Kaaboo Music Festival 2016

The last time, (and only time), I have been to a music festival was 1994's Lollapalooza which had a line-up that was really REALLY incredible; Beastie Boys, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, A Tribe Called Quest, Green Day to name a few. And to top it off, that was my first concert! So when the opportunity came up to go to another music festival, I had my bags packed! 

I had never heard of Kaaboo, didn't know what it stood for (which I learned is a made up name) and they branded themselves as the "un-festival" festival. They cater to a more "mature" crowd who wants a venue that is void of all the things you fear at a 3-day concert. They promised good bathrooms (no port-a-potties), gourmet food (fair food was no where in sight), VIP lounges with air conditioning, no mud, no dirt, shade, seating.... yes please! And it wasn't just musicians, it was comedians, DJ's and chefs! 

And wait......

this line up! I was sold at Lenny Kravitz! And Dana Carvey!



Our group spent the day before the trip texting pictures back and forth of what their bags looked like because #1, we wanted to make sure we were set for the long weekend and #2, that we had enough room in the party bus we chartered.



It turned out that we overweighed the van with food and beverages so we had to methodically arrange bodies and bags throughout the van to distribute the weight as per our driver. Off to a good start! ;) 

These Mesa Moms had it planned from start to finish including 93109 hats that became more important than we knew. If any of us were separated from the group, you could quickly find a Mesa hat bopping around the Del Mar fairgrounds.

The party bus down was honestly just as fun as the festival!

We arrived to an awesome VRBO that comfortably fit all of us late Thursday evening and we were stocked for the weekend with food and drinks as you can see. 

Saturday morning brought Brady's most delicious Blood Marys!

We had all Friday morning/afternoon to cruise around Encinitas, cutest and cleanest beach town ever, and relax before the festival started.  

View from our balcony. 

Concert time!

We had to split up our Ubers so this is the first text we got from the car ahead of us. 

While it was early, I was pleasantly surprised by how uncrowded it was. Which would turn out to be the case Friday evening. Not so much Saturday...

The food was amazing! 

Lot's of random things to see and do. I forget what this was, a hugging piece of art?

A lot of bands I had never heard of. 

And yes, I experienced Jimmy Buffet and all his Parrot Head followers for the first time. That was interesting. 

The 93019 hats came in handy at all the different stages because we all had different tastes in music so with multiple acts playing at the same time we split up but would always find each other at some point. 

Kaaboo didn't disappoint with their promise of good bathrooms. I had to take a photo to prove it. 

I have to say, for most of Friday, I wasn't really interested in a lot of the musicians that were on earlier in the day. I recognized some of their music but would never be able to pick them out of a line up. The guy on stage here is named Citizen Cope and everyone was oooohing and ahhhing over him yet I had never heard of him however he did end up playing a song I knew so I guess I HAD heard of him. ;) 

Hall and Oates, AMAZING! So fun to dance to them! 

Jimmy Buffet, not sure I'd pay to go see just him but I am pretty sure I am in the minority there. Everyone seemed to really love him and all his songs. 

Parrot Heads behind Toni. 

And at almost midnight, Dana Carvey was performing. My friend Cynthia and I were the last of the 93109 girls standing. 

And that wasn't all, we made it past midnight to see Snoop Dogg! 

Saturday morning called for mimosas and more bloody marys to get us going for Saturday. 

Luckily we had time to recover at the beach before hitting the Del Mar Fairgrounds. I mentioned already how clean Encinitas was, I had never seen a beach that was so pristine. 

Day two!

Randomly we ended up in an Uber who was behind my friend Lisa's sister!  

Pedicabs are more fun than walking around that LONG track. 

Our group got even bigger when we met up with other friends we knew were at the concert. 

Saving spots for Lenny Kravitz. 

LENNY! (which I didn't even get a good shot of)

And that's all the photos I've got from the festival...

Day three and these mamas were beat! No one was up for rallying to get back to the fairgrounds. The line-up wasn't as good and the night before was SUPER crowded. They definitely oversold the event which was unfortunate. 

We had a very lazy morning of packing up and got on the road. 

I happened to have a business trip in San Clemente so these ladies were nice enough to take a short detour to my hotel and have lunch with me before they headed back on the road to the 93109! I then had to take the long road home on the train...

Here's some video from the weekend!