July 22 | Bluegrass and Beyond | 2 p.m.
July 23 | Bass Camp Festival | 3 p.m.
July 24 | Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival | 1 p.m.
Hard Rock Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena | Stateline, Nev.
A trio of music festivals plunge South Shore into a kaleidoscope of sonic bliss. With bluegrass on July 22, EDM on July 23 and reggae on July 24, there’s bound to be something for you at Hard Rock Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena, no matter what type of music you dig.
EDM takeover
The triumphant return of Bass Camp Festival V on July 23 features L.A. heaven-trap hitmakers SLANDER, influential English producer Flux Pavilion and the reappearance of Canadian melodic bass duo Adventure Club, one of the headliners in the inaugural festival in 2013.
Fifteen years ago, Leighton James and Christian Srigley met as teen punks in Montreal. A high-school flyer led to a hardcore emo act that went through several iterations before a job as a bookkeeper at Turbo Recordings introduced James to techno music. Meanwhile, Srigley had discovered Skrillex and the dubstep revolution. Together at a Steve Aoki and Bloody Beetroots concert, a remix of the deep bass track “Woo Boost” by Rusko shuddered through their ear drums and into their souls.
“We looked at each other and something clicked,” says James. “We are still super-emo, pop-punk kids at heart, but we found our stride meshing these two worlds together.”
The two friends began teaching themselves to program and produce their own beats. Ripping songs from the Internet, they rearranged the pieces and reimagined them with the bass heavy wobble of dubstep. A remix of “Daisy” by Long Island rock group Brand New went viral and their career took off.
“That one track got more plays overnight than anything we released in our other bands,” says James. “We saw the demand and it was something we loved writing. We were one of the first producers to incorporate the hauntingly beautiful dubstep that’s caught on today.”
“If you’re not inside the community, you see it as a free-for-all drug fest, when in reality that’s not what it is,” says James, speaking to misconceptions about EDM. “At its core it’s about finding the frequency you want to listen to and connecting with people. People like getting lost at EDM festivals.”
From its roots in Europe’s underground rave scene to a more recent influx of DJs into the production of blockbuster pop tracks, EDM has steadily gained in popularity since its advent in the 1980s.
“It’s a super accessible genre,” says James. “Making the music is exponentially easier than it was even 5 or 10 years ago. It’s spreading its roots and infiltrating into every genre there is. With that abundance, you have a lot of songs that break through and end up becoming popular. There is no stopping the takeover.”
While they hope to return to the heartstrings of their punk heyday someday, it was the jump to EDM that brought Adventure Club worldwide acclaim.
“When you break it down, I’m making music with my best friend, traveling the world, making so many connections, so many memories,” says James. “You’re doing what you love, you’re able to create with that person and have that art listened to by people. It’s about knowing you can speak to people on so many different levels.” | basscampfest.com
Bluegrass and reggae on the side
Hard Rock’s weekend concert bonanza begins on July 22 with the first Lake Tahoe Bluegrass and Beyond Festival headlined by Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh & Friends, Colorado slamgrassers Leftover Salmon, local Americana rockers Dead Winter Carpenters, Montana pickers The Lil’ Smokies and Bay Area swamptronic experimentalists Dirtwire.
On July 24, the fifth annual Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival brings a mix of contemporary acts including San Diego fusion groups Slightly Stoopid and Tribal Seeds, Orange County reggae rockers Dirty Heads and Common Kings and Grammy-winning Virginia octet SOJA.
All concerts are at Hard Rock Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena. | bluegrassbeyond.com, laketahoereggaefest.com
