It’s been five years since San Diego’s house and techno bacchanal CRSSD hit the festival scene, asserting itself as a scrappy affair that emerged to fill dance music’s void between underground warehouse shows, far-out transformational fests, and the EDM mega-tents of Coachella. A lot has changed in those five years.
In the wake of EDM’s mainstream heyday, dance music hasn’t waned so much as it has settled into the accessibility of streaming platforms. Festivals, meanwhile, have enjoyed similar ubiquity—a pop cultural norm rather than a subcultural experience. But in a world where you either die a Further Future or live to see yourself become EDC, CRSSD is out here doing something a little different.
For boutique-to-midsize festivals like CRSSD, success comes in part because they offer what their mainstream behemoth peers don’t: manageable scale, discerning lineups, and a down-to-earth (read: less commercialized) vibe. CRSSD, it seems, has figured out how to grow without losing what sets it apart, expanding into a bi-annual event accompanied by after-hours shows and parties at venues near the waterfront main site.
