6:55pm: Lauren & I arrive via taxi at the shuttle bus stop in Bushwick* for Sustain-Release. According to their website: “Sustain-Release is an adventurous music weekend in upstate New York featuring shared cabins and camping for all participants, swimming pools, a lake, a bonfire, and forward-thinking music across two stages.”It’s basically a techno summer camp in the Catskills. This is only its second year. A few months ago Lauren read something about it online but the ticketing was for members only (attendees of last years festival) and the tickets were already sold out. Tickets were limited to 700 people. One of my best friends, Arias, who I have known for the last 15 years knew a lot of people going from working at the now defunct Body Actualized Center and 285 Kent. She was living in Miami at the time though so couldn't help us secure tickets but she had heard last year's event was beautiful. Two weeks ago, Lauren found someone selling their tickets and we made a last minute decision to go. Camp? Swimming pool? Dancing? So even though Lauren & I had been doing loads of stuff this year, both draining our bank accounts and our mental stamina reserves, we ultimately decided that this was too good to miss. I usually prioritize sleep and my own well-being last on my list of priorities. I believe I started using the phrase "I'll sleep when I'm dead" at the ripe age of 15.

7:00pm: Lauren sees Rachel, a girl who she went to Haverford College with, waiting in line for the bus. Considering Haverford is a very small college of about 1200 people and this festival is only about 700 people total it's pretty cool we've already run into someone Lauren knows. NYC can be a small world sometimes.

7:35pm: The bus arrived and we all load in. Looking around the crowd, I am glad I got the memo to wear black. There is no color in this crowd. Everyone always jokes that New Yorkers wear black all the time but this was some next level all black everything.

This A-Wang runway is very similar to the group aesthetic - white & grey are also acceptable. — This A-Wang runway is very similar to the group aesthetic - white & grey are also acceptable.

10:00pm: We arrive at Camp Lakota in the dark. Since we bought our tickets late and second-hand, we are camping while most people are staying in cabins. I was jealous of “the cabin people” before, but more jealous when I see the tiny adorable cabins in the camp. I contemplate claiming squatters rights and going into one of them, but instead I begrudgingly start to look for the camping area with Lauren, dragging our two sleeping bags, tent, and backpacks around the camp. I trip on the uneven ground but luckily I use my sleeping bag to break my fall. Having an old dance injury and weak ankles, I am used to falling so I usually fall quite gracefully. The other campers look at me with sad pity probably wondering if I am already drunk. Don't worry guys, I am just a spaz.

Walking around, this camp reminds me of a summer camp called Camp Arrowhead I went to one summer in Lewes, DE before my parents moved there rom NJ. I think they thought it would give me a jump-start on making friends. However, that was the summer I had Bells Palsy* (a temporary condition that paralyzes half your face) so half my face was numb and I looked like Two-Face from Batman. Needless to say 10-year-old girls are super mean and I had a terrible time.

No one wants to be friends with this guys at camp.

I hoped this camp experience would be better considering both sides of my face work and hungover University students weren’t in charge of my experience.

10:10pm: We found the camping space down a steep steep hill- lit only by Christmas lights in the trees. The camping site is a big field near two little baseball fields. The field was pitch black. Luckily the set-up isn’t too much of a struggle because I brought my trusty headlamp, a gift from my father for Bonnaroo. And by gift from my father I mean I asked him to buy me a flashlight and he bought me a solar powered flashlight, a tiny pocket flashlight, a headlamp, an electric lantern and extra batteries. It would seem my urge to hoard/over-shop is definitely genetic.

11:00pm: Now that our plush accommodations are all set-up, we decide to explore the camp and find the dining hall.

Everyone is fueling up on carb-heavy meals for a long night of boogying. Most of the menu, in typical Brooklyn fashion, is needlessly fancy recipes that are not very well executed; think cold Hunan noodles with peanut sauce & crunchy vegetables, or a lamb sausage sandwich on a pita. Lauren & I, being true foodies, both order grilled cheese and potato chips.

11:30pm: We hit the dance floor. The Main Stage is set up in Camp Lakota Social Hall. A big wooden building decorated with banners of past winners of camp games hanging from the walls.

Inspiration, Motivation & Participation also work well as the mantra for a Rave.

There is a stage at the end of the hall with an LED light wall behind it and pretty intricate lights accompanying the music. I assuming that Camp Lakota is not generally a camp for young ravers so the whole light system must have been set up especially for this event and it was pretty impressive. The bar set-up was pretty basic. They had warned us not bring outside alcohol so Lauren & I didn't bring any outside liquor. Not so much because we are sticklers for rules, but mostly because alcohol is heavy and we already had to lug all our camping gear. The drinks are pretty cheap though - $5 for beer or mixed drinks. Also the bartenders are generous to the point of the drink being totally disgusting. Our basically plastic cup filled with mostly cheap vodka and a splash of coke but I was drunk after 2 drinks so it was a trade-off.

12:00am: We wander over to the Bossa Stage, named after the event's partner Bossa Nova Civic club. Many of my friends who studied abroad in Berlin are obsessed with this place because they serve up Club Mate and techno jams in Bushwick. Club Mate is sort of the classy European version of Red Bull. For those who haven’t tasted it, it is basically bitter green tea soda. The bartender gives you a full bottle you drink about 1/5 of it and then they fill it with vodka. I order one, I don’t like the taste very much, but I also told my sister the first time I tried Red Bull when I was 14 that it "tasted like cancer" and now I drink it all the time, so I figure maybe the taste will grow on me eventually.

12:10am: Interplanetary Prophets are doing a live set. I am very impressed by the quality of the music so far. I know I made the right decision to come. We run into Lauren’s friend from college Andrew. He is working for the event. Another Haverford person? Is Haverford a breeding ground for techno lovers? Andrew & Lauren both majored in religion… All hail techno?

Found this photo in one of the halls. Maybe this is a camp for young ravers? Very similar aesthetic.

1:00am: We head back to the Main Stage to see Kassem Mosse but instead Black Maddona is playing. Apparently this was announced on FB, but I had my phone on airplane to save the battery for important things like pictures and snapchat. Black Madonna is bringing the jams though; she’s playing some really funky** tunes that have the whole social hall dancing. I end up running into Dylan,a guy who was in my freshman Presidential Scholars group at NYU. I haven't seen him in probably 4 years so it's a bit surreal running into him on the dance floor at an upstate summer camp. With him I find other NYU kids. NYU alumni & cockroaches; at every party in and around NYC.

2:15am: Back at the Bossa stage. The Bossa stage is set up in what looks like a small gymnasium. The inside of the building is all white. There are lights up behind the stage and all along the rafters, so the whole building becomes a dream space. People are sprawled out on foam tumbling equipment set up in the back of the room, which also conveniently doubles as little clouds perfect for that pre-late night disco nap.

3:30am: Kassem Mosse is now on at the main stage. Everyone is raging. I am pretty sure the Club Mate is already sold out. The stage room was full, but not too crowded to dance. The good thing about small events like this is that they usually attract a really positive crowd. I spoke outside with one of the DJs who would be playing the following evening. Somehow we got into a very intense discussion about the state of European politics, the Philadelphia techno scene, and our personal lives. He told me his whole life story including details on his daughter and his ex-wife. There are very few events where the artists mingle so freely with attendees. Throughout the festival I saw many of the artists dancing and taking part in camp activities. I felt really luck that we got tickets to this event. I’ve been to many many events, and this one still felt unique.

4:45am: Lauren & I decide to go to sleep. Most people are still awake and dancing but most people will be sleeping in comfy cabins tomorrow while we try to sleep on the cold hard ground. It is supposed to pour and the music goes until 8am tomorrow, so we figure we should get a good sleep now while our tent is still nice and dry.

*This area might technically now be called East Williamsburg but I refuse to call anywhere East Williamsburg because East Williamsburg does not exist. It’s a neighborhood real estate agents made up to sell expensive apartments in Bushwick.

** Although I can distinguish and appreciate the different types of electronic music I am still not the best at describing them. My highest praise is usually describing something as funky and/or dancey. I think I just FEEL the music too hard to describe the nuances of the sound.