Photo: Miranda McDonald
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending Splash House 2018 in Palm Springs, CA. The epic lineup drew me in; I had previously attended the event last August and loved every moment. Headliners for this edition of the event included Duke Dumont, Zhu’s dark techno alias Blacklizt, What So Not, Nora En Pure, and many more. The event is held twice each year and each time, house heads and music lovers alike unite to celebrate the coming of warm weather in true spring break form.
Temperatures rose to about 103 degrees over the weekend, but that didn’t stop me from seeking out the best talent among the three stages. At the Renaissance, the main acts packed out their pool and performed deeper, house sets. Over at the Riviera, you got to lounge in the water to smaller acts playing chill, trap and hip-hop sets. Back at the Saguaro, all your favorite house artists brought the town down. What’s great about this festival is that each venue is only a free shuttle ride away – less than three miles apart, too, if you’re counting. It’s a pool party festival with no shortage of pool floaties. Everyone dressed to impress in their stylish monokinis, hats, sunglasses, and glitter.
Friday
If you have ever had the pleasure to see Nora En Pure, then you know that she puts on an amazing deep and indie house set. She closed out the afterhours party at the Palm Springs Air Museum and it was amazing. The stage is situated on the tarmack with the backlit runway in the background. Temperatures cooled down to around 75 degrees, but the warm breeze made dancing that much easier. With a plethora of bars for you to get your drink on, she was the main act to see Friday.
Saturday
I started with EDX at the Renaissance – having interviewed him prior to his #EDXTakeover set, it was a must-see. He set the tone for the weekend by playing one of his always impressive house sets.
Following his set, Kidwaste provided some mellow tunes by the pool at the Riviera. With a cool breeze and a slightly bigger area to dance around, this spot provided all the summer vibes. I anxiously waited for Hotel Garuda to come on as they were one of the main acts I wanted to see this weekend. As expected, they did not disappoint. The duo absolutely nailed the crowd with their set.
Finishing off the three hotels at the Saguaro with The Magician, let me just say that he is one artist that knows how to perform. His set was magical fire, playing all his hits and lighting up smiles on people’s faces. I could not have asked for a better artist to close out the day with.
Back for the last day of the afterhours party at the Air Museum, I saw Kidecko, Autograf, and SNBRN. The night was calm and the music did not stop. People filled every inch of the place. Autograf pulled off a live set with drums and keyboards. SNBRN closed out the night with his usual great classic set.
Sunday
The Renaissance had a stacked, killer lineup all day. Motez, Sonny Fodera, and Chris Lake all performed incredible house sets that did not disappoint. Seeing Motez and Sonny for the first time, I got to experience house and tech house poolside in a hard-not-to-love environment. And of course, it’s not a party unless Chris Lake plays too – and a party, it indeed was.
Blacklizt closed out the event with an hour and a half set, and it was absolute madness.
Cheers To An Epic Weekend, Splash House!
With pool parties, you never know what can happen – being by the water and moving from venue to venue often makes things a bit challenging. Thanks to the Splash House app, though, you were able to do so quite seamlessly this time around. From weather updates to artist notifications, you knew how to plan your weekend. Longer sets and overlapping times did not help, but a lot of good talent played this weekend – and needless to say, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
If you’re ever looking for a small festival that doesn’t need much prep but you can still go all out for, this is it.
