- CRSSD Festival's first event took place at San Diego's Waterfront Park, right where the city's twinkling high-rises meet the Pacific Ocean. Towering palm trees and technicolor sunsets make an idyllic backdrop for a music festival, so even if the event itself fell a little flat, the weekend was still pleasant and enjoyable.
When it was first announced, CRSSD sparked enthusiasm among both underground and mainstream crowds in Southern California. From accessible live acts (Odezsa, Flight Facilities, Empire of the Sun) to more niche DJ bookings (Roman Flügel, DJ Harvey, Simian Mobile Disco), the bill catered to an array of tastes, and drew a diverse crowd. Given San Diego's appetite for Vegas-style clubs and EDM, it was nice to have something a little different.
By the end of the weekend, though, it was clear that CRSSD was a product of the latest trend to hit popular culture. The meteoric rise of Burning Man-inspired music and fashion is no longer the subculture it once was, and this blend into the mainstream was conspicuous all weekend. CRSSD tapped into a large new US demographic that identifies itself with the middle-ground between commercial and underground.
So despite what were actually fairly limp performances, acts new to the mainstream played to packed stages and were received enthusiastically. Damian Lazarus' new project, Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons, was equal parts soporific and confusing, while this scene's poster boys, Seth Troxler and Jamie Jones, played a tame and predictable back-to-back set.
The best music came from those artists who were willing to buck the norm and take some risks. J.Phlip attracted one of the friendliest crowds of the weekend with her heavy selections on Sunday afternoon. DJ Harvey and James Murphy, never the types to pander to the floor, turned out sets that conveyed the kind of musical knowledge and experience that sets them apart as tastemakers. The standout performance, though, came on Sunday night, when Simian Mobile Disco and Roman Flügel went back-to-back, dishing out fat slabs of metallic techno.
The music at CRSSD only occasionally dipped below-par, and the festival was nice overall, if at times a little underwhelming. The organizers—LED, a San Diego/Los Angeles event promotions company, and Goldenvoice, the group behind Coachella—were tasked with the tricky exercise of excluding EDM acts, while still attracting a crowd large enough to fill the festival. Waterfront Park was busy throughout, and with a bit more focus, I don't doubt that CRSSD could grow into a Southern Californian staple.