The ironic festival sign has become part of festival culture. It’s as prevalent as the bro tank top and the flower crown — and makes just about as much sense.
They grow out of the crowd like some sort of pop culture-referencing plant. But why? Sometimes it’s to give friends a general approximation of one’s location (“Just look for the Rafiki arms holding up baby Simba”). Sometimes it’s to make a mark on the crowd. Sometimes it’s just for a laugh. Sometimes it’s for absolutely no reason at all.
Throughout Governors Ball 2015 this weekend, Reverb documented the 10 best ironic crowd signs we came across. In some cases we got close enough to the sign holder to ask what the hell it all meant, and in some cases these weren’t ironic at all (more completely nonsensical).
Hot Dog Balloon
Why do they make hot dog balloons? Sure, they’re hilarious, but who’s going to a birthday party or a baby shower or a graduation and thinks, “Oh I’ll bring a hot dog balloon. That’s perfect.”? Well, we found at least one person who bought one in the crowd during Chromeo’s set at Governors Ball 2015.
Carl/Karl
Throughout the first day of Governors Ball we kept asking ourselves “What does the Carl/Karl sign mean?” At one point it became, “Hey, where are you in association to the Carl/Karl sign?” The simple red sign with “Carl” on one side and “Karl” on the other was a complete mystery. Finally, I got close enough at one set to ask them about it:
Me: Hey, who’s Carl?
Them: Are you Carl?
Me: No, are you looking for a friend named Carl?
Them: We don’t have a friend named Carl. We’re just trying to find a Carl.
Me: Any Carl?
Them: Yep.
Me: Huh, okay. Good luck.
Baby Simba
Everybody throw your hands in the air, “Chromeo yells at the screaming Governors Ball crowd.” Everyone puts both hands toward the sky, except for one person who raises Rafiki arms presenting baby Simba to the Pride Lands. The Circle of Life.
#Chin Anigans??
I saw this sign off in the distance and had absolutely no idea what it was. When I finally made it through the crowd to figure it out, the #Chin Anigans sign was undergoing repairs. Evidently, when you bring a homemade sign to a music festival, you must also bring tape and other tools to fix it.
Finally, they got it fixed and told me that it’s a crappy picture of one of their friends they’re using to find each other as a joke.
“Face/off”
The Florence + the Machine set was great, but looking into the eyes of Nicolas Cage and John Travolta was pure poetry.
For this sign, we didn’t need to ask the question why. It’s an obvious nod to the masterpiece John Woo film “Face/Off” in which Cage and Travolta (two bitter enemies) take on the likeness of one another. Obviously you’d bring that sign to a concert.
Young Drake
Hours before Drake takes the stage to headline the first night of Governors Ball 2015, young Drake’s likeness happily watches over the audience. He’s a gentle reminder when Drake was a smiling little boy with glasses and a bashful smile, he’s not yet the hardened and lint roller-using rapper that he’ll one day grow to be… One might say that is a picture of Drake when he was just Young Money.
Bill Burrito
Burritos and Bill Murray are two amazing things. And combined they are … definitely… a thing. We’re just not exactly sure what. Meet Bill Burrito, part comedian/actor/Emmy winner, part tortilla-wrapped Mexican food, and a drawing by street artist Hanksy, with whom we’d like to get a beer sometime.
Poop Emoji
Emojis are now occupying the physical world.
Pikachu
This is Pikachu. Electronic type Pokemon. Height, 1-foot 4-inches. Weight, 13.2 pounds. Friend to Ash Ketchum. Sign at Future Islands concert.
This thing
The women next to me at The Black Keys spent the majority at the set laughing at whatever this thing is. I also don’t know what it is (a tiny wig, a sponge, a flower?), but I also don’t get why it’s funny.
