We had a team of fifty employees Jordan assembled for the festival. Most were making the trip out with us; the remainder were locals from Black Rock that Jordan hired. The venue owners had bunk trailers set up to house those of us working the event. Thank the concert gods for that, sleeping in a tent wasn’t gonna happen for me. Jordan had everyone divided into teams to man the concession stands for the general population, another would be working the tents feeding the elite. We loaded up the U-Hauls and refrigerated trucks he rented and drove out to the venue early Wednesday morning to prep for the bands’ and concert goers’ arrivals on Thursday. They came in waves. We were handed a map as we entered. There were areas fenced off for those in the general population who were camping to set up their tents as well as port-a-potties and portable shower trailers. It was insane. I had never seen anything like this before. The line of cars waiting for the parking attendants to direct them went on for miles as did the number of portable solar panels. I wonder what they were powering versus what the generators were used for. I’d take the panels any day over the smell of the diesel fuel being used in the generators. But I suppose they need some sort of backup power for when the sun went down.
Sponsors such as Pepsi, Coke and Red Bull would be stocking their own coolers regularly and a rep was staying on-site. At least we didn’t need to worry about those. Hell, one tent alone was nothing but beverages including a fully stocked bar. And I’m not talking small backyard tents. These were the kinds people rented to hold outdoor receptions in, so they easily held a hundred plus bodies in them. I guess when you reach a certain social status, everything was made readily available to you. I wasn’t familiar with any of the bands on the docket and hadn’t researched them either. Metal was not a genre of music I listened to, I preferred something I could dance to. Sometimes even a little techno was called for but, in all honesty, I was too busy most of the time to sit and listen to anything. Having just turned twenty-one, I had never stepped foot in a club and the only bars I had been inside of were the ones holding events we were working. When I put things into perspective my life seemed lame. But good things were coming my way, I could feel it.
By the time we had the tables and chafing dishes set up in all the dining tents on Thursday morning, the busses had started rolling in. Some of the lesser known bands were on smaller stages they had set up in front of the main stage, so they were the first to arrive. Tomorrow was much the same until some of the more popular groups took to the main stage in the afternoon. The facilities team had erected enclosed walkways between the tents that led to the stage areas to keep the performers out of sight and out of the blazing heat. It was a maze of tents that took a fair bit of time to maneuver the layout. When noon hit and the gates opened, a mad stampede barreled through. Complete and utter chaos erupted and I’m sure when the big-name performers arrive, that would be multiplied by a million.
Jordan asked me to be his head chef this weekend as opposed to serving and act as his second in charge. He knew I wouldn’t fangirl over the bands like he was afraid some of the others would, even though he’d reiterated the importance of acting respectfully to them multiple times. If this event went well, it could lead to more bookings and he would be able to keep all the temps he hired for this employed and right now jobs were hard to come by. They all needed to be on their best behavior if they expected to keep their positions with the company.
The sweltering heat was getting to me. Leaving my long hair down while in the desert, wearing a chef’s coat wasn’t a wise decision. Using the hair tie I kept around my wrist for just such occasions, I pulled it up while standing in front of the massive fan to cool off. Each tent had at least one of these plus portable AC units. For the most part, they kept each space comfortable. But when you were running around as I was, it got harder to keep your body temperature down.
“Ely,” Jordan called out.
“Over here,” I raised my hand so he could see me above the other bodies. Being five foot four was not a gift in my eyes.
“Could you run over to the concession stands and check on things? The supervisor I hired, James, said he’s having a challenge getting in. Here’s his badge. Could you make sure security knows he’s on the approved vendor list?” Jordan asked, clearly frazzled.
“Will do boss.” I looked down at the lanyards I wore, making sure the one I needed to get back into this side was there.
Jordan was the only true friend I had ever had. Sure, I worked for him, but he was the one person I confided in. My roommates were great but were more acquaintances and we pretty much did our own thing. While they wanted to party, engage in random hook-ups and such, I was more focused on the goals I was busting my butt to achieve. I was determined to do everything in my power to never wind up needing help from anyone else again. I wanted to rely on me, myself, and I.
It took me about twenty minutes to make my way through the ever-growing crowd, to the front gates. And this was only opening day. I cringed at the thought of how densely populated this place was about to become.
“Excuse me,” I said to the first guard I saw at the main gate. “That man over there,” I said, pointing to James. “Is the supervisor for the concession stands.” I held up his badge as James moved forward. “He should already be on the approved vendor list. If not, could you please add him?”
“We will need to clear this with our supervisor,” he said, speaking into his headset.
“James, I’m Ely. Nice to meet you,” I introduced myself. Thankful I knew who to look for based upon the picture on his badge. “Put this on and whatever you do, don’t lose it. I have a feeling that things are gonna spiral out of control.”
“Thanks,” he said, immediately sliding it on. “It’s nice to meet you, Ely.”
A few minutes later, the chief of security, Donald arrived. He verified our badges and assured us James would be added to the list. Why he wasn’t already, Donald had no answer when I asked. I escorted James to the main concession stand, introduced him to the team working then started my journey back to the dark side. Ha-ha, I crack myself up.
“Excuse me, miss,” I heard someone call out, but kept moving forward until a random hand tapped my shoulder. “Miss?”
I flipped around so fast that my hair smacked him in the face. “Excuse me, last time I checked there was a dick between my legs!” As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I could retract them. Jordan had trusted me to keep my cool. To represent his company in the best light and here I’d gone and flipped out at someone for misgendering me. Needless to say, it wasn’t the first time that had happened. I was hot, and tired and I let that get the best of me. While I didn’t have time to listen to music, I did make time to watch countless hours of make-up tutorials and rarely left the house without any on. Albeit in the blistering heat, I had kept it simple — nothing more than blush, eyeliner, mascara and a light shade of moisturizing lipstick. One must never go outdoors without it.
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry,” he immediately apologized.
“Wasn’t the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last,” I said with more attitude then was necessary.
His gaze dropped to my lanyards. “Ely.”
“Yesss?” When he didn’t reply, I tried again, “Hello?” My tone was laced with the irritation I felt at his stupidity. “Are you okay?” Maybe he was suffering from heat exhaustion. “You called me miss then you go silent? I have no words,” I said, sweeping a hand through the air.