Meow Wolf transported concert goers into another dimension.
Meow Wolf immersed festival attendees in a surrealist dance party in the heart of Denver at the cities newest venue “The Junkyard” (lovingly named for the auto salvage yard that previously occupied the space). The 3 day long festival found a new home in Denver following a partnership with Live Nation to bring Meow Wolf’s music festival from Taos to the Mile High City.
Just as Denver is the perfect home for Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station interactive art installation, Vortex fits perfectly here. The festival was welcomed by thousands of concert goers eager to dive into the weirdness that Meow Wolf is known and revered for.
Massive awe inspiring art installations are Meow Wolfs bread and butter, but music and dance parties have been engrained in the fabric of Meow Wolf’s DNA from the very beginning.
“Events have always been woven into the expression of what it is that we do. From the very beginning when they had a small warehouse they would have people over and do dance parties.” Marcy Gray - Meow Wolf Senior Director of events.
The festival grounds at The Junkyard were filled with huge abstract art pieces. The art paired wit the complex otherworldly stage designs were everything one could hope for from Meow Wolf, creating a stunning dreamlike atmosphere for a multifarious line up of artists.
“This is a line up that is super eclectic, (There are) so many different genre niches that fit in and that is something we really care about.” - Sofie Cruse - Meow Wolf Events Creative Director
Vortex nailed it perfectly with this years festival line up. The variety of genres brought a diverse crowd of attendees to The Junk Yard.
“Music breeds subculture, And those are things we care deeply about as a company, and giving homes and spaces for kids to get weird.” - Cruse
Friday’s scorching heat and burst of pouring rain on Saturday and Sunday nights didn’t keep festival attendees from dancing the weekend away in front of the Vortex’s two stages.
The “Atria” Stage hosted non-stop revolving DJ sets featuring those such as Berry Can’t Swim, Duke Dumont, Chris Stussy, and Dixion among many others. All DJ’s were encapsulated by a stunning stage design that reflected an outer-worldly, over grown green house designed by artist Jon Medina.
The main, “Ara” stage (also designed by artist Jon Medina) hosted the more diverse of the weekends line up underneath stunning color projection orbs.
Ethel Cain was by far the biggest outlier from the rest of the line up in the best of ways. Cain’s performance of her dark, etherial, beautifully emotionally driven songs was the perfect contrast to the dance inspiring music that filled The Junkyard.
Toro y Moi closed out night one with signature guitar riffs and up beat fun songs that set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
100 Gecs drew in a younger crowd to close out night 2.Their unique and often indistinguishable genre made them a perfect fit for Vortex.
Bob Moses closed the weekend out as the rain poured on to the unfazed crowd, soaking in every last second of Meow Wolf’s immersive dance party.
“The dance floor is an immersive experience, and what we create are immersive experiences.” - Gray
