Thousands of beautiful festival-goers helped to Unify the Field at the 9th annual Sonic Bloom Festival this past weekend, which took place from July 19-22 at a brand new, stunning camp site in South Park, Colorado. The music was absolutely amazing, the artwork was mind-blowing, the weather was (mostly) beautiful, but the best part was undoubtedly the awesome vibes that were created by so many unique and loving people all gathered together to celebrate life and music. Needless to say, Sonic Bloom 2014 was truly one of the most inspiring and unforgettable weekends we have ever experienced!
This year’s installment of Sonic Bloom featured three completely different stages set up around the festival-grounds. Utilizing the world-renowned Funktion-One sound system, the bass at the main stage literally shook the earth throughout the weekend during mind-blowing performances by artists such as Kaminanda, Vibesquad, Tipper, OTT., Quixotic, Opuio, Sphongle, and Eoto. Tipper’s sets on the main stage on Friday and Saturday night featured different live visual performances by Jonathan Singer and Android Jones. Each had a unique stage set-up, and can only be described as all-out audio and visual assaults on the senses. Additionally, Tipper announced a show at Red Rocks set for May 2015, which will feature live painting by Alex and Allyson Grey, visuals by Android Jones, and the legendary Funktion-One sound system.
The Sub.mission crew did an amazing job putting together the CO Dome stage this year, which also featured amazing sound with the Basscouch system. The stage and dancing area in front of the stage were enclosed in a massive metal, dome-shaped jungle gym structure. Literally anytime we checked out the CO Dome stage this past weekend, there was somebody going off, whether it was bumping bass from Sixis, White Bear, Unlimited Aspect, Kalya Scintilla, The PLM crew including Paul Basic, Supervision, and Michael Menert, or Random Rab. The CO Dome also featured some of the few live-electronic performances at Sonic Bloom during the weekend, as fans were able to check out unique acts such as Plantrae, The Malah, Yamn, and Dopapod there as well. Kalya Scintilla played a face melting set at the CO Dome stage late on Friday night and also tag-teamed with Kaminanda for an amazing sunrise set as the sun came up on Sunday morning.
The Hummingbird stage was the smallest of the three stages, but was also possibly the most uniquely designed festival stage we have seen. The stage was made entirely out of wood, with grooves in the wood that were lit up with different colors at night and a spinning flower behind the artist that would also light up with different colors at night. It was truly an amazing sight, and embodied the theme of music intertwined with art that we kept encountering at Sonic Bloom. The Hummingbird stage was the sight of some amazing musical performances as well, such as Soulacybin, Cualli, Dillard, a rare Michael Travis DJ set, and Merkaba.
Sonic Bloom also had some awesome vendors set up during the weekend. We stopped by and took some dabs with the crew at the Spoiled booth, who had some hilarious, dab-themed t-shirts. The Jumbie Art booth had some of the coolest gear and tapestries we saw, all with one-of-a-kind, colorful spectral designs on them. Grassroots California, now based in Denver, CO, also had a large setup at Sonic Bloom, and they continued to impress fans with their heady, custom hat designs. Sonic Bloom and Grassroots even combined to make a special edition hat that was designed specifically for the festival. In addition, we got to see some of the most incredible live-painters in action throughout the weekend, and each morning featured yoga and inspirational speakers and workshops.
No festival in Colorado would be complete without some kind of whacky weather, and this past weekend was no different. The days were mostly beautiful and sunny, albeit with a large helping of dust. Once the sun went down, however, the temperature swings were very pronounced and the nights got cold, as South Park is located over 10,000 feet above sea level. At a couple points the festival had to be stopped because of wind on Saturday evening and rain on Sunday, but the Sonic Bloom crew should be commended for doing a truly excellent job of ensuring attendees safety and well-being, while also getting the music back up and running smoothly after only slight delays.
Sonic Bloom 2014 was more than just an amazing weekend. The combination of music, art, and company created a vibe that simply needs to be experienced in real-life, because no explanation can really do it justice. We would like to thank all the amazing people we encountered this weekend and all the staff who helped make Sonic Bloom such a memorable weekend, and we cannot wait to go back and see all our new friends at Sonic Bloom next summer!