I go to raves and festivals for the vibes, so rarely will I look too closely at a lineup before I commit to going (unless Charli XCX is playing, in which case I am a rabid superfan). I'm not picky when it comes to electronic music and I love discovering new artists by seeing them play live. This is how I've discovered some of my favorite artists in the past, and it makes that artist discovery experience that much more exciting.
So that's how I approached Get Lucky 2024. I had no expectations, and yet I left excited and inspired with a few new favorites to add to my Spotify library.
The Lineup
I've heard that there are unique challenges in a smaller festival market that bigger festivals don't often see. One of those challenges is balancing a lineup with enough new acts to make the event feel exciting and fresh for veteran ravers while appealing to a wider market with massive headliners.
This challenge is clear in a lineup like Get Lucky, which balances massive acts that have been around for years—like Dillon Francis, Flux Pavilion, and Destructo—with niche or up and coming artists like Cannabliss or Koven who have been making their way onto lineups at some of the major festivals around the globe. This balance brings together a bit of nostalgia and discovery, and made the overall Get Lucky experience feel easy to navigate. Since each stage kept to one genre throughout both of the nights, you could easily identify which artists you wanted to check out based on who the respective headliners were.
Then there are the legends. Throughout the two days of the festival I had heard consistent chatter and excitement for the closing set from Chase and Status on Saturday night. Fresh off the win of the coveted Producer of The Year Award at the Brits for 2024, excitement for this DJ set was unavoidable from just about everyone at Get Lucky—and it lived up to the hype.
I'm not going to say DJ'ing is easy because I don't possess that skill personally, but I will say that when you hear a legendary DJ, you don't forget it. Flawlessly mixing together sounds to build excitement and energy, Saul Milton (one-half of the duo who played at the festival that night) is a master at crowd manipulation. After seeing one of the most memorable DJ sets I've seen in years, it will be hard for other festivals to beat Get Lucky on my list of favorite festivals of 2024.
The Venue
Salt Lake is small—at least by comparison to larger cities like LA and Miami. There aren't many festival venues available, and there are even fewer venues that will let an event go later than midnight. That leaves The Great Saltair as the preferred venue for events like Get Lucky and other electronic music festivals throughout the year. While it has its drawbacks—like the long drive out to the Great Salt Lake—it's still a beloved venue with enough space to hold a large dance floor.
Get Lucky did a great job with adding art installments, vendors, and attractions to make the venue fun to explore. No area ever felt too crowded—even at the rail—and there was never a line that was more than a couple of minutes long.
The Vibe
Even though it's still technically a winter festival, Get Lucky ushered in the start of festival season with positive vibes all around and some fun memories that will be hard to top this year. On Friday Night Dillon Francis brought out a cop onstage to celebrate the release of his new song "Bad Cop" with VINNE, and the crowd's excitement throughout both nights showed that a festival like Get Lucky, which showcases several genres across dance music from house and techno to drum and bass.
