photo by Lung Liu
Yes, there is a ton of house, trance & other electronic music at Burning Man but you can also find live music, classical music, jazz, hip hop, and everything in between on the playa. And, while I love a four-to-the-floor beat, here’s some of my favorite places to find music other than techno:
Classical Music
With 2 orchestras, you might think Burning Man is all about Bach, rather than beats:
Black Rock Philharmonic is Black Rock’s biggest orchestra. They usually play at one of the major art pieces and once at the Temple. There’s also the PlayaPops Symphony Orchestra which has four performances throughout the week, each an hour long.
Live Music
Crossroads is the biggest live music camp at the Burn, hosting large concerts of world-class bands and performers across many genres.
Playa Jazz has live Jazz Jam Sessions every night from 10pm – 2am. During the days, they hold workshop and classes for musicians, aficionados & the jazz-curious.
Reverbia is an All Live Music Camp with 4 stages and an interactive orchestral sound bath art installation.
Black Rock Piano Lounge is a 2-story piano lounge with flame throwers & live music.
Center Camp always has a stage with performances, but since they ended coffee sales, last year was very quiet. However, it sounds like they are trying to get the space more activated this year, so it’s worth checking out, especially if you have some music of your own you want to share.
Choirs
Playa Choir performs their major concert at Sunday sunrise at the temple (which I try to catch each year). If you don’t mind the heat created by their large choir and standing-room only audience, you can go to their dome for the Playa Choir’s “non-denominational, non-religious and entirely spiritual and moving Service” at 11:00am the same day. Rehearsals are open to spectators, Monday through Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 1:00p.m. No audition required.
Like the choir, the playa also has its own marching band with Burning Band Camp.
Other Music
Conscious dance camps like Rhythm Wave, Camp Contact, and the partner dance camp Partner Dance Adventures offer a range of music to move to, rarely playing EDM.
Then there are the smaller bars and camps and art cars that play their own tunes. DPW wouldn’t be caught dead playing EDM, tending to blast metal and rock from the Ghetto’s bar. Last year, I caught an epic hip hop set at One Love‘s art car during Saturday’s whiteout. Harmonic is a synthwave-themed restaurant featuring synthwave music. And so far, people have let m.
Sound Baths
Gong Wrong will have gong baths & sound baths. And there will undoubtedly be other sound baths at the playa this year accompanying some of the breath work & ceremonies at camps like Playalchemist, Camp Mystic, and Anahansana Village.
