Memorial Day Weekend rang in Sunset Music Festival’s third year on the North Lot of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Not only was this the first year they increased the age requirement to 18, but they also presented a wildly unexpected lineup and expanded to a two day event. Presented by Disco Donnie Presents, Sunset Events and Committee Entertainment, it was clear how hard they had been working on their collaboration. Over 45,000 fans came out to celebrate Florida’s growing EDM scene. They featured an array of incredible artists from Zedd, Hardwell, and Paul Van Dyk to Alex Metric and Tchami. Despite a few minor issues, Sunset was a killer way to celebrate the weekend.
The Best
Cool Down Tent
Sunset set up one of the most genius things I’ve seen to date at a festival. The “Cool Down Tent” was a tent attendees could walk through that used high powered fans, misters, and speakers playing music from the main stage inside. At the end of the maze was a mind blowing psychedelic art installation. This was one of the best ways I’ve seen a festival cool down their guests. Tampa was over 90 degrees on both days, so it was impressive how prepared Sunset was to handle the situation and still make the heated experience enjoyable.
Lineup and Artist Delivery
Obviously a lot of the reason most of us attend these festivals is for the artists. But this year’s Sunset lineup compared to their previous two years was an amazing growth for them and many of the artists threw down some truly inspiring sets.
Such a variety of different genres were offered that any electronic music fan could find a stage they loved. The three stages on day one were Main, Trap, and Trance. On day two they became Main, Bass, and Deep House/UK Garage. Personally I thought the Deep House stage presented the best flow of artists and creativity. As Treasure Fingers was ending his set and Alex Metric was beginning his, they just casually did a 10 minute b2b session. It was one of the funkiest moments of my life. If you appreciate the sounds of nu disco, future garage (or anything along those lines) imagine this lineup for the stage: Treasure Fingers to Alex Metric to Tchami to Brodinski to, woahhhh, DJ Snake. Yup…beauty.
It was awesome to see what a great lineup they pulled together even with overlapping artists playing the same weekend at Mysteryland and EDC New York. Everyone I saw really brought a great energy to the stage and I heard so many unique sets being played it was a great display of true talent.
The Storm
The second day kicked off with a massive lighting storm. It makes sense, since Tampa Bay is the lightning capital of the world, but it was certainly a sight to see. It may seem strange that I included this on the “Best” list but it actually added a perfect element to Sunset. The way it was handled was professional and fast, they made announcements for attendees to evacuate into Raymond James Stadium. Most of us were kept there under coverings, so we were protected and safe, but we could still see the storm play out from start to finish. It was crazy to say the least but it was also needed. The storm changed the temperature from almost unbearable to perfect. Right after, there was a huge rainbow over all of Sunset as the sets started back up. Every artist shortened their set a little to accommodate the schedule. Some people got stuck underneath tents but those who I talked to said they still felt protected and stayed dry for the most part.
The Worst
ID Check
Since this was the first year Sunset was an 18 and up event, the use of fake IDs was much higher than usual. I saw fake ID’s being taken left and right and that caused a lot of disruption during check in. Regardless of confrontations caused, Sunset knew exactly what to do. All fakes were taken away and the ticket holder was still granted access with the proof of a real, 18 or above ID. If anyone was causing too much of a scene, they were told to leave.
VIP
There were several VIP tents across the venue offered to VIP ticket holders at all three stages. However, the elevated platforms weren’t built well and kept having issues. This caused a long line to form at the one or two tents that were still open, which is not the point of VIP. A lot of the fans were visibly unhappy with the situation. The issues were worked on during most of day one and fixed but it changed the VIP experience promised.
The Inhaler Incident
A friend of mine had his asthma inhaler taken away at check in. They said it was because it was a “prescription” so it wasn’t allowed but this certainly should have been an exception to the rule. Our group was concerned that he could have an asthma attack at anytime, especially in the blazing 90 degree weather. Luckily he didn’t, but in the event that he did Sunset would have faced a lot of problems. Checking bags thoroughly is important at these events, but it shouldn’t be taken to this degree.
These small issues certainly drowned in the background of a fantastic event. It was only the third year and already they’ve created such a large market and success. Sunset 2014 was definitely a banger, next year is sure to bring an even more diverse lineup and creative festival experience.
While we know that their is always room for improvement, over all Sunset Music Festival 2014 was a blast. After all, all festivals have their hiccups. WhiteRaverRafting is sure that next years installment will be out of this world.
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