Nocturnal Valley runs September 24-26th at Astral Valley Art Park in French Village, Missouri. Tickets are live here.
A lot of festivals I’ve been to tend to just announce themselves and hope that the room turns around and looks at them. Nocturnal Valley kicked the door down, Notorious B.I.G. style. They sat down at the head of the table, and started carving the roast before anyone could ask who invited it. And so the other festival-goers are just staring at it while it cuts the meat, like, “who the hell is this guy?”
The Lineup That Broke My Group Chat
When the Phase One lineup dropped in March, the scene reacted like how you’d react if your buddy who’s never cooked before served you a picture-perfect beef wellington. STS9, G Jones, Daily Bread, Emancipator, The Disco Biscuits, Detox Unit, Jade Cicada, Mickman, Skream, TroyBoi, Hamdi, Caspa, Ott., KOAN Sound, Maddy O’Neal, Thought Process, Chris Karns. Then Supertask did a two-hour reverse journey set plus a surprise Peekaboo b2b LYNY? Wild.
Then Phase Two hit in August, and they added Ivy Lab, Ab-Soul, Mindchatter, and Echo Brown, because apparently the first one wasn’t enough of a flex.
I’m going to say it…”this is the best lineup of the summer. My group chat has been arguing about set conflicts since March for a festival that has never once existed.”
How the hell did this happen in French Village, Missouri, of all places?
Because this is the kind of lineup that should be in Chicago or New York. Or even some canyon in California with a Red Bull sponsorship and a $600 GA tier. A town of roughly 300 people, 45 minutes outside St. Louis, down a road you probably wouldn’t be able to get to without GPS. This is the lineup of the century. Meanwhile, it’s happening in the middle of absolute nowhere, in a state most of the coasts can’t locate on a map (confidently, at least).
Meet The Creators Behind Downright Entertainment
Downright Entertainment is a St. Louis production company that has spent ten years building one of the most respected bass operations in the country. Between Warehouse rave-style events, curated afterparties (like the Orion afters), camping festivals, large scale bass showcases across all of experimental electronic music. Their whole thing has been grassroots energy and heavy sound design. Respectfully, their lineups are aimed menacingly at the people who know this scene really well.
Honestly, their tagline “bringing music we love to the people we love,” sounds like a truism until you look at what they just booked and realize they meant it literally.
Nocturnal Valley is their 10th anniversary party, going down September 24-26. It’s a decade long getting the beautiful wedding it deserves, and we love celebrating love over here.
Three Stages, Three Rigs, Zero Chill
One of the areas where Nocturnal Valley separates itself from every other debut festival of the year is that they are bringing in some of the most respected sound system brands the music world has to offer. The Astral Stage runs Funktion-One Vero, the Nocturnal Stage runs Hennessey Sound Design, and the Forest Stage runs VOID Acoustics.
Three stages = three of the most respected audio systems on the planet
Vero on a main stage is what you get at a festival that’s been running for ten years, has a corporate partner, and that one finance dude who says no sometimes. Meanwhile, Hennessy on the Nocturnal Stage is a nod to the sound-design-obsessed crowd this weekend was curated for. VOID in the trees is a choice made by people who probably know exactly what a forest does to low end, and who wanted that stage to feel like its own world rather than a smaller version of the main one.
In short, for a first-year event, spending this on audio is a statement. Downright is telling you they know what the heck is up.
The stages roll open in a nice sequence too. Forest on Wednesday for Early Arrival Pre-Party pass holders, Forest and Nocturnal on Thursday, and all three Friday and Saturday once Astral joins the rotation.
The Takeovers
The programming beneath the headliners is where this weekend gets super special. My friends and I have a phrase we tell each other: ‘real heads know.’
1985 Takeover: Monty, Hijinx, and Echo Brown. A proper (pronounced ‘propa’ in a British accent, if you will) showcase from one of the most influential backbones of modern drum & bass music.
all:lo Takeover: pheel., parkbreezy, Alex Unger, and TF Marz, with Thought Process bringing a full live band performance. Live instrumentation dropped into the middle of a bass-heavy lineup is always a nice palate cleanser. Thought Process has more than enough material to do that.
Colony Productions Takeover: Mike Wallis, Humandala, Restraint, and an Alejo uptempo set. That last one deserves its own recognition, as Alejo has been touring his new album performance rather than playing uptempo. If you’ve been following what these guys have been doing the past few years, these are the sets to be at.
A Word About The Cookout
Grll Smth vs. The Crawdad Sniper: Crawboil: All-American Cookout: yes, that’s Kll Smth, temporarily retired from killing and reassigned to grilling. A versus set built around him flipping burgers and glizzies while an actual crawfish boil goes down. Who gave this set the green light?? Because this set is going to become lore. In fact, both crawdad’s crawboils and Grll Smth’s sets get rowdy, and people tend to remember the unique sets, especially when their bellies are full. I know I myself will be telling my grandkids about that time I stuck a glizzy in a crawfish and scarfed it down like nobody was watching (mind your own damn business if you see me doing it).
The Sets You Won’t Get Anywhere Else
Halogenix is playing his only US performance of the year at Nocturnal Valley. If, like me, you want to see him stateside, this is the weekend to do it. The Disco Biscuits are playing twice: once as The Biscuits, and once as Tractor Beam. Getting both in a single weekend is a rare gift to the jam and electronic crossover crowd alike.
On top of that, Resonant Language is doing double duty with a banger set and an ambient hardware sunrise set. Given that music runs until 8 am, the ambient hardware sunrise in the Ozarks is going to be an incredible moment to witness as the sun comes up smiling at our beautiful faces.
Detox Unit and Glass Crane, two of the best at what they do, also have two sets. After witnessing Detox Unit crush his Secret Dreams sets and his Infrasound sets, I can confidently say he deserves multiple performances, and his catalog pockets are deep enough to do it.
Jade Cicada is joined by Android Jones, a banger of an exceptional tandem. With Android being a legend of the visionary world, this is a pairing that needs zero explanation to any folks who have seen either of them at work.
The Festival Grounds
Astral Valley Art Park sits around 45 minutes south of St. Louis in French Village, Missouri. 700+ acres of Ozark ridgeline in the St. Francois Mountains, druzy quartz running through the creek beds and hiking trails. If you’ve been on site for Astral Lights or 4321, you probably already know how special this place is.
Multiple swimming holes, two free shower houses (Forest Stage and Stargazer Campground), heavy tree cover for daytime heat. Open sky over the stages at night. That said, late September in Missouri usually runs about 75-85 in the day and 55-65 degrees after dark, so bring layers. They say stargazing is really great out there, so make sure to look up every once in a while.
No Service, By Design?
Cell coverage on-site is pretty limited, and there’s no public WiFi. Let us speak plainly about the intent here: disconnect, slow down, be present, be where you are, be who you are. Download your ticket barcode before you arrive.
It’s an 18+ event with medical and harm reduction onsite. Zero Waste Event productions handling diversion (bring recyclables to their sorting center and trade them for prizes!), and a Leave No Trace ethic that goes down to biodegradable soap in the swimming holes.
Nocturnal Valley runs September 24-26th at Astral Valley Art Park in French Village, Missouri. VIP and RV campsites are sold out. 2-day passes covering Friday and Saturday are on sale. Platinum Condo and Yurt upgrades are extremely limited. Your ticket does not include parking. Every vehicle needs a Car Pass or Day Parking Pass, and they won’t be sold at the box office. No car re-entry once you’re camped.
I still don’t fully understand how a first-year festival pulled this off. But I’ve finally made peace with not understanding it. Some things you just show up for. Smile and wave, boys.
See you in bumblefuck Missouri!
Tickets are live here
Nocturnal Valley runs September 24-26th at Astral Valley Art Park in French Village, Missouri. Tickets are live here.
A lot of festivals I’ve been to tend to just announce themselves and hope that the room turns around and looks at them. Nocturnal Valley kicked the door down, Notorious B.I.G. style. They sat down at the head of the table, and started carving the roast before anyone could ask who invited it. And so the other festival-goers are just staring at it while it cuts the meat, like, “who the hell is this guy?”
The Lineup That Broke My Group Chat
When the Phase One lineup dropped in March, the scene reacted like how you’d react if your buddy who’s never cooked before served you a picture-perfect beef wellington. STS9, G Jones, Daily Bread, Emancipator, The Disco Biscuits, Detox Unit, Jade Cicada, Mickman, Skream, TroyBoi, Hamdi, Caspa, Ott., KOAN Sound, Maddy O’Neal, Thought Process, Chris Karns. Then Supertask did a two-hour reverse journey set plus a surprise Peekaboo b2b LYNY? Wild.
Then Phase Two hit in August, and they added Ivy Lab, Ab-Soul, Mindchatter, and Echo Brown, because apparently the first one wasn’t enough of a flex.
How the hell did this happen in French Village, Missouri, of all places?
Because this is the kind of lineup that should be in Chicago or New York. Or even some canyon in California with a Red Bull sponsorship and a $600 GA tier. A town of roughly 300 people, 45 minutes outside St. Louis, down a road you probably wouldn’t be able to get to without GPS. This is the lineup of the century. Meanwhile, it’s happening in the middle of absolute nowhere, in a state most of the coasts can’t locate on a map (confidently, at least).
Meet The Creators Behind Downright Entertainment
Downright Entertainment is a St. Louis production company that has spent ten years building one of the most respected bass operations in the country. Between Warehouse rave-style events, curated afterparties (like the Orion afters), camping festivals, large scale bass showcases across all of experimental electronic music. Their whole thing has been grassroots energy and heavy sound design. Respectfully, their lineups are aimed menacingly at the people who know this scene really well.
Honestly, their tagline “bringing music we love to the people we love,” sounds like a truism until you look at what they just booked and realize they meant it literally.
Nocturnal Valley is their 10th anniversary party, going down September 24-26. It’s a decade long getting the beautiful wedding it deserves, and we love celebrating love over here.
Three Stages, Three Rigs, Zero Chill
One of the areas where Nocturnal Valley separates itself from every other debut festival of the year is that they are bringing in some of the most respected sound system brands the music world has to offer. The Astral Stage runs Funktion-One Vero, the Nocturnal Stage runs Hennessey Sound Design, and the Forest Stage runs VOID Acoustics.
Vero on a main stage is what you get at a festival that’s been running for ten years, has a corporate partner, and that one finance dude who says no sometimes. Meanwhile, Hennessy on the Nocturnal Stage is a nod to the sound-design-obsessed crowd this weekend was curated for. VOID in the trees is a choice made by people who probably know exactly what a forest does to low end, and who wanted that stage to feel like its own world rather than a smaller version of the main one.
In short, for a first-year event, spending this on audio is a statement. Downright is telling you they know what the heck is up.
The stages roll open in a nice sequence too. Forest on Wednesday for Early Arrival Pre-Party pass holders, Forest and Nocturnal on Thursday, and all three Friday and Saturday once Astral joins the rotation.
The Takeovers
The programming beneath the headliners is where this weekend gets super special. My friends and I have a phrase we tell each other: ‘real heads know.’
1985 Takeover: Monty, Hijinx, and Echo Brown. A proper (pronounced ‘propa’ in a British accent, if you will) showcase from one of the most influential backbones of modern drum & bass music.
all:lo Takeover: pheel., parkbreezy, Alex Unger, and TF Marz, with Thought Process bringing a full live band performance. Live instrumentation dropped into the middle of a bass-heavy lineup is always a nice palate cleanser. Thought Process has more than enough material to do that.
Colony Productions Takeover: Mike Wallis, Humandala, Restraint, and an Alejo uptempo set. That last one deserves its own recognition, as Alejo has been touring his new album performance rather than playing uptempo. If you’ve been following what these guys have been doing the past few years, these are the sets to be at.
A Word About The Cookout
Grll Smth vs. The Crawdad Sniper: Crawboil: All-American Cookout: yes, that’s Kll Smth, temporarily retired from killing and reassigned to grilling. A versus set built around him flipping burgers and glizzies while an actual crawfish boil goes down. Who gave this set the green light?? Because this set is going to become lore. In fact, both crawdad’s crawboils and Grll Smth’s sets get rowdy, and people tend to remember the unique sets, especially when their bellies are full. I know I myself will be telling my grandkids about that time I stuck a glizzy in a crawfish and scarfed it down like nobody was watching (mind your own damn business if you see me doing it).
The Sets You Won’t Get Anywhere Else
Halogenix is playing his only US performance of the year at Nocturnal Valley. If, like me, you want to see him stateside, this is the weekend to do it. The Disco Biscuits are playing twice: once as The Biscuits, and once as Tractor Beam. Getting both in a single weekend is a rare gift to the jam and electronic crossover crowd alike.
On top of that, Resonant Language is doing double duty with a banger set and an ambient hardware sunrise set. Given that music runs until 8 am, the ambient hardware sunrise in the Ozarks is going to be an incredible moment to witness as the sun comes up smiling at our beautiful faces.
Detox Unit and Glass Crane, two of the best at what they do, also have two sets. After witnessing Detox Unit crush his Secret Dreams sets and his Infrasound sets, I can confidently say he deserves multiple performances, and his catalog pockets are deep enough to do it.
Jade Cicada is joined by Android Jones, a banger of an exceptional tandem. With Android being a legend of the visionary world, this is a pairing that needs zero explanation to any folks who have seen either of them at work.
The Festival Grounds
Astral Valley Art Park sits around 45 minutes south of St. Louis in French Village, Missouri. 700+ acres of Ozark ridgeline in the St. Francois Mountains, druzy quartz running through the creek beds and hiking trails. If you’ve been on site for Astral Lights or 4321, you probably already know how special this place is.
Multiple swimming holes, two free shower houses (Forest Stage and Stargazer Campground), heavy tree cover for daytime heat. Open sky over the stages at night. That said, late September in Missouri usually runs about 75-85 in the day and 55-65 degrees after dark, so bring layers. They say stargazing is really great out there, so make sure to look up every once in a while.
No Service, By Design?
Cell coverage on-site is pretty limited, and there’s no public WiFi. Let us speak plainly about the intent here: disconnect, slow down, be present, be where you are, be who you are. Download your ticket barcode before you arrive.
It’s an 18+ event with medical and harm reduction onsite. Zero Waste Event productions handling diversion (bring recyclables to their sorting center and trade them for prizes!), and a Leave No Trace ethic that goes down to biodegradable soap in the swimming holes.
Nocturnal Valley runs September 24-26th at Astral Valley Art Park in French Village, Missouri. VIP and RV campsites are sold out. 2-day passes covering Friday and Saturday are on sale. Platinum Condo and Yurt upgrades are extremely limited. Your ticket does not include parking. Every vehicle needs a Car Pass or Day Parking Pass, and they won’t be sold at the box office. No car re-entry once you’re camped.
I still don’t fully understand how a first-year festival pulled this off. But I’ve finally made peace with not understanding it. Some things you just show up for. Smile and wave, boys.
See you in bumblefuck Missouri!
Tickets are live here
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