Festival Review: Wobbleland

San Jose, home to Wobbleland, surely was an interesting place to host a three-day music festival. For those who don’t know, San Jose is one of the largest technology-oriented cities in the world. As soon as I hopped off the plane, I was wowed by the techy infrastructure spread throughout, later taking notice of all of the large corporate headquarters of very recognized companies all over the area.

Surely enough, San Jose has been claimed the capital of Silicon Valley, but other than the tech aspects, San Jose is home to many museums, public art, and special events. Walking downtown near the venue it doesn’t take a genius to figure out it is one of the wealthier parts of the United States. People are typically out and about on behalf of business in this area. Besides Wobbleland, if you’re looking for a party you’ll have to head about an hour north to San Francisco.

All three days of Wobbleland sold out. The venue, City National Civic, was packed to the brim. At one point the windows within the stairwells had writing all over them as they were steaming from all the body heat. Besides that, the City National Civic was gorgeous in nature. Operated by San Jose Theaters, the CNC has hosted many favored acts including The Who, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, and more. Built in 1934, the construction of the venue was half a million dollars. Later, in 2012, $15 million was sunk in to renovate the City Landmark. Needless to say, the City National Civic is an important asset to the city of San Jose.

Official Wobbleland 2017 Aftermovie

Without a doubt, Wobbleland was a bass-lover’s paradise. Each night carried out a specific theme of music, but they all consisted of bass. On Friday, Rezz, Luca Lush b2b Josh Pan, Ekali, and Krane b2b Alexander Lewis were just some of the talent that showed up that night. They all brought some of the freshest sound to the table. The set that stuck out to me the most was Rezz’s. It was so tasteful. Before her set, she mentioned on Twitter it was going to be 95% her music, which I did not find out until after the fact. I was blown away. Plus, she dropped some old school bangers like Zed’s Dead’s “In the Beginning” and Bassnectar’s “Mind Tricks.”

As for Saturday, the vibe was completely different. I felt as if I was surrounded by an entirely different crowd of people. Zomboy was headlining with Kayzo, Jackal, Bleep Bloop, and Jameston Thieves b2b Yookie to open up. Needless to say, sh*t got weird but in a good way. Bleep Bloop was off the chain. I’m not usually one to head towards the front of the stage, but Bleep Bloop had me getting mixed up in there. As soon as he dropped “Slippin’” me and my crew were sliding around, bringing out some exotic dance moves.

By the time Sunday rolled around I was dead tired from all that moving around. Plus, someone was making fake wristbands, so everyone had to rescan their initial ticket to get into the venue. After all that, I walked in and the music was so intense, but I didn’t want it to stop. Quix, Trollphace b2b Trampa, Joyryde, and Datsik all made appearances on day three, and they finished the weekend off with a bang. Trollphace b2b Tramp was one of the most energetic sets I have seen, and I guarantee most people in the crowd felt the same way.

As a native of the midwest, the northern California scene is much different than what I am used to. The attendees bring a lot of energy, and I feel the northern California scene is the most similar to what it used to be like to rave in the 90’s. The attire was very retro-rave and everyone seemed to be on the same page with it, especially on Saturday.

Overall, being surrounded by bass heads was satisfying. It was okay for my friends and I to overly obsess about our favorite artists and their performances without any one person getting annoyed, and that was really great, to be honest. They say dubstep is the new disco, but even if that’s the case, bass heads are an exceptional breed.

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