Michigan’s biggest music festival announced its “initial” lineup for the June festival in Rothbury, with Disclosure, Fisher, Liquid Stranger and more set to light up the Forest.
Electric Forest Fun: The festival returns next June with a star-studded electronic music lineup. Photo featured in the 2025 Local Spins Calendars available by clicking on the photo. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
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If there is any indicator that it’s the first Tuesday in December, it’s the highly anticipated reveal of the lineup for Electric Forest taking place roughly six months later.
The 2025 edition of the state’s biggest music festival taking place June 19-22 in Rothbury played into fan expectations with a riddle of sorts released on X (Twitter) Monday: “Deep in The Forest we’re told, a rumor begins to take hold. Now’s the time to prepare, crossed sounds fill the air! Electric rhythms bright and bold.”
Almost immediately every message board lit up with people guessing what the message meant so far as the lineup goes, and reading through the comments was just about the most Forest thing I have experienced.
Perhaps at the top of that list is the “High Priestess of Techno,” Sara Landry, whose original and make-up sets were rained out last year when massive storms blew through ground zero of Electric Forest.
Tiësto: The Netherlands DJ played Grand Rapids’ Breakaway Festival in 2023. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Fan favorites Disclosure, Fisher, Louis the Child and Tiësto anchor an already amazing lineup of electronic music stars that also includes Worship, Justice and Liquid Stranger.
Many if not most of the Electric Forest forums I belong to have noted the absence of bass artists, but most anticipate these will be released in Phase 2 of the festival’s lineup reveal.
Something I’m always intrigued by are not necessarily the expected headliners, but where talent buyers go all-in on emerging artists that are nearing the peak. It could be argued that no one has had a more meteoric rise than the jazz-inspired Afro-beat/house artist Barry Can’t Swim, followed by house and techno DJ/producer Mochakk.
Perhaps the vibiest (is that even a word) act is the psychedelic soul artist Khruangbin. Spend some time on YouTube checking out this Houston trio before the festival as they’re great fun. (Video below.)
Can’t miss sets likely deep in the forest are house/tech-house producer Loco Dice and techno artist Lilly Palmer; UK house artist Will Clarke has always had a great home in West Michigan as well.
To mix things up musically, Chicago jazz/funk/soul ensemble LowDown Brass Band, Michigan’s one-man symphony, Dixon’s Violin (a Forest institution), and L.A. thrash-funk outfit Evening Elephants also are on the bill.
Passes for the 2025 festival go on sale at noon Friday. Fans can register online now here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Todd Ernst has been an electronic music DJ and promoter for 30+ years, and performs as the artist TELLURIUM. While his days are spent as the owner of an indie real estate brokerage; he also owns EXSIGN, which is an experiential entity that designs and manages corporate, non-profit and nightlife events like Irish On Ionia and TEDxGrandRapids. He regularly provides insights into the electronic music world with his ‘Looking for the Perfect Beat’ columns at Local Spins.
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