Photo Cred: Alex Perez for SMF
It was sunny. It was dancing. It was loud. It was smiling. It was sold out. It was sweating. It was beautiful. It was awesome.
We all knew what we were getting ourselves into going to a festival in Tampa, Florida over Memorial Day weekend. It’s going to be hot. But that’s all that needs to be said. That is an afterthought of how:
Photo Cred: Julian Bajsel for SMF
…and nothing about what Sunset Music Festival was:
Photo Cred: Alex Perez for SMF
Stages
For this year’s sold out Sunset Music Festival, three stages make up the grounds. With the Ray Jay in background, sun shining bright for both days, the Sunset Stage (Main Stage) had enough light panels and pyrotechnics to give you the opportunity to camp out all day with the amazing lineup and really never need to leave (except for that bathroom or beer run, of course), as it was one giant dance floor for you and your fam and a few thousand new friends to all congregate to dance the day and night away. But if you did need a little break from it all, taking a little step back behind the soundcheck tent, there was a large explosive flower tent of colorful parachute shading to help you take five before jumping back into it all.
Photo Cred: Alex Perez for SMF
Photo Cred: Alex Perez for SMF
Photo Cred: Julian Bajsel for SMF
But even though some people may have camped out at the Sunset Stage all day, we would never. With that many different artists to see, we were running around as fast as we could, trying to see as much as we could. The Horizon Stage was heard as being called the “cool down” stage. With trees lining both sides of the open dancing area to stay cool along with metallic framework creating a dome with colorful bursts (or splatters as I called them) of color to create nice little pockets of shade, sun, shade, sun, to help manage your shuffling, two-step, or however you get down. The lineup definitely facilitated a great mix of house/tech house/techno on Saturday, and Sunday with deep house/house and so much tropical house, it was a nice little world of its own to get lost in.
Photo Cred: Julian Bajsel for SMF
Photo Cred: Julian Bajsel for SMF
Photo Cred: Julian Bajsel for SMF
And last but far not least was the Eclipse Stage. Also put forth in a large open area like Sunset Stage, it has three giant arches that give a cool focal point of the artist playing, with visual panels that came from behind to reflect off of all of the metal, and the sun setting beyond was breathtakingly beautiful. On Saturday the stage was the place to be to get your trance fix with Ferry Corsten, Tritonal, Ilan Bluestone and more, but on Sunday did a full 180 gives you explosive bass, electro, and trap with Borgore, Snails, Bro Safari, Zomboy, and more.
Photo Cred: James Coletta for SMF
Photo Cred: James Coletta for SMF
All of the stages had their own vibe, and their own campers, but at none could you find a sense of overcrowding or bad vibes.
Artists
Pierce Fulton
Photo Cred: James Coletta for SMF
Pierce Fulton is one of those dependable artists you know will never let you down. If you want some good, upbeat, dancy music, that’ll get you jumping and shuffling and bobbing and weaving, Pierce is that guy to always deliver. He was an easy choice to add to our agenda, and deliver is exactly what he did. Playing his massive, now classic track “Kuaga” which just happens to be one of our favorites, along with his smooth vocal-ed “In Reality”, he kept our spirits up and our sun kissed bodies moving with every song.
Ilan Bluestone
Photo Cred: Ilan Bluestone Facebook
It’s very hard to go wrong when you’re seeing any Anjunabeats artist, and Ilan Bluestone is one of the best on the label. This was definitely one of our favorite sets of the weekend. He dropped multiple ID’s, brought out special guests like Jason Ross, and played classic favorites. We sang along, feels in full force, as he dropped Above & Beyond’s “Peace of Mind”. He also closed out his set, playing Porter Robinson’s “Lionhearted”, the Arty remix. We think it says a lot about an artist who is confident enough to close out their set with music from another artist. Not to mention we couldn’t have been happier to hear that track, because it was an absolute perfect pick.
Shaun Frank
We purposefully did an artist spotlight specifically for SMF on Shaun Frank because we knew. We knew that he would come out, turn up, and get down. Mind you, Shaun Frank doesn’t sponsor RaverRafting. We don’t get paid to talk about or write about him. We just appreciate an artist who is in his prime and killing the game right now. Shaun went across a whole spectrum of music. From trap, to melodic, to deep house, and even some heavier dub. This set was greatly put together, and had the crowd going absolutely nuts. Trap remixes of some of his tracks, amazing originals, and on top of that, live vocals from the amazing Delaney Jane. She came out just murdering vocals for “La La Land”, the track that Shaun and her did together with DVBBS. The woman has got the voice of an angel. She sang our favorite, “Heaven” and we were instantly lifted into a musical bliss, and not to mention that she sang to the funky beat of Shaun & Oliver Heldens’ “Shades of Grey” to give us even more YAS YAS YAS.
Mija
To be honest, a few of the friends in our group were torn between seeing Tritonal and seeing Mija. An executive decision was made, and we were on our way to Mija. I myself was a bit skeptical after only hearing one of Mija’s live sets once, and it was pretty much all trap. Nothing wrong with that, but day two was filled with trap. However, as soon as we got into ear shot of her play, we knew we made the right choice. This was no trap set, this was something very, very different. The huge rising OWSLA star was throwing down some funky techno and tech house beats. We never stopped moving once during a set that was very different from the norm, and really showcased talent beyond what we knew and had heard before. Once it was all over, it left us wishing she was playing a five hour long set at Space, or beyond! No genre is definitely the best genre with it comes to Mija.
Vanic
We arrived for Vanic’s set about 5 minutes late, and it was in full swing. Also one of our favs of the weekend, Vanic has a very specific sound that sets him apart. And that’s what we love about him. His tracks have that “anthem” sound to them, but with a little more style and melody to them. He played some of our favorite originals, including “Fade” ft. K.Flay. It was a nice break to get a little more melodic and chill compared to just throwing down and headbanging all day. Vanic is a must see for sure.
Honorable Mentions
Photo Cred: Julian Bajsel for SMF
We all know damn well NGHTMRE is a festival favorite and this time was no different. Huge buildups with classics you know and love, always dropped into something completely different and surprising, having us shaking our stank dirty faces; killer set. Lane 8 played an entrancing set, as we expected. Seeing Claptone the first time for some of our crew insured it will absolutely not be their last. Jauz threw down with a really heavy bassline, along with The Chainsmokers following in that footprint. They brought the new and the old (but just a good) originals. Nobody was ever let down.
People
All shapes, colors, and sizes. Texas, PA, New York, DC, Chicago, New Mexico, Georgia, and VA are just a few of the places where people were traveling in from. Music makes the people come together, but people aren’t going to travel just anywhere for an artist, and especially when it’s a holiday weekend. With the festival selling out, people came in throngs.
Photo Cred: Alex Perez for SMF
Photo Cred: James Coletta for SMF
Another great thing about having such a diverse lineup is that you’re going to get a diverse group of people. The united stages of ravers if you will. With tech house/house/big room/trance/techno/electro and the like, this brought forth all different groups of friends and fams. You had your coordinated dressers, the themed dressers, hoola girls, glovers, and just those that didn’t care what they were wearing, but that they were together.
Photo Cred: James Coletta for SMF
Photo Cred: James Coletta for SMF
Photo Cred: James Colletta for SMF
Conclusion
Sunset Music Festival made history this year with selling out. But to us, what really made history is that we didn’t have any complaints or problems. The stages were great, the staff was friendly, the people were diverse and colorful, the food/drink/restroom lines were never overwhelming, and the music was always going nonstop. We will be back next year, and so should you.
Photo Cred: Julian Bajsel for SMF
Co-author: Brian Schultz
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http://smftampa.com
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