Our latest SPIN First Drop: Visionaries Edition showcases Do LaB and Lightning in a Bottle co-founder, Jesse Flemming.
In 2006, the Do LaB crew pitched an art installation project to the folks at Coachella. When they finally got the green light, they only had about a week to prep their dome and installation, so they brought their whole community together and somehow pulled it off. True to form, they also set up their sound system & DJ gear, which spawned a renegade party that went into the late hours throughout the weekend. After the festival shut down each night, Do LaB just kept going, and that became the birth of what would become the official Do LaB stage at Coachella. …and they never looked back. Today, Do LaB is one of the major guiding lights of west coast festival culture and has, in turn, inspired the overall growth of the larger festival movement worldwide.
“Back in the early days [of Coachella], we would play music until they would come over with the cops and they would pull the plugs on the generator cause we just wouldn’t stop. … and we still kind of have that renegade attitude.” – Jesse Flemming
Turning the clock back further to 1999, before Do LaB was a thing, Jesse and his twin brother threw their birthday party in a remote area of the California desert. They didn’t really have a vision – they just wanted to have fun with some friends. It was about 100 or so people and a generator. It became the party of the summer so they did it again and again. This was at a time when there weren’t a lot of festivals happening in the US, aside from major events like Coachella and Burning Man, so they officially named their party into Lighting in a Bottle and went big.
Today, LIB remains one of the world’s biggest live and electronic music festivals. At their recent event last spring, LIB showcased an array of performances from the likes of Glass Animals, Kaytranada, GRiZ, SG Lewis, Purity Ring, Chet Faker, Monolink, Black Coffee, LSDream, VNSSA, Lubelski, SOHMI, HoneyLuv, Carlita, Mikey Lion, the Desert Hearts crew, and so many more. Further extending their mission to continually bring the LIB community together, Do LaB continued its creative partnership with LIB alumni RÜFÜS DU SOL, with an immersive sound reactive video sculpture at their LA Banc of California stadium stop, scored by The Glitch Mob’s Boreta. Luckily, the Do LaB crew is in a constant state of evolution, so expect even bigger things at next year’s Coachella, Lightning in a Bottle and beyond.
Roll with SPIN into the artist village at Coachella’s Do LaB tent as we hang with Jesse and learn all about the legendary movement he and his fam have built – and watch our exclusive SPIN First Drop: Visionaries below. To check out more SPIN First Drops, head over to SPINTV.
