Picture this: You are bayside. The weather is everything you could ask for from Southern California. Sunny. A cool breeze. Craft beer in hand. The best live indie and electronic music currently in the scene. Mesmerizing sunsets. Serious question: what more?
CRSSD festival saw it’s inaugural event this month, and it couldn’t have gone any better. The list of everything they did right for those in attendance is nearly endless. They provided the perfect atmosphere for, quite honestly, the best top to bottom lineup we’ve ever seen. This ranged from major stage acts like Chromeo and Empire of the Sun to underground future stars like Lido, Giraffage, and Carmada to deep house and techno legends like Maceo Plex and Damian Lazarus. I still get chills thinking about the range of artists that were available for us.
The pastel, oceanside sunsets and palm tree lines laced the backdrop to some of the more memorable performances of the weekend. I’ll never forget the soothing sounds of Flight Facilities setting the tone for this wonderful atmosphere. It was almost too fitting with the airplanes landing behind mainstage at San Diego airport. The energy of the early crowd for early sets like Lido and Treasure Fingers were electrifying. Starfucker brought “the weird” to the San Diego crowd in a way only they can, and it nearly brought me to tears.
All in all, there was a lot that made this event perfect: Impressively lax entry lines, wide beer & food selection, a water fountain to play and cool down in, and beautiful 21+ people. Yeah. The entire event was 21+, which entirely changed the vibe of the festival in the best way possible. That’s just it, though. The crowd can make or break an event, and this one added to it in a priceless way. Some things to work on included more trashcans as people were a little loose with their disposables and more efficient bathroom locations. That’s literally it. All events, new and old, could learn from what CRSSD festival provided, and we can’t wait for 2016.
