Palooza. What a time, man. You either love it, hate it, or don’t remember it. This Saturday was the first official Mad River Palooza, besides the Block Party Mad River hosted last month.
In case you missed it, or simply do not remember, here’s a narrative of what went down you may relate to.
It’s 10 am, you’re hungover from the night before. You knew you shouldn’t have gone out or at least not have partied so hard in order to prepare for the day ahead. Oh well. It’s Senior year, time to rally.
You start getting ready. Your outfit was either picked out weeks in advance, or you threw something together the night before. Either way, you’re excited to rock your ‘fit and look hot doing it. Time’s a-tickin’!! It’s go time!
Shower, eat, hair, makeup, outfit. It’s 12 already? Your roommates have been ready for an hour and your other girlfriends are arriving. Hurry up!!
Okay, wow. Looking good! It’s time to go downstairs, crack open a few whiteclaws (or Natty Seltzers, if that’s what you’re into) and take some pics for your insta feed. Make sure your playlist is on full volume in order to get everyone pumped, but please, skip Mo Bamba if it comes on again.
Alright. The time has finally come. You and your friends uber (or walk, if you’re a Manayunk native) to Mad River, you get your stamp, and you go into the crowd of chaos.
Things start off light, but then you remember that you forgot how many whiteclaws you had before you left. 3? 4?… 5? Ehh… Another won’t hurt.
You turn your back for one second and you realized you lost your friends. “Wya?” You send in the group chat. “Inside near the bathrooms”. You run to find them, but they aren’t there. The only face you recognize is that guy from Econ class last spring, who you’ve kissed ONCE but can’t ever let it go or leave you alone about it. Guess you’re gonna make small talk before you find your friends.
It’s not worth it, you’d rather watch paint dry than talk to this kid. “Please, don’t touch me” you say. You slither into the bathroom to get a moment away from him and hopefully lose him for the rest of the day. Oh gosh, is that what you look like? Your makeup is all smeared under your eye. You try to fix it, and blot yourself before returning to the sweltering heat outside. Okay, all good. Let’s go.
Oh, there they are! You catch up with your friends. “Don’t leave me again! Stay. With. Me.” You go outside and finally try to enjoy the live music. It’s hard to dance in a crowd this packed without drinks getting spilled on you, but who cares. Just have fun and let loose!
You look across the crowd and see your ex… great. He weasels his way over to you to catch up. “Hey, how’ve you been? Good to see you. What’s new?” Yadda, yadda, yadda… Would it be a mess of a day without getting into a fight with him? Nope!
Luckily your friends stop you before you make a fool of yourself! Go inside, get some water, cool down. It’s getting late anyway. What’s next?
You’re hungry.
“Can we get Mike’s Pizza?” you ask. Hell freaking yes. Let’s go.
What a perfect way to end a crazy, chaotic day filled with sweat, whiteclaw, music, and friends. You and your friends sit slumped on the curb eating a greasy slice of Mike’s pizza. Life couldn’t get better. The uber’s 5 minutes away. It’s almost 7 pm… but it’s time for bed.
If your Palooza experience was anything like this, just be glad it’s over. Until next time. ;)
HCXO,
Devon