Photos by Don Idio and Jake West for Bass Canyon
On Thursday, August 23 bassheads from near and far flocked to The Gorge Amphitheater in Quincy, WA for the inaugural Bass Canyon festival. For the second time in history, Jeff Abel, better known as Excision, hosted his very own artist-curated festival. This event followed September 2017’s Lost Lands, a prehistoric-themed festival in the Midwest. This time, Excision catered to his Pacific Northwest fans, drawing in a mix of Americans and Canadians who were ready to headbang.
Bass Canyon ignited with a boom as it kicked off its preparty with the sounds of 12th Planet, Excision himself, Dion Timmer and more. The crowd went wild, brought their best totems, and congregated to the center of the campground area for food, dancing, socializing and shopping.
Camping At Bass Canyon
If you are in any way on the fence about dubstep or riddim, steer clear. If this is what you live for, you have found your home. From about 9 am to 3 am every night, you can find campers who are ready to have a good time together. Music blares, drinks are being poured, breakfast is being made and campers are preparing for a fun day at the Paradox stage. Gates opened at around 3 pm each day, which allowed festival goers time to relax, browse through the campgrounds and make new friends. And that’s exactly what everyone did.
For those campers looking to ease their way into the music, each morning kicked off with 10 am yoga, accompanied by some chill bass/wave music. Over one hundred bass head yogis attended this session for an hour each day to stretch out before headbanging. Post yoga was a sound healing class, also to the tune of bass music.
One Stage at The Gorge?
For those of you who are not familiar with The Gorge, it is a stunning venue in Washington State that sits on, well, a gorge. While there is one stage it is a perfect venue to spend the day. The Gorge has a large hill and plenty of room for those wishing to stand and dance on the floor area of the stage, and there is plenty of space for those wanting to snag a blanket and cozy up on the hill with their squad. Excision’s team made sure that the venue was decorated with purple and blue Bass Canyon logos, provided free clack fans and parasols for the first 500 people to enter the venue on Friday, and the team made sure there were quiet places to take a break from all the bass. Although the venue only has one stage, it is a stage with an incredible backdrop, breathtaking sunsets, and the ability to see every single artist on the roster.
B2B2B2B2B
One of the coolest things you can hear and experience at a festival is when your favorite artists do a B2B set. The idea of two musicians ping-ponging their favorite tunes against each other is truly unique as it blends sounds and styles into one. There was definitely no shortage of B2Bs at Bass Canyon, as the artists seemed to be both close friends and partners. Some of the B2Bs available at Bass Canyon included Barley Alive B2B Virtual Riot B2B Phase One. You can check out a clip from that set from a fan below.
Another one of our favorite B2B sets was Cookie Monsta B2B Doctor P B2B Funtcase. And you can check out a clip from that set below.
And of course, there was the highly anticipated Excision B2B NGHTMRE that closed out Bass Canyon on Sunday of the festival. You can catch a bit of that set here.
We can’t wait to hear what B2B sets pop up at Lost Lands!
Show Me Your Bass Face
But of course, what truly made Bass Canyon a remarkable festival was the festival goers… and their bass faces. Here are some of our favorites of the weekend.
