I am your Burning Man first timer, absolutely virgin.
No matter where you live or where you are coming from… it’s gonna be a long journey… but it’s gonna be so worth it!
It starts like a dream, sounds like an old Eagle’s song… from a small highway you’ll drive up the rocky road. And you’re in the desert. In the middle of the night, the temperature drops, the road gets dusty, you follow the signs, and you read the story that brings you into this fairy tale.
Black Rock City: a city built only for you and for others like you …
As soon as you see the gate, something inside you shifts… butterflies in your stomach… is this really happening???… Yes it is!!!… A group of strangers welcome you like this was the only place you were ever supposed to be. Could this be true?
You follow the rituals: roll in the dust, ring the bell and let the MAN know that you are finally here. They look at you, hug you, and say “Welcome Home!”
A giant wooden sculpture of a symbolic human being is lit up in the middle of this deserted city and in its simplicity you relate to that.
This is THE MAN… The Man in the Burning Man.
No more cellphone signal, no internet device , no more connection with the “real” world you used to live in… you are in the middle of nothing… now is just You, the Elements and the People.
Slowly but surely you start understanding the Elements.
Earth: the desert , the sand, the dust; You feel it, you breathe it (oh yes!!), you live in it.
Wind: with the breeze, the storm, the heat of the day and the bone chilling cold of night.
Soon you’ll experience: FIRE!! So scary; so powerful, so NEW but yet so simple and playful… all of the elements are close to you now, and it feels like they always belonged with you.
You feel like you are back in ancient history and now you know how the prehistoric Tribes, the Natives, the Greeks and the Romans walked this earth and lived their lives… so simple, so pure, but yet so fulfilling.
Did we forget all of this somehow?
Our shoebox apartments, office’s cubicles, squared buildings, coffin cars, behind our desks, our computers, in our home…we are alone… slaves to the system, to the MAN… indifference speaks and ignorance everywhere, and we further and further abandon the simplicity and connectedness.
But not here… not now.
For this one week you will feel connected to each other, respect each other, and love one another.
We will help each other and we will celebrate life all together as one.
Massive sculptures, Art pieces, Giant Fire constructions, outrageous Artistic cars, things that will blow your mind and impressive Giant Speaker Systems, playing the loudest and meanest Electronica music ever invented, for this tribe in the middle of the desert that screams: “we are alive!” and dances until the sunrise comes.
Kindness, altruism, solidarity, compassion, radical self reliance and self expression, no sense of judgment , no sponsorship, or commercialism, no use of money, gifting and love.
Those are the things will prove we are human and we do exist.
Yes we are back in a tribal mode, a modern futuristic tribe and no matter how far from society you wanna put those people, how hard is gonna be for them to get all together in a specific time and in a specific place… they will be there!!!
They started as 9 in a San Francisco beach and 25 years later they count them as 50.000 in the middle of the Nevada Desert!
I shared my food and drinks with my tent neighbor; experienced the elements; showered with fire; rode my bicycle in the middle of nothing, cried in the temple to remember a friend, understood the pain of others; talked with people from different background, age, and sexual preferences.
Held a stranger for an entire night in front of a fire like if she was my woman, rode on a party bus day and night, burned a bunch of old memories, pulled a Trojan Horse, kissed a bunch of girls just because they were beautiful and made sure I told them!!!!
.…yes it lasts only one week but I felt like I have been there forever.
It was my first time…I was a Burning Man Virgin. I felt closer to Earth, closer to People, closer to GOD, and this will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Thru the years you called us: nomads, voyeur, bohemian, hippie, hipsters, beatnik thinkers…now you can just call us: BURNERS! )’(
AND NOW FOR YOU ENJOYMENT!!! Check this out
I play guitar, perform, write and produce music.
8 comments
Mirko says:
Sep 12, 2011
Grande Robbie!!!!!!
ganzo says:
Sep 14, 2011
Italian is a beautiful language but it would be great to post comments in English!
Antonello says:
Sep 13, 2011
Cool story, dear “corregionale”!
Looking at some photos it seems to be in one of the “Mad Max” movies, especially in the 22th: so amazing!!!!
What Amazons!!!!
Diego says:
Sep 13, 2011
Nice shots! As a real neo-pagan I am not really supportive of ‘Burning man’…but glad you had fun ! That’s the important thing.
To me it’s more like mad-max influenced post-modern hippie debauchery than true spirituality. I would bet all my money that 90% of the people there have no idea about the history behind the wicker man.
Giada says:
Sep 13, 2011
I SING IN for NEXT YEAR TO COME: I M QUEUE TO COME WITH YOU!
Old coot says:
Sep 13, 2011
Hippies… nothing but a bunch of goddamn hippies. You all should jump in the fire with the buildings!
Love&Peace says:
Sep 15, 2011
Haters just a bunch of haters. =) Love & Peace to you!
Chiara says:
Sep 16, 2011
I’ve never been. I need to be devirginized, stat. Awesome shots, Robbie!