After a day and a half of coma-like slumber, I’ve recovered enough from the third Life is Beautiful Festival to deliver a fairly coherent reporting.  As per usual, this will be an entirely Shulmanistic retelling, as my LiB15 experience was no doubt unique-ish.

I know nothing about the logistics of the weekend (I’m sure I could Google them; but then again, so could you…).  The WENDOHfication of the festival was apparent from the get-go.  As I had to be Downtown on Thursday evening, anyhow; I decided to get my credentials, that evening, and avoid any crowds on Friday.  It took a mere 9 minutes, for me to park (in front of eat), walk to the Box Office, wait in line, present my government-issued photo ID, receive my VIP Media wristband, and return to my car. 

As per usual, I fell ass-backwards into one fortuitous situation after another.  Round-trip transportation to and from the festival, three days in a row (courtesy of Gustave Backman).  Viewing Stevie Wonder on Friday, from the air-conditioned comfort of the “Partner Pad” (courtesy of Wirtz Beverage).  Up-close and personal viewing of Duran Duran, on Saturday, from roughly fifth row, center (courtesy of the tenacity of Carolyn Wood, Izzy Haring, and Alida Glusman).  Watching Walk the Moon, Sunday evening, from a luxury cabana (courtesy of the El Cortez).  Viewing Brandon Flowers and The Killers perform an incredibly jam-packed one-hour set, Sunday night, from backstage (courtesy of #TheDB, aka Darren A. Beckett).  Watching Weezer, from backstage, later Sunday night (courtesy of Corri Backman and Scott Blazek).  Basically, if there was a VIP experience to be had, I experienced it, enjoyed it, and frolicked in it.

None of this was planned (except the backstage pass for Brandon Flowers – thanks again, Darren!), but rather occurred just by walking around, and seeing friends.  Kinda like needing "a miracle" (and getting it) at three back-to-back Dead shows…  For instance, while en route to the stage, I passed the cabanas and heard “Hey, Shulman!” (Considering how much I was sweating, it could very well have been “Hey, Kool-Aid!”)  I turned and looked and saw the recently affianced Katie Epstein and Jonathan Fine, waving at me.  I waved back, and on my way back from the stage, stopped by and joined them for a refreshing Diet RC Cola and a fantastic thin-crust pizza, from Hearthstone.  (Thanks, KT and Jon-O!)  Bonus: walking to and from the stage, I got a crazy contact-high – which was fortunate, as my self-induced one had all but worn-off.  (Thanks, audience!)

Later, after meandering through what I dubbed “Brandon Flowers Village” (a group of trailers, set-up like a fierce, yet family-friendly, shanty-town with musicians, family members, friends, producers, roadies, techies, and a very friendly bartender); and stopping in the VIP Tent for my 15th tasty cup of fresh lemonade (courtesy of The Twisted Lemon); I was thinking to myself “Self, I wonder where Corri is…”  All of a sudden, I realized that the leggy blonde who'd bumped into me WAS Corri - at which point, she hooked her arm in mine, swung me around, and said “We’re going backstage, to watch Weezer: Come with us!”  Uh…  Okay!

Meanwhile, the top three things I heard at LiB15 (one per day) were:

3.  “I left it at the Elvis wedding chapel” – Duran Duran drummer, Nick Rhodes (in response to Simon Le Bon singing “Why don’t you use it?” during ‘The Reflex’) – Saturday

2.  “Hey! I know you!” – Brandon Flowers (upon seeing me, backstage) – Sunday

1. “Hey Princess… You doin’ okay?” – Life is Beautiful CEO, Justin Weniger (upon observing me having a very intimate moment with a portable air-conditioning unit; in the Partner Pad) – Friday

The festival operated with savvy and aplomb.  The vendors were friendly.  According to backstage security guards Mike and Trina, the bands were all very polite and respectful.  I saw nobody acting the fool or behaving sloppily.  All told, Life is Beautiful 2015 was pretty friggin’ awesome, and was an ideal way to signal the end of summer.

Life is Beautiful Festival 2015
Downtown Las Vegas
September 25th – 27th
Click HERE for info

Get into it!
#LiB15