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Acid Test 40th in Las Vegas with Merry
Pranksters, Mutaytor, Bassnectar, NRPS, Haj,
and many more...
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test at 40 ˜ The
bus came by and I got on. That's when it all
began...
When I heard there was going to be a 40th
Anniversary Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
scheduled for liftoff on Halloween night in
Las Vegas, I didn't know what to expect, but
I knew I had to get to Vegas. My fiancée and
I packed up the car and headed for the desert
with our costumesËœI, of course, as the
devil, and my better half as an angel.
The event was thrown by Zane Kesey (Ken
Kesey's son), the Merry Pranksters, and a few
promoters with the ability to manifest the
vision. The experience built slowly, with New
Riders of the Purple Sage, a jamband from the
'60s, serving as the launch pad. As I
meandered through the costumed crowd I ran
into my buddy Uncle Eddie from Dead Tour, and
soon fell into a puddle. Next thing I know
I'm munchin' on some fungilicious chocolates.
By the time New Riders were winding down
their set, I was winding up to the cosmos.
The Acid Test was a dynamic all-nighter,
incorporating performance art; a
video/laser/light show by Smoke and Mirrors,
VJ Awiaz and Optical Deslusion; and music by
various DJs and bands, the highlights being
Mutaytor and Spun. The interplay of light,
performance art and music was so visceral,
fluid and erotic that it wrapped me in its
folds and held me there enchanted, till the
wee hours. The Merry Pranksters even got on
stage at one point and did a really strange
"Turn on Your Love Light" with George [Walker
on the axe-a-phone].
After attending hundreds of raves, 100-plus
Dead shows, and every other kind of
psychedelic event you can imagine, I honestly
have to say this was the best party I've ever
experienced. The Test was part jamband, rave,
Burning Man, Cirque du Soliel, costume party
and a host of other ineffables all rolled
into one very groovy and colorful onion of
experience. They took the
essence of everything I understood the
original Acid Tests to be, and boldly brought
it into the future.
There are whispers that the Pranksters really
enjoyed being back on the bus. Could this be
a new beginning? Well, only one thing is for
certain: after 40 years, an Acid Test just
happened, authentic and self-defining. And I
of course passed it with flying colors.
-Fredstrong
Tags : electric kool aid acid test mutaytor merry pranksters vagoose greatful dead lsd sex drugs vj victorious eye pscience |
