Two weeks ago, Panama City Beach hosted, for the 4th time, their annual Spring Weekend event. This was my first time visiting PCB and attending Spring Weekend. Featured artists included CRESPO, Tchami, Laidback Luke, and Zeds Dead who were new to Spring Weekend and returning artists for the event. I can’t speak for previous years, but attendees and hosts claimed that this was their best year yet. More artists, more people, more raging than ever before. Even though security was tight with their no alcohol on the beach policy, each artist still kept everyone dancing from 12 PM the first day until midnight of the second day.
If this is your first time hearing about the event then it’s a good time to stay tuned for next year's Spring Weekend! This is only a two-day festival, but worth the trip if you have never been to the Florida Panhandle. It's physically impossible to not have a great time out here, so pick your crew and get ready for next year. Their eventual plan is to span the whole beach of stages which could happen down the road, but it’s still young and has plenty of room to grow!
Due to a parking conflict I entered the event just in time for Duelle. Word to the wise, don’t park anywhere in PCB that isn’t your hotel. If you do end up getting towed, make sure to tell the troll that runs the convenience store across the street from the venue that you’ll see her in hell. It’s an inside joke we have together, I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of it! Oh yea and they don’t lock the sketchy lot they hide your cars in after towing so feel free to just drive right on out!
For my first time seeing Krew..errrr…Duelle, PCB was definitely a prime location! The girls, aka Trap Queenz, friggin' slayed the place - it was a refresher to see their amazing energy so early on in the day. The casual beach atmosphere combined with rowdy college students touting mixed drink filled SW mugs made for a great party environment. Thanks to the aforementioned strict no alcohol on the beach policy (lol try and stop me!) the dancefloor was a combination of pristine PCB sand littered with Dada Life Smile Masks. When the banana wielding duo took the decks, the crowd went bonkers. Mugs, masks, and the biggest banana I have ever seen (no homo) all went airborne! Dada Life left the crowd cheering for more, luckily Brillz, 3LAU and Laidback Luke were there to keep everyone satisfied.
When the sun goes down so does the day stage. At this point, everyone disperses briefly to go do some more shots then regroups at the night stage. The day had been filled with hyped-electro beats that Brillz was about to disrupt with his TWONKalicious trap.
After drinking all day in the desert-like sun, this was exactly what everyone needed. 3LAU then continued to cool everyone down with double champagne showers. Just as everyone was starting to feel dry and somewhat sticky, Laidback Luke showed up with his homies, big ass rain clouds, and straight drenched the place. The devoted Laidback fans welcomed the monsoon that followed while others ran for shelter, me included. Luckily waterproof boots and a weather-proof camera kept me alive!
Day two started off like any other festival day. Redbull and vodka for breakfast, followed by our very own twerk team shaking their booties on the shuttle all the way to the venue. Like every other attendee, I was extremely impressed by Ricky Remedy’s set. Having feared a mostly deep day…. Ricky Remedy swooped in and remedied the situation (get it?) by supplying the crowd with some much-needed tender loving bass.
The next few hours were a blur of lights, bass, and vodka. Mija blew everyone away, her intoxicating style quickly converted new listeners into instant fans.
Tchami then took the decks and brought everyone back down to earth just in time for the main event. Zeds Dead wrapped up a nasty set that included some throwbacks and new faves. I easily had twice as much fun dancing to Zeds Dead at Spring Weekend that I had at Ultra a few weeks prior. The Spring Weekend coordinators definitely did an amazing job at carefully selecting talented artists as well as creating a unique party environment that is sure to keep us coming back year after year!
Special Thanks to the Spring Weekend crew, artists, and, of course, the lovely Hope Lansing for making this all happen!