After a rocky year, PROPER NYE/NYD returned to San Diego with something to prove. What followed was a rain-soaked reminder of why we gather on dancefloors.
PROPER NYE/NYD returned to Petco Park in downtown San Diego to ring in the new year, once again transforming the iconic stadium into a multi-stage music celebration. Curated by FNGRS CRSSD, the two-day event brought together a genre-spanning lineup featuring artists like Kaskade, Sara Landry, Odd Mobb, Chase & Status, Disclosure, Noizu, and Sammy Virji, an eclectic selection of heavy hitters spread across multiple stages.
After a challenging previous year marked by safety and logistical concerns, PROPER 2025 arrived with clear intentions to improve crowd flow, comfort, and overall experience — setting the stage for a festival with something to prove. Going into PROPER this year, there was a quiet but collective question lingering in the air: could they come back from last year? I arrived with cautious optimism and a mission to see if FNGRS CRSSD could listen, adapt, and deliver a smoother experience worthy of San Diego’s biggest New Year’s celebration.
On paper, the lineup alone was reason enough to believe. It came stacked with underground favorites, rising stars across genres, and dance music’s most notorious names, all ready to rock. Behind the scenes, organizers promised improvements, and with heavy rain expected, I was eager to see how the next two days would play out. Turns out, PROPER curated something truly special this year, and the rain only added to the magic.
We kicked off night one at the Park Stage to the pulsing soundscapes of techno baddie Hannah Laing, just as the sky decided to unleash its first torrential downpour.
Within 30 minutes, my lashes were gone and my face gems sacrificed to the elements as ponchos were deployed en masse. Watching a sea of people absolutely bop in plastic bags to the grimiest techno imaginable was nothing short of delightful. Wet, feral, euphoric — it was exactly how New Year’s Eve should feel.
We shimmied our way through the sea of people in the stadium hallways to head down to the Field for Tinlicker, only to realize almost immediately that something was off. The sound was quiet, painfully so. We maneuvered around the stage hunting for bass that carried real weight, eventually finding a pocket where the low end finally hit. As I always say, I want the music loud enough to drown out my own thoughts, and being able to talk in normal voices during Tinlicker’s set felt like a disservice to the emotion they bring to the dancefloor.
The overall layout this year was… ambitious. In my opinion, it was far more complicated than necessary. Accessing the field required navigating narrow alleyways, random staircases, and funnel points that led to a few openings onto the stadium floor. That said, once we learned the maze, stage hopping became surprisingly effortless. By the time we made our way to Noizu at the Lot Stage, we were moving with confidence, damp but determined.
Green Velvet at the Park Stage was a non negotiable. Watching a true legend throw down in a cowboy hat is a spiritual experience. He effortlessly wove timeless classics with fresh energy, reminding everyone exactly why he’s earned that status. There was something special at that stage: minimal structure, incredible sound, and consistently high vibes. Surrounded by towering buildings and city lights reflecting off raindrops and lasers, it felt like the most whimsical of welcomes to my new city, having just moved here two weeks prior.
As the rain continued, we somehow only got sillier.
The sea of people continued to shimmer like an ocean of plastic. I was soaked — like, fully jumped-into-a-pool soaked — but wrapped in so much joy it didn’t matter. I couldn’t help but look around at all the silly little people in their silly little costumes with infectious smiles.
That’s when it hit me: The people you’re with at a festival matter. They can make or break the moment. It’s in the silly moments, the spontaneous “Macarena” outbreaks, the shared laughter during the drops; those are the things that linger long after the set ends.
There’s an unspoken bond formed between strangers on a dancefloor, and PROPER reminded me why festivals hold so much magic. Yes, the music drives it all, but the right people and the energy of everyone coming together to live inside joy is what makes the music that much sweeter.
Sammy Virji delivered exactly the energy that was needed to welcome 2026.
Whether it’s my inner raver in her 30s speaking, or I was just feeling the better vibes overall, hanging farther back really hit at this stage. Dancing inside the rainy open spaces where speakers were close enough to radiate through your entire body, we found pure catharsis.
Virji, with his upbeat UK garage sound, made the air feel lighter — colorful, hopeful, alive. We watched the countdown from the stands, feet dangling over the section below, realizing that no matter where you were in the stadium, the vibes remained strong. Fireworks lit up the sky, kisses were exchanged all around us, and day one ended feeling like a fever dream I wasn’t ready to wake up from.
Day two arrived with slightly lower energy — a classic case of 31-year-old exhaustion that left my body as soon as SG Lewis started to play.
Learning from the chaos of the night before, we camped out at the Field Stage, knowing capacity issues prevented many people from getting onto the floor. It paid off. We started by watching Chase & Status from a bird’s-eye view of Petco Park. We sat in a permanent state of stank face until we couldn’t take it anymore and ran to the floor.
Disclosure followed, and no one warned me their set would be a full-on teleportation device to simpler times. Singing “Latch” and Flume’s rendition of “You & Me” with my best friends felt like being wrapped in a memory I didn’t know I needed to relive.
Then came Skrillex and Four Tet, delivering one of the heaviest, most high-energy sets I’ve had the pleasure of headbanging to in a hot minute. Banger after banger, BPMs pounding like a galloping horse’s heartbeat, and a crowd of diehard fans dancing under the moonlight was pure electricity.
Ending the weekend at the Lot Stage with our founding father, Kaskade, just felt right. It was euphoric, silly, emotional, and grounding. With MK’s liveliness layered in, it was a perfect landing.
Despite some lingering frustration and relentless rain, PROPER made a massive comeback, delivering all the magic and extending the warmest of welcomes to my new chapter down in (mostly) sunny San Diego.
Some festivals are about the lineup. Others are about the logistics. The special ones, though, the ones you remember, are about how they make you feel. And PROPER? This year, it reminded me why I fell in love with this world in the first place.
