KCRW and Santa Monica present the awesomest clusterglow of the century!  See what happens when you invite 25,000 people to a party and 200,000 show up...

GLOW was fun.  Not terribly organized, but fun.  Thousands of dum dums up all night cavorting by the beach; dancing and singing and running and jumping and twirling and snacking and riding bumper cars and interacting with art. 

It was almost like KCRW and Santa Monica got together to throw a party while their parents were out of town, and then freaked out when the entire school showed up to rage.  

The turnout was massive and demographically diverse.  The installations and exhibits were an execution nightmare, but people forged their own fun (in a crowd of 200,000, it's not that hard to do). 

Kudos for the concept, A-plus for rallying the public, pats on the back to the happy people milling about at all hours, and three cheers for the Santa Monica police who were relaxy taxi and non-aggressive with the masses (focused more on safety than on substances).

We, the wandering attendees, were clearly some sort of performance art installation, but the deconstructionist approach to event logistics definitely caused a bit of a problem. 

Programs were scarce, food and drink lines were stupid, no one seemed to know what they were doing there, the DJs cut out early, and the art..  well, much like a pea on a platter, the smaller exhibits were lost in the massive surroundings, while the bigger exhibits were nearly impossible to access because of the crowds.

Per the name, many things were aglow, and there was a lovely and sincere sense of exploration and adventure among the bridge and tunnel beach and pier wanderers.  I was promised all night pirate sea shanties, and though I heard tales of their existence, I only saw what was left of the LED bonfire (sadly lacking the grandiose luster in my imagination).

Regardless, the experience was communal and enjoyable and entertaining.  The negative feedback circulating the web is way too harsh.  Honestly, how mad can you get at a free event?  And really, if the city gives you a beach and a handful of glowing art to play with all night and you can't figure out how to have a good time, you should probably just stick to sports bars anyway.

Sure it was a mess, but what's more poetic than that?  Next year, more pirates please.

Looks like daytime.  It's 3:32am.

No parking in this hallucination.

No parking here either.

This photo needs no caption.

Big wheel keep on turnin'.

A much coveted program.

Gettin' down with overhead projectors.

They call this one, "ode to portapotty."

Actor David Pierce hides from the Catman inside the Camera Obscura.

Half naked d-bags take a 4:17am dip in the ocean.

Parking Lot Borealis.

Department of Nocturnal Affairs.  Nuff said.

Who's Afraid Of The Catman?

BEST...SIGN...EVER!

Um, those are kids.  Bumping cars at 3:14am.

I have it on good authority that "green no. 6" is the powerhouse auto.

The wheel on the pier goes round and round.

Slow and steady wins the turtle.

Loch ness water bumps of migrating waterweeds.

Maaaaadison!!!!!