Words by Ross Goldenberg and Zach Salafia

Just take a few moments to think of a few dance music festivals from the top of your head.

Over the past decade, festivals like Ultra, Tomorrowland, and CRSSD Festival have become staples in our event calendar. While we have no plans to abandon these annual trips, it was time for Dancing Astronaut to expand our festival horizons and attend a weekend-long event that may not have immediately come to mind in previous years. However, we knew that Seismic Dance Event consistently curates one of the finest lineups in house and techno each year.

When the Real Music Events-backed festival released its 7.0 edition lineup this past May, it caught our attention right away. Months later, we locked in our plans to head to Austin in November, eager to verify the endless positive comments we’d heard about Seismic Dance Event. After three days, we can officially confirm that the festival lived up to the hype.

Last three days absolutely flew by but Seismic 2024 has to be up there with some of my favorite festival experiences in recent memory

A million vids + more thoughts about DA Seismic year 1 soon but firstly just want to give a massive thank you to the @SeismicTX team pic.twitter.com/v4D63kmKjP

— Dancing Astronaut (@dancingastro) November 18, 2024

To set the stage for those reading, Seismic Dance Event primarily takes place at Austin’s premier dance music venue, The Concourse Project. This includes the Tsunami stage—the festival’s outdoor main stage—as well as two more intimate stages known as The Realm and The Secret. Seismic also features the Volcano stage within The Concourse Project, a year-round indoor venue. From the moment we arrived and explored the festival, it was clear that Seismic, which describes itself as a “boutique festival,” provided an intimate experience while also feeling spacious. Areas for food, merchandise, and restrooms were conveniently located nearby with minimal wait times.

Unlike larger festivals, Seismic’s compact layout made it easy to move between stages without worrying about congestion or sound bleed. The only minor concern was the long lines to enter the Volcano stage, which can accommodate only 2,000 of the approximately 5,000 daily attendees. However, despite the high demand for popular sets like Wax Motif and Matroda, the Volcano stage never felt overcrowded.

The sense of community fostered by the Seismic team was another highlight. Throughout our time there, we encountered friendly and welcoming attendees, staff, and festival owners, which added to the overall enjoyment of the event.

Of course, we can’t overlook the reason for our trip: the lineup. Describing the roster as “stacked” would be an understatement. Our weekend began on Friday at the Tsunami stage, featuring sets from Madison Palmer, Andrew Parsons, and Layton Giordani as the sun set. We then moved to The Concourse Project for tech-house sets by Westend, Deeper Purpose, and Sonny Fodera, ending day one with the Dark Prince himself, Gesaffelstein. After such an incredible first day, we wondered how the following days could possibly compare, but we were pleasantly surprised. Day two featured standout performances by KAS:ST and Massano at Tsunami, followed by sets from Riordan, Max Styler—who earned Dancing Astronaut‘s weekend favorite title—and Waxtroda at the Volcano stage. We capped off day two with Carl Cox’s hybrid set outdoors at Tsunami. On Sunday, we explored the festival and enjoyed memorable performances from Jerro, Sammy Virji, Disclosure, and Eric Prydz, who closed the festival amidst a light rain.

Seismic’s lineup was impeccably curated, with headliners meeting our lofty expectations and the undercard delivering numerous standout moments throughout the weekend. Despite the occasional rain, which we welcomed, we were grateful for the beautiful weather that enhanced our experience.

We must also mention the afterparties that followed each festival night. Seismic’s approach allowed for afterparties hosted on-site at The Concourse Project and a nearby venue called Club BLK. We spent our nights switching between the two, enjoying sets from Riordan, Matroda, and concluding with a two-hour masterclass from Eric Prydz as Cirez D.

Despite its intimate vibe, Seismic’s production quality is top-notch. The stage designs, particularly the Tsunami stage crafted by PHASE[3] Concepts, were impressive, and the sound quality rivaled any club or festival setup we’d experienced. The Concourse Project itself is an outstanding venue, even enhanced with an additional LED panel for the festival weekend, making the Volcano stage experience even more remarkable. We left eager to return to this fantastic venue outside of festival season.

If we had to sum up our weekend in Austin in one sentence, it would be: Seismic Dance Event is the pound-for-pound best festival we’ve ever experienced in over a decade of attending dance music events.

We entered the weekend with little knowledge of Seismic, Austin, or even Texas. Reflecting on our experience at the airport on Monday morning, we realized the weekend unfolded as smoothly as possible, considering all the elements that contribute to a successful festival trip. With the countdown now on for Seismic’s 8.0 edition in 2025, we wholeheartedly endorse making Seismic Dance Event a permanent fixture on Dancing Astronaut’s event calendar moving forward.

Thank you to Seismic Dance Event, Real Music Events, The Concourse Project, and everyone involved in making this festival a reality.

Featured image: Anthony Djuren

Tags: real music events, seismic, seismic dance event, The Concourse Project

Categories: Features