Holy shit, that classic alternative playlist you made on Spotify has manifested itself into an actual music festival.
Following in the footsteps of deck-stacking, genre-focused events like Cruel World and Just Like Heaven comes Darker Waves Festival, a November 18 throwdown at Huntington Beach City Beach in California. And we can’t lie, the lineup is fucking amazing. In fact, given Vanyaland’s editorial identity over the past decade since inception, we’re probably legally required to write about this.
Darker Waves is headlined by New Order (sans Peter Hook, it always needs to be noted) and Tears For Fears, with an undercard that spans decades across the strobe-lit corners of pop: The B-52’s, Echo and the Bunnymen, Soft Cell, Devo, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Psychedelic Furs, The Cardigans, X, Violent Femmes, Kavinsky, The Chameleons, Cold Cave, Molchat Doma, The English Beat, Blossoms, T.S.O.L., She Wants Revenge, Twin Tribes, and more. It’s 33 bands over three stages, and just sounds like a hell of a time.
After a pre-sale, tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday (June 23) at 2 p.m. PT. Tickets start at $199 for general admission, which seems pretty reasonable, and prices increase for GA+, VIP, and Ultimate VIP. Hit darkerwavesfest.com for all the details.
