“Dance music has always been an environment set aside almost exclusively for people who know how to have fun. Regardless of what goes on away from the warehouse, club or arena—that shit is left at the door. We wear the crown of celebration right on top of any other hat we might wear in “real life.” There should be a pledge we each take to never let the journey get less jubilant, nor the adventures less daring. But you know what? Hell. We don’t have to “take” any vow or pledge because we’re already there. We know we’ll never let the dance become… a trudge. It’s the light fantastic for us. For now and ever after.”
– Middlelands Blog, The Insomniac Editorial Team
This last weekend I went to Houston to attend the first ever Middlelands. Before I went, a lot of people asked me with a confused look on their face, “Why are you going to Houston?”
To which I would respond, “I’m going for a music festival called Middlelands.”
This likely led to more confusion as I incepted thoughts into their heads: “Why is Joe going to a music festival all the way in Houston?” “What the heck is Middlelands?” “Is Joe crazy?” etc.
This first ever Middlelands is put on by Insomniac, the company responsible for one of the biggest festivals in the world – Electric Daisy Carnival. I wanted to be a part of that EDM history and to be able to say I was at the first ever Middlelands if it ever gets big – and judging by the reception it got by everyone who attended, I’d say it will be. Also, I am a big fan of 90% of the artists in the lineup for this inaugural event. On top of that, it is a camping event in the middle of the Texas Woodlands at the Texas Renaissance Fairgrounds. The medieval theme of the event was really cool and Kristian Nairn from Game of Thrones would be there – nerd out to the max! I couldn’t let an opportunity like this pass me by.
Arriving to the campground and setting up camp was the first part of the experience. I had to pack everything we needed for four nights in bags we could transport on our flights. Luckily, I already have a lot of gear that I use for my camping trips but we did have to purchase some gadgets – some more effective than others. (Tips: Those air lounger things are nice but if you get a leak you’ll be refilling it constantly and it will be difficult to find the leak; Lightweight canopies are cool but take major patience to set up; Icemule is legit our beverages stayed cool for nearly 3 days in the Texas heat with just one bag of ice)
As soon as we got settled, we got to meet our neighbors. This was easily one of my favorite parts of the whole experience. All our camp neighbors were awesome people and we ended up all hanging out with each other playing archery tag, exchanging food and drinks, chillin outside of the festival grounds, and partying inside the festival grounds.
Inside the festival grounds, there were 4 stages and there would be acts constantly playing between 4pm and 1am. I racked up close to 26 miles by the end of the weekend just going back and forth to see all of my favorite acts- Big Gigantic, Seven Lions, Griz, Gramatik, Snails, Illenium etc.
FOOD! I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food trucks inside the festival. Normally festival food is just overpriced mediocre food, which is why I brought MREs for most of our meals but we decided to just try the food on a whim and I am so glad we did. The Waffle Bus was a chicken and waffles truck. I ordered an amazing item: waffle fries topped with fried chicken and slathered with a spicy mayo sauce.
After four nights of all the glorious fun with the coolest like-minded people, chill vibes, good food, and epic music, I couldn’t help but feel sad to say goodbye to Middlelands and get back to reality. I couldn’t help but muse about how much more awesome “real-life” could be if the same type of vibe and the same type of people could extend to all parts of my life every day…
Next time on this blog – I will eat Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky and report back. Stay tuned.
P.S. What A Burger, a Texas burger chain, was delicious – as was Rudys, a Texas BBQ chain. We got these to and from the airport.
