Gem and Jam Festival 2026

I want to preface this all by saying that I am not usually into EDM or EDM adjacent genres at all. The furthest I venture into that is listening to Daft Punk’s Alive 2007 set, and seeing Justice at M3F last year in Phoenix. So basically, I only listen to the foundation of the genre and Daft Punk’s successors. I always thought it wasn’t for me. It was too loud, too overwhelming, and too “weird” to me. That being said, Gem & Jam was a fantastic introduction to EDM festivals and the community that comes with it.

My first day, after I picked up my credentials, I met this woman named Amanda. She had travelled alone from Salt Lake City to attend the festival. I had asked why she decided to make a fourteen hour commute to Gem & Jam and she said, “My friend offered me a ticket, he’s working at this festival, and I’ve heard great things about it.” I have also heard great things about this festival and about the EDM community in general. My friend Meredith is an avid festivalgoer, so I asked her if there was anything I should know or any tips she might have about attending. She said, “PLURR is the general culture of the edm community. Peace, love, unity, respect & responsibility! It’s all about looking out for each other and practicing kindness while we all enjoy the music together.” I was able to experience this firsthand. As I moved through the crowds to get photos of the artists and concertgoers, people would move out of the way and watch out for my gear. I got approached so many times with people asking if I could take their photo, and of course I said yes every time with a smile on my face.

First up for my festival coverage was Wonky Willa. The 23 year old DJ from Florida took to the Onyx stage with colorful props, and flame performers alongside the usual giant screens and lasers. With a very bass focused sound, this set might be one of the loudest performances I have heard from any band, musician, group, or DJ, and as someone who has been a musician myself for the past 15 years, that is quite something. I was up front along the barricade to get my photos and I swear I could feel my insides vibrating with the bass frequencies. I also had to crank my shutter speed on my camera as the reverberations kept causing the sensor to shift very slightly too. It was such a weird feeling, and I would not have minded if it weren’t for my earplugs not being good enough to fully protect myself from being right near the speakers. To give my ears a break, I spent time walking the perimeter of the indoor space while observing festivalgoers vibing to his set. The vibes were immaculate; it felt like being at a well shot nightclub in a movie with incredible lighting. 

CloZee was the closer for night one. I didn’t know what to expect from a closing set at an EDM set, but CloZee set the bar high. With fantastic visuals and music that puts you into a trance, I loved watching it from beginning to end. A kaleidoscope of influences matching a frequent kaleidoscope background, CloZee has clearly taken influences and sounds from various cultures and their respective instruments. I heard didgeridoos, an Erhu, and a Guzheng, among others as well. It is hard to lock her down to a specific subgenre due to so many influences but all tracks remain very bass heavy and world music inspired. 

SaxSquatch was the set I was most excited for this weekend. I had seen him on Tiktok for a few years and the live set did not let me down at all. I’m not sure if it’s because I was more familiar with him, or if it was the covers and remixes he played, but the crowd interaction and vibe was fantastic. The whole set felt like a big dance party. As the self proclaimed “biggest fan of Daft Punk,” I personally lost my mind when he played a cover of Get Lucky. SaxSquatch had an incredible stage presence and engaged with the crowd like a pro. Towards the end of his set, he came down to the crowd to play his saxophone and it was the most fun I had all weekend. I am always a fan when a musician incorporates a real instrument into their EDM set. I think blending genres and practices like that is very unique and never gets old. Oh, and by the way, the guy really is 7ft tall. 

The last two sets of the night were Troyboi and G Jones with Eprom. These were really what I imagined an EDM festival set to be. However, Troyboi was much more relaxed compared to G Jones and Eprom. GJones and Eprom were very bass heavy and had a lot more elements of dubstep, glitch, and trap in the set. Personally not my cup of tea musically, as I come from a classical background, but the visuals were very fascinating to me. Unlike other colorful sets, the stage was mostly monochrome with a lot of black and white graphics on the stage. The crowd was eating the set up. What I noticed most from this weekend is that no one is afraid to express how the music moves them; how it affects them emotionally and how it moves their body. That’s really what it’s all about honestly.

For the final day, Tycho took the stage last. He incorporates a lot of live instrumentation into his sets, with him on the keys/synths, and a live drummer and guitarist. This set didn’t draw the biggest set of the weekend, that was CloZee, but I attribute that to being because he was playing Sunday night and NOT because of popularity. Despite the smaller crowd size, the vibes were still there in full force. Everyone was engaged and dancing their pain and troubles away. In comparison to other sets this weekend, Tycho had the most laid back setlist. It felt very coastally ambient to me. Like someone made these tracks while standing on the beach in La Jolla. I think I would absolutely revisit these tracks in the future. 

Gem & Jam had great vendors, friendly staff and security, and attendees of all ages and walks of life. Every single person I spoke to was so kind and really seemed to care deeply about connections formed, both to the people around them, and to the music they came to hear. As far as introductions to this culture goes, I could not have asked for a better one. I look forward to seeing where the festival goes from here and to see the community in Tucson grow.

Photos and article written by Liam Duffy