There’s sweat dripping down your back, but you’re not complaining.

You spent twice as much money on food than you normally would, but you’re starving so you’ll tolerate it.

If you read the previous sentences and thought I was describing a day at Disneyland, you would have made a good guess but an incorrect one. The right answer would have been a Saturday afternoon at Arroyo Seco Weekend. The festival took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday June 24^th and Sunday June 25^th. The two-day festival brought together over 35 artists from Alabama Shakes, Fitz and the Tantrums, Mumford and Sons, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and more on three stages across the location. To go alongside the music were a host of restaurants serving beer, cocktails, and food including Dog Haus, Fritzi Coop, Slapfish, and Gus’s BBQ. Having familiarity with many of the restaurants in attendance, my friend TJ and I stopped by a restaurant we haven’t had before: Fat Dragon.

With most of the restaurants having prices per plate at double the normal price for half the size, I was pleased to see that Fat Dragon tried to come to some sort of balance between the two. I ordered the Orange Chicken Bowl ($12) that came with white rice and the Green Tea Slush ($8). Walking around the rolling fields that housed tents of music and booths of food caused me to build up an appetite fairly quickly and I was glad to see that there was more than a few bites in the plate that I ordered. The orange chicken was tangy, sweet, and sticky while the white rice only absorbed the sauce covering the meat like a sponge. Considering all the walking, standing, and sweating we were doing at the event, the plate was filling. What was incredibly refreshing was the tea slush. As a person who has little interest in iced tea, I was shocked to see how much I enjoyed this one. A plastic cup held organic cold brew tea with blackberry syrup. The ice cold slush felt revitalizing, the mint made it energizing, the green tea was cooling, and as a whole it was sweet without being too sugary. I loved the taste of it and I loved the attention the beautiful drink brought.

After clearing my order, TJ and I wandered around to check out a few booths. A variety of sponsors were in attendance engaging with concert-goers, but after looking through them all the only one I was interested in was Bai. I’ve had the drink before and that Bai manages to find itself perfectly between water, juice, and soda. Of the variety of drinks in its product line ranging from antioxidant infusions, purified water, and super-tea one of my favorites is their Black line of Sparkling Antioxidant Infusions. I lean with interest to it thanks to the packaging, but also because I love the bubbly taste that comes in each can. With only 5 calories, zero grams of sugar, and no artificial sweeteners the drink is perfect on a hot day such as this one. I didn’t mind taking a can to get me through the afternoon, and I had no shame in returning twenty minutes later and asking for another one.

After the food and the drinks was the music. With so many artists belting from three stages it wasn’t hard to decide where to go. Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra , Charles Bradley & His Extrordinaires, Alabama Shakes.

The day may have started with us being sweaty and hungry, but once Jeff Goldblum and his band walked across the Willow stage everything prior seemed like a long forgotten memory. The saxophones, drums, guitar, and bass of the five-man band alongside Jeff Goldblum played jazz so cool that even the outdoor air conditioner became chill. That’s when Goldblum began to croon the audience with his guest in her white polka dot dress that the entire audience rocked from their right leg to their left almost involuntarily. Those who’ve had a few drinks or smoked a little too much couldn’t catch the beat, but in their heads they were on, they were happy, and to be honest that’s all that mattered.

Being happy seemed to be the vibe throughout each stage of music. Leaving Goldblum’s stage and heading to Sycamore to listen to Charles Bradley & His Extrordinaires had the same sentiment. As the Florida born artist sang and gyrated across the stage the audience bounced back and forth alongside his lyrics. It wasn’t until Bradley gently quieted the audience that everyone slowed to hear him speak. As he confided that he beat his battle with cancer the unanimous silence turned into cheers. Another few songs and it was impossible not to sway your hips and wave your hands in the air. Yes, like you just didn’t care.

A dash across the field and pushing through a crowd found TJ and I at The Oaks stage to see Alabama Shakes. At this point, the crowd had grown in tremendous size. People with chairs and blankets were being walked over and stepped on with little regard. An unfortunate scene, however, if a person wanted to keep their blanket clean then they should have left it at home. Right on time, the band stepped to the stage and lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard stood in front of the microphone. With a voice that sounds as exceptional on stage as it does in your headphones, Brittany reached into the souls of us all to feel love, heartache, and passion. Having such a dynamic voice paired with a boundless facial expressions, Howard makes music that you can feel. That was the case here even if you were standing front row or at the very back of the crowd.

The afternoon at Arroyo Seco Weekend felt easy especially considering it was only 85 degrees in spite of the combined temperature of all the bodies within venue seeming to reach past that. It was impossible not to sweat, difficult to avoid running into people, and surprising how many damp body parts you would feel that didn’t belong to you. That aside, the music was exactly what you would like to envelope yourself in on beautiful day like this. Smooth jazz, rhythmic funk, and passionate blues were the right styles of music to take this Saturday afternoon to night. Grabbing a few bites from Fat Dragon and drinks from Bai to carry us from tent to tent and booth to booth was the best choice to continue the day. Combining all of that under the Arroyo Seco Weekend of festivities was the best decision I could have made on this first Saturday of summer.

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