Last year, Damnthatsepic was lucky enough to join in on Woogie Weekend’s inaugural installment. The Do LaB sought to create an entire festival centered around Lightning in a Bottle’s “Woogie” stage; and they definitely succeeded. This year they had a lot to live up to and with increased popularity, a lot to prepare for.

As Woogie Weekend having seemed to almost doubled in one short year, The Do LaB not only needed to prepare for the increased crowds, but also had to work hard to keep the festival culture they had created in the year previous. Luckily for all of the attendees, The Do LaB did more than enough to one up their first year. On the ground, they shifted stages and camping grounds for a more cohesive and flowing floor plan. They also added 2 late night stages that kept the beats going into the early morning with acts like Doc Martin and Marques Wyatt holding down the fort. The Do Lab also returned with a very talented ensemble of artists and performers including the ladies of Bijoulette who provided water games all weekend long to help beat the heat of the valley. There was also a giant flamingo car that cruised around the festival grounds to raise awareness of the state of wildlife and habitat for flamingos.

Woogie Weekend also returned with their Hive Stage from last years woogie, sporting the classic multi colored fabric and naturally rigged structure that The Do LaB is known for. This year however, Woogie dropped the Beat Nest stage and imported The Kaleidoscope, this year's Woogie Stage from LIB. Looking like something straight out of the 90’s ”Pipes” screen saver, the stage looked absolutely amazing under the lights of a disco ball, which gave the night time vibes a special disco throwback feel that we couldn't get enough of.

Perhaps the more difficult task of the weekend was to keep the Woogie vibe as strong as the previous year. But, yet again, The Do LaB proved themselves to be one of the best production companies in the business. The Lineup itself was a house head’s paradise and they headliners definitely did not disappoint. The smaller acts definitely won over hearts and minds and gained some new fans.

Damian Lazarus threw down a sinister tech house set, Claptone absolutely had one of the best sets of the weekend in a set filled with funky basslines and plenty of claps to go with the kicks and Kidnap Kid and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs closed down the weekend with two extremely diverse and entertaining sets. However the set that set itself apart for us was Dena Amy’s, she had the entire crowd dancing, vibing and jumping on the speakers at 2pm on a Sunday! It is hard enough to get half the crowd out of bed on the last day of a three day festival, yet Dena Amy absolutely shut it down and gave us all quite the wake up call.

Woogie Weekend has now proven that it is no one hit wonder. This festival is not only here to stay but it is here to thrive. This year’s Woogie brought us amazing friends that were once strangers: we laughed, we cried (happy tears were actually shed), and we danced a whole lot… We sure can't wait to do it again next year! Make sure you join us for one of the best up-and-coming festivals in the US next year and bring your best Woogie shoes; you definitely won't regret it.

AUTHOR CREDIT: GARRETT KUBON

PHOTO CREDIT: KRYSTINA RICCIO