Twenty-five years ago on a sunny San Francisco afternoon Galen took a generator with two turntables, a mixer and a sound system to Berkeley Marina to gather friends in celebration of the Spring Equinox for an afternoon that would change the course of west-coast electronic music. Ravers, clubbers, families and strangers met before a renegade stage for what would become the inaugural Sunset Sound System park party, and as such a community was born.
In celebration of this historic milestone, Sunset has charted their most prolific year yet with a complete 2019 calendar – offering their dedicated community a ten event odyssey of daytime park and boat events, international festival stage takeovers, and details around their own flagship three day gathering Sunset Campout.
West coast vibes that can’t be beat.
It has been the sunkissed daytime vibe that has defined the Sunset’s inimitable energy. During the first year in 1994, Solar joined with Galen. Soon, the duo invited pioneer of west-coast rave, Doc Martin alongside the UK’s Idjut Boys to bless their humble crowd of music-lovers and dreamers for an epic renegade overlooking San Francisco Bay. Since then, the park events and boat parties have welcomed world-class inspiring talent like the Wicked Crew (Jenö, Garth, Markie, Thomas), Prosumer, Jennifer Cardini, Mike Huckaby, Red Axes, Magda and Rebolledo; while preserving the oddities and originality in booking that has helped to preserve the true cultural zeitgeist of San Francisco.
In its tenth year, Sunset Campout will continue to offer the Sunset community a four day trip into the hearts and minds of the west-coast from July 26-29th. Defined by the idyllic locale of Belden Town Resort, attendees find themselves dancing from dusk till dawn under the renowned Redwood Curtain to some of underground’s most celebrated selectors. Past talent has included Dixon, Larry Heard, Derrick May, Harvey, Aurora Hallal, Eddie C, Avalon Emerson, John Talabot, Axel Boman and Paranoid London. It remains Campout’s crafting of creative environments that makes it one of the nation’s most anticipated gatherings. Done so with every detail conceptualized by its family of audio-engineers, lighting-designers, artists and wellness curators. This platform for experimentation stands at the core of the Sunset ethos and has opened the door for artists of all mediums to spread their crafts far and wide.
A festival that showcases art in all sorts of fashions.
Sunset will once again embark on its international crusade in 2019 as it takes over stages at renowned festivals like Love International in Croatia and Meadows in the Mountains in Bulgaria. These overseas jaunts have helped to introduce the Sunset vibe to like-minded music fans in unique foreign locales, and as such attracting them back to the stateside motherships of the daytime parties and festival. At Love Interational, Galen and Solar will be joined by Joy Orbison and Mozhgan and at Meadows in the Mountains by Eddie C and Qzen.
“When Sunset first started I would have never imagined reaching this milestone. We just wanted to play music and dance with friends outside through the magic hour of the sun setting on a Sunday afternoon. But a community was born and that spawned an energy that continues to evolve and inspire.”
— Galen
The true magic of the Sunset experience comes from the spreading of the curatorial drive of Galen and Solar through the wide-reaching wonder of the greater Sunset community. The result is a sonic and artistic hub where all are welcome to dance and celebrate the strange and the beautiful.
*Featured image via Sunset Sound System*
