This year’s Moonrise Festival was interesting to say the least. It was full of plenty of ups and downs but the music prevailed nonetheless. Through all the mud and rain delays there were some pretty epic moments throughout the festival. Being in it's fifth year, the festival provided its biggest lineup yet and definitely did not disappoint.
Going into the festival I knew that the lineup was insane but being in the event itself gave me a whole new perspective. Despite the chaos of mud and rain, the artists definitely came out swinging. I feel like they all gave their best performances and being on some of the stages that the festival provided definitely helped their case. I have to say the stages combined with the array of incredible artists made the shows definitely something to remember. Stage design in any EDM festival is very important and I feel like Moonrise nailed it in that regard.
Some of the best sets from the festival were by far the names that you are all probably already familiar with. RL Grime absolutely slayed the event, with his dirty trap and hip hop beats, things got pretty filthy during his set. With heavy trap and future bass melodies blasting and mud flying everywhere RL was by far the one of the best sets of the weekend. Another name, although not as well known as RL obviously, that comes to mind is Joyryde. I have never experienced so much high energy during a set. He brought the fire and it wasn't just because of the pyrotechnics. His set was definitely something that kept me jumping and I can see why he's been getting so much recognition recently. Definitely well deserved.
Two other sets that really stood out to me were the performances of Zeds Dead and Slander. We all know Zeds Dead and we know that they kill it live. They have absolutely no problem putting on a show and they definitely deserved to be the last spot on the first day of the event. Slander, performing on the second day, also really brought some power with them. Being that I never saw them live I didn't really know what to expect but it was during their set that I realized how they got to where they are today. These guys know how to get a crowd going.
One artist I didn't necessarily enjoy as much as I thought was Lil Uzi Vert. First off, he showed up 20 minutes late and then played for only 20 minutes. If they were really being honest with themselves they should have just put his djs name in the lineup. His set wasn't all bad though, he definitely had the crowd going for a bit but seriously don't really understand why its so hard for rappers to play their full sets these days.
Despite the excess accumulation of mud, the festival grounds themselves were laid out very well. The stages were set up good in the way that I didn't necessarily hear any music interfering throughout. For me that is a pretty big problem when music from another stage is overpowering the one I am at. Regardless, I didn't have to deal with that issue much so good on Moonrise for making sure the grounds were arranged nicely.
Besides the minor rain delay on the first day of the event, the festival definitely had its moments. The food was good and the beer of course was worth it, but expensive. Most, if not all, of the artists killed it. The crowd was crazy and full of energy and the people working the event made sure everyone was having good time and well hydrated. That, more than anything, really stood out to me. The fact that Moonrise had so many people walking around with spray bottles and water means that they truly care about everyone's safety and well being.
One last thing I noticed about Moonrise was all of the Rick and Morty totems. It was crazy how many times I saw those things. This year is definitely the year of Rick and Morty totems, we'll see if that trend carries into next years festival season though.
All in all Moonrise lived up to it's name. All of the attendees, including myself, were taken to another planet at times during that festival and I will absolutely try to make it back next year. Hopefully then the weather won't be an issue, but despite that I am definitely happy with how everything turned out for the event!
