Saturday & Sunday, March 3rd & 4th, San Diego’s electronic music festival CRSSD Fest returns to beautiful Waterfront Park. The festival – which takes place twice a year in March and October – is now in its third year of existence.
I’ve attended the festival now twice and find it to be as good as they come as far as second-tier festivals go, and electronic music isn’t even my preferred genre. There’s a multitude of reasons why it’s such an enjoyable experience, but I’ve managed to narrow it down to the five best.
The Location
The festival grounds aren’t massive, with an attendance capacity of about 15,000. But damn, if it isn’t one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen a show outdoors. I’ve been to both the March and October editions, and though the March festival can get rather chilly at night, it’s pretty temperate throughout.
You get the full gorgeous San Diego skyline, the San Diego County Administration Building, which itself is a beautiful piece of architecture, as well as the San Diego Bay to your left. I attended 15 festivals in 2016 and few memories were as memorable as seeing Tycho at sunset on the Ocean View (main) stage last March.
The Vibe
Electronic festivals can sometimes bring the best and worst out of people. However, CRSSD has strived to eliminate some of the worst and tackiest aspects of what many of those fests encompass. They’ve tried and succeeded at making it feel less like a rave and more like a big party. People all seem to be in good moods, there isn’t any shoving your way to the front and there’s plenty of room to move around once you get into the fest. Also, the fact that it is a 21-and-over crowd allows for the festival to carry a more mature vibe altogether.
The Bookings
At its heart, CRSSD is an electronic festival. Despite this, the festival does a great job at staying away from big-room EDM and bass-heavy acts, instead catering to the underground electronic scene that has grown in the wake of the EDM boom that kicked off almost a decade ago. Instead of seeing oversaturated acts like Diplo, The Chainsmokers, Kaskade – the likes of which you can see regularly in Las Vegas – you get acts like Duke Dumont, AlunaGeorge, Justin Martin, 2ManyDJs, and others. Flume is one of the headliners this year and that’s about as major of a booking they’ve landed, but Flume has appreciation from the electronic hipster community that shun acts like Diplo, etc. They also throw in a few non-electronic bookings each fest, like Blood Orange this year.
The After-Parties
CRSSD Fest utilizes that it takes place in one of California’s most vibrant nightlife cities by booking a slew of after-parties that take place after the fest closes each night at 11 PM. If you want to keep the party going, you get a chance to see some of the festival’s performers (and some who aren’t) in a bunch of smaller clubs, usually around the Gaslamp district. This year, you can catch Lane 8, Cut Snake, 2ManyDJs, Claude Von Stroke, Thomas Jack and others around town. CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST: http://crssdfest.com/after-parties/
The Undercard
This goes along with the bookings, but there’s something to say for the quality of the undercard that CRSSD books. This year for instance, you can check out rising teenaged down-tempo pop star Billie Eilish, who has seen comparisons to Lana Del Rey made. Favorite KCRW DJ Jason Bentley will spin a set, which promises to be entertaining. Norway’s Jerry Folk is another rising favorite with his spin on contemporary disco. Even if you consider yourself an electronic scene guru, you’re bound to discover something new to become obsessed with if you make it into the gates early enough.
CRSSD Fest takes place next weekend on March 4 and March 5 at Waterfront Park. The final tier of general admission tickets is still available for $180.
For festival website, go here: http://crssdfest.com/
-words: Mark Ortega
