Sensory overload

So as you guys may know, last weekend was FYF Fest in Los Angeles and it was pretty f*cking (as the name of the fest implies) amazing! I went for some of the “big names” that I was familiar with and no, that did not include Kanye West. I was excited to see Neon Indian, Purity Ring, Morrissey, Bloc Party and Health – which I was recently exposed to at a bar in Echo Park which played the vinyl version of Death Magic. Although they all put on a great show, I was blown away by all the indie bands that I hadn’t heard of before: Alvvays, Cold Cave, The Drums, Badbadnotgood, Savages, !!! – Yes, that is the band’s name and it’s pronounced “chk chk chk”. They were all so good. Alvvays had me swaying to their indie pop sound. Cold Cave had their cool darkwave sound to them. Badbadnotgood combined the best of rock and jazz creating a wonderful fusion and when their special guest who plays the saxophone came on stage with them, it was heaven. Those are the artists whose sets I was able to fully attend and appreciate, while for the others I was only able to catch a few songs and then had to schlep across the grounds to another stage. If I learned one thing from this event – which you think I would’ve learned last year – is wear comfortable shoes. You will be on your feet for countless hours, walking miles in between and getting stepped on, constantly. All of which was well worth it.

Aside from all the great music played over a two day period, I was also able to enjoy the beer gardens and food vendors. Some of the commercial beers offered on tap were: Shock Top, Stella Artois and Goose Island – thankfully. They are among my favorites. As a beer lover, I will not turn away a free beer. Stella was offering free beers so long as you posed for a few seconds in front of their camera which would generate a GIF. Share the GIF and get a free beer. That’s totally up my alley. Who wouldn’t do it? Right next to the Stella Caravan was a whiskey shack for a brand I was unfamiliar with – Bonnie Rose. They were offering free samples – also, another thing I can’t say no to – and they were flavored whiskey options which included orange peel and apple spice. Both sounded equally appealing to me as I can only imagine them in solid, food-form, but overall I’m more attracted to citrus flavors and scents. The shot was like a small cocktail. A whiskey margarita of sorts and it was pretty delicious. If only I had a bigger glass…

For sustenance, I was on a doughnut frenzy to say the least. Donut Friend was there selling some of their best looking (and tasting) ring-shaped confections. I am not the kind of person who seeks out the best in vegan dishes but I am the type of person who will try everything and Donut Friend’s donuts are primarily vegan – and delicious! I had their Husker Blu doughnut which is a blueberry cake doughnut slathered with fresh blueberry icing. I felt like Violet Beauregarde after that blueberry overload. All that was missing was a glass of cold (soy) milk. I wanted to continue trying their other flavor options, especially the S’Morrissey, but alas my eyes just kept wandering for something more than dessert and I made my way to Berlin Currywurst. I’ve seen their restaurant in Silver Lake, but haven’t had the chance to go. I had their chicken in a bun topped with onions and sauerkraut and a few squirts of ketchup – I put that on everything – and whole grain mustard. Paired my wurst with some garlic fries and let’s just say I was a happy boy, at least until my hunger picked up again. I hadn’t heard about Afters until a few weeks ago when I was going through OC Weekly, a newspaper based in Orange County that covers articles and events in the area. Afters is an OC-based, now chain as they have a few locations, doughnut ice cream sandwich shop. Milky buns are the base of the sandwich and you choose your ice cream flavor and toppings. I went for the Milky bun with Cookie Monster ice cream and topped with Captain Crunch cereal. The warm, pillow-like, sugary bun paired against the cool cookie-flavor of the bubble gum blue-colored ice cream and topped with the crunchy cereal was something only a confectioner could dream of. I couldn’t imagine a better dessert and only wish that my appetite was bigger than eyes so I could have more. Now you know what I meant about being in a doughnut frenzy.

This weekend was definitely a memorable one for the ending weeks of summer. If any of you attended it, tell me about it! I would love to hear about your experiences.