Camp Flog Gnaw, Tyler the Creator’s annual, funky music festival is full of nothing but the best kind of people. My friends and I go every year and last year was definitely the craziest.
We slept over each others houses that weekend so we could get our outfits ready. My friend Jyra and I woke up super early that Saturday morning, so we could be first in line (which doesn’t really matter because they do it so fast but it’s always fun to wait and meet people). We got ready, went to pick up the rest of our friends and listened to our favorite playlist full of Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler, Kali Uchis, Sza, a whole flog gnaw playlist the whole way there. We waited in line for about an hour and played Uno with random people in line.
It was such a hassle to get our tickets. We had to wait 5 months for them to drop and when they finally dropped, we waited in yet another line, online for about an hour and we waited 4 months for the festival to actually come.
After months of waiting and anticipation, it was her. We were in. Finally.
When you get past the security check the first thing you see is a big banner that says “WELCOME TO CAMP FLOG GNAW 2017”. Then, Tyler’s voice echoes around the whole place welcoming you to the festival and telling you to have a good time. Typical of this day and age, everyone pulls their phones out and starts going crazy looking for Tyler.
The first thing we did was got a light snack so we wouldn’t pass out, eating it on the Ferris wheel. The first person we went and saw was Fidlar, it’s always so scary going into the crowd because you never know what to expect.
Fidlar had an all-girls mosh pit and called all the girls to the front. It was so much fun, but so many people got hurt. One girl hobbled out of the crowd and her knee was bent backward!
Tyler and A$AP’s set was definitely the craziest. People were having asthma attacks, seizures. My friend got puked on by someone near us. It was gnarly. I lost all my friends during Tyler’s set because it got too crazy, but I waited until his set was over and went to our emergency meet-up spot (always important to have any time you go to a festival), which was the big Ferris wheel.
Earl Sweatshirt was probably one of my favorite artists at Flog Gnaw. I watched two sets I didn’t want to watch just to be in the front for Earl.
During the wait, I got socked in the chest and someone spilled their beer on me. It was terrible but I was in the front for Earl and I ended up meeting Sage Elsesser in the crowd.
He’s one of Earls best friends and a skater sponsored by Supreme. I loved Earl’s set so much. My best friend and I were singing along and hugging the whole time. It was probably one of the best memories I have from Flog Gnaw.
When we weren’t watching someone perform, we were hanging out in the Illegal Civ booth, eating or walking around and taking pictures. All of our favorite artists and skaters were there, we met a whole bunch of them. That’s honestly my favorite part about it, you get to have fun and meet people you admire, they’re there to enjoy the festival, just like you.
Kid Cudi was the last person to perform and it was so beautiful. I didn’t get to see him because my mom wanted me home and we had to take my friend back home, but his shadow was on the building next to us and we were able to hear him as we walked to my mom’s car. We were holding hands and singing along to the song he was performing. Flog gnaw honestly couldn’t have ended any better. I’m glad I got to spend that weekend with my best friends, people I love and care about.
Image Source: Alexis Torres
Written by Alexis Torres, Culture Editor