Okay, so as my first post I was really thinking that I’d have some fully underground, sickeningly unheard of, yet outrageously cool tidbit of music and design harmony. And then Phish happened.

Maybe I should explain. On the weekends I work doing music production, which is an extremely vague term for a somewhat less vague job. Basically it’s just hustling to make sure whatever big concert is in town has enough color-coded m&m’s and that Jay-Z’s guitar player doesn’t get lost somewhere between The Staples Center and The Spearmint Rhino. It’s fun.

So, last weekend I was working The Phish Festival in Palm Springs. 3 days of non-ironic tie-dye and hugs. Needless to say I was not expecting to find the cutting edge of live music design among a sea of 40,000 gently swaying neo-hippies. BUT, I forgot one very important thing: Most hippies are ALSO NERDS! AAANNNDDD NERDS LOVE TECHNOLOGY!

duh.

So, When I looked up into the hazy evening sky and saw this, I was pretty impressed:

Watch Borealis Balloon

Made up of 1,000 extra large helium balloons equipped with remote-controlled LED lights and sensors, this massive psychotropic cousin of a regular cloud floated over the festival grounds all night to the blurry-eyed delight of all. It created a much more integrated lighting experience for the crowd, while still responding to the performer.

So, the next time you see a mellow-yellow child of the universe playing hacky-sack in the quad, just remember: That hippie might be able to build you an awesome robot.

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