Breakaway Festival has forever altered the DNA of our Spotify Wrapped this year
Photo by Brooke Tramel
Before last weekend, the most recent time I had been to a festival of Breakaway-level gravity, I was still mentally recovering from middle school and had just passed my driver’s permit test. I thought my rave girl days were behind me—that was until I decided to give Breakaway Fest a try.
Unlike Coachella or Lollapalooza, Breakaway is almost entirely and exclusively electronic dance music. Furthermore, it’s a multi-city festival, and this year there are seven cities on its itinerary.
The festival’s KC stop took place in Bonner Springs, Kansas, at Azura Amphitheater, an outdoor venue capable of fitting 18,000 people on its grounds.
Upon my arrival, DJ Moore Kismet was wrapping up the end of their set at the Launch Pad stage, and it was clear nobody wanted it to end. The 18-year-old musician jumped around the stage, giving the audience a show to remember and eating up every second of their loud support. I was unfamiliar with Kismet’s work until this moment, but was not let down.
An unexpected wow factor that definitely swooned me was the endless rows of tents lining the pathways between the stages. Full of artists, activists, and vendors of all types, festival goers flocked to check out the various gadgets and gismos for sale. Some sported new fans, fuzzy ears, and even tails?
Electronic duo Hippie Sabotage was up next and the immense amount of people surrounding me in their merch told me I was in for a wild ride. Both their visuals and musical performance were a top-tier and utterly hypnotizing reminder that the chill-vibes and headbanging mix is a hard thing to achieve successfully, but captivating when done right.
For the closing act, Zedd took the Main Stage and ended day one with an explosive bang to say the least. Literally, though. There were fireworks and all. He, of course, brought us his biggest hits like “Clarity”, “Break Free”, and all of the other familiar songs that even non-Zedd-lovers are compelled to bop to. Having seen him once before, I was prepared to love every second of it, but experiencing it again reminded me of just how purely fun he and his music are.
Day 2, it was apparent to me that a combination of sweltering heat and general hungoverness took its toll on a chunk of the attendees. Nonetheless, somehow, the performers’ energy as well as the audience was as charged as the day before.
Under the safe shade of the colorful overhead canopy at the Launch Pad, Garrett Murphy, also known as itsmurphy, began my day with some bouncy melodies and gritty baselines.
Preluding one of his last songs, Muprhy graciously said, “This song is probably the reason I’m here,” and then hit the crowd with his debut solo single, “Food For The Soul”. A humble man with some sick tunes. What’s not to like? After searching up the artist on Google following the show, I learned that the people of TikTok utterly adore him and that a trend tied to his music helped get his name out there.
Having not been in the presence of a female DJ yet, seeing Luci was a refreshing surprise that knocked my socks off, to put it lightly. I ditched the mediocre soft pretzel in my hand for her set as my virgin ears were introduced to the angelic-voice mind-buzzing that is Luci. No regrets.
Liquid Stranger was the official end to my Breakaway experience. I was hungry, sweaty, and my head kinda hurt, but it was worth it to stick around. It transported me back to my 16-year-old days, without the flower crown and 11 P.M. curfew. As one of the last acts, the expectations are always high as people wonder, should I get a head start on getting out of here or will I miss out on something if I leave? I’m no stranger to Stranger and knew they’d blow the crowd away, but I didn’t expect them to be the highlight of my festival weekend.
My appreciation for music of this genre grew at a surprising rate during my time at Breakaway. For me, there was a perfect mix of newfound artists deserving of recognition as well as everyone’s classic faves.
My Spotify Wrapped is going to look a whole lot different this year compared to last. See you next year.
Our photographer Brooke Tramel (@sentimentalsnaps) was there to capture the experience.
