Bass Canyon 2022

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The Bass Canyon festival at the Gorge Amphitheater, in the middle of Washington state, happened over August 19-21, 2022, and was the reason I planned this whole Seattle trip in the first place. Writing this blog now, I know I'm way behind on blogging. I've already gone to Bass Canyon 2023 and now I'm still having to write about the one in 2022!

When I first got the invite up here, I wasn't quite sure I'd be interested since the lineup seemed to be mostly dubstep which I hadn't listened to much. Since the site's website said there would be DnB, which I do like a lot, I decided to take a chance and bought myself a VIP ticket. Over the months between then and the festival I listened to many of the dubstep artists who were on the lineup, and while I didn't like it much right away, I didn't dislike it and it slowly started to grow on me.

Getting There

From Seattle it takes about two and a half hours to drive there on Interstate 90, maybe less if you don't stop anywhere on the way. Pretty uneventful, but for those of us who aren't from there, the geographical transition really stands out. The Seattle area, west of the Cascade mountains, is cool, breezy, hilly, and green with evergreen trees everywhere. But east of the mountains, it's hot, flat, hardly any trees in sight, and looks and feels more like the southwest than anywhere else.

Camping at the Wildhorse

For this festival, unlike all the others I did in 2022, I wouldn't be sleeping in a tent. Instead I got to join some friends with RVs, and sleep in a bunk bed in one. We stayed not at one of the Gorge's campgrounds, but an off-site campground called Wildhorse. This place is only open for camping--RV and tent--whenever there's an event at the Gorge, but that's pretty often throughout the year. I'd recommend this place to anyone willing to pay extra to stay here; while I don't know how much tent camping is, the three times I've stayed here I've paid amounts between $150 and $350 to split the RV camping costs with people I was staying with.

The Wildhorse has some great stuff to eat and drink during the mornings and afternoons. The Corral Café makes some great breakfast and lunch, though their breakfast burritos are so big that if I have one, I won't want lunch. During the morning they even have free coffee available! And if you want more fancy coffee than the free stuff, there's also a coffee bar selling all the usual coffee bar coffees: latte, americano, espresso, cappuccino, frappe, and such, which you can get hot, iced, or blended. Whip cream is also available. The coffee bar is open through the afternoon, but there's usually a long line and it moves slowly.

The shower facilities are also pretty good, better than at a lot of other festivals, with each booth being rather spacious and hot water always available. But of course, you're going to be waiting in line a long time, possibly an hour.

Shuttle buses regularly run back and forth between the Wildhorse and the Gorge while the festival is going on.

The Venue

The Gorge has to be the most breathtaking music venue I've ever seen. Just look at it...


It's not the Grand Canyon, but it's pretty similar! The Columbia River runs through the canyon which gives this festival its name. In front of the canyon you can see the main stage, which is called the Canyon stage at this festival.

There's three stages at Bass Canyon, with the Canyon stage, seen in the photo above, being the main stage with the biggest-name artists, and the Hilltop and Starlight being smaller.


Hilltop stage


Starlight stage

This is also the hilliest venue I've ever been to. Getting around means hiking up and down some not-too-steep but pretty long slopes. But this means you can get quite a view of the crowd, as well as the river, at the Canyon stage.

About a third or a fourth of the way up the slope from the Canyon stage there is a VIP viewing area, which is just a green space surrounded by a fence, with a pretty good view of the stage. This year, I had a VIP wristband so I could get into it.

There's also a whole row of box seats which are a lot more expensive than VIP and are separate; so if you paid for one you can't get in the other. My friends all had a box, because they do that every year, but this time I didn't. But next year, I did splurge on the box seats so a review of the box seat experience will have to wait until I write my Bass Canyon 2023 blog.

The Music

As I first walked toward the main stage on Friday afternoon and I could see everyone in the thin crowd banging their heads, and I mean they were leaning back and then throwing their heads forward as far as they could, I knew I was in for a different experience than Electric Forest or Sonic Bloom. While Bass Canyon specializes in both dubstep and drum 'n bass, it's the first of those two that is slightly more prominent here.

Friday

Friday evening I was more focused on exploring than experiencing any full sets. While getting to know the Gorge, I was also dipping my toe into dubstep for the first time. I first experienced a bit of Kaivon's set, and then Sullivan King and Inzo, who were both playing at the same time on different stages. Sullivan King, who mixes dubstep with guitar-heavy rock, was the more memorable of those two.

I had missed out on Boombox Cartel at Middlelands and Electric Forest, so I had to catch that set here, and really loved it.

And finally, the big headlining set of Friday night was Excision's first of three sets this weekend. But there's not much I can say about it because by the time he took the stage I was having trouble staying awake. And that's not a reflection on the music at all! It's just that after all the walking around I'd done--I'd probably also been awake for too long--I was tired and kept falling asleep as I sat there on the grassy slope. The set wasn't even half over before I finally decided it was time to head back to camp and pass out.

Saturday

On my second day in the festival I got to take in some great drum 'n bass sets, which were on the Hilltop and Starlight stages. First was Justin Hawkes, and then Spor who I thought was amazing. Next after that was Modestep, who was the only artist I knew ahead of time would be playing DnB; he's actually a dubstep producer but was playing a DnB set here and so that was notated on the lineup and schedule. This set was amazing too.

It wasn't all DnB for me on Saturday. After Modestep I did go over to the Canyon stage for LSDream, since I hadn't heard enough of his Electric Forest set, and finally got to experience an hour of this trippy, dreamy funk.

Saturday was definitely the peak day for DnB because Reaper was bringing even more of it!

The final set of the night was Subtronics headlining the Canyon stage, but for most of this set I was sidetracked talking to some interesting people I met in the food lines...

Sunday

I started off Sunday with yet another great DnB set from Stumpi. Then, having had my fill of DnB for the weekend, it was back into headbanging world. From the top of the hill overlooking the Canyon stage, I caught the end of Bear Grillz' set, and I actually saw a mosh pit going on in the crowd in front of the stage.

Not long after, I was down in front of the Canyon stage banging my head to Virtual Riot. This was one of my favorite sets of the weekend. I'd heard of Virtual Riot before, having caught the tail end of his back to back set with Phaseone at the end of the last night of Tomorrowland. This one was my second-favorite set of the festival, and it had me in the pit banging my head like nothing else yet, and could only be topped by the headliner that came later.


Canyon stage while Virtual Riot was on

Excision came on next with his "Detox" set. He typically does this at festivals like this one and Lost Lands on Sunday afternoon while the sun is still up but is about to set. The detox set is always less intense than his usual sets, and even the visuals are simple, two-color patterns.


The huge crowd gathered on the green in front of the Canyon stage, listening to Excision's detox set

G Jones took the Canyon stage after the sun set. This one was pretty good too, not quite as intense as the last two, and I spent most of the time sitting in the grass, recharging my energy for the big headlining set that was getting closer. What I liked the most about G Jones' set was his visuals which recalled old computer systems.

While bouncing between food and drink stands I caught some of Taiki Nulight's set at the Hilltop stage. I'd heard of him before, since he'd played at Middlelands but I hadn't gone to his set there. He's neither dubstep nor DnB, and sounds more like house or techno than anyone else at the festival.

And finally, the headlining set on the Canyon stage. It seems Excision always headlines this festival with a B2B set with another big name, and this year it was Wooli. What can I say about this set? It was certainly the most intense experience of the whole festival. This kind of music may still be pretty new to me, and after this set I was fully converted. For this whole hour I was down in the pit, not in the middle but off to the right where people were a little more spaced out and we all had plenty of room to lean way back and throw our heads as far forward as we could with each beat. But, after watching a video of this set, I may have missed out on some real fun by not being right in the center.

The Food Scene

Since the Gorge hosts several events throughout the year, and most of the food and drink vendors seem to be permanent fixtures and not tents like at most other festivals I've been to, what I'm writing here should apply to any of those events and not just this one. When I returned in 2023 for Beyond Wonderland and another Bass Canyon, I found the situation mostly unchanged.

Except for at one bar, the beer sold there was all Bud Light, Coors Light, Michelob Ultra, Stella Artois, and Modelo, all sold in enormous 25-ounce cans. That one bar I just mentioned that's different, it's called Whiskey Jack's Saloon and sells draft beer in huge cups: Kona Big Wave Golden Ale, Elysian Blood Orange Pale Ale, Tenpin Pineapple Wheat Ale, and Alpenhaze Hazy IPA, as well as two wines on tap: 14 Hands Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, and four kinds of margaritas. There were also several stands selling cocktails and at least two places, including Whiskey Jack's, where you could get wine by the bottle.

There are also two 21+ areas with beer, wine, and cocktail bars. One has a view of the Canyon stage from the top of the slope, while the other is closer to the Hilltop stage, though without the view. Both have tables with chairs to sit at.

That reminds me, the state of Washington has some strict age-verification laws. Unsurprisingly you have to show your ID and get a paper wristband to show that you're over 21, but even after that you still have to show ID to anyone you buy alcohol from.

The food selection wasn't quite as wide as certain other festivals I've been to, but there was still quite a lot of good stuff to choose from. Blazing Teriyaki makes chicken and beef teriyaki bowls, and it was the chicken bowl I enjoyed Sunday evening. Asian Express serves the usual "Chinese" stuff like chow mein, egg rolls, and such, as well as a tofu wrap I had on Saturday which was pretty good. There's also Trejo's Tacos, Volt Burger Smash, and Art Bird fried chicken, at least one place selling gyro wraps, along with some other stands selling ice cream, kettle corn, and smoothies. That last one was also selling Vietnamese iced coffee, which I definitely needed to keep myself awake.

Final Thoughts

I sure had a great time at Bass Canyon, and I enjoyed it way more than I ever expected. Until then I hadn't been able to get into dubstep or riddim, but after being there and experiencing it live, banging my head with all the other fans in the pit...like I wrote before, I was fully converted. The next day all the muscles in my neck and calves were sore, but it was so worth it. As soon as it was over I knew I had to come back the next year.


The four festivals I went to in 2022: Gem & Jam, Sonic Bloom, Electric Forest, and Bass Canyon.

Here's where to watch the live sets that got caught on video. For some reason, there's no professional video coverage of this festival like there is at Lost Lands, so we have to rely on amateurs like SAYMYNAME SOLDIER who get some high-quality footage with their GoPros and iPhones.

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