Pretty Lights Returns After 5 Years With Soundship Spacesystem Tour

Beloved electronic music producer Pretty Lights returns to the scene in the best way possible, with a slew of new tour dates in 2023 amid his Soundship Spacesystem Tour.

The last time Pretty Lights and his band performed live was at Red Rocks in August 2018 for a special 10th anniversary show. After that, Derek Vincent Smith, aka Pretty Lights, went primarily quiet on social media and halted show and festival performances. The artist never made an official announcement regarding his hiatus, but his absence from the community was felt heavily by fans.

Throughout the past few years, fans have received sporadic updates on Pretty Lights from other musicians and people in his circle. For example, in 2020, one of the Pretty Lights Live Band drummers posted an Instagram Story of himself and Derek in which Derek is pictured working on music. Then, in 2021 producer Mux Mool shared a video on Twitter of Pretty Lights spinning some tunes, presumably in his New Orleans studio.

More recently, Borahm Lee, the keyboardist for the Pretty Lights Live Band and Break Science, revealed on a podcast that he and Derek were collaborating in the studio together. However, his 2017 album, “Rainbows & Waterfalls,” still marks his most recent offering.

Lucky for fans, the days of random updates from Reddit threads are over. Electro-soul pioneer Pretty Lights returns and finally has some news to share himself: a brand new tour, which he’s calling the Soundship Spacesystem Tour. The tour was first announced on Pretty Lights’ social accounts today: 

On Pretty Lights’ return, the artist said, “I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time and am immensely grateful to be healthy and happy and surrounded by amazing people. I feel recharged and more ready than ever to launch a new vision of PL music and live events. Can’t wait to share everything that’s coming. And fam, seriously, thank you so much for your endless love and support. Thank you for all the positive energy while I took time to focus mine. It’s a new dawn and I can’t wait to see you all again shining bright .
Lfggggggg”

The tour includes headlining festival performances at Suwannee Hulaween in Florida in late October and a new festival, Cascade Equinox, in Oregon in late September. In addition to these two festival performances, Pretty Lights returns to places like Denver, Lake Dillon, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, The Caverns (TN), and New Orleans for his historic Soundship Spacesystem Tour. The tour will kick off the first weekend in August. 

Artist pre-sale and additional info for Pretty Lights’ Soundship Spacesystem Tour can be found on Pretty Lights’ website. See more details from the artist’s socials below:

Ashley

I’ve been a part of the dance music scene for nearly a decade and with Exron for more than half of that time. My first event was Diplo’s Mad Decent but these days you’ll find me at Club Space or the Brooklyn Mirage. Some of my top artists are G Jones, Tipper, Of The Trees, and CharlestheFirst. My favorite genres are techno, experimental bass, and ambient but I’ll get down to anything with a beat!

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