Goldrush music festival returned once again to Rawhide Western Town over the weekend, and I was lucky enough to be able to attend. This year’s festival was another huge success, drawing in large crowds for massive amounts of talent showing off their musical skills. Two days of nonstop dance music in the western town, letting us all play out our cowboy fantasies while escaping into the music. I wasn’t ready for it to be over, and I can still feel the bass booming in my bones.
Walking into Goldrush was an experience, as you enter right into the main stage, Golden Gorge. This year’s stage was massive; the large video screens were set between what looked like large rock formations. It gave the feeling of looking at a canyon wall, with videos being projected onto the rocks instead of just looking at a stage.
The theme of Goldrush is the Wild West, and no other festival nails the theming like it. Walking past the main stage to head to one of the smaller stages, I walked into the western town. The town is made out of permanent structures that the festival takes over once a year. The merch shop is in the trading post, as well as a few bars to grab a drink and some food. This festival doesn’t have to sell the feeling of walking through a western town dressed as a cowboy when you are walking through an actual western town.
My favorite addition this year was the Dude Wipe stage. I took the advertising as saying they had a stage playing next to the port-a-potties, but this was actually a secret stage you had to walk through some port-a-potties to enter. It was fun to find the stage and catch a few sets by local up-and-coming artists that might one day be playing the bigger stages.
I made my way all the way to the other side of the town to find Pioneer Peak, the festival’s second stage. I made it just in time to catch the end of Zoey 808’s set. Even though it was the last few minutes of his set, I couldn’t help but start moving my feet and jumping around at the Wackman VIP that he was playing with a funk bassline mixed in.
After Zoey 808, I hung out until Midnight Tyrannosaurus took the stage. Instead of just playing a regular set, Midnight Tyrannosaurus showed off a new animated cartoon he is working on called Devil in the Jungle. His signature grimy bass sound flowed in and out of animated scenes on the video screens. If you have seen his Life of a Street Rat tour, you’ve seen something similar. This new one showed off some deeper bass sounds that I hadn’t heard him play out much before. And the Warhammer song that blended metal into the dubstep was an extra treat on top of everything else.
After Midnight T, I started making my way back through the town to catch Sullivan King on the main stage. Approaching the stage made my metalhead heart happy, as I could already hear Sullivan King’s harsh metal vocals tearing through the air. His heavy remix of Kai Wachi’s Bungalator Bass had me breaking my neck within seconds. Then he pulled out the guitar and started to shred. With this being a main stage set at a big festival, it was clear Sullivan King wanted to make it special with as many guitar solos packed in as he could. My favorite was his Hotel California remix, where he played the entire guitar solo.
Day 1 was already coming to an end. I explored the western town some more and walked back to Pioneer Peak in time to catch Boogie T drop the lowest, grooviest bass of day 1, but my legs were telling me it was time to head home and prepare for day 2.
My spirits were high heading into day 2. The weather had cooled down a few degrees, and there was a light breeze washing over the festival. Lady Faith was my first set of the night, and she did not disappoint. Lady Faith seems to have broken the code on how to make me fall in love with Hardstyle. Every song had a different sound, and she had a groove I don’t normally hear in Hardstyle. The Hardstyle remix of 3 Doors Down’s Kryptonite that she played made me audibly scream the words as I was jumping off my feet.
After Lady Faith was Know Good. The artist I had seen some of when they opened on Inzo’s Mirrorverse Tour. I was excited to see what they had prepared for a festival crowd, and was so happy when I saw them hooking up a guitar and drum machine to the decks. This was the funkiest set of the weekend, and I’m saying that knowing Griz is headlining. Their Unreleased song with Tape B is a killer track, and the guitar solos could rival Sullivan King with how complex they were. I really have to shout out Tanner Morgan for his talent, as he played the guitar, drum machine, and even some kind of electric fiddle throughout the set. Know Good, you are now on my must-see list whenever you come, and I cannot wait to see what you bring when you are headlining.
When Know Good was done, I took some more time to explore the festival grounds, and even grab myself a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich before navigating the crowd over to Griz at the main stage.
I don’t really know how to describe Griz’s set other than to say it was amazing. Hands down the best set of the festival by a wide margin. Griz is at the top of his career right now, and I don’t see him slowing down any time soon. The crowd was dancing for every artist that took the stage, but when it was Griz’s turn, they seemed to really come alive. A bass house remix of Creedence Clearwater Revival had me bouncing. The Chaos Theory VIP with a live saxophone solo had me going crazy. The funky remix of Char’s Life after Love surprised me in the best way. I love the way Griz took a moment during BBFL to sit on the edge of the stage and pick out fans in the crowd to wave to or tell them he loves them. It was a small moment of connecting with the fans in the crowd that I really appreciated from an artist as big as Griz is now.
Now that the dust has settled, I can say I had a great time at Goldrush 2026. A festival with a theme like no other, and something that every EDM fan should experience. Relentless Beats seems to have perfected their vision for this festival, and it is truly a treat to experience.