The Inaugural Intersect Festival Clashes Music, Art & Technology

The very first Intersect Festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds took patrons to newer heights on December 6 and 7.

Spawning from re:Invent conference by Amazon Web Services (AWS), which was only open to the re:Invent community, Intersect Festival opened up visually-appealing perks to the public.

Not only did the two-day event feature over 35 musical acts across three stages, the new festival gave attendees a unique experience that came in the form of drone shows, an arcade and even post-apocalyptic dodge ball just to name a few.

Upon arriving, concertgoers were attracted to a six-story, tech-inspired monolith that featured an abundance of trippy visuals to go with high definition sound. It wasn’t uncommon to see attendees stuck here before exploring the rest of the 1.5 million square-foot venue.

Intersect boasted four tents/stages: Supernova, Infinity, Experience and the Dome.

Supernova was the main stage and included sets from H.E.R., Anderson .Paak, Leon Bridges and the Foo Fighters. Not only was the tent large enough to fit the entire festival, there was plenty of room towards the back that gave concertgoers an awesome view of the incredible stage production without dealing with shoulder-to-shoulder situations. The pathways on the sides of the tent gave attendees easy ins and outs.

The Infinity stage was much smaller in terms of size and highlighted performances from Channel Tres, Kaytranada, Flying Lotus and Gesaffelstein. One notable performance was that of Flying Lotus, which was supposed to feature a 3D light show. Unfortunately, technical difficulties cut his set short, causing him to storm off stage without a word.

The Experience tent was one of the main attractions of this festival, as it featured the non-musical displays like a ball pit for grown-ups, light shows, an arcade and larger-than-life Button Mash. One light show placed attendees in a dark room, simulating an out-of-world experience that made the lights seem touchable. The other included a cube, having certain sides lighting up in accordance to the music that was playing.

The Dome was the smallest stage and its atmosphere was very reminiscent of what you’d normally find at a rave. Despite its size, the Dome was a popular spot where people could get their trap fix in and ironically head bang in peace. The stage included sets from acts like Snail Mail and Japanese Breakfast.

Another unique showcase was the drone shows from each night, which consisted of 500 synchronized units putting on a light show just above Las Vegas Boulevard. On the first night, the drone performance dubbed UPLIFT was in collaboration with country star Kacey Musgraves and celebrated women in technology. The second night featured The Expanse Drone Space Opera, which promoted the fourth season of “The Expanse” coming to Amazon Video.

Overall, the festival was a pleasant experience for attendees. It gave them a different spin than traditional music events with all the photo opps available throughout the venue. Although this was the festival’s first installment, its setup and organization (which helped reduced foot traffic and lines) did not seem like this was its first go around. The stage production for each musical act was superb and the diverse curation of genres reeled in a melting pot of all ages.

Next year’s edition will surely bring new experiences and attract a bigger crowd with even bigger headliners on the musical bill.

Check out the official recap below.

Contact the writer/photographer at brianaustinalvarado@gmail.com. Follow him @visualsnipe on Twitter and Instagram.