Photo credit for above and below: Blake Rankin – MusicFests365 Photography

While some of us are still gearing up for our first festival of the season, it’s clear that those who kicked off theirs with Crush, AZ did it right. Crush is put on by Relentless Beats and Insomniac Events, two big players in the game. It’s the longest running EDM festival in Arizona and if you’ve been, you know why. For being a single night event it couldn’t have gone any better.

Let’s start by saying that the staff was incredible – something hard to come by at festivals. They were hands down the friendliest and most helpful I’ve encountered yet. They were there to answer any questions we had and if they didn’t know the answer, they were genuinely apologetic. With the stage inside and the rest of the accommodations out, they did well with the space they had. They made up for only having one stage by ensuring the production and sound quality exceeded expectations. Restrooms were not limited to the ones they had indoor, meaning if you’re cool with porta potty’s you didn’t have to wait in outrageous lines (nothing worse than waiting in a long line when your favorite DJ is about to go on). The ticket price was one most of us would be willing to spend to see Kaskade at a good venue alone, but throw in artists such as Getter and Crankdat and you’ve gotten well over your money’s worth.

There were enough people to create a solid, upbeat crowd, but the key for this festival is that they knew how much space they were working with and didn’t try to oversell it. When we tell you this, we sincerely mean it: do not sleep on Crush next year. You couldn’t ask for a better one night event to kick off your season. From the crowd to the atmosphere and artists, Crush is becoming the festival to kick off your season. Can anyone think of a better Valentine’s Day celebration? Because from what we could see, anyone who received a Crush ticket from their significant other for Valentine’s Day was not disappointed. We couldn’t thank Relentless Beats enough for being so accommodating and allowing us the opportunity to bring their event to all of our followers across social media.

P.S. Our exclusive interview with Kaskade is coming soon!