Today, Mysteryland USA made a surprising announcement:
Funkrust Brass Band got invited to play Mysteryland last year, and it was a lot of fun. Kind of a hot mess, but a lot of fun.
We were invited up by the crew from House of Yes, a circus/burlesque/hedonist venue in Bushwick. They wanted a brass band to accompany their rainbow flag parades around the grounds. We also planned to accompany the DJs from BangOn! NYC at their stage on the outskirts of the performance area.
Suffice it to say, none of this is really my scene. EDM, electronica, house, trance — it all just sounds like noise to me. But the chance to get paid (in meal vouchers) to go camping for three days and play on the hallowed grounds of Woodstock? Wouldn't miss it.
It was a complicated weekend. Nobody really knew what was going on. We set up our tents where instructed — and then had to take them down and move them elsewhere. The promised food vouchers didn't show up until the afternoon after we arrived. And playing with the DJs? Yeah, that doesn't work if you don't tell the DJs about it beforehand. We eventually abandoned that plan, and went off to have parades of our own. That worked much better.
Many people from the band had a way worse time than I did, and it seemed unlikely that we would go again if they asked — even if they offered us more money. (Though evidently Mysteryland included us in their 2017 announcement press release last fall.)
But I bring this all up just to brag that I made it into Mysteryland's "Official Aftermovie" last year. Look for me about 14 seconds in!