420 Festival at Civic Center Park by NoRulezChris
I had started 4/20 like any other Wednesday, getting up at 8 am, driving to physical therapy and the chiropractor, and stopping by Terrapin Care Station to grab a bunch of Willie’s Reserve prerolls to go along with the other weed I had pre-packed in a backpack. I come home and hang out with my oldest daughter, then I head out on foot to catch the nearby bus to downtown Boulder, where I catch the RTD from Boulder to Union Station. Then, onto the 16th St. Free Mall Ride to Civic Center Park, next to the Denver Capitol Building with its gold dome beacon. It takes me four buses to ensure I’m safe by not driving. There is no line and no problems in what is an easy-peasy entry.
This festival was big, but not gigantic. Vendors lined the inside of the event selling pipes, shirts, art, etc. Food trucks hugged the outside bordering fence. I waited in all the lines for freebies. As I canvassed all the grounds of the Hip Hop Weed-themed free event, I had already been through it all as I waited in lines for more of the freebie booths. “No free weed”, I’m told by one of the vendors, per contract, who is paying $600 for the small area as he hands me a free sticker.
I make my way to another empty tent which has now become a shadowy shelter, perhaps left by a no-show vendor. I pick up some weedlets on the floor when a man approaches me,Prospector Chris with a free joint. He says “You don’t need to do that” I fire up the pinner he prerolled, possibly, just to give some poor fool down on his luck. The man walks away, and I remember to thank him again. I search the festival grounds for fun. Chris the Weed Recycler, no weed shall go wasted.
Finely, ground up weed was dripping all over the floor, as this lady asked for help lighting a behemoth of a cone. “Two ounces”, the cool ass lady tells me, as she lets others hit it. The cone gets to me, I wipe off the mouthpiece, as I puff a few, large hits towards the roof of the tent. I bend down and begin to stuff the grams of weed pouring out of the cone, into my rolling tunnel glass smoking device, a Steamroller, it fills fast. I added more into a plastic medicine container which was halfway full and would become my future dugout of free cannabis including the few roaches I had picked up, inspected the weed, then added to the jar.
I hear music coming from the main stage. I get up closer and closer, as DJ Lil Jon spins his own music as well as other hip hop artists. It’s close to 4:20 as the large clock on the screen indicates. Then, it switches to countdown mode. When, who else enters the stage, none other than talk show host Montel Williams. The soon-to-come guest speaker is pulling hard at his vape pen, as I presume he’s puffing a Sativa with THC strain. Lil Jon and Montel are dancing and blazing center stage with clouds of smoke. Is that Montell Jordan? A lady asks, “No, it’s Fuckin Montell Williams”, I used to watch his somewhat, raunchy talk show as a teenager on weekdays, skipping school.
Perhaps Montell was nervous, and that’s why I caught him on video camera, falling lightly on a drum riser positioned on the back of the stage. I heard a chuckle or two, but not many, as I continued taping in silence holding back my stoner laugh. Jamie from TMZ said “What I had was Montel getting up.” He was right, I guess no money for me. I had tried contacting Montel directly, as well as his agent, but I received nothing back after a week. I planned to give Montel the only copy. I had imagined he would wine and dine me and invite me to a fancy, celebrity-filled gala or late-night party. Haha! I was sure I had the only footage as Lil Jon had most of the crowd’s attention.
Montel begins his speech. The weed advocate is very technical with his words, which makes me believe he was a fan of Sativa while working. He spoke riddles of numbers and Marijuana facts. Not a bad speech, not too long. The good people of Denver salute you fine sir.
The guy next to me had been screaming at Montel, “Give us some weed”, reminding me of the Ken Gorman days I heard in circles about. I explained that the contract he most likely signed, read, NO giving away Marijuana. I noticed later that none of the artists were smoking any flower, possibly so as to not violate contracts. Who the fuck doesn’t have weed on 4-20?! It’s legally sold just a few blocks away. There was weed everywhere. Just ask around and I’m sure someone would give you some, if you weren’t such a dick, that is. The guy maddogged me as I blew rings of free, cannabis clouds, towards our Lord, until leaving during the live Bae Gang.
I’m just five to seven rows back on the grass watching a full band with instruments and female vocals. Rachel Bae Gang was a surprise to me, as her band and Montel were both new additions to the festival. This jazzy, funky, R&B band was pretty good.
I grab some water, Liquid Death soothes my throat for only six bucks a can…. I drink it sparingly so as not to scamper off to the portapotties any time soon. I walk through the loose crowd alone but IN. Weed-smoking crowds are the best, without question.
Talib Kwalli is rocking the stage with the oldest trick in the live hip-hop/pop book, wave your hands, hey ho. Wave ’em like you just don’t care. I’m only mildly impressed but it’s a free show and I have no complaints as I continue to smoke free weed stuffed into my free glassware, which I stuffed earlier with free cannabis. I enjoyed the Black Star track that reminded me of booking concerts for the first time and downloading Black Star music, again a first. The final act was about to start and there were no shootings. I was amazed no one got stupid with a gun, be it a weed-selling competitor or not.
I finally got to see half of the Outkast duo, Big Boi. He did stuff from his solo work and the cat on stage with him was not Andre 3000, as a few tracks from Outkast are performed as I walk away towards the end to get another Liquid Death and relieve myself. I get it, that’s his core work. I was one of the few who didn’t want to see Outkast perform without Andre 3000, I thought as I finished pissing in the too-close-for-comfort porta-potties, which was better than pissing in a bottle at a Dave Matthews Band concert. The show ended as I was walking back to Big Boi for more. I walked to my first of four stops smiling as a peaceful day ended. I enjoyed my day, knowing in my heart the festival was a great success.
NoRulezChris
http://www.NoRulezChris.com
Thank you for reading and visiting often NoRulezChris