Tire Smoke Meets Hip Hop as GRIDLIFE Brings Motorsport and Music Festival to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Joey Valence & Brae and Grave Rave headline a weekend where drifting legends, grassroots racing and music culture create the ultimate mashup GRIDLIFE Laguna Festival
MONTEREY, CALIF. (25 Sept. 2025)- The hills of Monterey have seen a lot. Championship battles, prototype legends, the kind of racing moments that shaped motorsport history. But only twice before has WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca’s legendary Corkscrew echoed with the sound of full-course drifting from GRIDLIFE, a spectacle that feels almost unreal on a world-class circuit.
This weekend (Sept. 26–28), GRIDLIFE Laguna Festival makes history once again, turning the Monterey hillside into an all-out sensory overload for the third time.
By day, it’s drift stars like Chris Forsberg, Dylan Hughes and Matt Field launching down an 11-story plunge in tire smoke. Nearly 50 cars line up for the grassroots madness of the Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup while TrackBattle Time Attack drivers push to shatter records, GRIDLIFE GT competitors make their west coast debut and the GRIDLIFE Rush Series closes out its championship. BigTime and Throtl are unveiling secret builds while Larry Chen will create the sickest shots on course. Car corrals, concours displays, the arcade and a vendor village keep the paddock buzzing.
But when the track cools and the sun drops, the festival’s pulse doesn’t slow. It spikes.
Joey Valence & Brae: Punk-Rap Firestarters
In just four years Joey Valence & Brae (JVB) have gone from Penn State dorm rooms to viral dominance, carving out a lane where 90s hip-hop swagger collides with internet-age energy. Their breakout single “Punk Tactics” is now RIAA Gold. Their sophomore record No Hands featured Danny Brown and Ayesha Erotica, topping Spotify’s Viral charts. And their brand-new third studio album HyperYouth feels like a manifesto: a coming-of-age soundtrack with enough bass and heart to make you dance, cry and maybe text your best friend at 2 a.m.
Live, JVB are a riot, the kind of act that doesn’t just play a show but detonates it. They crash through decades of pop culture with breakneck flows, drum ‘n’ bass drops and the kind of grin-inducing nostalgia that feels futuristic at the same time. They’ve already synced into everything from Madden to WWE to Abbott Elementary, but at Laguna their mission is simpler: kill nonchalance, crank the fun and get the crowd moving like the Corkscrew at full send. (Tickets)
Grave Rave: Emo at the Rave
If JVB are all about high-voltage fun, Grave Rave is pure catharsis. Born out of Emo Nite’s takeover of Coachella’s Sahara Tent, the same stage Daft Punk once immortalized, Grave Rave is the meeting point between the raw ache of emo and the euphoric energy of EDM.
That first set was supposed to be a one-off. Instead it became a movement. Los Angeles residencies sold out. Producers like Kayzo, Flosstradamus and Sullivan King dropped custom Grave Rave edits. Fans began calling it a new subgenre. And founders TJ and Morgan went all-in, leveling up as DJs and producers to build a catalog of originals and edits that make nostalgia feel like rocket fuel.
They’ve taken the party to EDC, Electric Forest and Apocalypse, even toured with MGK. Now, as the Grave Rave project steps onto bigger stages with new music and mixtapes, the message is the same: cry, scream, rave, repeat. It’s emo anthems reborn under strobes and lasers, and at GRIDLIFE Laguna Festival it will be nothing short of unforgettable.(Tickets)
The After-Hours Spectrum
Alongside JVB and Grave Rave, the NOS Energy Main Stage stretches even deeper on Saturday. Justin Blvck, Haboob, Mario E, DJ Midnight, DJ Matt Meyer and WHATMORE, bring their original sound to the main stage. Offis.Work takes over the Corkscrew on Friday and Saturday for a subcultural blowout, proving GRIDLIFE’s music side thrives just as strongly as its motorsport roots. The nights are fueled by NOS Energy Drink, video game battles in the GRIDLIFE Arcade and camping that lets you wake up in the heart of Laguna’s infield.
The Corkscrew Takeover starts at noon and goes until 5:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The Nos Energy Stage goes live at 4:30 p.m with Emo Nite taking the stage at 7:30 p.m. followed by headliners JVB at 8:50 p.m.
Don’t Just Hear About It Later
GRIDLIFE Laguna Festival isn’t just a race weekend and it’s not just a rave. It’s the ultimate culture mashup where sideways speed meets seismic sound, where car debuts share the stage with headliners and where the Monterey hills become a temporary city of speed, sound and style.
It happens once. And it happens this weekend. Secure your spot now before you’re the one scrolling through Reels wishing you’d been there.
For tickets and event information visit: https://www.grid.life/laguna-festival