RASA’s fourth edition of Pier Play turned the end of the Santa Monica Pier into the most laid-back rave in LA — Afro-house at golden hour, a world-first Âme Live debut, bubbles, seahorses, and a granny who came for smoke.
Written by Eric B. Thornton
There’s a theory I keep testing at LA events: the venue sets the mood before the first kick drum ever lands. By that logic, Pier Play had already won before anyone touched a CDJ. Hold a dance party at the literal end of the Santa Monica Pier — Pacific to the west, Pacific Park‘s Ferris wheel glowing overhead, Route 66’s last mile under your feet — and the ocean does half the emotional labor for you.
So when RASA brought the festival back for its fourth edition on Saturday, May 30, the result was, hand on heart, one of the chillest events I’ve been to all year. Maybe it was the pier. It was cloudy and a little cold when we walked in, the marine layer doing its moody Santa Monica thing — but ten minutes into dancing, none of us felt it anymore.
A small, honest expectation check first: I assumed the pier’s roller coaster and rides would be spinning all night, festival wristband included. They weren’t. The rides stayed dark. No tragedy, though, because the boardwalk was stocked with carnival classics and arcade games (built out by Santa Monica experiential outfit Something New), so there was still plenty to lose at between sets. Doors opened at 3:30pm, which is Pier Play’s most reliable trick: it hands you the golden hour before the production takes over.
Sunset Belongs to AMÉMÉ
The early evening was AMÉMÉ‘s, and he played it like he understood the assignment down to the molecule. Born Hubert Amémé Sodogandji in Benin and now based in Brooklyn, the One Tribe founder deals in Afro house that’s percussive, warm, and built for open sky — “Afro to the world,” as he likes to put it. For roughly two hours he rode the sunset, groovy and tribal and patient, the kind of set where you don’t notice an hour has gone because your body’s already negotiating with the next groove.
It was during his set that the sea came to the party — literally. Giant inflatable aquatic creatures started bobbing through the crowd: a pair of psychedelic seahorses, a Nemo-orange clownfish, sea turtles, all paraded shoulder-high over a swaying floor with the coaster silhouetted behind them. On a pier, surrounded by actual ocean, it landed as the most on-theme bit of whimsy imaginable.
Âme Goes Live — and the Lasers Come Out
If AMÉMÉ was the warm bath, Âme was the plunge. A quick footnote for the uninitiated, because it trips people up: Âme is a German duo, Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann, and they almost never share a stage. Where AMÉMÉ kept it groovy, Âme (I know the similar names are confusing) went pumping — a driving, techno-leaning set that somehow stayed chill at the edges, the ocean breeze sanding down anything that might’ve felt aggressive elsewhere.
Different vibe, equally good. And right as full dark settled in, the lasers arrived: red and gold beams fanning across thousands of heads, the RASA logo floating in the haze, downtown’s glow off to the side. That’s when the night flipped from nice evening out to somewhere you’ll remember.
On a pier, surrounded by actual ocean, giant seahorses floating over the crowd lands as the most on-theme bit of whimsy imaginable.
Bubbles, Shufflers, and a Granny Who Wanted Smoke
Two things made Pier Play feel less like an event and more like a really good neighborhood block party that happened to have world-class DJs.
The first was the bubbles. All night, periodically, the rig blasted clouds of them across the floor. In daylight they were pretty; after dark, when they drifted up into the stage lights and caught the lasers, they were genuinely magical, thousands of tiny floating mirrors turning the air over the crowd into something out of a dream sequence.
The second was the people. The highlight of my night wasn’t a drop — it was a crew of five-to-seven friends taking turns shuffling, the way you see at raves, except these guys were genuinely good, and their energy was the contagious kind that pulls strangers into the circle. I got to talking to one of them, Betty, who — plot twist — runs a free shuffle class every Wednesday near Sawtelle. I haven’t made it yet. I’m going to. And in the most Pier Play moment of the whole night, a woman who had to be pushing seventy wandered into their circle and tried to battle one of them. She wasn’t shuffling so much as doing her own thing, full of joy, completely unbothered. The crew loved it. So did I.
The Robot Got Too Lit
And then there was the robot. One of the activation booths had a humanoid robot on display, and in the afternoon it was the model citizen of the boardwalk — shaking hands, mirroring people’s movements, posing for photos. By the end of the night, I caught the same robot wobbling unsteadily, being walked through the crowd by two staffers like a friend who needs to call it. Battery, balance, or one too many, I’ll let you decide. Either way it had, by any measure, a bigger night than some of us.
Beyond the dancefloor, the brand build-out was thoughtful rather than cluttered: AlphaTheta / Pioneer DJ ran a hands-on learn-to-DJ station, Psilly Goose poured its non-alcoholic functional drinks for the sober-curious, and Hornitos, -196, Cherry Coke, and vitaminwater kept the boardwalk hydrated. Street artist Chris Riggs even spent the day live-painting a car on-site.
See You Next Year (Same Pier, Please)
Festivals chase “vibes” like it’s a renewable resource. Pier Play doesn’t have to — the ocean breeze, the carnival lights, the good-natured crowd, and that wide-open Pacific horizon do the work, and RASA is smart enough to mostly stay out of the way and let it. Cloudy start and dark rides and all, it was unique, it was easy, and it was full of the kind of people who pull grandmas and over-served robots into the fun.
My one ask for 2027: keep it right here, at the end of the Santa Monica Pier. Some venues you don’t remix. You just press play.
Pier Play | Saturday, May 30, 2026 | Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA | Presented by RASA. Follow @pierplay.festival for 2027 dates and lineup.