Seismic Dance Event just became the one of the most uniquely curated festivals in Texas. Taking place over this past weekend in Austin, the lineup boasted some of the biggest names in house and techno like Lane 8, Sacha Robotti, Golf Clap, Weiss and more. The event was put on by independent Austin promotion company RealMusic Events. And even though this was only year one of Seismic, everything ran smoothy leaving the attendees happy and satisfied. Despite some pretty drastic changes.
Seismic was originally set to take place at Carson Creek Ranch, a luscious outdoor venue in South Austin. Due to weeks of rain prior to the festival and even more rain in the forecast, RealMusic owners Andrew Parsons and Kelly Gray had to make a decision. Nature threw a curveball and they made the well thought out decision to move the festival to an indoor, warehouse style venue just days before the event.
Normally a change this big so close to an event would be disastrous. New security measures had to be put in place, artist hospitality and transportation had to change completely, festival attendees needed to rearrange their travel plans.
But this was one of the most graceful venue changes I’ve ever seen. RealMusic went above and beyond to ensure the satisfaction of the artists and festival goers. The move to a large, warehouse venue ended up being the perfect place to showcase the house and tech house productions.
The main Volcano Stage was the home to Justin Jay’s lively house set, Claptone’s dark and mysterious sounds, and Duke Dumont’s beachy tropical house vibes. Adorned with volcanoes and a larger than life dragon head, this stage was a visual masterpiece. The room was large, dark and the perfect place for Green Velvet to hit us with his signature green laser beams.
The smaller, Tsunami stage was held in a smaller warehouse style room next door. A handcrafted ship stood as the stage, with tsunami waves crashing around it. This was the home of the Desert Hearts takeover where we got to indulge in sets from Mikey Lion, Lee Reynolds and more. On the dance floor, shufflers and flow artists of all styles took to their craft, letting the hypnotic house house beats take over. Food trucks of all types were available to satisfy everyone’s palette. Each day, the festival began with a ceremonial blessing of the grounds, and even a celebration of the Fall equinox. Attendees could even register to vote, how cool.
To keep the party going, a silent disco tent was available to catch some of the artists in a more personal setting. I got the pleasure of jamming out to Omnom’s bouncy silent disco set.
Despite drastic last minute changes, Seismic Dance Event turned out to be an incredibly well thought out festival and I cant wait to watch it grow.
