#furparty

At 8:30pm on April 4th, Vision and I were sitting in the lobby of the Morris Burner Hotel: he was getting his “hair did” and I was just catching up on some goings-on from Facebook.  He looked up from a message on his phone and said, “Do you want to go to a fur party?”

My first thought was, “I don’t own a single fuzzy thing beyond leg warmers.”

But it was a great opportunity to catch a glimpse of the burner community in the nightclub setting here in Reno.  I had heard a few people talking about the event, and more than a few of those explained to me that this is the “biggest burner party of the year.”  

I decided to practice a little immediacy and put my computer down to go hunting for some kind of fuzzy pelt to drape over myself.  After all, if this is a burner event put on by burners and entitled “FUR” I needed to put into practice my participation skills.

After a little bit of rummaging around in a bucket of furry fabric scraps, I safety pinned random fluffy bits to my bra, donned my animal print leggings, and put on my fuzzy leg warmers (a gift from another burner that explained I needed to have fuzzy things for the playa--little did I know I would need them sooner!).  I accessorized with a furry vest, loaned to me by the one and only Happy Feet, strapped on my belt-complete with fox tail, and shoved a wizard hat on my head and decided I was as ready as I was going to get.

Then Vision was still getting prepared so I went ahead and painted my face with flourescents while I waited.  I still wish there had been more black lights at the party--but we will get there.

As soon as everyone was ready, we headed out from the Morris Burner Hotel and began our short walk over to the Knitting Factory in Reno.  With furry excitement on our minds, we ducked into the alleyway and took up our spots in the lines, controlled and orderly thanks to some gates and an observant and diligent door crew.

I had absolutely no expectations, I don’t really get out much.  So I went in with an open mind.  Not being familiar with burner events like this one (I haven’t been to the real deal on the playa yet), I was ready to have my mind blown.  My thoughts:

There will probably be a lot of 18yr old ravers on different substances, there will be some burner activities like you would see on the playa, and there will be fur.”

What did we find during out adventurously furry evening you ask?

I had a good long discussion with Vision after the party and picked his brain about his thoughts.

What was your first impression upon arriving at the event?

“I was very excited.  We got there early around 10:00pm and it was already semi-busy.  I noticed the bass first, very top level.  I also was glad to see so many familiar faces in the crowd.  A lot of older burners came out. There were more older crowd than I expected and it really didn’t give off the ‘trippy rave vibe’ I expected.”

Vision commented on the excellent dancers that were on the dance floor and mentioned that the 2nd floor was well advertised but not immediately noticeable.  Being new to the culture and principles of Burning Man I asked about how he felt the culture was expressed by the participants:

“ Of the principles, there were a few that were really well-represented: radical inclusion, radical self-expression.  Would have liked to have seen more of the theme in decoration, the production could have been better represented.  We should make more of an effort to educate: Leave No Trace was totally forgotten during the event.”

What were the 5 MOST TOP LEVEL aspects of the event?

1. Music

2. Participation

3. Control of the environment

4. Bass

5. Layout

The live painting was amazing, there should have been more, but the artist was fantastic.  The venue should have advertised for him more and made certain he had the support he needed to make his night as successful as the venue’s. 

$30 tickets at the door was a little ridiculous.  I didn’t feel like it was very representative of the BM culture.  Water should have been highlighted as an immediacy thing.  We weren’t allowed to bring our own water bottles in to be radically self-reliant, and when the bar was asked for water they had water bottles for sale, and only after further inquiries were made did we locate the water fountain (that was not advertised nearly as well as the event) in a dark corner.  

Vision’s final statement: