Sunset Season Opener at Stafford Lake. April 25, 2010. FREE.

26 04 2010

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What a glorious day in the park.

I took the Transported SF bus to Stafford Lake again and I think I’m committed to this relationship.

As long as this bus is going to Sunset I will be on it.

It was really interesting to be part of a dance floor experience that traveled down Mission St at golf cart speeds to confused looks from the locals, take flight down the open highway, and then come down for a landing in the outskirts of Novato to one of the greatest free massives the West Coast has to offer.

We touched down at 2PM and there was easily more than a thousand people already there with hundreds more marching in over the horizon like an invading army. It was epic.

There’s already several videos online but I like this one courtesy of chrislrosa because I think it’s great that we live in an era where less than 24 hours after any major event you can find video footage of yourself online filmed by a stranger. Watch out for those flying elbows, Mike.

It’s interesting to think of life in the underground as a neverending adventure. Everyone has a different story to tell and there are certain events that are chaos magnets, they pull thousands of different stories to one place in time and weave hundreds of loose ends together to form the background of your story, which in turn is just the background to someone else’s story, all sharing the same soundtrack to that day.

Everyday in the underground is like a new episode of LOST.

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Sunset. FREE Party on Treasure Island.





Sunset. FREE Party on Treasure Island.

9 06 2009

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Treasure Island is a weird time capsule.

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Like most Navy housing units, the architecture is 50 years outdated and it feels like a pocket of earth that is out of step with time.

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There are also several abandoned units; they look exactly like any kind of dorm you would see on any California college campus.

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the ruins of Treasure Island 2

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Eucalyptus trees grow like weeds and have consumed some patio areas or have fallen down dead and untouched on sidewalks. Amazing that there’s all this abandoned property on multi-million dollar real estate that also has a priceless view of the San Francisco skyline.

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Perfect location for a Sunset party.

Hopefully we’ll be able to do this again next year.

UPDATE

Nice video from nilia75.

Some San Francisco love from the Wighnomy Brothers

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420 Party at Stafford Lake. 1997. FREE

Sunset Season Opener at Stafford Lake. 2009. FREE

Sunset Season Opener at Stafford Lake. 2006 – 2007. FREE





420 Party at Stafford Lake. 1997. FREE

4 05 2009

Salad Days 9

Salad Days 10

This was one of the first big free massives at Stafford Lake. Sunset would later put the spot to good use by throwing their equinox parties there, throwing sometimes up to three parties per season up by the lake. It’s really amazing that we’ve been able to use this spot for 12+ years now. Not only have we not been kicked out yet but we’re actually on good terms with some of the park rangers and locals.

I discovered this flyer while digitizing another shoebox of old flyers and realized that the Stafford Lake debut party was also the day after this free party in Golden Gate Park.

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What an epic line up and great era from free parties in the Bay Area.





Sunset Season Opener at Stafford Lake. 2009. FREE

7 04 2009

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Matty B passed away earlier this year. I didn’t know him very well but I used to see him all the time when he worked at Housewares. He was always super fucking cool to me, especially considering I never bought any records at Housewares but was in there once a week because I collect flyers. We were also both extras in that corny raver movie, Groove. Sunset had an alter for him on Sunday.

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I brought up a Guan Yin for good luck.

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Peace be with you, Matty B.

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Sunset. FREE Party on Treasure Island





Sunset Season Opener at Stafford Lake. 2006 – 2007. FREE

2 04 2009

I remember when these parties used to happen all the time at Richmond ’s Point Molate or Berkley Marina. We’ve long since worn out our welcome in those locations so it’s kind of amazing that a decade later we’ve been able to hold onto Stafford Lake, a hidden gem just 30 minutes north of San Francisco. Before youtube and before all the social networking sites that exists today, 800- 1,000 people would descend on this tiny suburb based on just word of mouth and a phone number for the first Sunset park party of the year. And we would rock the fuck out on their lake!

This was one of the first Sunset videos to go viral. It’s a great 8-minute static shot that does a perfect job of capturing all the insanity that goes on right by the decks. Yo! Waldo! I found your future ex-wife at 6:25. She’s smoking hot.

Here’s another great static shot video from 2007.

It does a perfect job of showing just how large Stafford Lake is. You can trek out to the bathrooms and by the time you’re ready to head back there’s a small army of people and their gear between you and your camp. You can spend the entire day bugging out and making a spectacle of yourself and still not cross paths with half the people there. It’s pretty epic.

Here’s another 2007 video from luxvibes. I like his work

The opening shot from across the lake at the party’s peak was an excellent idea. I can’t believe I never thought of that before. And the closing shot with the Come-Unity sign made me smile. Sunset parties at Stafford Lake are pretty unique and special. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep this party going a while longer.