This year’s edition of Day Trip Festival was the best way for house music lovers to dance their way into the warmest months of the year.
Few brands in the scene have become synonymous with “quality,” as Day Trip has over the years. While their humble beginnings as a day party at Academy LA set the tone for this notion, their more recent adventures with standout experiences around the country have only bolstered their presence. In 2021, Day Trip launched its standalone festival at the NOS Events Center, but the coast was calling its name in 2022 as it transitioned to the Queen Mary Waterfront. This picturesque location was perfect for parties during the summer, so there was no doubt that as they returned for their third iteration last month, it would be one for the books.
While there are a plethora of events driven by house music throughout Southern California on a consistent basis, Day Trip Festival is one of the most unique. The festival had already set the tone of bringing two days of unadulterated house grooves from top-tier artists, but this year saw them continue their growth. Not only did they clean up some of the transportation issues from last year, but they also offered the chance for attendees to stay on-site on the Queen Mary itself and provided official after-parties that ran until the early morning hours.
We arrived in Long Beach on the festival’s first day, parked our car in one of the suggested lots, and walked over to the shuttle line to catch a ride. The process to get on the shuttle took no time at all early on in the day on Saturday, but those who arrived later might’ve faced longer wait times. After a short drive over the bridge, we were finally at the venue and quickly got in line for security to get inside. Concerns surrounding a lack of security at recent Insomniac-hosted festivals weren’t present at Day Trip Festival, as they did have a robust check that included metal detectors.
Once inside, we grabbed our first fish bowl, and I thought it was a nice touch to have a new one that included Electrolit as one of the mixers.
Hydrating while you’re drinking is important, so perhaps that concoction acted as a nice offset for the heavy amount of alcohol in the bowl. Not much had changed from last year’s edition layout-wise – the High Tide, Deep End, and Shoreline stages remained in the same place and had no sound bleed between the three. One alteration that was pleasant was the new VIP deck at High Tide that was next to the Queen Mary, giving attendees a new vantage point to catch some of the biggest names in the scene.
While beverage options were king at Day Trip Festival with everything from their signature fish bowls to branded experiences from Smirnoff Ice and Beatbox, the food options were also fantastic. Whether you wanted to grab a pizza, tacos, noodles, fresh fruit cups, or any other tasty festival food, there were a plethora of options to keep your belly full while you danced away to the beats.
One thing we saw online after the festival ended was reports of bartenders and food vendors overcharging attendees or giving themselves large tips. Although we didn’t experience this firsthand, this is something that you should always keep an eye out for when at any festival or show. Make sure that you always clear the screen yourself before they flip it back, and if you feel you were overcharged, you can always check your statement or receipts to see an itemized list.
Back to the beats, let’s get into some of the standout sets from Day Trip Festival.
The first few sets we caught on Saturday were from Majestic, Tita Lau, and Low Steppa, and all three really got everyone in a groove as the sun beat down from the clear sky above. While this year was certainly hot, it was cooler than last year’s sweltering temps, but I still feared that there would be no respite from the heat at the Deep End stage.
We headed there to catch Robin S, who was set to celebrate 30 years of “Show Me Love,” and I was pleasantly surprised to see more shade structures for attendees to cool down under in GA and VIP areas. Her live performance was fantastic and fed into the crowd’s energy, who were all singing along with her classic tracks and shuffling away.
Traversing the growing crowds throughout the festival grounds, we made our way back to High Tide to catch James Hype’s set. While I wasn’t a huge fan of his opening set at EDC Las Vegas in May, his set at Day Trip Festival was loads of fun and littered with a ton of tunes that kept the vibes rolling strong. Dombresky took control of the decks soon after and delivered another standout performance with massive tracks and a touch of his disco energy. If you haven’t caught a set of his yet, trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
One of the biggest conflicts of the festival arrived with Duke Dumont and Meduza, who were going toe-to-toe to close out the festival. We opted for Meduza and weren’t disappointed with a flurry of melodic gems that kept us going until the very last second of his set. It was a fantastic way to bring the first night of the festival to an end, and we still had enough power in our feet to avoid the long shuttle line and make the trek to our car on foot.
While much of the first day was dominated by pure house sounds, the second day saw us split it up with more melodic grooves.
One of the first standouts of day two was AIMMIA’s set at the Shoreline stage. This early performance was perfect as she blended her recent releases with other top tunes for a memorable set – it was definitely worth missing the beginning of Tinlicker to catch. The Deep End would be playing host to quite a ride of melodic house, and so we made our home there for the next few hours, first seeing Tinlicker, who wooed the crowd with their signature vibes before Eli Brown took the stage to punch some power into the mix and get everyone in a groove.
Yearning to dance away and chill out in the VIP area at the High Tide stage, we made our way over to see the last few minutes of Noizu. SIDEPIECE and Lee Foss were going b2b soon after, and while I didn’t know what I’d get from that set, it ended up being one of the most fun of the weekend. The three artists played so many heaters, from their originals to remixes and mashups, that I only wished they had another hour or two.
But it was time for Dom Dolla to close down the festival, and while I did want to see the b2b with Tinlicker and Nora En Pure, I couldn’t help but remain locked into the High Tide stage. The crowd roared once Dom Dolla graced the decks, and it was off to the races as he slammed out banger after banger, like “Rhyme Dust” with MK and “Eat Your Man” with Nelly Furtado. As the final seconds ticked away, he dropped some drum and bass for the finishing blow, and just like that, the festival had come to an end.
Day Trip Festival solidified its place at the top of the house music scene in Southern California this year.
From the impressive sets and picturesque location to the vibes from the crowd and the enhanced experience from Insomniac, there was no doubt that this was one of my favorite weekends so far this year. I only wished I had decided to stay on the Queen Mary because the ability to stay on-site at the festival would have made it even easier and fun, not to mention the after-parties that brought two stages of top-tier artists along for the ride.
If you’re hunting for a house-fueled party that will have you dancing all day and night, keep Day Trip Festival on your shortlist because it’s sure to be an even better experience when it returns in 2024.
