The memories, melodies, and magic of Gem & Jam Festival 2023 have been following us all the way back home, into the office, and in our dreams. When we stepped onto the Pima County Fairgrounds, we were greeted with an amazing festival team that had wide smiles, helpful attitudes, and were just as excited to be there as us. As we rolled into our camping spot, we could hear beats bumping from the Opal stage, the excited conversations and laughs from our neighbors, and basked in the view of the shining Arizona sun tucked behind the surrounding mountains. We finally were here, and ready to get down.

The Art

Throughout the festival grounds you would find vendors and shops selling incredible pieces of art, performers, gemstones, clothes, and more. We found ourselves getting lost in the art gallery before making our way to the Emerald stage, where live painters and finished pieces were displayed. We loved watching some of the painters get down while they created beautiful, one-of-a-kind pieces while also taking the time to talk to the onlookers about their inspirations, how they started, and what they were going to do next. Heading further into the crowd we fell in love with the fire spinners and interactive creatures roaming the crowds.

©Greg Bollinger

The Workshops

While there was music from open to close, there were other opportunities to envelop ourselves into the Gem & Jam experience. The workshops held ranged from family yoga and breath work ceremonies to drum circles and family circus experiences. These were a nice break (especially on our knees) to immersive ourselves into a new journey and get closer with our fellow Gem & Jammers.

©Greg Bollinger

The Music

Emerald

The Emerald stage played host to the headliner acts and big production performances that really encompassed all of the musical alchemy that happens at Gem & Jam. Usually at festivals, you will see your heaviest nights on Saturday, but they packed out the main stage night after night with huge acts that honestly made it hard to pick which was our favorite day. Friday had this amazing buildup energy to the weekend, with Porangui bringing this mindful stillness and spiritual guidance with Brazilian inspired tribal jungle medleys and beautiful visuals of merging colors floating across the crowd. After feeling centered and inspired, it was time to rev it up a little with Ott followed by Emancipator. From second one, you knew Ott was taking you on a journey that flowed between technical and emotional influences before finishing out with some groovy vibes, funky synths, and smooth vocal blending. Emancipator was just absolutely gorgeous and we danced our way through some deep house, wavey bass, and we even got to catch the legendary “Greenland” live! There were perfect blends of violin, bluegrass folk, and even a touch of drum and bass. We ended the night at Emerald with Motet, which brought out a beautiful blend of old school r&b, disco, and jazz but with a modern twist. Plus the nature inspired artistic visuals in the background, we couldn’t but think Bob Ross would be proud.

Saturday we got a mix of world music with a twist of dubstep with Balkan Bump, who’s group blew us away with incredible solos on the clarinet, sitar, and trumpet. They went between instrumental renditions of popular hits like Effiel 65 “I’m Blue” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and then throwing down some heavy bass drops with that Balkan feel like his original, “Aymo” and an energetic blowout of classic Balkan Mountain dance music with an electronic flip. Marvel Years and Haywrye kept the energy up at Main Stage, with Marvel Years throwing down tasty bass tunes and Haywyre starting a disco, funky electro-inspired dance party that was perfectly encapsulated by purple lights and bubbles floating in the sky.

©Silky Shots

We ended our night at Emerald with the one and only legend, LSDream. Our inner star child came to life and the energy in the crowd was palpable. Complete opposite kind of journey from his LIGHTCODE set earlier that day, he took us through so many different levels of bass and sounds that really transported us onto his little spaceship. We got some our favorites like alien gangster track, “Moon Legs”, dirty as hell “I Am Bass”, and even threw in a couple of internet meme inspirations like Turtle Time (if you know, you know). He ended the set with an extra special surprise guest, CloZee! They played out their unreleased collab track that we have seen teasers of online and then ANOTHER whole new, never before played collab track soon to come our way (we hope). The blending of their styles were otherworldly and super refreshing. We can’t wait for y’all to hear it.

Sunday we got to lay back and relax in the Arizona sun as we swayed to the high vibe medicinal sounds of Ayla Nereo. It was the perfect sunset set to get back in tune with ourselves and fully take in our last night. Dirtwire was up next and brought out the moon’s energy. We got down to some tribal inspired jams and felt that desert power. Rounding out our last night was the String Cheese Incident. The first set they warmed us up with crowd favorites like their rendition of “Magic Carpet Ride” and in their second set they really revved it up to keep us energized and our feet moving. Their epic “Space Funk” compilation was incredible and eye opening to what jam bands are truly capable of with their sound design. We will definitely be catching every String Cheese set from here on out.

©Greg Bollinger

Onyx

Both a place to get warm when the night got too chilly and a reverberating haven of bass, the Onyx stage nestles itself into your heart. With incredible laser production and sound design filling up the space, it was like a mini little warehouse oasis within a festival oasis. Friday we got down to some filthy bass drops with Ravenscoon, with an insane mix of Basement Jaxx, “Where’s Your Head At” and other badass ribcage rattling goodness with his badass version of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Thot Shit”. The Floozies took us to knew funky heights with unforgettable classics like “Funky Jesus” and dance floor heater “Arithmetic”. We ended Friday with The Funk Hunters who really took us for a ride to close out the night, with out-of-left-field drum and bass heaters that had our jaws on the floor as well mixed in with their other fan favorites, like their beloved Moontricks collab track, “Get Up N Go”.

©Greg Bollinger

Day two and three we got a mix of house from Justin Jay that got us shuffling our little hearts out, drum and bass from Justin Martin that had us getting down with the baddest, and an interesting new house act from Snakes & Stars. The project started by The String Cheese Incident’s drummer Michael Travis and Aaron Johnston from The David Byrne Band. They both slowly improved off each other, with Travis on the drums and Johnston pulling out guitars, keys, DJ decks, and more to make for a totally new and unique listening experience. This, we found, was the perfect headway into day three. Sunday was a medicinal mix of worldly sounds from Bloomurian, groovy laidback vibes from Motifv, hyping electro bass from Defunk, and lastly one big ol’ jam band party to close out the night with the Talking Dead.

Quartz

The Quartz is one of our favorite stages to stop by. It has this beautiful, welcoming energy, with its soft grass dance floor, large tapestries with gorgeous psychedelic designs draped above and intricately built wooden artwork surrounding the stage. Just like the Quartz gem, every artist brought a harmonizing balance and energy that had us feeling lighthearted and breezy. On Friday, there was big band energy with artists like Dogs in a Pile and Aqueous banding together for one big, grooving dance party, On Friday, KR3TURE got us warmed up to bouncing tunes like “So Deep” where he whipped out the sax and heartfelt guitar melodies like “Home Is”. Pixie & the Partygrass Boys brought us some big bluegrass party energy with tracks like “Big Wet Dog” and an incredible fiddle player that really tore up the stage.

Saturday, we started out with LSDream’s LIGHTCODE set, where attendees were swept away into a sound bath that truly took us on an emotional musical journey, creating landscapes in our minds. We felt ourselves start in the unknown before traveling into different spaces, with the blending of sounds like Mongolian throat singing, slow sitar plucking, gentle wind chimes and bird sounds, and his very own “Ace of Cups”. We got a big energy changeup with trip-hop high energy Since JulEYE that got our heads bouncing before leading into the rest of the day with rock, jam, and electro fueled performances from acts like Kaptain, Nth Power, and Jason Leech.

Rounding out the weekend, we relaxed into some sweet serenades from Rose Ganache, got hyped to some jam band hype with Auragami and got weird to some bass rhythms with Gonzofuze and Jahmontee. Majitope was melting pot of world drums, garden house beats that had an IDM undertone, and some fun disco shoutouts. Closing out the night, Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz brought some funky melodies and that laid back hiphop cadence that perfectly encapsulated the Quartz stage until next year.

Opal

The local stage was packed open to close with local talent that featured just about almost every EDM sub genre you could think of. Opal had this magnetic energy that would always pull us in, from bright house beats like with the Moon Junkies and melodic bass energy where we heard some amazing Porter Robinson mixes, to slow seductive bass vibrations from artists like Mastuh, who’s sinister and enticing deeb wubs were just good for the soul. When all the other stages closed down, Opal kept going with their Silent Disco, with artists like Beatjuice, Psynapple, and Katrina Fire and more keeping attendees dancing, vibing, and howling at the moon.

Gem & Jam was such a magical place that not only remains as a bright memory in our minds but as a hopeful beacon to escape the winter blues. The production team, the attendees, and the energy of this festival is something you won’t find anywhere else. We now know there is a little place in Tuscon, Arizona we can now call home and a new group of ravers to call family. We’ll see you next year.

©Silky Shots

©Silky Shots

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https://gemandjamfestival.com

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