#housextechno

I went to my first CRSSD in the fall of 2017, and somewhere in the internet my review of the trip disappeared. I hate trying to re-write an article I’ve lost, so I just said goodbye to it and moved on. So now I’ve gone to the Spring version of this HousexTechno festival and I’m ready to share about my experiences!

CRSSD Fest - Spring 2018 - I’ll Finally Write a Review

CRSSDFest took place March 4 & 5, 2018 in San Diego, CA. It’s a two day festival that plays host to house and techno music at the Waterfront Park near the SD Airport. A small festival, it probably houses close to 15,000 attendees. This spring, the weather was pretty chilly but luckily it didn’t rain until Saturday night after the event ended. We were all prepped for the worst though!

Quite frankly CRSSD isn’t my favorite event. There’s a lot of great things to it, but I have some friends that have gone to it every year since it’s start and rave about having the best time ever. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time, but I don’t personally think it’s any sort of life-changing event. 

Most of the artists are outside of my genre, and I think that’s the main reason I don’t love CRSSD. 

There are at bunch of things I really like about CRSSD. I absolutely LOVE the hours. Noon - 11pm then noon - 10pm on Sunday. I much prefer partying in the daylight, so this is the perfect timing for me. There’s tons of after party options too, so you don’t have to end the night if you’re not ready, but for me, this helps me recharge for day two. There’s something so novel to me about an event that takes place during the daytime, even though I know there’s lots of festivals that have daytime hours. I’ve always loved Coachella because of the daytime music vibes, and I was able to get a taste of that at CRSSD. 

I also really like having the festival on Saturday and Sunday. This lets me not take any days off of work which is awesome. When an event starts on a Friday I usually have to leave work early or take the day off to make it there for the full hours. The fact that CRSSD is in San Diego is also clutch. It’s close enough but far enough from home, taking about 2 hours to drive there. 

One other feature I love about CRSSD is the proximity of the festival to local hotels, AirBnBs or other places to stay. I love walking from my hotel, taking 15 minutes through security and getting into the festival. Honestly, the hotels weren’t too expensive either. We had a 2 queen room for roughly $300 for two nights. The walk from hotel to CRSSD is an easier walk than from the parking at most Insomniac Events to the actual rave. 

Saturday on my schedule of must-sees was Gryffin, which was…eh. Sorry but he played good songs but never transitioned right to the next one, and the I was totally like WTF when he brought out Sinead Harnett for “Love In Ruins” and she sang one verse / refrain. ?!?!?! I wanted more of that ish!

On another note, Sinead Harnett was absolutely the cutest and had such a great set. Those outdoor vibes with her set were exactly what I was craving. 

Saturday I wore my friend’s sweatshirt from Forever 21 paired with a $16 wig from Forever 21 as well as my Black Milk tights. I wore knee high socks as an extra layer to keep me warm. They were black so you pretty much couldn’t even tell they were there. I also packed another long-sleeve North Face sweatshirt another layer under the Forever 21 sweatshirt once it got cold at night. I forgot my red lipstick, so I picked up a gloss for $1.99 at CVS -- it was pure GOLD. Didn’t have to reapply once.

The wig, for being so cheap, was actually pretty decent. Better quality than Party City even, which charges about $25 for that style wig. If you want to mess with wigs these $16 ones at Forever 21 might be a good place for you to start. I don’t see them online or I’d link you, but I found mine in store. Pro tip: wear a hat of some sort with the wig, it helps make it more real.

Sunday we arrived just in time for NoMBe which was my “must see” of the day. I was so happy with his set, the sun was out, the wind was blowing, I was living my day festival dream! He has a show coming up in LA and I might go check it out, his set was a lot of fun. Maybe at the show in LA he’ll play my favorite song “Eden” which he missed at CRSSD.

We bounced around a little then went to Jai Wolf. Literally where has he been, I feel like it’s been forever. I was not disappointed. Jai Wolf’s set is so full of good upbeat feels. I was really please with what will be the first of many times seeing him this year, as it looks like he’s on the festival/rave circuit for 2018. 

Sunday I was less prepared for outfit wise, but I was able to pull something together to wear. I went with my black high waisted Levi jeans I just bought at the outlets. I added a fun print barrette and then my faux fur coat over the top. I did four braids into one long braid and sprayed my hair pink with this hair spray from Claire's. It was pretty nice actually, didn’t make it crunchy and came out easily in the shower. I also used these cheap body jewels from Clarie’s for between my chest cavity and under my bra line. They looked like they would peel as one piece to put on, but they all fell off so it was a meticulous eyelash glue situation in the bathroom before the event. On the bright side, I think they stuck much better that way than they ever would have if I didn’t use the glue.

My jacket is one I found on Poshmark for $30, and the ring is by Marina Fini. My boyfriend gave it to me for my birthday. :)

So CRSSDfest, it’s been fun. I’ve had a great time with my friends and it was a fun trip to San Diego. For all the HousexTechno fans out there, check it out sometime! The weather is warmer though in the fall edition if you’re gonna pick just one!