CRSSD Festival Bringing a Touch of Underground Beachside

On March 14-15^th, the inaugural 21+ CRSSD Festival lit up San Diego’s coast at Waterfront Park. Not sure what to expect, walking in, it felt like you were going to hang out more than pumping your fists chanting along to EDM anthems. At first glance, the line up wasn’t your typical EDM festival roster. The heavy spectrum of performing artists like Empire of the Sun, all the way down to Simian Mobile Disco, proved the audio vibes would be exquisite.

Three stages braced the park. ‘Ocean View Live’ stage held performing artists and also had the scenery of airplanes landing in the background, adding a touch of ‘Mmph’ feeling as you faced the stage. ‘City Steps’ and ‘The Palms’ stages were back to back, hosting house and deep house vibes that kept you moving. The rectangular layout of the land kept it easy to navigate, providing incredible sunsets, fountains to cool off in, and easy meet ups with friends. Restrooms were in one location which seemed to draw ire as hopefully next year they will be placed in multiple locations.

Following the conclusion of the first day, CRSSD provided after parties in San Diego following the festival.  I boarded the ‘All Gone Pete Tong’ after party on a boat in what hoped to be something fresh and unique. Excitement built but was long deflated when the 11pm-4am event ended without Pete himself stepping up to the decks. I and many others were puzzled. Despite Thomas Jack and the previous openers playing a great variety of tunes and keeping upbeat positive vibes alive, it was unfortunate to realize that Pete really was ‘All Gone’.  Back at the festival for day two, the food was something to be thankful for. Eating a pizza one day and a slider the next, I was aware that the food CRSSD chose was worthy of raving about. Lastly, staff and security were mellow. And how could they not be? The entire event was low key and just fun to be at. To add to the simplicity, extremely large cushions were laid out all over to utilize if you needed to lay or sit – a very nice touch.

At the end of the two day event, I watched the Maceo Plex B2B Shall Ocin close out CRSSD. The riveting bass lines and catchy snares made it impossible to look at this event in any other way other than appreciating the non anthem sound. The diverse music emptied out clips of beats and grooves from all three stages where anyone could appreciate the variety of music. I didn’t hear, ‘Turn Down For What’ once, so that was a big thrill all in itself.

Next year will most likely be another sold out affair. Get your tickets when possible; you will not want to miss this.

Written by guest RB writer: Tavit Daniel