A Weekend in the Clouds: 88rising’s 2023 Head in the Clouds Festival
Earlier this month, the Mochi team packed our bags and drove out to Pasadena, California, to partake in a weekend filled with live music from some of our favorite Asian artists, thanks to 88rising and festival partner Honda.
What are your must-haves for a great concert or music festival? Is it a well-known artist or group that keeps you energized, or a new one you experience for the first time that leaves you wanting more? How about savory food and drink offerings that keep your palate happy and belly full for hours? Is it multiple stages and environments for enjoying different types of artists? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, it’s time you add 88rising’s annual Head in the Clouds festival to your radar so that you don’t miss the next event.
Earlier this month, the Mochi team packed our bags and drove out to Pasadena, California, to partake in a weekend filled with live music from some of our favorite Asian artists, thanks to 88rising and festival partner Honda. Equipped with a 2022 Civic Sport from Honda, I test drove throughout the weekend, with my sister and Mochi staff writer Kenna as co-pilot, and had a memorable time. Let me tell you — whether you’re an existing sedan driver or not, the Honda Civic was smooth and the perfect car to get us not only to and from the festival each day, but also all around Los Angeles.
Why the Honda Partnership with 88rising and Head in the Clouds Makes Sense
Honda’s partnership with 88rising and Head in the Clouds kicked off in 2022, with Honda now sponsoring the festival’s “Double Happiness” stage. However, Honda has had a long history of supporting emerging and prominent artists alike.
The Honda Civic Tour is just one of Honda’s many initiatives within arts and culture. In 2013, I went to a Honda Civic Tour concert featuring Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson, just outside of Portland, Oregon. Since it launched in 2001, the Honda Civic Tour has connected Honda with new, younger car buyers. Within Honda’s lineup of gateway models, the Civic is cited as the No. 1 vehicle among millennial buyers and as the holder of the most Gen Z, first-time, and multicultural buyers in the industry.
At the festival, Honda took this relationship with younger audiences and potential car buyers to the next level by launching their “88 Type R Honda Customs Shop” installation, featuring the new 2023 Honda Civic Type R on display. The installation also celebrated the intersection of nostalgia, tuner culture, and art with the launch of the “88 Type R” merch collaboration with 88rising, available to festivalgoers. The merch collection is now available online to all customers.
Check out our video recap of some of our favorite highlights from the festival:
I grew up a fan of Hondas. My first was a brown 2003 Honda CR-V that was passed down to me from my grandfather, and I rode her until she practically gave out on me only two years ago. She got me through high school, college, and even my first five years post-grad as I navigated my early career in and around Honolulu. I named her Star-Lord (after Peter Quill from “Guardians of the Galaxy,” of course), but that’s another story. I’ve long been acquainted with the car company and what they’re known for: durability, accountability, and charm.
Now, a ‘03 CR-V is maybe not at the top of everyone’s dream car list, but she got the job done and she did it well. But the ‘22 Honda Civic we drove? Now that felt like the embodiment of not only a car that can get the job done well, but one that also looks cool. It was incredibly sleek, with a pearl (white) exterior and black trim, a spacious interior with room for a co-pilot and passengers (or goods to pack), interior features such as a leather-wrapped steering wheel, glossy dashboard, and navigation panel, and enough trunk space to haul anything I could need.
If I had just one concern, it would be that — for the life of me — I couldn’t figure out how to lower the volume of my driving navigator assistant when using apps like Waze and Google Maps. Instead, we just laughed off the volume of the directions as we drove around Pasadena and Los Angeles. But overall, like I said before, the driving experience was very smooth and, even as a first-timer driver of the vehicle, nothing felt out of sorts. It all felt second nature, and I would recommend the car to anyone.
Reflections
Before this year’s event, my sister and I were already fans of Head in the Clouds. We went to the festival for the first time last year and were absolutely blown away by the experience. Truth be told, it was also our first real music festival experience in Los Angeles, as well. We’re both originally from Hawai‘i and had not been to an event of that type and scale before. So, going into it, we were cautiously optimistic because we didn’t quite know what to expect or what we would get out of it. We knew some of the artists, but not being familiar with them all was also part of the beauty of the experience. We came out as new fans of more. All in all, we left the two-day fest having had an amazing time and looking forward to the next.
Fast forward to this year when we got the invite for Mochi to cover the festival. We experienced the two-day festival that is truly one-of-a-kind in that a majority of their performers are Asian, and they feature Asian partners for food and drinks, and we learned more about Honda’s partnership with 88rising, which works to connect and resonate with audiences of both partners and their shared values.
Peers from Cold Tea Collective and Character Media also joined the trip, and it was so valuable to work with and learn from others we admire within our corner of the digital media/Asian/Asian American space. We ran around in some seriously brutal heat while trying not to get severely dehydrated (namely, me), and everyone collected amazing content in celebration of Asian excellence.
Thanks so much to the Honda team for bringing us out!
