An Insider's Guide to Desert Daze 2022
Desert Daze 2022 is here, September 30th - October 2nd. The music festival returns to Moreno Beach at Lake Perris for its ten-year anniversary, bringing bands from around the world like King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Tame Impala, Iggy Pop, Cortex, and Kikagaku Moyo, to name a few. Keep your eyes and ears tuned because this year's about to get groovy or goony, you decide.
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Look at this lineup, it's almost too much to process in one sitting. With ten years of hard work, Desert Daze has fully formed into a thriving community for artists, fans, visionaries, and anything in between. The production size and scale of DD continues to grow every year, yet it still stands as one of the last festivals, from my experience, that still has a family feel to it. It's put on by people who genuinely love and value the impact music and art has on people's well-being. Founder Phil Pirrone and the rest of the Desert Daze team truly do so much behind the scenes to make it happen each year, so we're eternally grateful for their dedication and drive to help expand our minds and bring people together in that process.
Desert Daze has become a yearly pilgrimage for CVC since our platform's origins in 2018, so we have a fairly clear idea of how it's going down this time round. With the momentum of the past 3 years at Lake Perris, Desert Daze is ready to pack a punch in the hole of existence. This year might have the most variety in terms of genre and overall performances. From post-punk, psych pop, jazz, and rap, your ears are going to be feasting all weekend.
Whether you're here to redeem yourself from the infamous 2018 thunderstorm that canceled Tame's set or you're longing to recover from some Joshua Tree nostalgia with a heavy dose of Iggy Pop, this year's headliners are here to provide. Good god, you can't forget King Gizz, plus Mild High Club's pulling up so there's a good chance we might see some collab action. Desert Daze just announced all the single-day lineups, so start planning it out now or who knows maybe you'd rather let the universe decide which timeline you run this year.
Let us help you out a bit, ease into it. We don't mind if this is your first year or you've seen them all, here are some of the artists on our radar from this year's lineup:
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Photo by: Spenser Judd
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With so many great artists this year, it's hard to pick and choose...so here are some
Honorable Mentions: Chicano Batman, BADBADNOTGOOD, Duster, Reggie Watts, Levitation Room, Babe Rainbow, Automatic, Fuzz, Pond, and Gum.
SpaceyY's Picks
Photo by: @spaceyyvibes
After 10 years of gracing stages across the globe with their experimental soundscapes,
Japanese psych-rock legends, Kikagaku Moyo, are embarking on their final world tour. Constantly a crowd favorite, Kikagaku Moyo splits time and space when paired up with Mad Alchemy on the visuals. Plunge into their discography and find yourself drifting away to tracks like "Dripping Sun" and "Silver Owl". They're straight-up sound wave sorcerers who tap into the moment, in tune with the music. Founder Go Kurosawa even started up his own label GuruGuru Brain where he highlights other underground artists across Asia, so make sure to take a gander, he knows how to find sonic gems. Finishing up their farewell tour, in support of their latest album "Kumoyo Island", Kikagaku will be making their final North American festival appearance at Desert Daze 2022. Just saying if you miss out, this might be your last chance to catch them in person.
Show Me the Body is tearing it up across the US. Just look at the footage of their shows, people go apeshit when they hit the stage. Very reminiscent of early punk bands like Gorilla Biscuits or Minor Threat, this NY-based hardcore group is carrying that genuine DIY spirit thought to be lost in the generations before the digital age. From playing under bridges, in alleys, and basements, to headlining festivals like Sound and Fury, Show Me the Body always keeps a supply of intense energy on deck. Mixing up elements of hip hop, sludge metal, and hardcore punk, you're going to want to catch the collision. Just ask yourself this, have you ever opened up the pit for a banjo breakdown?
From the aftermath of Sextile, synth-punk Neuromancer, Brady Keehn has let loose with his newest project, Panther Modern. It's a beautiful synthesis of visuals and music that pounces on listeners' eardrums, transporting them to the outskirts of cyberspace. Tracks like "Creep" and "Ready" have an eerie feel yet they'll make you wanna move around like you're in some kind of lunar nightclub looking over the Earth, wondering why anyone would wanna leave the dance floor. Panther Modern's synth-driven post-punk is some exotic noise candy that we can't get enough of, so stroll on over to their set on Sunday, Oct. 2nd. It's gonna be a doozy.
In the mood to transcend with your own cinematic bed music? Look toward London-based psych-pop group Vanishing Twin. Zigzagging from space-jazz to tropicalia and finding their own middle ground, Vanishing Twin's steadily building up their audial utopia. When I first heard their songs, "The Conservation of Energy" and "Telescope", as a radio DJ on KCPR, I was instantly hooked. Their music has a gravitational force that pulls you in from the first listen, similar to artists like Stereolab or The Soundcarriers. On top of that, or underneath the surface of the songs, lies heady messages of introspection and a pushback against the boundaries or dualities we often find ourselves facing. Mellow out with VT on Sat. Oct. 1st.
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Frankie and the Witch Fingers Photo by @buxxbandocoot
Animal Collective Photo by @buxxbandocoot
The Flaming Lips Photo by @buxxbandocoot
Altin Gun Photo by @buxxbandocoot
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Photo by @buxxbandocoot