Sophia Recounts Her Time At Gold Rush 2021

I attended 2/3 days of Goldrush. This was Zebrina and I’s first festival that we had covered for EVOLTN so it was really cool to go back again this year. It was located at Rawhide again this year. I had seen the main stage when I saw Excision at Rawhide a few months ago but Relentless Beats went over the top for this Festival. It was huge. The biggest event that Relentless Beats has ever put on. There were 5 stages including the silent disco. There was Golden Gorge, Tumbleweed Park, Mission Patio, Pioneers Peak, and The Hideout. We mostly stuck between two stages, Golden Gorge and Pioneers Peak, but we also went and checked out the other stages. Along with artists performing there was so much to do. They had places to take pictures, Kandi booths, Roller Disco, a Circus, an outdoor theatre with shows, a Ferris wheel and so much more. Along with art booths selling their art, there was also live art being painted throughout the festival. You really had to go around and go inside each building because they had some really cool artists inside. 

On day one on Friday Zebrina and I headed straight for the Golden Gorge. We had a great view and saw Kayzo. After that, we headed over to Pioneer Peak and saw ATliens and Virtual Riot. The lasers were so over the top. It was insane. I really liked JAUZ too. We saw him next. He even played some new songs that have not yet been released. Then he brought out Ghastly and I lost my mind. It was so cool seeing them play a few songs together. I think it’s always really cool to catch those unreleased songs at artists’ live sets as well as when they bring in surprise guests!! After that, we decided to walk around the grounds. We wanted to get a layout of how everything was set up. It was lots of walking! But so much to look at.

We ended up over by Weird and Wonderful and watched one of the circus sets. It was really cool. A full-on performance. A man balancing on cups, wood planks, and ball! It was just so crazy to me that there was so much going on in one place. I wish I could have duplicated myself. After walking around the site. We headed to Svdden Death. I was very excited about this set. I needed to headbang a bit and his set did not disappoint. The lasers were also absolutely wild. After a few songs, we headed to Illenium to close out our night. Zebrina has been wanting to see Illenium so we tried to get towards the center. The energy during Illenium was freeing. You could feel the love for Illenium through the crowd. It was so intense. We stayed till the very end and even got to hear an unreleased song from Illenium. We ended the night dancing and smiling under flying confetti. It was such a well put on event and everything went so smoothly. We had a great first night. 

Unfortunately, I had a bad migraine for the second night so we ended up just going the third night on Sunday. When we showed up on Sunday we headed for the Golden Gorge. We got AMAZING views for Zeds Dead b2b Griz. We were towards the front on the left-hand side of the stage. We had our own space to move around and it wasn’t too squished. I think this was the greatest set in my opinion of the weekend. It was just so extraordinary. The lights, the lasers, the music, the vibes. Everything. I think what really just put the cherry on top was Griz playing the saxophone. It’s always so cool to me to see artists playing live instruments in their sets.

After we finished off their set we headed to the silent disco to check it out again. It was so pretty inside with the disco balls and fun lights. Then we headed over to check out the roller rink and see what it was all about. It was really cool and had a basic setup. They had decorated really cute with giant sunflowers. We kept walking around and took pictures at all the really cool light displays that were set up all around the festival. We spent the night exploring and checking out everything the festival had and headed home. 

Overall I think this festival was fantastic. There were no cons from me. The process of getting in was so quick and smooth. They had porter potties and water tanks to fill up in multiple places. There were also drink booths everywhere I turned. Each stage had its own drink booth so it made it really convenient. I really enjoyed this festival. Not just the artists because all the sets were amazing but just the entire event. It was so well planned out and not too crowded at all. I really can’t wait to attend another festival through Relentless Beats. They really hit it out of the park with this one.