The third iteration of Deep Tropics felt like the arrival of something monumental. For a smaller, boutique festival, we felt a lot of grandeur within the tropics.The vibes were prime inside Bicentinnial Capitol Mall State Park thanks to: Full Circle Productions, Aaron Martin, and 44 Designs; efforts from eco team and Green Disco; sounds from CharlestheFirst, Claude Von Stroke, Dombresky, Clozee, LP Giobbi; and all us travelers who passed through.
The two stage festival is best described as intimate – operating at 75% capacity to adhere to COVID safety regulations – which encouraged a very personal experience. Unlike larger scale music festivals, new friends were easy to find or run into thanks to the proximity of the place. The connections formed throughout the weekend are sure to be remembered; meeting someone new meant expanding the rave family and submerging deep in the tropics together.
The beautiful, rustic amphitheatre was transformed into the ancient temple, Meru Amphitheatre (aka the main stage). Everyone had plenty of room to groove and kick off their shoes, but no matter where you were standing you had an unobstructed, personal view of the sets. Travelers who bought VIP tickets were granted access to the pit, which had a stage where you can dance underneath the DJs! There were also @pyro.glyphics performers that would often emerge from the jungle fog to lead the crowd through the performances. The production teams did phenomenal jobs turning the southern heat into a steamy jungle and with the coordination of flow teams. It was very easy to get lost in the theme.
For our first plunge into tropics, we got down in the pit to some funky, feel good house music that married the dance floor, the dancers, and the dance music together in perfect matrimony. The whole crowd synchronized to the beat, bopping up and down like a big tsunami wave of wobblers, warming us up for the next adventure: Clozee. Delivering a paramount performance with a blend of massive, tribal, and spiritual sounds, Queen Clozee was the perfect tribute to the Tropics. Her set was sacred and empowering – a shining moment for women in music and for Deep Tropics as a whole.
For the second night, we stood at the middle point of the main stage where we seemed to be having a deep face to face conversation with CharlestheFirst. Claude VonStroke closed out the festival with some funky house music that had the whole crowd up and dancing. Both nights left us craving more of the good music and vibes, so we were more than eager to continue the party at the afterparties.
We attended after parties both nights: Mr. Carmack and Green Velvet, both of which were bangin’. However, we have to give extra praise to Green Velvet for his show at the Brooklyn Bowl. While I did win a sensual, Step Up inspired dance battle scored by the marvelous sounds of Mr. Carmack, we really got in the groove all night long at Green Velvet’s set. Not only were the ravers raging so hard that Green Velvet played THREE encores AND brought out Claude VonStroke, but we also got to let our bodies breathe and take a break from dancing to go bowling! We might even say that it was one of the best parties we’ve ever attended.Thanks for the great time and for talking to us after the Bowl closed, Green Velvet – we love you!
Overall, Deep Tropics was a transformative time. Not only did the music move us, but the atmosphere cultivated within the festival was transcendent. Green Disco and Deep Culture created an environment that was not only fun, but also informative. They encouraged the attendees to become more involved and aware of the impact festival culture can have on this planet, and set a new standard to how the music scene should operate: regeneratively. We have yet to see the post-fest analysis of this year’s event, however with the amount of eco bands we saw hanging from a large portion of Travelers’ wrists, I believe there is a high chance that their Net Positive goal was achieved.
Thank you for a beautiful time Deep Tropics. We will most definitely dive back into the jungle next year!
