By Jenna Gutierrez
With an impressive 16 years under its belt, 515 Alive Festival is coming in hot this summer for the weekend of August 17th and 18th. Stocked full with a line up that will make you sweat more than you already have in this heat wave, their fusion of Bass/Electronic and Hip Hop will have something for all the new age music lovers out there but especially some treats for us here who believe ‘Bass Feeds the Soul’. Get ready to be blessed with the likes of Bassnectar, Ganja White Night, Opiuo, Space Jesus and many more.
Photo property of 515 Alive Music Festival; 2017
Check it out:
Where - Des Moines, Iowa @ Water Works Park. An expansive urban park filled with trees and streams, located just outside of downtown Des Moines. I think they said it best, 515 will be an urban/camping hybrid festival. There will be shuttles to and from venue after parties in the downtown area from camping areas.
How Much - We are in Tier 3 people! Meaning this is your last chance to grab tickets at this steal of a price!
(All prices are listed with fees included, rounded up)
2 Day General Admission pass $156
2 Day VIP pass $267
1 Day General Admission pass $97
1 Day VIP pass $179
Premier Camping $97
General Camping $62
When - August 17th (Friday) and 18th (Saturday)
515’s VIP experience includes access to their new/improved VIP Lounge with places for you to decompress between sets in the shade. The package also includes access to a platform for elevated viewing of the mainstage. Treat yourself to the VIP only top shelf bar, with a daily happy hour, access express entry to the fest, and enjoy AC’d bathrooms, limited edition swag and all the sweet stuff for a very important person.
The festival’s official site recently released the Daily Lineups so you can check out possibilities for single day passes with confidence.
*Refer below*
Now to get to the break down, here are the artists we’ve come to know and love. Their talents have continually impressed us throughout the season, and we would say these are the unmissable sets of any fest of 2018, lucky for you they’re all at 515.
1. Bassnectar has already wowed his massive fandom with 12 indescribable sets this season. Throughout the years , Lorin has been notorious for his ground breaking sound innovation, bass warping and technical creativity. With an impressive collection of genre bending, self-produced music under his belt, there is certainly a question of which earth shaking song he will drop for us next. Will it be another crowd favorite like Teleport Massive or Empathy? A true headbanger such as Sugarcube or Immigraniada? Will we be brought to tears with Delamure, Underwater, Rising Rising?
The man himself reached out to the community, explaining that he would be blessing the world with all the true Bassnectar tracks we have grown to love and headbang to since his rise to reign. If that isn’t temptation enough to make it out to at least one of his sets this summer, I don’t know what is! 515 may not be the next set on his extensive list, but it is soon enough to keep you sane and will absolutely be a banger you won’t want to miss.
Photo by Madi Lawton
2. You may have heard of RL Grime, trap producer known for his versatility with hip hop/rap and electronic artists alike. Trap, grime and bass are his specialties, and his halloween mixtapes are some of the best showcases of this artists talent along with his remixes of some of raps famous and favorites. Here’s a few links to give you a taste.
3. Space Jesus has been to just about every festival you could want to be at this summer, and torn it up, Every. Single. Time. His genre is simply “BASS” and his ‘About’ section says it best, he “explores the electronic auditory universe in search of lower frequencies, future feels, and fire beats.” Buckle into your rocketship friends, you’re about to embark on a ride full of womps, weirdness and with Jasha as your guide, be ready to send it through the stars, to the bass music black hole. Aliens and all.
4. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Opiuo fits somewhat neatly next to a long line of amazing, well known, electronic funk artists. To knock him off as just another, would be demeaning; he is an innovator. Full of flavor and curiosity, the Aussie native is not afraid of the darker side of the scene and plays around with deep womps and bass, more so than his fellow genre-brothers. Look forward to a set that won’t follow the rules you often apply to jazzy electronic, and don’t forget your dancing shoes.
5. Ganja White Night is a Belgium bass duo that has taken this world wide community by storm since their debut of ‘Wobble Master’ in 2016. Other tracks have risen to popularity such as ‘Champagne’, ‘Mr. Wobble’, and ‘Mr. Nice’. Their wobbles and womps will keep the rhythm flowing through your feet for the entirety of their set, always a pleasure watching these men do their thing. Check out a favorite of ours, here.
by Keylight Photography
6. Beak Nasty’s magic is not only made up of the mind-blowing talent, but intense drive and passion behind the duos sound. A combined effort of producer/turntablist, Ryland Sabien and percussionist/loop-master, Phil Ade (also known by Foxy Dope). The pair thrives out of Boulder, Colorado and we at BFS have been lucky enough to see a handful of their sets. Their sound is a hybrid of raw drum beats hand crafted by Phil and then mixed and meddled with by the creative mind of Ryland. Their chemistry is visible and contagious as the vibey production, and funky organic beats flow into one, to create a futuristic fusion. Hands down one of the strongest up and comers on this line up and you’d be a fool to miss this set.
7. Aside from being an accomplished solo producer, Cashmere Cat’s somewhat unknown claim to fame is his production of the sound behind artists such as Kanye West, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, and many more along those lines. His extensive knowledge of production, proves true in his seamless work and melodic vibes, backing up his hip hop and trappy influences. Their truly isn’t many like him, he created an electronic genre for his own platform and continues to ring true to his sound. Check out some of his work with Major Lazor and others from the spotlight EDM community.
With all this on the line up, and many more its hard to think why you'd miss out on such a steal of a festival. See you in the heat this August! As always, Bass Feeds the Soul coming to you with what we think is hot right now.