Fresh Pressed delivers refreshing new flavor to Pacific Northwest events (DMNW Review)

It’s been a long time coming, but after a year-and-a-half of not having live music – at least not in a normal capacity – White Rabbit Group and LED Presents delivered Fresh Pressed, a spectacular event on July 17 and 18.

The two-day mini-festival brought together a myriad of house and electronic music fans from all over the Pacific Northwest, delivering a breath of normalcy in this post-COVID era. The weather was beautiful and Haub Family Field, nestled between the Tacoma Dome and LeMay Car Museum, was the darn near-perfect venue for an outdoor show. Large enough to house a good-sized crowd while still feeling intimate, the field was set up beautifully with areas to get shade, lawn games like cornhole, and plenty of good vibes all around.

Upon entry into the venue, we were greeted by easy-to-find parking and short entry lines! A great start. Care Collective (previously Conscious Crew) was onsite ensuring attendees had access to free water and support services. It was great to see their tent and smiling crew roaming through the venue.

Photo by: Turk Photo

Day 1 of Fresh Pressed brought us the smooth local tunes of Johnny Monsoon, followed by super vibey sets from both Blossom and EDX. One of our favorites of the day was Justin Jay, who surprised everyone by opening with a Whitney Houston remix before an hour of exciting disco flair.

Rounding off the evening were some harder tunes from both SNBRN and Whethan, a nice change of pace before closing out with the ethereal music of Nora en Pure. As sunset hit the stage we were in awe of the view, and as the show ended around 10pm the crowd fulfilled and thrilled to have another day ahead of us.

Day 2 of Fresh Pressed began with Frida K and Nala getting everyone up and dancing. Next, we had to prepare ourselves for some bassy tunes from the likes of Steve Darko, Dombresky, and Yung Bae. Even though our feet may have been tired, there were absolutely no complaints.

The music was perfect and we couldn’t be happier to have space to dance. The crowd was larger on Day 2 and it was lovely to see so many familiar faces. Will Clarke took stage with some funky beats that set us all up for what was to come, house music at it’s finest.

Photo by: Turk Photo

At 8:30 p.m. on the dot, the Claude-father himself, Claude VonStroke, wowed us with a fantastic house set that had every single person in the venue on their feet. We couldn’t help but center ourselves in the middle of the crowd, hands in the air, dancing to songs like Make a Cake and Jolene. It was the perfect end to a fantastic weekend.

We can’t say enough great things about Fresh Pressed, and are excited to see the partnership between White Rabbit Group and LED Presents growing in our region. Looking forward to the next one!