Ah, this past weekend was great. Friday I worked from 7am until around noon, and then I caught a flight from Dallas to Tulsa for D-Fest (which is short for Diversafest). It consists of around 96 bands on 8 or 9 stages in downtown. This thing is a SXSW in the making. Watch out Austin.
When I landed to took a shuttle to the hotel because Nick and Keith weren’t in town yet. I checked into the Downtown Plaza where the conference was being held. I laid around for a couple of hours, just relaxing until they got into town. It was nice to do nothing for a little bit.
Whenever the guys got to the hotel we got ready to head out to D-Fest to register and get Nick all set up for his showcase. The people were nice. They had a pre-party @ The Venue for all of the industry people and musicians. Then we headed over to Dalisandro’s, where Nick was playing. We met some cool people hanging around. Nick’s set went really well. We hung around for a bit waiting on a shuttle to get back to the hotel to put the stuff up. We ended going back out and catching a few more bands that night.
Saturday morning we got up and headed to the conference. Nick had to jet because he had a gig in Norman. Keith and I went to about 6 conferences all day long, ranging from how to build the perfect press kit to talking to A&R people about what they are looking for to diversifying the income. It was a lot of information. Most of the panelist seemed like they were very knowledgeable in their area. It’s so cool to see the inside of the industry, and see how it works. I understand that I only saw a small percentage of what all goes on, but it was cool to be apart of that.
The guys from Gooding were there. They are pretty good friends with Nick and Keith. I’ve met Gooding (who is the lead singer and guitarist… and his name also doubles as the band name) once before. He was a panelist in two of the different conferences. You can really tell how much different bands really bust ass to get where they are.
That night Keith and I headed out to all of the different venues where D-Fest was being held to catch different bands all night. We saw about 9 different bands Saturday night. And then we went to the penthouse on top of the bank building that sits on the corner of the festival. We hung out with a couple of people up there and bullshitted.
Then Gooding called and invited us to the D-Fest VIP after party back at the hotel. It was in one of the suites up stairs. I met a few people who were pretty cool. I like hearing other people’s stories about the industry or themselves as musicians. There was a guy at the party who was so wasted he passed out in a chair. Now one might think because this is a VIP party for a decent sized festival in Tulsa people would take care of this guy and find out what room he is staying in…. nope. People proceeded to write on this guy and put things on him and in his hair. It was kind of sad, but at the same time this kid probably deserved it. He was so wasted whenever I’d talked to him earlier that night. Know your limit kids.
Sunday we went to grab some lunch at Spaghetti Warehouse and then back to the hotel for a pool party put on by D-Fest for everyone involved in the conference. We ran into the wasted kid again and he was wasted again… or still… I am not sure which haha. After that was over I headed back to the airport and flew home.
I really appreciate Nick and Keith for inviting me this weekend. It was definitely a blast. I don’t think I have ever had so much free Miller Light and pizza. Haha.
Vanessa picked me up and we went to have dinner. That was nice.
This week has been hectic at work. I have put in about 45 hours and I am exhausted. Hopefully the weekend will hold something great.
When I landed to took a shuttle to the hotel because Nick and Keith weren’t in town yet. I checked into the Downtown Plaza where the conference was being held. I laid around for a couple of hours, just relaxing until they got into town. It was nice to do nothing for a little bit.
Whenever the guys got to the hotel we got ready to head out to D-Fest to register and get Nick all set up for his showcase. The people were nice. They had a pre-party @ The Venue for all of the industry people and musicians. Then we headed over to Dalisandro’s, where Nick was playing. We met some cool people hanging around. Nick’s set went really well. We hung around for a bit waiting on a shuttle to get back to the hotel to put the stuff up. We ended going back out and catching a few more bands that night.
Saturday morning we got up and headed to the conference. Nick had to jet because he had a gig in Norman. Keith and I went to about 6 conferences all day long, ranging from how to build the perfect press kit to talking to A&R people about what they are looking for to diversifying the income. It was a lot of information. Most of the panelist seemed like they were very knowledgeable in their area. It’s so cool to see the inside of the industry, and see how it works. I understand that I only saw a small percentage of what all goes on, but it was cool to be apart of that.
The guys from Gooding were there. They are pretty good friends with Nick and Keith. I’ve met Gooding (who is the lead singer and guitarist… and his name also doubles as the band name) once before. He was a panelist in two of the different conferences. You can really tell how much different bands really bust ass to get where they are.
That night Keith and I headed out to all of the different venues where D-Fest was being held to catch different bands all night. We saw about 9 different bands Saturday night. And then we went to the penthouse on top of the bank building that sits on the corner of the festival. We hung out with a couple of people up there and bullshitted.
Then Gooding called and invited us to the D-Fest VIP after party back at the hotel. It was in one of the suites up stairs. I met a few people who were pretty cool. I like hearing other people’s stories about the industry or themselves as musicians. There was a guy at the party who was so wasted he passed out in a chair. Now one might think because this is a VIP party for a decent sized festival in Tulsa people would take care of this guy and find out what room he is staying in…. nope. People proceeded to write on this guy and put things on him and in his hair. It was kind of sad, but at the same time this kid probably deserved it. He was so wasted whenever I’d talked to him earlier that night. Know your limit kids.
Sunday we went to grab some lunch at Spaghetti Warehouse and then back to the hotel for a pool party put on by D-Fest for everyone involved in the conference. We ran into the wasted kid again and he was wasted again… or still… I am not sure which haha. After that was over I headed back to the airport and flew home.
I really appreciate Nick and Keith for inviting me this weekend. It was definitely a blast. I don’t think I have ever had so much free Miller Light and pizza. Haha.
Vanessa picked me up and we went to have dinner. That was nice.
This week has been hectic at work. I have put in about 45 hours and I am exhausted. Hopefully the weekend will hold something great.
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