Author: Ricardo Arriaga

Posted: Oct 18, 2024

Fall 2024 welcomes FNGRS CRSSD bi-yearly celebration of the CRSSD Festival. Two days of house, techno, DJ Sets, and a wide ensemble of artists on the scenic Waterfront Park near Downtown San Diego. The line up offers a variety of household names in the electronic dance scene and artists on the rise. The amount of names I recognized reminded me of the struggle it comes with festivals. It made me fear massive overlaps and missed opportunities. There is no escape from missing multiple sets in order to see your favorite artists. This included many long-awaited first hand experiences such as the English duo Disclosure, siblings delivering house to San Diego. The legendary Belgian group with three live drummers, Soulwax. And “The Prince of Darkness” Gesaffelstein closing out the festival with industrial techno. 

My Saturday included a fantastic variety of artists but we’ll focus for now on Jersey, Nora En Pure, Tinicker, Disclosure, and Miss Monique. The festival is kept well under wraps from the streets surrounding Waterfront Park. As I approach the entrance I grow eager, I can hear the music playing from the first stage faintly and feel the bass. Once inside, the music from The Palms stage greets you and offers immediate access to the dancefloor. The festival layout is mapped out seamlessly between three stages, divided by vendors and a CRSSD Lab Sessions tent. This year the festival brought Chapter One Records from Los Angeles to deliver vinyl sessions and the electronic instruments manufacturer Roland; on Sunday Neil Frances was invited to conduct a tech demo for the audience.

The first day was spent in the majority of Ocean View, the third stage in the back. I found the French duo Jersey, who rose to popularity with their intimate and explosive Parisian apartment session. They fed off the crowd, entrancing CRSSD with optimistic drum machines and a literal wall of handmade synthesizers they pushed to the absolute limit twice. Recovering with ease they continue the party, bridging the gap between house and rave. Keep an eye on Jersey and be on the lookout for their return to the USA in 2025. In the meantime, Jersey has released a new EP and a pre-recorded live session titled “please don’t break our new synths.”

Swiss-South African producer Nora En Pure ensures us a safe journey into her deep house-filled sunset schedule. The set included many friendly faces and I met some great people during the down-tempo indie dance jams. The music was accompanied by visuals of oceanic waves crashing down—a much needed breather after Jersey’s electric party. Nora En Pure included down-tempo pianos with drum machines and bass kicks, punching our eardrums turning us into bobble heads. Up next is the euphoric Dutch duo Tinlicker, exhibiting progressive trance with visuals of ribbon-like light trails with a map of stars enclosing them. This was the set to slow it all down as well as take it all in sonically, as “Fractal” plays the winds of time and “Because You Move Me” serpentines the landscapes of joy in the crowd. If music had the power to lift you off the ground Tinlicker will be the artist to get you floating.

The last two sets of the day displayed the lighting in full force, especially from CRSSD’s favorite English brothers; Disclosure. Their blend of live mixing and DJ set closed off the Ocean View brilliantly. Various teases of their famous catalog were sprinkled in. This brought the crowd to a joyous chant mixed with shock and awe by playing the intro to Flume’s remix of their staple “You & Me”. The brothers baited the crowd and switched it to the Westend & Local S remix. Throughout the night, Disclosure continues to show CRSSD why they get to bring the night to a close. Electric nights belong to the CRSSD Festival.

Lastly, that night was my first introduction to Ukrainian producer Miss Monique. She closed off The Palms with flashing lights of melodic techno. The lighting crew displayed the capabilities of The Palms, highlighting the parasol umbrellas hanging upside down like clouds. Her music was that of an uplifting, intimate club session. The crowd was hooked. I overheard a group saying they will not leave until Miss Monique finishes. She even brought out the big guns by playing the iconic blood rave techno song from the 1998 movie, “Blade.” That song concluded my Saturday on a massive high, sending me on my way back re-energized for the following day.

Sunday included Neil Frances, Mathame, Four Tet, Soulwax, Bicep, and Gesaffelstein. CRSSD Festival introduced me to new friends and local artists that let me join their group on Saturday night. Out of pure coincidence, I ran into them before Neil Frances took the stage at Ocean View. We shared another day of wonderful camaraderie and danced all our worries away. Neil Frances consists of alternative pop duos from Los Angeles and Australia. They brought out the hits and delivered a dream funk, jam-filled live band performance. Once they played their rendition of Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You,” the crowd erupted and Neil Frances perfected the arpeggiator live solo jam. Their lively sounds did not fail to bring a smile to my group and the crowd surrounding us. Happy 80’s psychedelia dancing, whispering vocals, and celestial bridges truly uplifted the start of the Sunday evening.

Sunday was the only visit I had for the techno-filled stage, City Steps. This is how I learned about the cinematic techno, Italian duo Mathame. When I hear the word “techno,” I don’t think of pairing the term “cinematic" alongside it. That is, until I heard their set. Crowds were scattered from the stage—even leaking out to the walkways to the next stages. Once the crowd setteled in, I took in as much as I could before the group decided to move on to the next artist. Mathame has found a place in my playlists and has a new fan. 

One of the realizations I had from my visits to CRSSD is my constant attendance and love for The Palms and Ocean View stages. English DJ Four Tet had the group running for The Palms to find the perfect spot for what I expected to be a melodic time. Four Tet slaps me with bass-heavy sound waves and nostalgic tunes with an electric DJ set. This brought the crowd together, melting us together and always delivering a welcomed surprise in his setlist.

The problem with festivals for me is picking and choosing the artists you hope to catch. This was my first CRSSD where I truly felt that pressure of having to sacrifice sets. As I snuck out of Four Tet, I told myself I will be staying at Ocean View for the rest of the evening. I arrive at the last half of the Belgian phenomena Soulwax. My friend is a massive fan who unfortunately could not attend and would constantly recommend catching their live performance. I missed the build up but I was mesmerized by their stage production and three-drummer line up. Synchronized drumming, each one taking turns on being the lead or even playing call and response with each other. Real playful musicians all the way through to the end and a gracious performance to deliver for San Diego.

Lastly, the moment I was waiting for the whole weekend. The Prince of Darkness himself: Gesaffelstein. He appears above steps from the dark palace that is his stage. Pulsating lights beaming through the two synths, masked in a crystal silhouette.

His set can only be described as otherworldly, hypnotic, and the final boss of dark techno. Blending two to three songs in a session, he keeps the mixing close to the chest. Steadily climbing to the fast tempo of darkness that is Opr. Hellish horns to entrap us to the electric chair of the chorus. This was the set I took off my ear plugs for about 30 minutes, making it the perfect way to hear the high pitched cries of Hellifornia/ VIP remix and waking up all of Ocean View. 

By the tail end of his set, he begins his “Psycho” act. Layered sounds of distorted percussion clattering and bassy earthquakes begin to erupt, sending the crowd into awe. Gesaffelstein is shaking CRSSD Fest, he is swaying his entire body back and forth to both synths. He successfully builds up the arpeggiator of the bounce and executes a hip-hop dance drop. It is a jungle-like beat and we all huddled up as if we were in a maxed-capacity, dark nightclub. To bring us together one last time, “Orck” was slowly introduced and as it dropped, my friend began chanting the “HEY! HEY!” from the song, which then spread like a virus. The mashup of “Mania/ Hysteria” transitions in to close the set—full force into a build up of no return. Fairly reminiscent of the Shepard tone with drum n’ bass. A flickering chainsaw buzzing, increasing the tempo until his lights-out conclusion. He stands between his synths one last time, glancing at the crowd with cone-shaped lasers encasing him. And with that, he simply turns around and walks away into darkness. Gesaffelstein has become my new favorite live performance and if you’d like to catch him, he will be performing in Los Angeles November 4th. Do not hesitate and “Enter the Gamma.”

CRSSD Fest Fall 2024 was a reminder of this lovely community searching for a communion of spiritual and emotional bond. Incredible work from FNGRS CRSSD delivering a wonderful, organized, and inclusive festival. I haven’t been back since before the pandemic and I will be on the lookout for the next event. Here's hoping for another stacked line up in Spring 2025 and hope to see more friendly faces again.