Since its inception in 2012, Desert Daze has already been held in three different locations.
As of October 2018 … make that four.
After the inaugural festival in Desert Hot Springs in 2012, it spent three years at the Sunset Ranch Oasis in Mecca, and then two years at the Institute of Mentalphysics in Joshua Tree. This year’s edition of Desert Daze will be moving to Moreno Beach at Lake Perris from Friday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 14.
This year’s headliners include Tame Impala, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and My Bloody Valentine. Other acts announced include former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, Warpaint, Ty Segall and White Fence, Earth and many others.
During a phone interview with Desert Daze founder Phil Pirrone, he declined to say why the festival moved to Lake Perris, but he did speak in glowing terms about the new location.
“One of the things that strike me about Lake Perris is that once you’re inside the park, you have no sense of outside of the park,” Pirrone said. “Once you’re inside, you’re immersed. One example I can give is at all the previous venues, once you left the grounds, you were on a city street. There were chain stores across the street. In Lake Perris, you can leave the venue, and it still takes you five minutes to get back to the closest neighborhood. It’s kind of like Jurassic Park, and every time I go through there, I feel like the theme song from Jurassic Park should be playing. It’s epic and grand. It’s the perfect location to continue this story that’s unfolding with Desert Daze.
“We feel like Desert Daze is a ritual, and I mean that in the sense of we all have daily, weekly and annual rituals to help improve our quality of life, heal our cellular makeup or evolve as beings. That has a lot to do with the moods of Lake Perris. It can accommodate more people, and one of the main concerns for us is maintaining the energy—and the feeling you have at Desert Daze will be a good one.”
Desert Daze is sort of an anti-festival festival. It’s not as big as Coachella, and almost all of the performers fall into the psychedelic or edgier side of rock music.
“Music festivals can be so one dimensional if it’s in a parking lot with a truck stage and an algorithm of a lineup,” Pirrone said. “It can really start to be homogenized milk at that point, almost like plastic. That doesn’t interest us at all. We want people to have a multidimensional, multilayered and profound experience. The immersive art experience for this festival is a step beyond anything we’ve ever done before. It’s exciting, and it’s a massive workload. It’s almost like there are three festivals going on—music, art, projection art, films, talks, workshops and all these immersive experiences.”
The art installations and interactive experiences may be heightened by the natural setting, Pirrone said.
“The (lake) being there is special, and I think it’s going to create an opportunity for people to have an even deeper rejuvenation thing going on,” he said. “I love the idea that people can swim all morning or all afternoon, go back to their campsite, and there are real showers—real running water showers in brick-and-mortar buildings. I love the idea that you can go splash around, go on a pontoon boat ride, and really get to see the majestic landscape. …We’re starting the music a little later this year so we can accommodate for those experiences.”
Pirrone said there’s an over-saturation of festivals today—and that’s where Desert Daze comes in.
“The Live Nations of the world, the AEGs of the world—they’re driving the prices up for the bands, and there are agencies capitalizing on that, and to a certain degree, they should. To a certain degree, I think the fans would be the first to say that it’d be great to take a step back from that a bit. I find it to be a little out of whack.
“I’ve been touring for a long time … and I get it. I’m on tour right now, and I’m losing money on this tour. When a festival comes around (paying) 10 times what you’d make for a club show, you’ve got to take it. Your tour is probably still losing money for eight bands out of 10. You want to bring ticket prices down, so you want agents and bands and managers to be more reasonable. But as long as these bands are barely able to keep their heads above water, you’re going to have this kind of landscape.”
Pirrone said that while the event is farther from the Coachella Valley in Lake Perris—about an hour or so away—he said he still loves the Coachella Valley and the high desert. The Desert Daze after-party is being held at Pappy and Harriet’s, and Pirrone always does a show at Pappy and Harriet’s as a preview to the festival.
“It feels like I am rooted into that land. My wife and I fell in love at Pappy and Harriet’s, and our bands played together at a show there,” he said. “We fell into a deep love at Pappy’s. It’s always been a magical location on this earth for us, and we care deeply about it.
“Through the years of producing this festival, we’ve made lots of friends and family, and that’s not going to change. We’re always looking for a space in the desert where we can have the best version of what we’re doing. The stars aligned for us this year to make it happen in Lake Perris, which doesn’t mean we won’t hold it in the desert valley again, or we won’t continue to satellite the events in the desert. We hope that we can bring more positivity, more music and more fun to the area.
Desert Daze will take place Friday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 14 at Lake Perris State Recreation Area, 17801 Lake Perris Drive, in Lake Perris. Tickets are $99 to $1,999. For more information, visit www.desertdaze.org.