Courtesy of CRSSD Festival // Keiki Lani-Knudsen
The festival celebrated its 10th Anniversary with another wild weekend of house x techno at Waterfront Park
Just when you thought CRSSD couldn’t possibly top themselves, they go out and book Justice.
The largest crowd in festival history gathered on Saturday night to take in the legendary house duo’s live set, and all the visual bells and whistles to go along with it. It almost felt like the entire day 1 was building up to it. Fans wearing cross shirts and jackets and even earrings were spotted camping around the Ocean View stage all day, enjoying the opening acts leading up to the grand finale. As the opening cinematic basslines of “Genesis” came blaring through the sound system, pure pandemonium erupted in the crowd, and the energy did not let up from start-to-finish. What a way to celebrate 10 years of San Diego’s finest EDM festival.
Of course, the build-up to that moment was equally worth the hype. As the sun peaked through a row of clouds throughout the day, the vibes kept growing and flourishing. Kicking off our weekend was the epic B2B DJ set from A-Trak and Melé, whose kinetic beats, remixes, and mashups enthralled the massive crowd at the Palms stage. A-Trak is always a master when it comes to turning back the clock but keeping things fresh – a retro-futurist to his core – and Melé matched his energy with each choice flip of the CDJs.
Meanwhile, over on the Ocean View stage, Braxe + Falcon were warming up the Justice fans in the best way possible – teaming up with fellow Frenchman Busy P for a stylish throwback B2B. It was a true Ed Banger celebration that portended good things to come on the Main Stage.
Later, as the sun set beautifully into the San Diego harbor, English maestro Ben UFO brought an added touch of class to the City Steps stage. Ben UFO is your favorite DJ’s favorite DJ, with a career spanning 20 years and criss-crossing through every rung of the underground scene prior to his breakthrough success. While his set definitely brought a more crowd-pleasing edge to the revelers in attendance, he still managed to inject his signature dark, warehouse sound into the mix. That ability to toe the line while giving the people exactly what they want is what makes him such a beloved figure in the rave scene, and all of his tricks, skills, and tastes were on display from beginning-to-end.
Right after on that same stage, Rene Wise and Rødhåd brought a distinct Berlin techno touch to their breakthtaking B2B set, which delivered pummeling brutalist Berghain-type vibes to the otherwise colorful and picturesque City Steps scene. While many might have been put off by the more heavy and cutting-edge sounds, the small but devoted crowd at their set stayed pumped and locked in from one beat to the next.
The onset of pure darkness and a gap in our schedule allowed us to check out some of the top-notch food and drink vendors. Of course, a festival experience is never quite complete without a stop at the Spicy Pie stand. As always, they’ve cemented themselves as the best festival pizza option around. Meanwhile, we also tasted some BBQ bowls, which were downright delicious and still gave you the right band for your buck. Finally, the craft beer experience provided a quality selection of local brews on tap and in bottles.
Meanwhile, veteran American tech house DJ Maceo Plex proved to be as reliable as ever over on the Palms stage, working a stage spectacle that brought bombast and nuance in equal measures. Unfortunately, we had to tear away from his set early, as we’d heard the crowd awaiting Justice had already started ballooning.
As British funk-soul revivalists JUNGLE wrapped up their DJ set on the Ocean View, a massive throng had gathered, signaling perhaps the largest crowd in the festival’s 10 year history. Anticipation was at a fever pitch, but once the French electronic duo took to the stage, the crowd immediately lost themselves in their explosive house stylings. With perhaps the most dazzling moving lighting rig ever assembled for an EDM show, the duo’s visuals blew the crowd’s collective mind as they zig-zagged through old hits like “Stress,” “D.A.N.C.E.” and “We Are Your Friends,” given insane edits and remixes and mashups that you could never really tell where they were going. Unpredictability at its finest.
The most galvanizing track though was perhaps “Neverender,” their hit off their recent album that features an absolutely infectious vocal hook from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. That track and refrain were mixed and mangled into oblivion, and even cycled back into the mix to the point where heads were fully exploding. The dapper Frenchies – Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay – continue to wear their hearts on their sleeve, utilizing synths, drum machines, and other hardware in an epic display of live EDM musicianship. They also donned gold-sequined jackets that glittered with the lights in hypnotic fashion.
As the lights blared in strobe-light fashion, and a final noise-jam erupted through the speakers, the duo climbed down to the front barriers to greet the crowd. Handshakes and screams of “I Love You!” followed as they moved along the barrier, showing deep appreciation for the die-hard fans who have been by their side for almost 20 years. If there was any one complaint, it was that the sound could’ve been even louder. But our ears probably appreciated that it wasn’t.
Ultimately, Justice’s set is one that you could catch 50 times over and over and never get tired of. I’ve already seen it 3 times myself, going back to Coachella of last year. Some things really and truly never get old, and Justice is one of them.
Of course, this year marked CRSSD’s 10th anniversary, and everything about this edition felt like a true celebration of and appreciation for everything they’ve done for the scene and the city. Day 2 brought plenty of highlights on their own, from FISHER’s happy-go-lucky tech house populism, to Anfisa Letyago and Nicole Moubader’s haunting, pummeling hard techno back-to-back, to Sasha and John Digweed’s always-welcome ’00s house takeover. The festival and the minds behind FNGRS CRSSED have just become so engrained in San Diego’s music scene, that it’s impossible to fathom it ever disappearing. And as always, we’ve only got six months until the next one. It’s the true gift that keeps on giving. Keep those HOUSE X TECHNO jackets ready; we’ll be back before we even know it.
Feel free to scroll through below for more highlights.
