By Laura Medina
Empire of the Sun
What if ComicCon, Vulture Culture Festival, and Coachella had a ménage à trois?
The resulting outcome would be commercial independent music radio station, ALT 98.7 FM's Big Adventure Festival, a very affordable weekend festival that's all-around pop culture. That's very cool.
In its inaugural year, Alt 98.7 Presents Big Adventure brought thousands of music, comedy, comics, and pop culture lovers together at the OC Fair & Event Center, with 16,000 in attendance over the weekend of Saturday, November 3 and Sunday November 4.
Celebrating pop culture and fandom of all sorts, Alt 98.7 Presents Big Adventure attendees had the opportunity to see some of their favorite cast members and special guests during the panels, participate in interactive fan experiences, tabletop and video gaming, tech demos, and visit the artist alley where some of the comic book industry’s top artists and creators were speaking about their craft, selling artwork, meeting fans and signing autographs. In the evening, fans witnessed sets from acclaimed comedians including Patton Oswalt, Jim Jefferies, Kristen Schaal, Rhys Darby, and Natasha Leggero, along with some of today’s top alternative and dance music artists including Empire Of The Sun, Modest Mouse, Phantogram, Cold War Kids, What So Not, Rusko, Feed Me, Bro Safari, and many more.
Alt 98.7 Presents Big Adventure co-producer Rob Tweedie says, “Our goal with Big Adventure was to create a fun, authentic, one-of-a-kind experience for fans, and in its inaugural year I think we did that. There was such a great feeling of excitement, wonder, and community that washed over the entire grounds as people bounced from the artists and exhibitors, to the comedy, to the panels, to the interactive experiences, and ultimately to enjoy the fantastic music we had on stage. Big Adventure began as this crazy vision of everyone coming together to celebrate who they are and what they love, and we at SGE were ecstatic and honored to make this beautiful dream a reality.”
The two-day festival featured panels and live podcast tapings from: Stan Against Evil, Wrecked, American Satan, Superfight LIVE!, Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend, Cool Playlist With Eliza Skinner, Machinima Presents Voice Acting In Gaming, Nerdbot Presents Back In The Shell: A Ninja Turtle Fan Series, and The Nerdin’ Out Podcast; comedy sets from Patton Oswalt, Jim Jefferies, Kristen Schaal, Natasha Leggero, Emo Philips, Ron Funches, Hari Kondabolu, Rhys Darby, Monty Franklin, Maria Bamford, and Marcella Arguello; live music from Empire Of The Sun, Modest Mouse, Phantogram, Cold War Kids, Echos, Allie X, Nvdes, Party Nails, Rusko, What So Not, Bro Safari, Bonnie X Clyde, Feed Me, Luca Lush, Party Thieves, Ducky, Chime, Nitti Gritti, and Chuck None; and a number of comic themed discussions, signings, and more in the artist alley. A full list of participating guests and talent can be seen
Weekend take-over at the massive Orange County Fair grounds and Event venue, not only is it massive with several different theaters, named after Orange County towns, it has numerous real, decent restrooms. Yes!
To quench your thirst, the real deal, in authenticity and budget discounts, is the soda wagon, Wild Bill's Olde Fashion Soda, where you can get unlimited refills anytime when you buy their souvenir mugs. They dispense barrels of vintage sodas from the turn of the century, when sodas were medicinal tonics dispensed at the drug store, full of herbs and spices.
John Christopher McGinley, formerly of "Scrubs" now "Stan Against Evil."
What's even cooler than a huge, chilled mug full of foamy medicinal, vintage soda?
Taking it inside a shade auditorium, being one of the first to watch the newest season and newest tv sci-fi/fantasy shows, even better if it's a comedy with irony.
After a morning of A-List comedy is done by lunch, hip tv show premieres take over the theater, shield from the blazing afternoon UV rays, great for indoor hipsters and all-knowing couch potatoes.
Sunday afternoon, attendees were treated to the premiere showing of the first episode of the third season of IFC's "Stan Against Evil," https://www.ifc.com/shows/stan-against-evil.
Think of "Reno 911" had a lovechild with "The X-Files." That's "Stan Against Evil." A small town sheriff has to bow down to a new female sheriff while they battle B-Horror creatures. The ironic snark humor comes from "Simpson" writers. It's "Treehouse of Horrors" becoming its own tv series.
It's during the Questions & Answers cast and crew panel discussion, is when you discover a nugget of wisdom.
Veteran character actor, John Christopher McGinley, who tells you it's all dependent on the script. An actor can only do so much. It's a A-minus script, an actor can only elevate it one notch, up to a A+ tv series or a movie. He calls it "creative flow."
This one for all you intellectual Culture Vultures Culturatis.
Remember, get your funny bone tickled every Wednesday at 10pm on IFC, https://www.ifc.com/shows/stan-against-evil
Empire of the Sun.
Remember, this is a radio station's pop culture festival.
The cherry on top of the sundae are A-list indie bands, at the radio station's disposal.
Cold War Kids got the party started with all their current hits.
Then, nineties Modest Mouse finished the festival with nineties Gen-X hits.
Since Coachella started the "Coachella Economy," ALT 98.7 FM's Big Adventure Festival has surrounding hotel discounts, around the Orange County Fair grounds and Event venue.
Fair and square and hip.
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