New Year, New Festival: UNDERWAR3 Throws Down Under the Freeway

UNDERWAR3 threw a three-stage New Year’s Eve festival under the 110 featuring Dani Thorne, DEA MAGNA, Fei-Fei, girl_irl, and others.

It was UNDERWAR3’s first bonafide festival under a bridge on New Year’s Eve. So I put on my dancing pants and spent the night there in true LA fashion.

The underpass was low enough to feel cozy in a big city kind of way. We were tucked away below the 110 and the constant groan of the city. It was eerily quiet down there — except, of course, for the pounding bass line emanating from further inside, right underneath the pulsing, hypnotic light rigs.

Underwar3 (also sometimes stylized “Underware”) is no stranger to alchemizing seemingly mundane settings into raves. On one such occasion, they put up a three-stage setup at an 18-wheeler lot, turning the sides of trucks into stages.

But the organizers shared that this event felt different. “The goal for years was to throw a legitimate, multi-stage festival and have it still feel like an UNDERWAR3 rave,” the organizers (who asked to remain nameless) told EDM Identity. “I think we were finally able to do it with this one.”

Photo Credit: Cohavit Gil

Inspired by French and blog house giants like Ed Banger, Dim Mak, and Roulé, Underground Warehouse (“Underware” for short) was born four years ago. The party series’ premise is simple (and with a name like that, it seems obvious): “to make people dance and have fun.”

“It doesn’t go much deeper than that,” they shared. “We want people to have fun with their friends in a warehouse or space where they’re safe to let loose, express their style, and dance.”

The top-notch and largely lady-powered lineup absolutely supported this mission. Light-up wands, balloons, and animal floaties up also aided in the fun department. Not only that, but there was a surprise bounce house and foam jousting ring.

Photo Credit: Cohavit Gil

Photo Credit: Cohavit Gil

The music slapped in all directions, as did the unexpected pop-up foam jousting ring.

Underware said they want to give the people dancing and fun, and they meant it. I literally ran from one stage to the next at some points because I didn’t want to miss any of the action.

We were relentlessly pummeled with sexy beats — in the best possible way. XKYLAR dropped her infectious OMNOM collab, “By Myself,” and Fei-Fei debuted “Bend It” with girl_irl. There were a couple of head-banging Nirvana remixes somewhere in there, too.

The Bass ‘n Babes silent-disco takeover inside the back of a U-Haul was an iconic highlight of the night. The whole truck squeaked on its hinges and rocked back and forth as the bass dropped.

Photo Credit: Cohavit Gil

The bounce house and inflatable foam jousting arena were the unsung heroes of the night. They stood strictly for fun and fun alone. My only real regret of the night was not jumping in the bouncy house!

There was no stopping the party — except for ten long, juicy seconds before midnight when DEA MAGNA held up the mic and dramatically counted it down with us. The clock struck midnight and our little corner of the universe burst into kisses, sparkles, and — of course — lots of fireworks from all directions.

Photo Credit: Cohavit Gil

How to throw a proper festival under a bridge:

The whole event came together in less than two months. The location had been thoroughly tested. UNDERWAR3 partnered with L’Affaire Musicale, NonVerbal LA, Wicked Paradise, and a whole slew of local vendors to throw the festival. Bug and Bear’s Cannoli, TheRealSlumGod, Telly Bowie, Panic 39, and tattoo artist Alana (to name a few) all brought the best of LA’s craft small businesses to the mix.

“This was our largest event yet,” UNDERWAR3 said. “So we basically used every resource we had and every last piece of our equipment. We got resourceful and used our U-Haul as the third silent disco stage.” In fact, this isn’t the first time a U-Haul has been part of the action, as a regular attendee may have noticed.

Despite all three stages sitting fairly close together, sound bleed was surprisingly not an issue. There were about ten or more heat lamps all around the dance floors and event footprint, which was a nice, thoughtful touch. Plus, in a stroke of genius, the bar included an “express line” for pre-ordering drinks, where a QR code brought you to an online ordering system.

There were armed security guards with padded vests roaming around the space. They walked with professional purpose as tactful observers throughout the night. These measures made me feel safe — and maybe this makes me sound boring, but the level of security was an appreciated detail that is not always a given at an underground event.

Photo Credit: Cohavit Gil

What’s next on the agenda for UNDERWAR3?

With musicians at the helm, UNDERWAR3 keeps it classic and consistent with an undeniable knack for providing a memorable musical experience. The team shared their excitement for some rad 2025 plans.

“Incorporating both DJs and bands at the rave is something we think is really cool, and it’s not something we see being done a lot — especially not in late-night, underground raves. So we definitely want to bring it to our next festival,” they said.

Now that their new festival location has been fully christened, the crew is hyped for 2025. The new year is ripe for a regularly scheduled UNDERWAR3 festival in LA, and even for them to extend their knack for throwing festivals to their San Diego party series.

In an era of mass-produced lineups and a monstrous churn of commercial, cookie-cutter festivals, UNDERWAR3 has carved itself a sustainable slice of the underground counterculture, with music at the heart of it. As some instagram commenters noted, UNDERWAR3 hearkens back to LA’s gritty, glittery rave roots, to a time when making raves out of underpasses was common practice. One reminisced, “Haha welcome to the 90s kids, We have been raving down there for years.”

Sometimes, there is no need to reinvent the wheel, and older heads shared their appreciation for the classic rave spaces that UNDERWAR3 has created. Another commenter said, “Underground was back in ‘91, Doc, Mr. Kool-Aid, Gary Blitz, Tef… Glad to see it’s still going strong… at 55, still attending.”

In 2025, renegade raves still continue to compete with brick and mortar nightclubs. As more audiences start to appreciate the dystopian charm of underground events, the phenomenon becomes more accepted and — dare I say it — mainstream. The instagram follower counts of underground parties continue to rise, and the clandestine nature of raving dwindles.

Maybe the very meaning of rave is shifting. But the bare-bones rave ethos remains alive at UNDERWAR3, somewhere under the bridge.

Photo Credit: Cohavit Gil

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