Article by: Alee Noel
A Brief History of Brownies & Lemonade:
Labeled often as the true pulse of dance music in Los Angeles, Brownies & Lemonade has been a name around the block for a decade. Around 2011, Kush Fernando and Jose Guzman started bi-monthly parties out of their dorm room at UCLA. After connecting with Chad Kenney through the party circuit, the essence of Brownies & Lemonade began to truly take shape.
B&L took risks on securing Soundcloud favorites to top the bills of their events, like: Louis the Child, Jai Wolf, Luca Lush, and Prince Fox to name a few. B&L continued to pick up steam as they threw more ambitious events, like accompanying Skrillex to Japan in 2017 and throwing down a massive sold-out show(s) in Miami.
From dorm rooms and warehouses to a full out-of-state festival, they’ve gone through it all. 10 years in the making, fueled by the love of the scene and their commitment to the best new music you haven’t heard yet, Brownies & Lemonade took the plunge (pun not intended) and keeps coming out on top.
Lake Brownies & Lemonade Event Review:
Located a quick 6 hours west of LA (with traffic), after traveling through incredible mountainous desert, one arrives in the oasis that is Lake Havasu. It’s a small tourist and snowbird town — you wouldn’t think the locals would have welcomed ravers… but they did! They were absolutely thrilled we were there.
Most of the town’s population is retired and/or relocated from LA. Surprisingly, several locals (even senior citizens!) expressed interest in attending the festival at surrounding hotels and restaurants. Staff was super sweet and a few locals at the festival described it as “one of the best things to happen to Lake Havasu!”
The Nautical at Lake Havasu was the home of the Lake Brownies & Lemonade festival grounds, and according to locals it is one of Havasu’s best attractions. There couldn’t have been a more perfect venue for Lake B&L, as the pool and lake combo had plenty of comfortable infrastructure set up. Additionally, the venue did have some physical bathroom structures, which were a refreshing alternative to the portable potties near the main stage.
The musical talent booked for the weekend included heavy-hitters like Eprom and Baauer, dynamic acts like Moore Kismet and Blanke, and several up-and-comers like Rossy, who just signed to RL Grime’s label Sable Valley, and Pauline Herr, a talented vocalist and producer. In classic B&L style San Holo also made an appearance as a secret performer. Unfortunately, Apashe wasn’t able to make it, but Habstrakt was able to fill in at the last minute.
The production was great. The Main Stage was large enough for the sizable crowd, and the additional stages were well-treated to their surroundings. Unfortunately, it got a bit too gusty on day two, and the main LED panels behind the Main Stage had to be lowered for safety concerns. The lighting of the Main Stage and the indoor Warehouse Stage was very well done.
Across the board the bookings were a diverse bunch, from Tsu Nami to Snakehips. The only major complaint was the inside stage got a bit overheated, in classic B&L sweaty style, and could have benefitted from fans and/or air conditioners in the back of the room.
Overall, the vibes of Lake Brownies & Lemonade were absolutely fantastic. Being a smaller boutique festival of nearly 2000 attendees, one constantly ran into the same people and it was easy to make friends with polite and smiling strangers. While there were a few logistical details to improve, as is to be expected with a first festival, the event was extremely well run. This is great news for future B&L events, as well as the viability of Lake Havasu to host music festivals.
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