Moonrise Festival is one of the longest-standing music fests in the DMV (D.C, Maryland, and Virginia) area. The two-day event held at Pimlico Race Course on the outskirts of the […]
Moonrise Festival is one of the longest-standing music fests in the DMV (D.C, Maryland, and Virginia) area. The two-day event held at Pimlico Race Course on the outskirts of the city of Baltimore has hosted some of the biggest names in the history of EDM, ranging from Pretty Lights to Skrillex to The Chainsmokers.
For some of us on the east coast, Moonrise is one of the best gatherings of electronic music for the region, bringing in over a hundred different talented producers and performers over the years.
Back at the start of the pandemic in late 2020, Insomniac, the nation’s leading electronic event company, well known for festivals like EDC and Electric Forest, purchased D.C.’s Club Glow promotional company, which owns and runs two prolific D.C. venues, Soundcheck and the #1 rated club in the country by DJ Mag, Echostage.
Glow also had a heavy hand in the planning of Moonrise each year, so we were ecstatic to hear that Insomniac was taking the reigns of the fan-favorite Baltimore festival.
Moonrise 2022 was one of the best editions of the festival we have seen yet, this being our fifth time attending the fest. It’s safe to say Insomniac knocked it out of the park this year.
Three massive festival stages spanned the event, all of which were properly equipped with fire, lasers, and a quality stage design. With additional amenities this year like lockers, a general store, and the incredibly designed interstellar igloos, this year’s Moonrise went as smooth as ice, although it was hot as hell! Luckily lines were never too long at bars or water refill stations.
Dubstep fans were blessed with one of the most dubstep-heavy lineups in 2022 that Moonrise has ever seen. The Lunar Stage hosted some of the biggest names in dubstep, like Subtronics, Excision, Zeds Dead, REZZ, and Liquid Stranger.
Other heavy hitters like SVDDEN DEATH, Sullivan King, Dion Timmer, Dirt Monkey b2b Boogie T, Jantsen b2b Subdocta and LAYZ left the crowd in shambles with their performances at the Solar tent throughout the weekend, causing some serious mayhem and moshing.
Future bass, trap, and melodic fans were also living well, with performances from RL Grime b2b Baauer, Jason Ross, Mitis and Rossy.
The house heads had some of the hottest names in the genre gracing the stages at Moonrise, like Fisher, Tchami, Chris Lake, AC Slater, Dom Dolla, and Wax Motif.
Progressive house fans enjoyed massive performances from the likes of ZEDD, Tiesto, Don Diablo, Two Friends, Lost Kings, and Audien at the Stellar Stage. There was something for every type of EDM lover at Moonrise 2022!
This up-and-coming bass maven has been crushing it lately, with opening slots at legendary venues like Echostage and Redrocks for acts like Peekaboo and Subtronics. As a HIHF guest mix alum (volume number five at that) we couldn’t miss her 1:40pm set at the Lunar stage. She slung some disgusting dubplates at the early crowd, all of whom had some of the filthiest bass faces I’ve ever witnessed. Throwing down bangers from her recent Sisters of Fate EP with fellow HIHF guest mix alum Zingara, who graced the Solar Tent later that day.
The London drum and bass club favorite made his Moonrise debut in a massive fashion. Festival attendees were ambushed with an onslaught of DnB firepower, with gun fingers being thrown left and right. Rinsing huge collabs with fellow DnB legends like Sub Focus and Wilkinson, this unique Solar Tent set was absolutely one of our favorite performances of the Moonrise 2022.
This rising star has had a HUGE come up over the past few years, so every chance we can get to see Moore Kismet shine in a live setting, we are there. With huge releases on Never Say Die and Thrive Music, on top of collaborations with Leotrix, Laxcity, and Pauline Herr, Moore Kismet has a very wide range of subgenres they touch on throughout their work. Besides some of Kismet’s bouncier originals and a couple bangin’ future-bass-poppier remixes, the Moonrise 2022 set was mostly heavy dubstep and future riddim. They were dropping heater after heater, by the likes of Space Laces, Ray Volpe, Oliverse, and also, multiple Leotrix IDs. This production prodigy is a CAN’T MISS act when they are on a lineup.
A b2b like this is not a set to miss. RL Grime and Baauer are the names that got many of our writers into EDM and the festival-going community here at HIHF. Witnessing these two trap legends dropping some of the golden era of EDM Trap’s biggest anthems like “Core,” “Scylla,” “Tell Me,” and even “Harlem Shake ” was everything we wanted and more from this magical joint performance.
The Sable Valley label boss was holding it down for his collective, dropping releases from ISOxo, Knock2, devdcrow and tons of other up-and-comers they’ve put on. These two EDM trap pioneers also dropped some WILD drum and bass in their set, even some of the aforementioned Dimension’s music.
If you were a fan of Subtronics’ January debut album, “Fractals,” you were eating good during this absolute madhouse that was the 720 Subtronics set at the Lunar Stage. The Philadelphia producer dropped VIP edits of pretty much every track on the album, also giving fans tastes of his massive collabs with Zeds Dead, Boogie T, and Rezz. He even sprinkled some Doja Cat in there.
You could truly feel the crowd’s energy as you looked around and saw the literal headbanging start to commence. Subtronics also just looks like he’s having such a fun time up there, he’s come a very long way and he’s someone we always love seeing win. He absolutely CRUSHED his Moonrise 2022 performance.
What were your favorite sets of the festival? Let us know down below in the comments and we hope to see you next year at Moonrise 2023!
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