Blowing off steam at Burger Boogaloo
On Saturday, July 5, I had the pleasure of (wo)man-ing KALX‘s merch table on Day 1 of Burger Boogaloo, Burger Records‘ annual music festival in Oakland’s Mosswood Park. I’d been volunteering with KALX 90.7 FM for years, before The B-Side was alive and reporting, and I never regret time spent representing one of the best radio stations in the Bay Area. What’s better than hanging out with a bunch music nerds? (Subjecting yourself to all the dry wit and obscure namedropping sounds way cool to you, I know.) The culture even transcends rivalry–when a few KZSU DJs (affiliates from a school Cal kids aren’t supposed to like or something) stopped by to show support for their fellow college radio volunteers, we had nothing but mutual respect for each other and the bunker-y lifestyles that informed our college years; spinning left-of-center records in some campus basement and kind of being the school’s sonic taste-makers (and not at all pretentious) were a couple of the talking points.
I also met a lot of enthusiastic listeners handing out KALX pins and stickers (which, by the way, are always free. If you see a KALX table at a show, just take one.) Amazing supporters like Melody walked up to the table just to donate money, asking nothing in return. And drummer Meredith Jones of Courtney and the Crushers approached to share that KALX once brightened up her bad day when she turned on her clock radio to hear a knowing DJ play a Crushers tune.
It was really cool to chat with all the festival goers, but since I was there to lend my time, I wasn’t getting up-close photos of a lot of the bands, even though Nobunny, Milk ‘N’ Cookies, and OFF!, to name a few, played exciting and energetic sets. One great thing about Oakland though is that no one’s afraid to hold back on style, so between sets, as the crowd rushed to and from the beer garden or food truck promenade, there was a lot to see.
Check out the essence of Burger Boogaloo’s first day with our with our photo set below. And while you’re browsing feel free to stream KALX’s 24/7 live radio feed. It never disappoints.
Article and photos by Audrey Gertz