Houston & Dallas EDM Adventures

@lphiz with @crksxvi (Emma)

Free Press Summer Fest was my first festival experience in 2016. Everyone was so friendly, even strangers. There were so many people and there was nothing but positivity all around. I had a great time even though we ended up getting rained out and had to evacuate to Reliant Stadium, Houston’s football arena.

Even thought it was literally pouring and everyone was unprepared, everyone was still in a good mood, and even started to make their own music.

I think Free Press also got rained out last year, which is why they dropped it and created the In Bloom Festival in a different month.

I also got to see Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz perform at my first festival. I originally came to FPSF for the EDM, not for rap, but those two were such good performers I stayed for their entire set. The funniest and weirdest thing was when Lil Wayne passed his blunt from the stage into the crowd. I didn’t take a hit from it, but it was still pretty neat.

Something Wicked was my second festival in 2017.
I was supposed to be at the main stage but ended up stayed at the bass stage the whole time because I fell in love with this artist I’ve never heard of before: Graves. I really connected with his bass heavy style and the way he mixed in a lot of hip-hop into his set.

My group was in the front row, and everyone there had so much energy. The guy who was next to me apparently was a friend of Graves this guy already knew literally every beat, drop, and transition in Graves’ entire set.

I was kind of tired because I had spent the entire morning at a company picnic, but the guy next to me hyped me up and kept me energized for the night!

Finally, the last festival I went to was Lights All Night (LAN) in Dallas. I drove there with my boyfriend, best friend, and her boyfriend but I ended up making a lot of new friends at this festival through my best friend. It was the first time meeting most of them, but we became close very quickly. In the gaps between sets, and we were all resting on each other for support. I had only met them the previous week, but we ended up hanging out in their hotel room together and talking all night. My best friend lives in DC now, but I still go to raves with that new group of friends.

My most memorable moment there was when this random guy in front of me asked if I could put his hair in a bun. We somehow bonded during that moment and he gave me my first kandi, which are these handmade bracelets people trade at raves or festivals. That was a really significant moment for me and I actually teared up a little.
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That was my boyfriend’s first festival, and it was nice to see him finally relax and just completely let loose and be free. He’s usually super serious but he completely opened up to me at LAN. We ended up going to a Korean spa in Dallas the day after and I think it was the perfect way to unwind after the festival.

Emma Leigh-Crooks

Curated by Chris W. Lao