This year, big things happened at Moonrise 2019. Not only were the sets out of this world (like we all knew they would be) but the actual event itself was too. The stages, the artists, and the people were amazing. The vibes? Even better.

Make sure you check out our photography recap at the bottom of the page! All photographs were taken by @taylor_thehuman

The Stages

This year Moonrise made it a point to take some much-needed actions for their stage setups and boy- they did not disappoint. You can check out the artists day by day schedule here, and you can check out the stage set-ups here.

The Solar Tent

The Solar Tent was a highly anticipated part of Moonrise this year, and it was totally worth the wait! The tent was way bigger this year (60% bigger, to be exact) and it was set up so that the artists playing were higher up than normal.

Stellar Stage

Unlike in previous years, for 2019 Moonrise did the Stellar Stage right. Not only were the sounds and screens bigger and better, but the location of the tent was better too. This made it more convenient for festival-goers to swing by the stage without having to dive too far off course to another stage.

Lunar Stage

Over the weekend, this stage was the one festival-goers wanted to hit if they were looking for mass amounts of confetti and streamers. The sound was great, and the stage was huge. Although it was a little lower to the ground, it was still an amazing experience. Not to mention Desiigner climbed up the side of it during his set.

Celestial Garden

For Moonrise, this stage was everything it needed to be. Like the other stages, it boasted it’s own ‘vibe’ and boy, were we down for it. Being the home of house music for the weekend, Celestial Garden was also the home for hoopers, flowers, and just downright hang-outers.

The Artists

Obviously- with such a stacked lineup there were bound to be some performances that just utterly stole the show. Not to mention that there were some artists that just absolutely DESTROYED their sets and wow-ed their fans in return.

Day 1 (August 10th)

If you checked out my Moonrise Schedule post, you’ll know that Saturday was a PACKED day. The conflicts were intense, but the sets were to die for. Gryffin brought the heat during his set, not only bringing a top-notch performance but also played live instruments to take it over the top. As promised, the Boogie T B2B Subtronics set was absolutely insane. They played at sunset which was even more magical to experience. Their set was lively and you could tell from their stage chemistry that they knew how to feed off each others energy.

Closing down the night was some intense shows. The first ‘need-to-mention’ show was the Gud Vibrations boys. Slander and NGHTMRE brought in a big crowd, as expected, and although most of the crowd was exceptionally happy with the set, there were others that may not feel the same. Those looking for the more melodic, sing-songs were a little shocked by how heavy the bass truly was. There were no complaints coming from us though!

Closing down Saturday was the one, the only, ILLENIUM! I would consider the Rave Hackers team definite Illenium fans, and this set, like always, did not disappoint. As we’ve started to see from this diverse artist, he’s able to cater his sets to either heavy bass, sing-song melodic, or a beautiful mixture of the two. At Moonrise, he chose the latter and it was amazing. We’re already beyond excited about his new Ascend Tour!

Day 2 (August 11th)

Day 2 seemed to have less running around and mayhem as compared to day 1. However, that’s not to say that the shows weren’t just as AMAZING! The Zhu set was beautiful- the people that attended that set were enthralled and were so happy which of course, made me happy in return. Hippie Sabotage was another set that was exceptionally fun to watch too. The brothers were energetic as always, and one of them even made it a point to get down in the crowd. This was a great surprise after their more disappointing set at Electric Forest.

Touching on disappointing, Seven Lions was unable to make it to Moonrise festival this year. Due to some intense travel logistics that didn’t pan out, he was unable to attend. However, he did issue a public apology to his Seven Lions fan group:

Another amazing artist that’s a personal favorite for the Rave Hackers team is Space Jesus. As always, he played that weird shit that we all love and his visuals were A1 too.

Closing down the night, Excision absolutely destroyed the crowd. Playing tons of fan favorites, as well as bringing his A-game when it came to production level and visuals. No one was disappointed by this closing set.

Security & The Venue

Lines getting into Moonrise this year were actually pretty reasonable. Wait times weren’t long and there were hardly any issues once you got to actual security. Unlike in previous years, security was laxer and seemed a little more disorganized in comparison to other festivals. However, it made getting access to certain areas easier which was a bonus.

Cell Service

Another positive was that cell service seemed to be pretty good. Sure, it was spotty sometimes and it took a little longer to get things to load, but overall coverage was good (using AT&T anyway). Getting other internet-based applications to load such as Instagram or email wasn’t as easy, but if you waited long enough it would eventually load.

Travel

The Rave Hackers squad was lucky enough to have a friend that lived close to Pimlico that was willing to let us crash with him (shout out Henry!). The location was about 15 minutes from the track which was ideal, to say the least. Something to note for anyone anticipating driving in the future though, parking is expensive. We were able to secure parking on a side street, however, there were tons of people selling parking in various areas around the track.

Food & Water

Arguably one of the most important aspects of festivals is food and water. With so many different ‘lifestyles’ out today (vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian, gluten-free, etc.) having options for your attendees is essential. Moonrise didn’t disappoint though! The festival offered tons of different options for those of us choosing a different lifestyle.

The other MOST important key to festivals is hydration. For Moonrise the water was cool, clean and refreshing. The water stations were easily accessible and lines were equally easy. On top of the fill-up stations, Moonrise also had giant water guns that sprayed the crowds throughout the sets, and they were VERY generous in handing out water bottles to those who were at the rail.

Check out the ‘Faces of Moonrise‘ over on my Facebook page! This is where you can find the rest of @taylor_thehuman ‘s pictures from Moonrise! They were all too beautiful to fit on this post. Make sure to tag your friends if you see them <3

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