Desert Daze 2015: Wild, dusty and sonically eclectic, the festival beats the heat for another year

Kevin Bronson on
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Fostering an eclectic community of musicians, artists, fans, vendors and assorted weirdos, Desert Daze 2015 proved to be the definitive DIY festival on the circuit.

||| Photos by Zane Roessell (another gallery below)

Eschewing the increasing corporate sponsorship trend among other festivals, the festival — which went off Saturday at Sunset Ranch Oasis in Mecca — provided and uninhibited playground of creative collaboration and sonic pleasure without the typical financial sting. A crowd of about 3,500 devotees, some of whom did double duty as fans and in helping stage the event, powered the festival.


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Not limited to the general audience, founders Phil Pironne and Julie Edwards Pironne both split their time between managing the event and performing in musical outfits JJUUJJUU and Deap Valley, respectively. Even in the face of oppressive heat, mosquitoes and the inescapable dust, the crowd soldiered into the night reveling in an impressive lineup of 40-plus bands that included vaunted L.A. locals such as Warpaint, Failure, Mini Mansions, Plague Vendor [top photo], Kim and The Created [large photo above], Mr. Elevator and The Brain Hotel and Fever the Ghost.