Seismic 4.0: Return of the House and Techno Vortex Squid

Before I dive in, a little about my history with all things EDM. Until last year, I had been to one single EDM show in my life. Thankfully, Backpacks and Beat Drops founders, Casey and Claudia, happened to be visiting my home base of Austin last year during Seismic, and they smoothly convinced me to buy a single day ticket.

Since then, I’ve been to almost a dozen shows including EDC Vegas, ARC, Eric Prydz, Dom Dolla, Fisher, and a ton of others. Suffice it to say, I’m in. 

Festivals like Seismic are especially fun because I go into them with no preconceived opinions of the artists before jumping into the crowd and blasting off. 

Now, onto Seismic 4.0, a three-day music festival that took place around five minutes from my house in Austin, TX, at The Concourse Project.

Seismic 4.0 Logistics

The festival itself was chock-full of incredible people, top-notch sets, and simply the best energy. I’m not sure I saw more than a handful of people the entire weekend that weren’t grinning from ear to ear and dancing their faces off. 

Some highlights that stood out to me:

• The manageability
  • Compared to some of the larger EDM festivals, there’s something that’s just so… nice about no lines, easy to navigate crowds, and being able to bop around to each stage in no time.
• The tamales food truck
  • Obviously, there are few spots better than Austin for good Tex-Mex, but those tamales hit different on a Sunday night after spending the last two days being captured by EDM vortex squid. 
• The Volcano stage 
  • The amazing production, the high-energy vibes, and loud speakers made it hard to leave this warm oasis throughout the weekend.

Seismic 4.0 Day 1

Having to fly into Austin from California on Friday, I got a bit of a late start to Day 1, hustling to The Concourse Project and getting my weekend kicked off by heading over to the Tsunami stage, which was absolutely filled to the brim with the best of vibes all weekend. 

Eats Everything, coming in from across the pond, got things kicked off with a high energy set that set the tempo for the rest of the weekend. Loved what I heard (and saw) here. 

Jamie Jones hopped onto the Tsunami stage directly after and played an absolutely fantastic set. The vibes were impeccable, the energy unbeatable. Most of my downtime this weekend was spent searching the interwebs for any of the songs that he played during his set. Jamie Jones really stole the show – one of the best sets I’ve seen and definitely my 2^nd favorite set of the weekend. 

After Jamie Jones, we stayed for a few minutes to check out Claptone who had a bit too soft of a sound for what we were looking for at that moment. Deciding to change settings (and get warm), we headed to the only indoor locale – the Volcano stage. 

Amelie Lens came out to a high-octane crowd. Loved the energy she brought as well as the production quality. All-in-all really fun, but it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. With a long travel day combined with a big two days ahead, we decided to call it a night and head back. 

Seismic 4.0 Day 2

We got Day 2 kicked off much earlier, hoping to catch Rebuke’s entire set at the Volcano stage. Unfortunately, weather delays and no open slots to move his set time to caused Rebuke to be absent from this year’s Seismic. 

On the flipside, we had the chance to catch an extended set from legend Carl Craig, which was a banger. Man, that guy knows how to crush a set and look good doing it. Couldn’t have started out the day better than getting hyped up by that set and crowd. 

Next, we headed back to Tsunami stage to catch Cloonee, who tore it up so hard that, unfortunately, Seismic had to turn the sound down considerably heading into Regard. (At least that’s what front of house told us.) Luckily, before Kyle Watson went onstage, the sound came back up with a vengeance. 

Kyle Watson’s set immediately jumped to one of the best of the weekend. I had never seen him before, but I knew he was Claudia’s favorite producer/DJ. I now understand why.

My personal favorite set of the weekend came from ANNA at the Volcano stage. Whether it was the company, the vortex squid, or the incredibly high octane sound that Anna’s set emanated, this set put me in another world. 11/10. 

For our only Afters set of the weekend, we stayed to check out Bedouin, who didn’t miss. The production, especially, was an amazing way to end the night. 

Seismic 4.0 Day 3

Day 3, we showed up early and on time to catch every minute of Township Rebellion. Their set sent the smaller, early bird crowd. The best way I can describe that set – disgusting. 

Michael Bibi at the Tsunami stage was probably the most fun and eclectic set of the weekend for me and my group. We rode the magic school bus all throughout his set (like a literal dance move that we called “riding the magic school bus”). This was some of the best energy I’ve ever been a part of at a festival. 

Until Next Year

All in all – Seismic 4.0 did not disappoint. The sets were wonderful, the people lovely, and this three-day event was one of the most fun weekends I’ve had in Austin. We can’t imagine not coming back next year!