called himself, enjoyed Sunroom’s set at Laguna Lake.
“I’ve done a lot of building on Shabang and now I’ve reached some sort of odd, exalted status whereby I feel like I’m part of the family in a weird way,” Waffles said.
To him, Shabang is “refreshing in terms of the community and everybody, the young people and the old.” As he said, “Everybody [is] getting along and being in the spirit of the music and just being in the spirit of pushing humanity further down the football field for a freaking big win.”
This push caught up to another attendee, Philipe, as a mosh slowly grew from Couch Dog’s set at Cuesta Ridge. Having never experienced Shabang’s energy, he watched the mosh in amazement.
“This is something completely new to me but I love it,” he said. “It’s all about new experiences and I love the energy and all the people.”
As one song came to a close, the band held up a lost phone in hopes of finding its owner. Philipe said it was beautiful that the crowd recognized that and worked together to find the owner before returning to dancing.
At that moment, more rain poured down onto the crowd, leading them to embrace the weather with one another, swaying, circling and crowd-surfing.
“The community is just amazing,” he said. “I think [the rain] is definitely adding to it … all sorts of elements are coming together just making it fantastic.”
The intersection of it all
San Luis Obispo’s Samba Loca band united both music and community lovers onto the dancefloor under vibrant, fabric awnings in the center of the festival. Avoiding the rain, some listeners performed group dances while others tapped their feet quietly off to the side.
“Music always comes first but you need people to have music. This sound brings a certain crowd and makes us one,” Samba Loca percussionist Dan Keller said.
Samba Loca has performed at Shabang for the past four years and, like the festival, the group celebrated its 10th anniversary.
As the group performed in front of a Shabang sign, an energy shifted among the crowd. Suddenly, the rain was no longer a barrier, but a tool that encouraged the audience’s hearts to beat in sync. It was clear at that moment that there was no music without a body nor movement without sound.
“The rain is not stopping us. It just brings the energy up,” Keller said. “We bring a party, that’s what we are here for.”
The party continued even after Samba Loca’s set at the Funk Safari stage. As Silver Panda’s techno beats emanated, Madeline Nathaus, dancing in iridescent wings, appeared to be floating through the EDM crowd as she garnered mesmerized stares from the groups she quickly weaved through.
“I just love dancing, I think that it brings the best out of people,” Nathaus said. “We all get to vibe together while we dance and groove and just let loose.”
Having traveled from Ventura for her first Shabang, Nathaus spent her weekend gravitating most towards Funk Safari, since “it’s got the most dancing, of course.”
Nathaus’ innate impulse to dance, grab hold of any hands outstretched to her and connect with strangers highlighted the festival’s abundant sense of community.
The prior night, Melissa Evans also lit up Funk Safari as she motioned her hips in a circular movement with her LED hula hoop. Her friends cheered in amusement while Noizu’s set filled the air. Like a glowing orb, Evans glided along the grass in her matching light-up shoes.
“Music. People. This festival wouldn’t be happening without either one,” she said.
Co-founders of Surfing For Hope Tom Spillane and Karen Allen worked in conjunction with Shabang this year. Tomm — “with two m’s, which is my music festival name,” — said he is a professional music festival goer.
Surfing For Hope, which hosts surf camps every third Saturday of the month in Pismo, “helps people who have cancer by utilizing the healing power and energy of the beach and surfing,” Spillane, an oncologist during his festival off-hours, said.
Coming into the festival expecting to be the oldest attendees, Spillane and Allen were proven wrong when they met another couple similarly enjoying their first Shabang while supporting their son, a DJ on the lineup.
The couples discovered they’ll both be attending the Joshua Tree Music Festival later this month. In moments like that, they were reminded that connections are all around and opportunities to bond with fellow festival attendees simply come down to sparking conversation.
“You have these moments of happiness and … a month from now, you’re working or you’re in school studying and you have these like things that spark in your mind that are just moments of happiness that I kind of think is a really good antidepressant,” Spillane said, smiling. “You’ll be in a difficult situation at some time in the future and your brain will go back to your music festival, and you’ll be like ‘yeah that was really, really cool.’”
On Saturday evening, life came into focus as the gray clouds unveiled the mountains surrounding Dairy Creek Golf Course. People ran up and down nearby slopes as mud met the bottom of their white skirts. Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” boomed from the festival speakers, and it seemed all too relevant when Stevie Nicks sang, “When the rain washes you clean you’ll know.”
As the rain washed the location clean, the crowd was unified by more than just the cold. The music and strong sense of community were undeniably within every Shabang attendee.
Check out more of the people, performances and perspectives of Shabang 2024 here.
