My Festival Experience

I had been looking forward to last weekend all year and I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint.

I went to Desert Daze in 2017, the last year it was held in Joshua Tree, but I only went for one day and I didn’t camp. This year, the lineup was so spectacular that it convinced me to commit to the full weekend and go camping for my first time.

While I was a little apprehensive going into the experience, especially since I was alone, I found camping to be a breeze after I got my tent set up. I can’t say it’s something I’ll have an urge to do often, but for this festival, I really think camping is part of the full experience and it’s not the same when you stay in a hotel (as I did last time).

I was impressed with Lake Perris, the new location of the festival. It feels remote and cut off from reality, which is perfect for a psychedelic musical gathering. The main stage is on a beach with a sparkling lake to the right, offering a perfect view of the sunset towards the end of the day.

At night, the moon rises over the stage and bathes the crowd in its silver glow. Since the skies were clear and the moon was nearly full all weekend, this made for an ideal environment to watch some of my favorite bands.

Overall, I have very few complaints about the festival and its organization. Cell reception was tricky, but that didn’t bother me too much – I actually enjoyed going off the grid for a few days. Food was overpriced, but that’s typical for any festival of this nature and I actually had some quality meals.

The only major disappointment for me was the last-minute cancellation of Shintaro Sakamoto‘s set due to a typhoon preventing him from flying out of Japan. I was also let down by the earlier cancellations of Dumbo Gets Mad and Dungen due to visa issues – none of this was the festival’s fault, but it was still a tough blow.

Thankfully, there were still plenty of great artists left to enjoy. In total, I managed to catch at least partial sets from 21 artists over the weekend, ranging in style from Wu-Tang Clan to Devo. Below, I’ve listed the 10 performances that impressed me the most
(in alphabetical order).

Top 10 Performances

Altin Gun 

I looked up all the artists in this lineup that I hadn’t heard of before the festival and Turkish psychedelic folk group Altin Gun was a clear standout for me. They were the first artist I caught on Saturday and their scorching performance officially made me a fan.

Primarily playing songs off their excellent new album, Gece, the band captivated the crowd with their blend of trippy funk-rock grooves and ethereal Turkish vocals. If you haven’t heard of this band yet, definitely give them a listen and catch a show.

Animal Collective

Unsurprisingly, Animal Collective delivered my favorite set of the weekend. I’ve waited 6 long years to see Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist, and Deakin all on stage together, and it was well worth the wait.

Mixing in some old classics (“Grass”, “Banshee Beat”, “No More Runnin”) with eight new songs, the band delivered a transcendent set that literally moved me to tears. I was beyond impressed with the new songs, all of which immediately clicked with me and have raised my anticipation for the next Animal Collective album to fever-pitch level.

The performance couldn’t have ended on a higher note, as the band launched into one of my favorite songs of all time, “For Reverend Green” (which they hadn’t played live in 13 years). Overall, my favorite band delivered everything I expected and more.

Atlas Sound 

Bradford Cox has essentially retired his solo project and focused solely on Deerhunter for the last several years. This has been disappointing to me, as I far prefer his Atlas Sound material. Desert Daze was the first Atlas Sound performance since 2015 and he put on a spellbinding show that blew me away.

Playing the majority of his 2009 album Logos, Cox enveloped the audience in a wall of layered textures and emotionally charged vocals. The set elevated to once-in-a-lifetime status when he invited Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) and Laetitia Sadier (of Stereolab) to perform their collaborative songs “Walkabout” and “Quick Canal.” It’s certainly a performance that I’ll never forget.

The Flaming Lips (Performing The Soft Bulletin)

The Flaming Lips brought their usual theatricality to Desert Daze, launching balloons into the crowd and lighting up the stage with giant pink robots and LED curtains. However, this was more than just a standard set from the band — they played their beloved 1999 album The Soft Bulletin all the way through, including classics such as “Race for the Prize,” “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton” and “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate.”

The setlist didn’t flow together as well as it could have, presumably because the band had to keep re-tuning their instruments for each song, but Wayne Coyne kept the energy high and the band rendered each song faithfully. They may be a bit past their prime, but The Flaming Lips can still put on one hell of a show.

Flying Lotus 3D

Flying Lotus’ mind-melting 3D show was the clear highlight of Saturday for me. Taking the stage after one of the best intros I’ve ever seen (the “Fire is Coming” music video featuring David Lynch), he wasted no time drawing his audience in. With a fast-paced set that delivered songs from most of his discography, including a couple Captain Murphy tracks, FlyLo was in rare form at Desert Daze.

I also can’t praise the visuals enough, as everything from flames to spaceships swirled over and through the crowd in stunning 3D. It’s an audio-visual sensory overload that needs to be experienced to be believed.

George Clanton

If I’m being honest, I didn’t think George was at his best on Sunday. Having said that, he still managed to make the show a blast thanks to pure manic energy and an infectious stage presence. Not to mention, it’s hard to stand still when you’re listening to songs like “Livin’ Loose” and “It Makes the Babies Want to Cry.”

George upped the energy throughout his set, eventually pulling a girl in a panda bear costume on stage and leaping into the crowd. While it may not have been the best performance I’ve seen from him, he still managed to stand out amongst a deep and talented lineup.

Fun fact: I’m the guy wearing a blue shirt just above George’s arm.

Jerry Paper

This was my first time seeing Jerry Paper and I left his set feeling very impressed. His personality on stage is hilarious and lends a lot of character to the music. The band around him were perfectly tuned into each other and kept the set moving along at an ideal pace.

I’m not familiar enough with Jerry’s music to know the names of all his songs, but I definitely recognized some tracks from 2018’s Like a Baby. Overall, this set inspired me to take a deeper dive into his discography and I will definitely catch another show in the future.

Klaus Johann Grobe

This band was another new discovery for me at Desert Daze and their set vastly exceeded my expectations. Keeping the show moving from one song to the next, the group delivered their unique brand of Swiss synth-pop without ever losing their grip on the crowd.

I wasn’t familiar with much of their music going in, but this performance confirmed to me that Klaus Johann Grobe is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Stereolab

I’ve been a casual fan of Stereolab for a while, but I’d never taken the time to really get into their music. When they were announced as a headliner for Desert Daze, it was the perfect motivation for me to examine their discography further. I’ve since become a much bigger fan of the band and was eagerly anticipating their performance on Friday.

Now that I’ve seen them live, I’m an even bigger fan of Stereolab, as their set was easily among the best and most entrancing of the weekend. Vocalist Laetitia Sadier lulled the crowd with her French melodies and the rest of the band provided immersive soundscapes that swirled around her voice.

Considering they hadn’t played live for 9 years before 2019, I’m very grateful that I got the chance to see this iconic band and I hope that they continue to play shows in the near future.

Ween (Performing Chocolate and Cheese)

I’ve never been a huge Ween fan, so I checked out their set more due to curiosity than excitement. They ended up being one of the biggest surprises of the weekend for me, putting on a show that somehow felt both perfectly rehearsed and made-up-on-the-spot all at once.

A lot of this is due to the downright goofy personalities of Dean and Gene Ween, who made the crowd laugh out loud several times. But don’t make the mistake of thinking these guys are just here to mess around – they’re actually an extremely talented jam band, stretching their classic 55-minute album into nearly 90 minutes with inspired improvisations and blistering guitar solos.

The bottom line is this: any band who can play a genuinely great song like “Roses Are Free” alongside a track as ridiculous as “The HIV Song” is a band worth watching.