From PJs to DJs, my trip to the Palm Spring’s Desert Air festival proved that respite and joy can always be found on the dance floor.
As a chronically online Millennial, there are certain memes my generation keeps on standby for times of peril. See: “This is Fine Dog” (Everything is not fine; he’s literally in a room on fire) or Chrissy Teigen’s dead-eyed, tear-stained stare at the 2015 Golden Globes.
But one that recently came to mind that perfectly encapsulated a strobe light-flecked moment in time was “Dimitri Finds Out.” Originally a long-forgotten clip taken from inside a Russian nightclub, the clip has been falsely translated several times for the sake of LOLs.
But in the most infamous version, its protagonist, Dimitri, askews the troubles and sorrows of the world with the phrase, “The club is bumping, the ladies look good, the alcohol is flowing, there is much pain in the world but not in this room.”
On election day, my own mental state drifted from jubilant to hopeful to despondent to “This is Fine Dog” to shivering in bed with dead-eyed tears not dissimilar from Ms. Teigen’s. Just making the journey from the bed to the shower to the couch after November 5th seemed like a long-distance flight in of itself.
On the horizon was a trip to Palm Springs for Desert Air, a dance music festival with headlining acts like Kaytranada, Jamie XX, and Club HEAT, a slick dance/performance set from frequent collaborators SG Lewis and Tove Lo. I’ve become a sort of later-in-life fan of music festivals, which surprises even me, seeing as I hate Porta Pottys and standing for longer than six minutes at a time. But I was determined to have fun because “joy is a radical act.” (Quotes are the original memes.)
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Flights of Fancy
Coming from LA, Palm Springs is a short two-hour drive with fun road trip attractions on the route, like the Cabazon Dinosaurs. Or you could hop a zippy, low-cost flight via Hollywood Burbank Airport to the desert destination. Lucky for me, I made my way to PS in style on a semi-private flight via Aero. The luxe airline service isn’t your Oprah-rich grandma’s private jet, either. For a $$$$-but-not-wildly-out-of-the-question-sum you’ll escape the chaos of the airport, park your car, and be greeted by friendly, champagne-toting agents and attendants. The perks don’t end there either. The holy grail of Angeleno-osity, Erewhon, LA’s upscale grocery store de rigueur, is a partner, meaning their fridges are stocked with freshly pressed juices, THE Erewhon brownie, and other posh snacks. Parking myself in the oversized leather lounges, I was genuinely sad when the breezy 29-minute flight came to an end. Let’s fly this thing to Tokyo! (Not an option, but Aero currently has flights to Napa, Aspen, Cabo, and more.)
Check Your Baggage
Palm Springs is the perfect place to check in and tune out the noise of the world. A hub for retirees, the LGBTQ+ community, desert dogs, and everyone in between, it’s a destination that demands relaxation. At first glance, the idea of a dance music festival and relaxation don’t seem to go hand in hand, but the prescription for heartbreak isn’t always lying poolside, drowning your sorrows in another mojito–though that helps. In fact, a recent study showed that dancing is a powerful remedy for anxiety and depression, even more than traditional exercise like sports, martial arts, and weight training.
And with Coachella only a few miles away, the Greater Palm Springs area isn’t an unheard-of location for a music festival. But what was unique was the location chosen for Desert Air. An old airport now functioning as a museum made a dramatic and striking backdrop for the festival.
By day, the Palm Springs Air Museum is a time capsule, playing host to World War II fighter jets and kooky, eerily lifelike mannequins. By night, neon beams of light flashed over the gigantic aircraft, chrome installations bounced green, red, yellow across the stage and event. The old hanger gave way to a euphoric crowd who bounced along to slick and sexy sets in furry cropped bombers and sunglasses.
Desert Air also fostered local-inclined programming during the weekend, offering bike-led architectural tours, yoga, and a day party and after-party sets at new Palm Springs favorites Palm Springs Surf Club and Reforma.
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Heartbreak Feels Good in a Place Like This
Much has been surmised about how alternative culture and partying find their way into the mainstream during troubled political and economic times. We can look to the Roaring ’20s, the Harlem Renaissance, Woodstock, hell, even Brat Summer as examples. Music, particularly dance music, is a source of salvation for all, especially the marginalized. In a world where smaller-scale music festivals and festival culture are becoming increasingly popular, Desert Air stands out for several reasons. The biggest being that the point is to dance—there was no act on the lineup that read pretentious, no acoustic guitars being broken out, and never a dull musical moment.
Looking down the barrel of gulp, another four years, it was very, very easy to put my troubles on standby and let the music do what it needed to. And it did! Kaytranada is a musical wunderkind who can create a bassline like no other, Tove Lo and SG Lewis combined to produce earworm after ass-jiggling earworm, and I was surprised and delighted by new to me acts like Yung Singh and Ketboi69. Desert Air felt safe, electric, alive even. As acts made the crowd erupt when familiar notes began to play, nearby flights from Palm Springs International Airport soared over the full desert moon. There is much pain in the world, but not in this room.
