Jones - The Tribes of Burning Man: How an Experimental City in the Desert Is Shaping the New American Counterculture

This book and Burning Man are what they are because of all the people who have given their creativity, time, money, blood, and sweat to building Black Rock City and its component camps and projects every year. They/we have restored my faith in human beings, over and over again, and I thank them all.

On a more personal level, let me express my deep appreciation to those who supported me and this project: my daughters, Breanna and Cicely, who indulged my weird hobbies and hairstyles and always made me feel loved; Tim Redmond, the best editor Ive ever had, and everyone at the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the conscience of San Francisco; Brad Santosh Olsen, for giving my stories a book to call home; Rosie, for encouraging me to cover our culture and write this book; Scott Borchardt, a good friend, inspiring burner, and master designer; Syda Day, for her loving support during a difficult period and for teaching me that writing neednt be a lonely pursuit; Tim Daw, for the timely pints and unconditional friendship; photographers Pilar Woodman, John Curley, Julio Duffoo, and Camera Girl, who tell beautiful stories without words; Brian Doherty, Dave Eggers, Ethan Watters, Mark Morford, Eric Meyers, Dara Colwell, Ted Weinstein, Jeremy Sugerman, Jess Bruder, and the other writers and readers who helped this book at critical stages; Gray, Kim, and all of my sisters, for letting their heads explode and helping put mine back together; Cat, for the adventurous inspiration; Lucky, for the inspiring adventures; Mom and Jim, for their love and support during my ridiculously long and low-paid journalism career; my Dad, for his early planting of The Great American Novel seed, and Jo for taking care of him; Adam and Gina Grandi, Dash, Blue, Smoove, Patricio, Dutch, Cosmic, Tamo, Darin, Tami, Chris, Nicole, Julian, Patrick, Jonny, Max, Gary, Jill, Donnie, Heather, Ted, Leah, Mary, Jim, Ashleigh, Catbird, Sarah, Tish, Gabriel, Claire, Brandee, and Deep for being my people; Jason, Brian, Dave, and other naysayers who kept me honest; and my adopted families in Garage Mahal, Opulent Temple, Flaming Lotus Girls, Ku De Ta, Temple of Flux, Shadyvil, and the other tribes that have embraced me and taught me so much.

I also want to say a special thank you to everyone from the Burning Man world, whose efforts and input formed the backbone of this book. In particular: Larry Harvey, for being generous with his time and insights about an event he has so carefully nurtured; Syd Gris, for bringing me into his world of sound and being a comrade; Tom Price, for beckoning me to the Gulf Coast and sharing his vision for the future of this culture; Chicken John, for the exquisitely timed art spark and narrating what followed; John Law, for finally opening up to me about the early years; Jim Mason, for taking things seriously; Jess Hobbs, for keeping things light; Rebecca Anders, Pouneh Mortazavi, and Charlie Gadeken for introducing me to the fire arts; Bassnectar, Lee Coombs, Marvin Beaver, Scumfrog, and all the outstanding DJs who opened up to me and who bounce the scene; Joegh Bullock, for the cool parties and the great stories about cool parties; Marian Goodell, Andie Grace, Harley Dubois, and Will Chase for speaking for this culture and helping me cover it; Lightning and Thunder, the LLCs legal team, for their help and for not suing me; Paul Addis, for sharing his story; Carmen Mauk, for doing; Rich Martin, Captain Ken, Phil Spitler, Dave X, Hotmetal, and others who taught me skills; Jess Hobbs, Catie Magee, and PK Kimelman, for inviting me into the Temple and keeping me from losing my way; Jack, for the Bloodies and Whatnot; Monica, Simon, Greg, and Snook, for La Contessa and telling me her story; Dan and Karen, for the space theyve created; Metric, Flash, and Shooter (RIP), for the Gerlach perspective; Jennesa, Darrow, and Vaughn, for my first burn; Ullie, Chris, Scott, Nicole, Gray, and Geo, for my last one; for you, you know who you are, who did that one thing that one time that Ill never forget; and for all of you that I did forget, or just forgot to remember here. Thanks. I love you all.

The Tribes of Burning Man

First Edition

Copyright 2011 by Steven T. Jones

Published by the Consortium of Collective Consciousness

All rights reserved.

Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to CCC Publishing, 530 8th Avenue #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA. FAX (415) 933-8132.

As is common in a historic and reference book such as this, much of the information included on these pages has been collected from diverse sources. When possible, the information has been checked and double-checked. Even with special effort to be accurate and thorough, the author and publisher cannot vouch for each and every reference.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Jones, Steven T.

The Tribes of Burning Man: How an Experimental City in the Desert is Shaping the New American Counterculture / Steven T . Jones

Includes index (Pbk.)

ePub ISBN-13: 978-1888729436

1. HistoryModern, Burning Man. 2. CountercultureArt, Society. I. Title

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2010934696

Printed in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover design, page layout and illustrations by Scott Borchardt

Cover photo information: Garage Mahal Artcar by Tami Rowan, Michael Emerys Who Are You Now? by Dave Le (aka Splat), Flaming Lotus Girls Soma by MVGals.net, Opulent Temple by MVGals.net, How Weird Street Faire by Brad Olsen, Burning Man by Dave Le, Burners Without Borders in Pearlington, Mississippi by KK Pandya.