Goldrush Music Festival: A Weekend of Epic Musical Showdowns [Event Review]

The Wild West received another dose of electronic dance music as Goldrush Music Festival settled into Arizona’s Rawhide Western Town for the third annual event. The two-day music festival was a gold mine of hidden treasures and epic musical showdowns from dance music’s best, Adventure Club, Alison Wonderland, BIJOU, Destructo, DJ Diesel aka Shaq, Funtcase, Gareth Emery, Getter, Gerry Gonza, Green Velvet, Kyle Watson, Justin Jay, Oliver Heldens, Troyboi, UMEK, Will Clarke, Zomboy, ZHU, and many more.

Exploring the quaint 1880’s western town was gold-strikingly fun with treasures awaiting around every corner. The Goldrush run town offered an abundance of festival gear at Sweet Sally’s, drinks flowing from their plentiful honky-tonks and saloons, a towering rock climbing wall, and a full on comedy show at 6 Gun Theater.

If you prefer your drinks with a side of silent disco, the Moonshiner’s Silent Disco was the place to be. The disco held special sets from PAZ, R3LL, and some of Arizona’s grooviest local talent. Performances from Arizona’s top DJs/producers, aka the hidden gems of Goldrush Music Festival, also took place at the Wagon Wheel. The mobile stage was nestled nearby main stage, Golden Gorge and exploded with fiery sets all weekend.

Saddling into Goldrush on day one, we struck gold instantly with a powerful set from AZ native and rising artist, BIJOU. He brought out his G-house confidant, Dr. Fresch and started up the Gangsta Party with “Too Cocky” and “Kung Fu.”

Pioneer Peak, the stage that held all the bass and a hint of hip hop put the wild in Wild West. Pioneer saw some explosive sets from Barely Alive, Blunts & Blondes, Boogie T, DJ Scheme, Funtcase, Getter, Lil Texas, Pouya, Shlump, Trippie Redd, Zomboy, and more.

The rarest gold of the West, aka house and techno, could be found at The Hideout stage. The first day brought us infectious melodies from Eli & Fur, big bass lines from Will Clarke, and an unforgettable closing set from our favorite, Relief Records label head, Green Velvet. Witnessing Eli & Fur’s “You’re So High” live stands as one of the most memorable moments of the weekend.

Meanwhile, epic showdowns were occurring at the main stage. Laserface master, Gareth Emery came through with an uplifting performance. Adventure Club wowed the townsfolk with mesmerizing visuals and their new original “Already Know” with Said the Sky and Caly Bevier. Last, but not least, ZHU came out with his guitarist and saxophonist, dropping “In The Morning” and his highly-anticipated, unreleased track “I Came For The Low” with partywithray.

Goldrush wrangled up all the bandits, rangers, and law-abiding citizens for a second night of rowdiness. While Lil Texas blasted the BPM’s over 200 at Pioneer Peak, VNSSA was putting attendees in a “Rave Grave” with a phenomenal house set.

VNSSA was followed by the creative genius that is Justin Jay. He shot out fire after fire track including X-COAST‘s “The Realest Oh La La La,” his new remix of NGHTMRE & A$AP Ferg‘s “REDLIGHT,” and LEON & Shaf Huse‘s “Power To The People.” No one brings the funk and grooves like Justin Jay and bringing out Andy Ammo on bongos just made it that much funkier and solidified our pick for best performance at Goldrush – 10/10.

While Kyle Watson continued the party at Hideout, Oliver Heldens had taken control of the wild frontier town and Golden Gorge was never the same again. The crowd lost it to his breakout hit, “Gecko (Overdrive),” “One Kiss,” “This Groove,” “Melody,” and his latest release with Riton, “Turn Me On.”

A gang of outlaws led by the notorious Destructo dueled it out in front of The Hideout saloon. Destructo, VNSSA, Gerry Gonza, and Lucati fired away with house after house hit. It was unexpected, but very much welcomed.

The ultimate showdown of the night, Alison Wonderland vs Funtcase vs UMEK. We split the final time slot, starting with Wonderland’s f**k me up on a spiritual level vibe. The talented artist had the stage bursting with flames as she dropped “High” with Trippie Redd and “Lost My Mind” with Dillon Francis.

We concluded our time in the Wild West with the underground sounds of UMEK. The techno maven didn’t have flames or massive production, but he had pummeling techno on his side and that was enough to go out with a bang!

Photo Credit: Jacob Tyler Dunn, Tony Cottrell, Luis Colato, Jeremy Verone

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