I don’t think I have ever seen such a positive common consensus about a festival. This is especially rare considering it’s is the first festival to be hosted at the Ace*Mission Studios venue. Everyone (including me) loved it.
If you’ve ever been to Factory Town during Miami Music Week, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to being back. Ace*Mission Studios provides an outstanding outdoor, multi-stage setup, and Insomniac’s Factory 93 brand made sure to bring the production and talent.
Ace*Mission Studios was originally built as a beverage distribution hub, before being re-imagined as a creative campus at the centre of a flourishing neighbourhood: the Arts District of Los Angeles. The property has undergone major repositioning into cutting-edge production studios and creative offices, with 8 professional sound stages across multiple lots.
Spanning sounds across house and techno, Skyline’s musical programming is a tribute to Los Angeles’ layered, ever-evolving identity.
For year 5 of the festival, and with a new venue, the stage designs were fresh, original concepts, drawing inspiration from the Arts District’s surrounding architecture and elements from LA’s artwork. The stages had killer execution, being spot-on to Insomniac’s stage render teaser videos released leading up to the festival.
East Side
This year, the East Side (main stage) really resembled a city’s skyline. Blending different types of lighting and projection mapping to look like buildings, combined with lasers and lots of pyro, it was dope.
The East Side stage sits at the foot of the 6th Street Bridge, with this year’s stage being their biggest yet. With talent including Chris Stussy B2B Marco Carola, KI/KI, I Hate Models, Beltran, Dennis Cruz, Eli Brown, DJ Gigola, and more, this stage was a constant highlight.
West Side
The West Side, the festival’s second-largest stage, sits next to a railroad running alongside the LA River, with trains that honked their horns in tribute to Carl Cox. The West Side stage design is inspired by the countless transmission towers that loom over the city. Located next to the 4th St. bridge, at the edge of the LA River where rail lines, bridges, and power intersect, the West Side stage seamlessly became part of the city’s power grid. It stayed supercharged all weekend long with acts like Joseph Capriati, 999999999, DJ Boring B2B DJ Tennis, VTSS, and Chasewest.
Downtown
The Downtown stage was the third stage and brought unique value fully on par with the others. Featuring L-Acoustics 360° spatial audio experience, you’re wrapped in sound and lights in a way that feels immersive from every angle.
Featuring longtime visionaries, upcoming boundary-pushers, fan favourites, and innovators, this stage had killer sets from Richie Hawtin, Zach Fox B2B JYOTY, MCR-T, Ben UFO, SPFDJ, and more. Hosted by Resident Advisor.
Arts District (and Afters)
The fourth and final stage, The Arts District, brought a more intimate feel to the festival and also doubled as the home of the on-site afters. This dance floor kept bumping until 3am.
The sound on this stage was killer, with Ibiza-esque lighting and groovy tunes. I caught the Day 1 afters with Miguelle & Tons and Dennis Cruz, it was a blast.
Overall
The festival merch is trendy enough for everyday streetwear and even had a limited-run collab with the infamous Von Dutch. In addition to Skyline, Insomniac, and Factory 93 merch available. You could also shop vinyl’s and explore a variety of experiences across the Arts District.
At its core, Skyline celebrates the underground and LA’s thriving techno and house culture.
The stage production was great, and the musical selection was incredible. Some of my favourite sets included Chris Stussy B2B Marco Carola, I Hate Models, KI/KI, Beltran, Dennis Cruz, Joseph Capriati, and Richie Hawtin. It was also refreshing to see so many artists for the first time, despite going to so many festivals. Great European talent and Ibiza off-season grabs mixed with underground and up-and-coming acts. I’m impressed.
The festival felt like it was at a perfect capacity, with room at each stage to dance and easy movement between stages. The grounds felt great: big, but not too big, with lots of experiences, art installations, and food and beverage options to explore.
Skyline’s debut at Ace*Mission Studios seemed to go off flawlessly. I’ll be back next year.
But first, stay tuned for Time Warp’s LA debut, also at Ace*Mission Studios.
Check out my videos from the festival
Learn more about this year’s lineup