How Seismic Dance Event 2.0 Made the Austin Ground Shake

In its second annual event, Seismic Dance Event made its return to show that the house and techno scene in Austin is alive and thriving. I attended last year for its first event and had such a blast I was excited to see what Seismic would bring to the table this year. With a new venue to explore smack dab in the heart of Austin, it was going to be the perfect backdrop to an explosive weekend.

The Vibe

From walking in you could tell you were entering something special. Security was seamless and easy to get through. You could already hear the house bassline going getting everyone grooving even early in the day. The Austin crowd keeps the energy going from doors to close so you could feel it from walking in and being greeted by the Tsunami stage with the beautiful backdrop of the Austin skyline. Keep walking and you’ll see art installations making the perfect backdrops to some iconic Instagrams. You then enter this warehouse and walk into the Volcano stage with insane lighting production. Walk out the back exit and you’ll find this intimate stage called The Realm: Sunken Garden.

I really applaud Seismic in setting a mood and essence for the weekend. It truly elevated the event and gave it event character that will live on for years to come. I could tell people who had come to Austin for the first time were impressed by the festival.

The Venue

Seismic Dance Event was held at the Austin-American Statesman which is actually a daily newspaper office. I drive by this place all the time given I live ten minutes away so I was interested to see what the venue would look like. We were basically partying in an office space, but it worked. The outdoor courtyard was the perfect amount of space for the Tsunami stage and the view of downtown was killer. Then the inside warehouse with Volcano stage was also spacious. It never felt packed even during the headliner artists. They also made use of the space by having various art installations to activate certain areas of the venue more. One thing that I’ve always noticed about Austin events is that no matter what they give you space. No need to be brushing up against people, you’ll always have room to woogie.

Living that VIP Life

I was fortunate I had earned a VIP ticket and VIP is really clutch for having separate bathrooms and viewing areas. I had heard there were long lines for the GA bathrooms (which they fixed by adding more portapotties day 2). So it was nice to have those bathroom trailers that were nice and always clean. The viewing areas were also amazing getting to be up close to the stage while having plenty of room to still dance.

The Music

Oooooweeee let me just say this lineup was insane. So many legends and household names on here that was definitely putting Austin on the map. I mainly hung out around the Tsunami stage then dabbled into the Volcano stage every now and then. That was the beauty of this venue is that you could easily pop back and forth between the stages and get your fix of whatever artist or vibe you were looking for. The Volcano stage featured banging techno beats. The Tsunami stage had filthy house basslines that left everyone shuffling around. Finally, the Realm: Sunken Garden stage showed off local and up-and-coming Austin talent to round out a diverse lineup. One thing I appreciated was the long set times. I feel like, for house and techno sets, one hour is not enough time. I loved the longer set times because you could see the artist express themselves a whole lot better.

My favorite sets of the weekend were Gorgon City, Eli & Fur, and MK.

It was by far my favorite Gorgon City set I have ever seen from them. Getting a two hour set from them was just what the doctor orders. It was my first time seeing Eli & Fur and they took us on a beautiful musical journey. It was also my first time seeing MK and he did not disappoint. Definitely brought the good and groovy vibes his whole set.

Surprise of the weekend: Prok | Fitch and Nic Fanciulli.

Prok | Fitch brought the heat this weekend and I was so surprised by them. I had listened to a couple of their songs before, but seeing them live was a whole other story. You could feel the energy of the crowd vibing to it as well. We popped into The Volcano stage during Nic Fanciulli and it was very high energy and definitely got your body moving.

Let’s Play it Again

You can relive this weekend from my perspective with my vlog on my YouTube channel. Want to experience it for yourself? Seismic just announced they’ll be having a Seismic Dance 3.0 in the Spring – May 22-23, 2020 AND they will still have one in the fall. That’s right TWO chances to catch that Seismic vibe next year in 2020. Tickets are already on sale for 3.0 and you can use VIBEWITHADE to save on your tickets. See you on the dancefloor!

Watch my video review on YouTube!