Wet Electric, which has been thrown annually for the past five years by organizers Activated and Relentless Beats, has returned once again to Big Surf Waterpark, just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. This festival featured a great lineup, great location, and great vibes, offering attendees a festival experience like no other. This years festival was Headlined by Dada Life, 3LAU, Destructo, Wiwek, Bro Safari, Shmitty, Justin Jay, along with a host of talented up and comers from around the country. It is said that going to a waterpark rave should be on everyone’s EDM bucket list, and after experiencing Wet Electric, this statement holds 100% true.
For this festival, the waterpark was completely taken over, with the addition of two stages and a silent disco placed right next to the waterslides, zip lines, and other carnival style attractions.
One of the coolest things about this festival that has been around since its inception: The Main Stage is built over the water, so as you dance around, you get to float and splash. It is truly a fun and unique experience.
Most notably, despite Arizona having clear skies 98% of the year, the weather wasn’t so kind to this year’s festival. There was a brief shower, and as a result, 3LAU’s set on the MainStage had to be put on hold, and instead of waiting for the sky to clear, 3LAU ran across the festival with his Dj controller, with what seemed the entire festival following him, and hopped on the second stage, and then preceded to play a new set. During this impromptu appearance, 3LAU was not afraid to get up close and personal with his fans.
Despite the shenanigans that occurred due to the weather, many of the festivals MVP’s were the up and comers who truly went above and beyond for their performances.
Minimal Sessions curator Shmitty, played a flawless tech house and techno set, with stunning visuals. He delivered one of the grooviest sets of the festival, and it was exciting to watch the energy build as he whipped the audience into a frenzy over the course of his performance. It is also important to note the impeccable sound that the second stage had. It featured massive bass cabinets that had your entire body pulsing to the groove.
Another extremely well received set from Wet Electric was from the techno scene’s newcomer, Laffit Rivas. Rivas made his debut last summer on the Beatport stage at Sun City Music Festival, and since then has been hitting the studio hard. Rivas has recently had releases on several international techno imprints, including Gotham Grooves and Groovant Records. It will be exciting to watch his career grow, and it is also exciting that at certain festivals around the country, big room and trap are not the only genres being represented on the Mainstage.
Destructo, who closed out the second stage, pulled an enormous crowd to his section of the festival, and in no time had everyone grooving to his hard hitting house sound. He played a number of unreleased tracks, and played a set that closed out the festival in a proper fashion. Destructo left fans wanting more, and left them truly stoked about this summer’s Hard festivities.
Wet Electric was overall an extremely enjoyable festival to attend. The festival was extremely well thought out, and had tons of attractions for festival goers to enjoy. What is most exciting about this festival was it’s location. Phoenix has recently seen a revitalization of it’s music scene, and as dance music culture grows, so does it’s festival circuit. This year’s Wet Electric, saw about 3,000 more attendees than last year, as well as boasting an additional stage, all for around the same ticket price as the previous year.
Phoenix has quickly been gaining attention for its festivals, such as Decadence Arizona, which featured an absolutely massive lineup, as well as Phoenix Lights, which returned this year for an additional day. Phoenix is quickly becoming recognized as a new emerging hot spot of electronic music culture. Did you know that Ghastly, Mija, Drezo, Liquid Stranger, and Y2K are all from Phoenix? It is going to be exciting to see the artists and festivals that emerge from this quickly growing city in the years to come.
