Festival Coverage: Desert Daze 2017

This year’s Desert Daze was unlike any other festival experienced.

With timeless rock artists like Iggy Pop and Eagles of Death Metal, to indie, garage, electronic, and jazz acts (way too many to list). Desert Daze is a festival that has something for everyone, while it avoids becoming another variation of the same lineup that you see at every other music festival today.

Prettiest Eyes, Desert Daze 2017

In just five years, what started as a 10-day mystical music fest in the desert has transformed into one of California’s largest up-and-coming alternative and unconventional music and arts festivals. The music is incredible and the art is unlike anything ever seen.

Check out this year’s lineup below for a taste:

And the festival’s location at the Institute of Mentalphysics in Joshua Tree, CA is a perfect addition to the bill. This is the festival’s second year at the new location and it features an actual restaurant, lodging for artists and VIP guests, real bathrooms, meditation gardens, and plenty of surrounding joshua trees.

This year had plenty of notable acts in addition to the headliners; Such as L.A. based experimental rockers Prettiest Eyes, Australian hippies The Babe Rainbow, psychedelic funk rockers Fever The Ghost, and the yacht-rock inspired group Drugdealer (who also featured a few songs with Weyes Blood). There was also 70’s soul legend Lee Fields & The Expressions, and psychedelic synthy sounds curated by none other than Black Moth Super Rainbow. The list goes on and on.

Twin Peaks, Desert Daze 2017

Missed Desert Daze? Fear not! We’ve got close to 100% video coverage of the fest, which is currently available on the Radiotrails YouTube channel. To be more specific, we single-handedly got videos and photos for 72 of the 78 artists that played Desert Daze (this is quite a feat and it is possible that it has not ever been done before).

Check out the playlist below:

Some of this year’s most notable acts are as follows:

HOTT MT

HOTT MT played a dreamy set in the Mystic Bazaar (a “hidden” tent-stage located in the campgrounds). The fog machines were a-flowing, and the ambiance was beyond perfect. If you look closely, you can see a third member of the group – a tiny robot hologram – playing keys.

ENTRANCE

We were fortunate enough to get a camping spot right outside of the Mystic Bazaar, and when we heard ENTRANCE begin his set, we knew we had to get inside for a closer look. And disappoint he did not! The entire room was dead silent and his voice pierced our ears like an emotional dagger. Here’s a pretty incredible photo that I think does a great job at capturing the mood of his set.

The Make-Up

The Make-Up were FUN. They transformed the Wright Tent into a giant dance party, and pretty much everyone was stoked on life at that point. He also shared a few intimate moments with people in the crowd, as he grasped their hands to hold himself up (see video below).

Prettiest Eyes

Prettiest Eyes was definitely a set that I did not expect to be so good. They had this whole sexy-conquistador look going, which weirdly fit them perfectly. Some of my best photos and videos from Desert Daze were of Prettiest Eyes – scope the video below (the best part is at 1:40).

La Femme

La Femme always puts on an incredible show, so you best know their Desert Daze set was out of control. In this video, they encourage everyone to make it dusty, and get the whole crowd to participate in a “wall of death” – if you don’t know what that means, you must watch the video below:

Drugdealer

Drugdealer plays the kind of music that instantly puts you in a good mood and the people around you become your best friends. We were also fortunate enough to see him play a few of his his collaborations with Weyes Blood, which were just beautiful. Check it out below:

Triptides

Triptides had a set that was both psychedelic, garage, and even a little beachy – they describe themselves as “sun-warped psychedelic rock”.

Vinyl Williams

There were lots of drugs a-flowing at Desert Daze, but even if you were sober, Vinyl William’s set had a combination of psychedelic visuals and music that would put you into a trance. This set was in the Mystic Bazaar, which really seemed like the only appropriate place for his music.

For more live videos and future festival coverage, check out & subscribe to the official Radiotrails YouTube here.