Words by Phil Nacionales (@phil_enn)
Photos by @phil_enn and @dee_vic
Traveling for editorial work can often be described as the arduous task of getting from point A to B at the whims of the airport gods, the weather gods, and the management gods. It is often the case that the easier something seems to be at the start, the crazier things will get as the situation progresses: this definitely was the case as we headed into the DeLuna Festival.
Staffer Derrick Victa (@dee_vic) and myself intended to touch down early on Friday morning; leaving the confines of San Francisco early the previous morning. I was caught in a weather layover at Washington-Dulles that lasted deep into the next day. With looming interviews and shows stacked up the morning after, we would end up missing time slots as our second shooter was caught in a similar situation in Houston.
36 hours after leaving SFO, I finally touched down to see that @dee_vic got to pop his interview cherry with A-Trak of all people. A quick shower and 3, 4, or 5 shots of Jameson (who along with Tito’s Handmade Vodka unofficially sponsored our trip) later and I had finally caught my bearings. We hit the ground running grabbing footage of Ladytron and Girl Talk, at adjacent stages and with a mix of fans and beach goers helping to round out the scenery. Closing that first night, we were able to meet up with Free The Robots and The Limousines; Free The Robots’ mic time during his set provided us with one of the funniest moments of the event as he waxed poetically about ancient aliens with one of the local fest-goers.
An early start the next day helped us to understand the scope and the crowd of the festival. With six stages scattered across the resort grounds, the crowd would move in waves, with each stage experiencing an ebb and flow of populace. A packed day saw the team link up with Robbers on High Street, Nico’s Gun, Quiet Company, Big Boi, Kevin Devine, and the Hood Internet among others. Big Boi definitely held the highlight of the afternoon, as the stage was flooded with a tidal wave of onlookers as the set progressed. On of the beach sheriff’s provided for the quote of the day. The words, ‘What do you mean you don’t know who Big Boi of Outkast is?’ echoed in his southern (nee redneck) drawl at a couple of twenty-something festival goers.
One of the biggest highlights, for myself and for many festival goers, was the moment that Jane’s Addiction took the stage. Bearing some of the weight of Linkin Park dropping out due to Chester Bennington’s shoulder injury. Jane’s Addiction did not disappoint. As a lifelong fan of the group, it was definitely a weird sense of nostalgia to see the band since I have been to shows though their different iterations and evolution. The crowd was definitely into this and it was definitely an eye-opening experience to see the different ages and walks of people getting into this set and singing along with the band.
The closing sets of day 2 required a bit of a break as we would be covering the ruckus antics of Ricky Reed, frontman of Wallpaper, followed by a shoot with The Hood Internet. As to be expected, both sets kept the crowds on their respective stage ‘rockin’ the eff out.’
Foregoing the Grooveshark after party, we moved slowly into the third day. Back to back shoots and stages brought on the Stone Foxes, Asobi Seksu, Saints of Valory, and K. Flay. All perfectly curated and timed out to gradually work with the rise and fall of energy that can be expected after three days of non-stop music and festival experience.
The close of the festival saw the boys of MUTEMATH take the stage and show Pensacola exactly what their version of rock superstardom would look like. To say that the set was “full of energy” is an understatement as it was able to bring the two of us covering the event back to ‘life’ after three days of non-stop coverage.
The following morning, saw it end the same way that it began. Missing my flight due to a late cab, it was a five hour bus ride into New Orleans to catch a fight to LAX and then SFO — about 18 hours of total travel time!
All in all, travel woes aside, the DeLuna Fest is definitely shaping itself into a destination festival — almost like having a second spring break. With only its second year of existence in this format, watching the evolution and growth of this festival will definitely be an interesting and exciting experience. I highly implore music lovers (and hedonists alike) to check out this festival as it rolls around next year – it’s worth it for the scenery alone.
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