Arizona struck gold last weekend with Goldrush, a music festival featuring 26 DJs and never before seen B2B headliners lighting up the desert with high energy sets. The music festival made its long awaited return to the Rawhide Western Town in Chandler after an eight year hiatus.
The festival opened its doors at 6 p.m. on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 There were multiple stages to choose from depending on the size and experience of the artist, as well as the style of music you were looking to hear.
A popular favorite, the “Golden Gorge” stage, showcased large artists such as Crankdat, Excision, Major Lazer, Disco Lines, Illenium and Zeds Dead. With five other stages to choose from, the listening possibilities were endless.
Each artist’s set ranged from 60 to 90 minutes— the larger artists getting a longer set time. The festival closed out each night around 2 a.m.
Scottish duo LF System perform at Goldrush. (Photo courtesy Pedro Rojo)
Starting with the smaller Hideout stage sponsored by Beatbox, Scottish DJ duo LF System started their set at 10 p.m. They played a disco-inspired house set featuring hits like Afraid to Feel and Show Me Love, setting a feel good vibe for the rest of the night.
Dillion Francis kept the crowd alive at the Golden Gorge. His set was mainly remixes of popular songs like “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye and “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. He featured strong colored visuals to match the sound of his remixes and used sparklers at beat drops.
Crankdat, an Ohio born DJ known for strong bass and high energy sounds, took over the stage. He brought an aggressive and electrifying dubstep set. He played a mix of newer sounds like “Whiplash” released in March 2025 with his more popular songs like “STFU” with over 11 million streams.
Crankdat performs at the Golden Gorge stage at Goldrush. (Photo courtesy Pedro Rojo)
Crankdat played a high intensity set by blasting heavy remixes with his originals like “Ding Dong” and “Crank Anthem.” He paired this with graphics showing him on the DJ stand with special effects adding different colors and outlines at times.
During the middle of his set he remixed Pitbull’s “Hotel Room Service” adding heavy bass. He showed a “Crankdat Hotel” video featuring an older style hotel with the words shown on a sign in neon red.
Following the act was the long anticipated Excision, his unique sound is built from dynamic, energetic and bass sounds. His set was filled with dubstep, riddim, bright visuals and sharp lasers.
His set featured fan favorites like “Feel Something” with Illenium and I Prevail and his remix of “Zombie” by the Cranberries. He introduced some unreleased songs like his remix of “Sweater Weather” by The Neighborhood, leaving his distinct dubstep mark.
His visuals started with his iconic “X” in different bright colors and moving background graphics. Later in his set, he showed clips from the popular video game “Minecraft” during his riddim songs.
Excision ended his vibrant, headbanging set with fireworks, a perfect ending to day one.
Excision performs at the Golden Gorge stage at Goldrush. (Photo courtesy Pedro Rojo)
Ashley Carmichael, long time raver, said “Excision’s set had my jaw dropping between his song choices and his vibrant visuals.”
On day two, Disco Lines opened his set at the Golden Gorge stage with his song “Wide Open”. This house song set the tone for the remainder of his set, as he continued to play music with good and fun energy.
His single, “No Broke Boys” with 300 million streams, picked up the crowd's energy halfway through his set. He showed bits of his music video he made in collaboration with Tinashe showing clips of them in Las Vegas and performing at LIV Beach.
Disco Lines closed out his set with a Zeds Dead inspired remix of his biggest hit “BABY GIRL.”
Kompany performs at the Pioneer Peak stage at Goldrush. (Photo courtesy Pedro Rojo)
Major Lazer came on shortly after Disco Lines, featuring multiple different styles of music. They are most known for the pop sound with hits like “Lean On,” but they performed an RnB remix style set including a remix of “FE!N” by Travis Scott.
They are set apart from other artists when it comes to their stage presence and their song choices. America Foster stood on the edge of the stage dancing and encouraging the crowd to vocally engage with their songs.
Zeds Dead performed with Illenium for the first time ever to close out Goldrush. The three DJs performed as “Zedlenium”, opening with Zeds Dead's 2009 remix of “Eyes on Fire” before leading into popular Illenium songs like “All That Really Matters” and “Forever.”
Their visuals featured both of their logos in color projected onto a black background across the screens.
This shifted during Zeds Dead’s hit “One of These Mornings” which samples “Summertime (Live)” by Ella Fitzgerald and shows the original live performance from 1968.
Zeds Dead and Illenium perform their first-ever set together at Goldrush. (Photo courtesy of Pedro Rojo)
Towards the middle of the set, Zeds Dead kept the crowd’s energy high with their popular house single “One Three Nine.”
To end the weekend, Zeds Dead and Illenium teased their new unreleased collaboration. They added lasers and a firework display to finish the set people will be talking about months later.
Aside from the music, there were various activities in the VIP section to keep you occupied. There was a Kandi making station, which is a popular term in the rave community for making beaded friendship bracelets.
There was also hair braiding, a seating area with hammocks and benches for relaxation, and a food and beverage stand offering discounted pricing.
Merchandise, which could be purchased on site or online, was a big hit. Several artists had multiple designs to choose from that catered to various styles. Merchandise included t-shirts, hoodies, jerseys, flags and hats.
Relentless Beats also announced the 2026 presale is beginning soon for Goldrush: Midnight Riders.
Goldrush Arizona 2025 proved once again that the western style EDM festival is a staple part of the Southwest music scene. The festival successfully catered to all, thanks to Relentless Beats and their musically diverse lineup.