The electronic dance music-based festival Gold Rush returned this weekend and the vibes were, well, electric. The festival has become an annual installment within the Arizona EDM community, with world famous acts like the Migos, Lil Uzi Vert, Marshmello and Trippie Redd playing sets at the festival in previous years.
The venue of the Phoenix Raceway gave fans some picturesque scenery to observe when they were not enthralled with the music. The artists even worked the scenery into their sets by projecting images onto the scenic mountaintops that adorned the background of one of the stages.
This year’s lineup was keen on providing a good time with standouts like headliners Sullivan King and The Chainsmokers, who had some of the more eye popping performances. The Chainsmokers were more than willing to indulge the audience of fans eager to hear some of their late 2010’s megahits, imploring fans to “channel all the 2015 energy [they] have” before playing “Roses” one of the group's biggest hits, which came off their 2015 EP “Bouquet.”
Among more visual acts, both Ganja White Night and Black Tiger Sex Machine used the comically large screens on stage to great effect, adding a storytelling element to each set that differentiated them from the rest of the acts peppered throughout the lineup. Black Tiger Sex Machine specifically tinged their whole performance with an anime motif, drawing much direct inspiration from the popular anime “Attack on Titan.”
In a bit of scheduling I can only describe it as a love letter to the state of New Jersey, the first day they featured back-to-back sets by DJ Pauly D and Timmy Trumpet. Both of these men are very popular in New Jersey for reasons outside their EDM careers, with Pauly D being a member of the cast of the hit MTV show “Jersey Shore” and Timmy Trumpet gaining relevance within the last few years for his performances at Mets games that accompany closer Edwin Diaz. These sets were lightning in a bottle, as both men know how to work a crowd like it's nothing. Pauly D pulled all the right levers, flipping popular songs like “Please Please Please,” “Big Poppa,” and “Don’t Stop Believin’,” while Timmy Trumpet used his namesake to great effect playing “Narcos,” the song that turned Edwin Diaz entering a baseball game into must-see tv.
Regarding interesting flips, HVDES had a very eclectic set with a delightful grab-bag of sounds and songs to pick from. The DJ started by flipping the operatic scream featured prominently in the “Dune” franchise of movies before taking fans on tour through all the 2000s pop-punk you can think of, sampling iconic songs from Avril Lavigne, Green Day, Linkin Park and the like.
Overall, Gold Rush 2024 was everything an EDM fan could want out of a festival. It was a celebration of the genre and the kaleidoscope of subgenres that make it up. Same time again next year?