He pointed.

That’s one of the first things you learn in media training, not to. You remember Bill Clinton, with his arm outstretched, thumb tucked into his fist, they called him “Slick Willie,” one thing’s for sure, Beto O’Rourke is not slick.

We need leaders. And there’s a vacuum in the Democratic Party. And give the Republicans credit, anybody who rises above they denigrate, they shoot slings and arrows until that person is perceived as a pariah. Exhibit #1, Elizabeth Warren. Somehow, this law professor is against the people, against the country, do you ever read what she says, she’s the only person in Congress with convictions on the left who seems to put them forth every day. The rest of the elected are worried about their sponsors, their donors, they’re playing a game, our country is not a game.

As for Hickenlooper, the supposed next President, who is he and what did he do?

And Cory Booker is forthright and then wishy-washy.

And Warren is old.

And the Republicans are so good at the game, they’ve got Democrats themselves hating on Nancy Pelosi. The Democrats are the gang that can’t shoot straight, it’s like fielding a team without a coach, except when it’s the Democratic National Committee, which seems more concerned with protecting its insiders than its members.

And then along comes Beto O’Rourke.

It’s kind of like a rock star. At first no one’s paying attention. Then you start hearing a few words. He’s got a unique name, not given at birth, you laugh and wonder where it comes from. And it used to be rock stars were outsiders, with rough edges, outlaws, true to themselves.

And that’s who Beto O’Rourke is. That’s why he appeals. Want to make it in the music game? Be yourself. Be honest. Speak to the audience not the gatekeepers. Don’t try to win over everybody, just those who count.

Beto O’Rourke is running in Texas. He’s visited all the counties in Texas. He’s not like a polished musician running to convince fans of genres who don’t like their music to listen. That’s the MTV paradigm, broad and for everyone. Now we’re in the era of niches. There is no center, no outlet that reaches everybody. There’s only one superstar, and that’s Donald Trump. We all have an opinion, we all watch his antics, and the rest of what goes on is a sideshow.

And music has no impact. The only people protesting are those without traction. And one of our biggest stars, an African-American, supports Agent Orange. This flummoxes us. He’s not a country musician into guns, he’s a member of the oppressed. Then again Kanye keeps telling us how we’re holding him back. That’s the last thing we want to hear, the challenges of a millionaire. Then again, the brain dead fans continue to pay fealty at the altar, and the press plays along with the charade.

Forget the biased Fox News. Even forget the left-leaning MSNBC. Let’s talk about the newspapers, which still run this country. Most especially the “New York Times.” Even though it’s been falling on its sword ever since missing the election, the newspaper is still out of touch. And I single out the “Times” because it sets the agenda for the nation. The “Journal” has become an also-ran, it broke the Theranos story, but little else. The “Times” covers business better than the “Journal.” And the “Post” is known for politics, and has only had a resurgence since the Bezos acquisition. But what is wrong about the “Times” is not fake news, but the lack of insight into the culture, what is really happening. The “Times” is a club, that is so insular it cannot take the temperature of what is truly going on in this country. It missed the racism, it missed not only the rise of Trump, but Bernie Sanders. Something is definitely happening with O’Rourke, and we keep hearing about his flaws. How about Ted Cruz’s flaws? That’s right, the Republicans attack first, you’re so busy defending yourself you can’t get your message across. And then, and then, we come to Beto O’Rourke.

You know this guy. You went to high school with this guy. He was in the top classes, he was not a complete nerd, but he was not cool in any way. You could drink a beer with him, but he did not date the cheerleader, he was focused on academics and then forgotten.

Now today the smart people are grinds. They’re so busy getting ahead that they only give back when it looks good on their college applications. But Beto O’Rourke is just a bit older, but I’m becoming convinced, this is what the future of the Democratic Party looks like, this is the future of our country. As Beto says, we need not run on fear but COURAGE!

This is not Obama and “hope,” hope didn’t get us far. Kinda like thoughts and prayers. Do you have the courage to take action, to make the hard decisions, it’s easier to lay back and criticize, to do nothing. And that’s what the Republican-controlled Congress does, do nothing, other than give back to rich donors, most especially corporations, the public is angry about this, but we’ve got no choice! The Republicans scare you with social issues, tell you illegal immigrants are gonna kill you. Meanwhile, you can’t afford health care, you’re having trouble making ends meet, your priorities are more basic, but you have no one fighting your fight.

Hillary Clinton is brilliant. But too calculated and slick. I won’t say Beto O’Rourke looks like he just fell off the turnip truck, but he’s as unpolished as it comes in this genre. He’s punk in an era of corporate rock.

And he’s speaking the truth.

We know the truth. There are more Democrats than Republicans in this country. And they know what they want, they just don’t have anyone to believe in.

But now a Mr. Smith might go to Washington.

Watch the below-linked video. This is not aged Bernie Sanders shouting, but a wimpy kid with a backbone making most of the same points. And remember how far Bernie got, the inroads he made, he’d have been President if he’d started his campaign earlier.

But that was then and this is now.

This is Chance the Rapper, who not only did it on his own, but gives back. That’s why Chance can sell out stadiums, people believe in him.

And people are believing in Beto O’Rourke.

We yearn for people to believe in in a world run by corporations. Isn’t it sad that we have more fondness for our mobile handset than any leader?

Sure, the below clip is edited. Sure, Beto O’Rourke is boring at times.

But underneath it all, he’s inspiring. That there’s somebody on our team. Who may be imperfect, because we all are. But is impervious to the slings and arrows because of his message, manna from heaven, the truth.

A new day is dawning.

And not a moment too soon.

We took the stage last night for the first debate of this Senate race. Watch the recap video, RT to share it, and join us in running a campaign for this state, for this country, by and for each and every single one of us. pic.twitter.com/vBPIfTAqFq

— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 22, 2018

They could save rock and roll.

I went to see Natasha Leggero in the Kicker Comedy room. She asked how many women had seen a man masturbate in public. Half of them raised their hands.

I think there are more women than men at this festival. And if you’re a girl-watcher, your eyes will bug out. Some may have been naked at Woodstock, but now it’s an endless parade of cleavage and skin. Along with tattoos. When did face tattoos become a thing? If you’re not famous, how do you function?

Now the comedy lineup started with a woman from SNL, sorry, can’t remember her name, but she was pretty funny. Doing the man/woman thing. And I realized this was so different from being home, in front of the flat screen. That’s where all the action is, in your living room, your bedroom, on your handset, but once you encounter real life it’s somehow electric, different and exciting. But the guy who followed the SNL woman was terrible. Nothing worse than a third-rate comedian. And I was stunned that all three were not more political. Same as it ever was, with a bit of @MeToo thrown in, just a bit. That’s the jump between Chappelle and the rest. Unless you’re telling the truth, it’s hard to get my attention, isn’t that how Hannah Gadsby flew to the top in an instant?

Anyway, I didn’t know public masturbation was a thing. Natasha said women never do it, but then she started taking stories from audience members, giving testimony. Makes you wonder about the male population.

From there I scooted over to hear French Montana where I encountered very little on stage and a ton of flashing lights and video screens. I guess this is the new world, canned beats with a few vocalizations thrown on top, the people seemed to dig it. And the big track this week is “I Love It,” by Kanye & Lil Pump. Eventually the beats get to you, but have you caught the lyrics?

You’re such a fuckin’ ho, I love it (I love it)

Now I’m not offended. I was the guy who had to get the dirty version of “Kick Out The Jams” with the f-word in the gatefold. But the MC5 had a political message. What is the message here, endless hedonism?

I’m not saying we all don’t enjoy a good lay. But for those around when music tested limits, spoke truth to power, it’s quite a change.

And after exiting the main stage I went to the Church of Rock & Roll.

It’s Jason’s thing. He’s been kicking the idea around for years. But he got Zappos to support him and tonight was the debut. To the degree I understand it, it’s half money-making and half giving back. The Church is gonna go on tour, not necessarily with Greta Van Fleet, and then raise money to build restaurants, but that all could change. Tonight…we were all fitted with vests from the Zappos-funded Music: Not Impossible. That’s right, vibrating vests and wrist and ankle vibrators so the deaf could “hear”/feel the music. Quite a sensation. And Jason gave an intro, and then Pastor Nadia told us she prayed at the altar of the Ramones, Iggy and Bowie, and then Greta took the stage, in this tiny club filled with a hundred fifty people.

This is the third time I’ve seen them. They’ve become seasoned on the road, they’re comfortable in their own skin. And at first I thought it was the venue, then I felt they could play the big stage, but what got me most was this was the sound that addicted me and you all those years back when.

Yes, at times they’re ersatz Zeppelin. Unlike Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, they did not spend years doing session work. Yes, the lead singer echoes Plant. But the secret sauce is the guitarist, who’s got the chops on his SG, and the bassist who occasionally plays keyboards.

This is a band, as far away from French Montana as can be.

And they’re ever so young, I’m not sure all of them can legally drink. But they’re into it, you feel the passion.

Remember when moms and dads bought their kids guitars? That could happen again.

You see it seems like so much fun. There’s so much energy. Banging and playing. And this is the end. It’s not about lifestyle, it’s not about sponsorships, it’s about the sound, the songs, the onstage vibe. Remember when you went to the rock club and were enveloped by the sound? That’s what it was like. Life Is Beautiful may be called a rock festival, but that’s not what it is, we’ve gotten so far from the garden that the plants have wilted.

And I was not expecting to be wowed, I was not expecting to get it.

I felt the rush of adrenaline in the first two songs. And then I listened. The material was not A+, but they were performing it like it was. And then…

Oh lady when you come on down
Won’t you come on down

At this point I was sitting on a stool by the bar, assuaging the pain in my aching back. But I couldn’t sit still any longer. I started thrusting my arm into the air. Nobody else was, but I had to, it was involuntary.

And then I was standing, and moving closer to the stage, to the music.

Oo mama what you gonna do
With all that lovin’ in your heart

I’m banging my head like Beavis, or was it Butt-head. All the bad thoughts in my brain were squeezed out by the sound, all I could do was move to the music.

Rock is dead as a doornail. Because it’s played by guys too old, who know too much, who are too self-referential, who don’t understand that first and foremost it’s about songs, about hooks. And you don’t have to be the best player, but just good enough. And it doesn’t matter if you wrote the lyrics or not, you need a lead singer who can deliver.

What you’re trying to do is light the flame, every night on stage, have that firecracker explode, reach the audience one by one, who continue to come like lemmings.

I’m not sure all the old tools will work. The push, the massive exposure. Nobody can live up to that hype. But never underestimate the power of a riff like the one in “Safari Song.” With loud and quiet, dynamics that Zeppelin employed and punk eviscerated. With a banging drummer and a vocalist topping it off with melody. This is what the business was built on. And maybe it’s gone for good, but I’m betting it’s not. We’ve all got to blow off steam, we’ve all got energy. We want to embrace the swagger. Not that hip-hop cannot coexist. But for far too long they’ve been playing records in clubs, and although I do not think bands are coming back, tonight they did.

Same as it ever was.

And I’d tell you I’m grinning from ear to ear, but that’s not what it’s all about. Rather it’s a rekindling of what once, what I used to believe in and everyone seems to have forgotten. The power of a band. The power of giving it your all. The power of rock and roll to save your soul.

There’s a feeling I get
When I look to the west

And my spirit is crying for staying.

It’s palpable. The feeling you get when you enter the gig, the performance space, after they’ve checked your ticket and you’re inside, where it’s all happening. No different from years ago, when I was still in my teen years. That’s the magic of music, it ties in with your young spirit.

Actually, at lunch, I was the oldest person there. And then it occurred to me, I didn’t see myself that way. They saw me as old, I just saw myself as one of the assembled multitude. But it’s all about going with the flow. Felice’s mother is 94, but what keeps Ginny young is her friends, she’s got as much gumption and get up and go as any youngster.

And the millennials are into food. That’s one thing we missed in my heyday. My father was a gourmet, he was all about getting the best and eating out at fine restaurants, but if you went to a gig you got a boiled hot dog on a stale bun. Although it was a $1.50. Today’s lunch was as good as a Four Seasons buffet. Well, not quite, but close. But it’s de rigueur for millennials.

But their festivals are different. Ours were held in a big field with poor security and so-so sound. There’s are micro-managed with so many options.

So Life Is Beautiful is set in downtown Las Vegas. Forget the slots, forget the Strip, it’s as if they hollowed out a city and plopped a rock festival inside. That’s Tony Hsieh’s mission, to renovate the city. That’s another millennial credo, giving back. But it’s got to be real. Too many corporations pay lip service and today everybody can sniff out a fake.

So it’s unlike Coachella, unlike Bonnaroo, you don’t go away to the festival, it’s right at your doorstep. So you walk around the city blocks and it’s like a bombed-out amusement park, like being in Freedomland today. With neon signs from motels that no longer exist. Sculptures from a futuristic era more akin to “2001” than 2018.

And some of these sculptures are permanent. Like the fire-breathing dragon, like the curve of cars.

And it is hot, but not as hot as I expected it to be. That’s right, Dark Sky says it’s 99 degrees, but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s the angle of the sun. It is not brutal. Although the producers are anxious about the heat.

They don’t come from the music business. William Barker, the Chairman, comes from finance, comes from tech. He runs a fund of a half billion. But he got roped into this and he’s trying to apply a tech perspective to a music festival.

Now everybody selling is a hypester. Steve Jobs being the greatest of all time. He’d say something was innovative when in truth it was copied. But Barker told me he was using data from the app to adjust on the fly. That’s right, you download the app and then the promoters track you. I know, I know, there are privacy concerns, and you can turn the tracking off, but the team uses this data to adjust. They bring in more cooling stations, see what is popular for next year.

They’re all about change on the fly. On a whim they gave away popsicles upon entry. Simple idea, but sourcing those items was not.

Nothing is set in stone.

And they’re building a brand, it’s not only about the festival.

But Tony Hsieh is revitalizing downtown Las Vegas.

So while the techies are denigrated, it’s Elon and Jeff that are pushing the envelope in space. And Jeff and Marc have made a push into publishing. And Tony is trying to save a city. Funny how the values of the traditional corporations and their leaders are not the same.

We live in an era of giving back.

We live in an era of experiences.

Life Is Beautiful is not your parents’ festival. First and foremost it’s not only about music. There is comedy, I want to see Michelle Wolf, but even more there are art exhibits and food trucks and so many other diversions. It’s a theme park for those who’ve outgrown Disneyland.

And Coachella and Lollapalooza have the brand names. And a bunch of festivals have been cancelled this year. But in its sixth year, Life Is Beautiful is profitable. Actually, last year too. Before that, money was lost. Concert promotion is not for the faint of heart. And consolidation in promotion has been the story of the past twenty years. But a few independents are going their own way, and that’s where the innovation lies.

So sure, there are masses of people. Sure, you don’t know all the acts. Sure, it takes an effort to come.

But when you are here you feel something, a fire deep inside that you thought was flickering or burned out. It’s not exactly hope, but your identity. Welcome back to the garden.

I’m just a son of a son, son of a son
Son of a son of a sailor
The sea’s in my veins, my tradition remains
I’m just glad I don’t live in a trailer

“Son Of A Son Of A Sailor”
Jimmy Buffett

But I do now! I’m spending the weekend in an Airstream at Tony Hsieh’s downtown Vegas experiment in small living. That’s right, the Zappos king lives in a trailer park.

People and access. That’s what it’s all about. Wankers think it’s about acquisitions. Oldsters think it’s all about lifestyle. But if you want to get excited, if you want to surf the possibilities, you’ve got to know people, you’ve got to work the connections, you’ve got to be in the right place at the right time.

Happened to me by accident. I was on the Summit Series cruise. Those guys tracked me down, they were buying a ski area, that was the draw. And I was speaking on the aforementioned cruise and a friend knew Tony, and we went up to his suite.

Funny with rich people. It allows them to live life on their own terms. Go where they want to go, talk to who they want to. And one thing about the rich and famous, you don’t want to fawn, you want to treat them normally, because nobody else does. And when we went to dinner I engaged Tony in conversation and heard about his Harvard roots and how he got from there to here and when we were back on the mainland he shot me an e-mail inviting me to come stay in his trailer park.

REALLY?

He said to really get it, I had to stay for a week. And what is the right week in Vegas, the summer’s really damn hot and the winter is the ski season and then I tore up my arm and needed surgery and I got pemphigus and had to go to the hospital and there was never a time until…

Now.

I’m here in Vegas for the Life Is Beautiful festival. I figured it was a good time to stay in the trailer park. But it turned out it was full up. But Tony e-mailed me Monday night and asked if I wanted to stay, he had a vacancy.

You’ve got to know, I’m bad with quick decisions. If we’re in a crisis, I’m good. If it’s life and death, you want me on your team, I’m a good survivalist. But if it’s a notch below that, I want to evaluate all the possibilities, I don’t want to get it wrong, and as a result it takes me a long time to make a decision, sometimes too long. Felice is impulsive. She doesn’t always get it right, but she moves forward whereas I get stuck. Sometimes a whole list of decisions piles up and I realize I’m not moving forward but the OCD shrink is working with me to decide, knowing that I’ll get it wrong sometimes, I hate to get it wrong.

So I’m e-mailing Tony and Mimi for more details. It’s like “Let’s Make A Deal,” do I want to give up my hotel room for a trailer? That’s another problem I’ve got, I’ve learned the first room the hotel gives you is often substandard and you have to negotiate for a better one, so I’m always anxious when checking in, but all Airstreams are the same, right? So I took the leap.

And I also like to prepare for trips, get myself psyched. But I’ve been so busy I just showed up at the airport and sat next to a sick man on the plane raising my anxiety ever so high, and it was a very hard landing and then here I was, in the City of Sin, the Desert Oasis, Viva Las Vegas!

I hate Vegas. It’s got no class. Money talks, and only money. But in the past few decades the food has improved and the entertainment has become first rate and up-to-date but we took the long way home, far from the strip, in a stretch limo with only me in the back.

And the limo driver couldn’t find Fergusons, i.e. the trailer park, and was driving the wrong way down a one way street when we were pulled over by security which took me to the vaunted yellow door. Whereupon I…

Entered an area little different from the house on “Big Brother.” Trailers circled around fake grass and a bunch of space age furniture and a pool and I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

Tony told me it was his second trailer park. The first one was across the street. They worked out the bugs and started over, they realized they needed a pool and then he thrust a carrot in my hand and told me to hold it in my dominant hand. I was completely flummoxed. Was I supposed to eat it?

But he steered me forward until I encountered a huge black llama that I was supposed to feed the carrot to. DOESN’T HE KNOW I’M AFRAID OF ANIMALS? I’ve never had a good conversation with an animal, and they can smell my fear and are always drawn to me and the llama started chomping on the carrot and I was afraid it was gonna bite my hand and then I dropped the rest of the orange vegetable on the ground and everybody was talking to me and I was overwhelmed. I had to pee and eat, did I talk now or later? That’s another thing about life, do you stay where you are or take a chance on something better which might be worse? But I still had my suitcase and computer and then I was taken to my trailer. That’s right, I’m not lying, I’m staying in a trailer. We never did this growing up, my father was not the camping type.

And after quizzing Mimi and Garrett about what was going on here and how the trailer worked we walked to the common area where there was food and conversation and the air of summer camp.

I talked to the head of marketing for T-Mobile. He told me that iPhone prices are high because Apple has gotten rid of incentives, that if I’m looking for a deal, I’m not gonna get one. And that the new iPhone works on new spectrum and this is great for the company.

And then I bonded with the guy who’s #2 or close to it who’s in charge of the brand. After hearing I was in the music business, he told me all about the acts he’s worked with. Justin Bieber was exceedingly nice, music was very important to T-Mobile.

And then I was introduced to this couple who’d just sold their company Skip Hop to Carter’s and made a bundle and the husband told me he was in tech in the nineties in New York and that’s how he knew…

Everybody.

It’s a community. It looks big, but it’s not. Just like music, although music is a bigger pool than it used to be.

That’s how Mike knows Tony.

And Ellen told me they spent a lot of time in Asia and we compared travel notes. And I know it sounds elitist and feel free to judge me but this is manna from heaven in my world. You don’t know how many unfulfilling conversations I have. My generation is retiring, they’re on the downside. And people are proud of their little worlds. But these people are going somewhere. Sure, they’re younger, but they’re still hungry and can analyze the issues and this is the modern world, where you wiggle your way up the food chain. Pedigree only goes so far, prestige education only goes so far. You ultimately enter the world and then…

WHAT HAPPENS?

When done right music touches souls, but it’s a dumb business. Ask a bigwig if they can define “algorithm.”

And I don’t want to go into banking, I don’t want to be an entrepreneur selling a product, but I love to hear the stories, I love to learn how people got from there to here. I love talking to smart people no matter where they come from.

And this is a conclave of smart people.

FOT. Friends of Tony.

Hanging out in a trailer park.

“Tour Entrepreneur Tony Hsieh’s Airstream Park – HGTV”

(This is the old trailer park in the video. The new one is very similar, but with a built-in pool, more fake grass and a covered dining area/living space.)

“Son Of A Son Of A Sailor” – Spotify

“Son Of A Son Of A Sailor” – YouTube