It’s cool out, but too early to be dark. The parking-lot-field grass is short, the trucks are suspended above passersby in the parking lot of Sunset Cove Amphitheater, and the band 311 pushing through speakers is fuzzy.
The Slightly Stoopid diet? Pizza and various brands of coconut water if debris around the tour buses is any indicator. Kids, teens, 20-somethings, older cats and even older cats chill sun-stained.
“I’m so excited to see Slightly Stoopid,” says FAU alumnus Steven Novik. “I can’t wait.”
Cute girls. Music. Beer. Liquor. Laughter. Food. Dancing. Love. Camaraderie. Positivity. I don’t need to keep on ‘cause you get it. Senior film major Austin Morgan gets it too.
“I think the atmosphere tonight will be kind of like laid back,” Morgan says, chilling near his car before the show. “Everybody being really like genuine to each other, showing a lot of love, showing a lot of friendship even though they haven’t known each other. You know, just kind of like relating on the lyrics and the sounds they hear.”
Moving along past some soccer action and schools of dope girls through the entrance I- Ah. Yes. That smell. A kind of smelly, smell. I feel it. The haze. I see it spouting from the crowd like overactive geysers. I missed the first act of the night, Tribal Seeds, and some of Atmosphere’s set. We’re all aware of a possible rain but the grooves occupy our minds.
Atmosphere, sounds clear, the tracks are clear, yet the clouds above are still black. Don’t look for symbolism in that statement, there isn’t any. Every hip-hop command issued during their set was obeyed. The hook from “GodLovesUgly” is loudly made out from the crowd. Then “The Loser Wins” — dedicated to all of the shitty friends we can’t shake off in our lives for whatever reason — courses in the vein of what attracts so many to these shows: knockin’ music and relatability.
After finishing off their set with “Trying to Find a Balance” Slug left us with these words: “Be excellent to each other.” Yes. Of course, brethren. You’re a gentleman and a scholar. He shared his gift not far from the ‘Cold Beer’ tents is the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws tent. It was fitting, like a Snodgrass piece at a Grateful Dead show. With great, always (and never have been more) relevant signs like “is my medicine legal yet?” “Prohibition didn’t work – it still doesn’t.” No, and true. I’m just going to leave this here.
We’re waiting for Slightly Stoopid to hit the stage and it’s pretty much inevitable that it’s going to rain. Lightning splits the sky — growing brighter each time it makes an appearance — and rain drops sporadically land on me. SS hits the stage and begins playing cuts from their latest studio album Top of the World. “Way You Move,” “Ska Diddy,” “Top of the World,” even a journey back to their punk roots with “Operation”. A pit forms and lightning stretches across the sky. Fuck. It isn’t until they got into “Conquer Me” that the clouds finally give. O.K. now there may be some symbolism. Now, a riddle. What were our tushy’s once on that was now on our head? My (surprisingly absorbent) blanket. The “rain rain go away” types are finding cover wherever they can; standing under trees that are more bare than feet.
So we migrate under an arepa (mmm… concert arepas) stand. Wind blows harder. Those apathetic to the weather pile in front of the stage; not lending a single fuck. Morale grows expectedly strong when vocalist Kyle McDonald screams “It’s really fucking coming down now!”
McDonald echoes what Slightly Stoopid vocalist, guitarist and bassist Miles Doughty said in an interview earlier that day.
“You’ll never get the energy you get from a crowd,” Doughty said. “It’s like the biggest drug in the world.”
Then a quick “oh shit” lightning bolt shocks the sky — summoning the primal “WOOOO!!!” I was hoping for. Plenty of others seek shelter under various tents and awnings. I would have stayed for the rest of the set in the rain ‘cause it felt nice. A great tip for those who may find themselves in a rained-out event in the future though: bring a cup, and, you ready? Put it over your phone. Thank you hot Boca girl, for sharing your brilliance with the world.