AEG Presents’ Danny Bell Talks Portola Lineup, Festival Hits Stride In Third Year

Since first starting Portola on the edge of the water on Pier 80 in the San Francisco Bay, Danny Bell at AEG Presents had a strong premonition for what the festival could become. The VP of Talent Buying ran numerous dance music events in the Bay Area (including Porter Robinson’s Second Sky festival), but Portola was his crown jewel. Now entering its third year this weekend on Sept. 28 and 29, Bell has outdone himself and curated a near-perfect lineup for dance music enthusiasts.

The lineup boasts performances from Justice, Bicep, Jamie xx, Gesaffelstein, Disclosure, Soulwax, Rüfüs Du Sol, Barry Can’t Swim and countless others. Among fans and members of the music industry alike, the main issue they face heading into the festival is managing the set conflicts.

In previous conversations with Pollstar, Bell has emphasized his use of comfortable shoes to run from stage to stage, his aim to catch at least a little bit of every performance. This year, Bell won’t be the only one running between stages, with Four Tet and Gesaffelstein conflicting between the Crane Stage and Warehouse, Jamie xx conflicting with Natasha Bedingfield, Bicep conflicting with Soulwax and Rüfüs Du Sol – and that’s all on the first day.

“The festival site is not that big and it’s very easy to navigate,” Bell says. “So keep moving and go see as much as you can. The most fun festival days I’ve ever had are the ones where I’ve seen 20 artists in a day. You see 20 or 30 minutes of each set when the vibe is right, or you catch a magic moment and just stay. But the good news is there are no wrong choices, so just keep moving and have fun.”

Bell says the timing of this year lined up perfectly, with so many influential dance artists just happening to be on tour at the same time. Justice, Gesaffelstein and Jamie xx all released new albums this year, and Portola, entering its third year, now has enough of a reputation to become a must-attend event for many in the industry. “It’s just one of those years where things clicked,” Bell says. “Everything fell into place.”

Bell is excited about everything. From the new production rig, lighting, LED wall, air conditioning, bathroom, to the lineup. Some of the artists he’s been working with for years, and he’s looking forward to seeing their newest shows.

“Gesaffelstein, I’ve been working with since he first came over when I was at HARD,” Bell says. “He’s a special artist. He makes this amazing, dark, and passionate music. The live show he put together and debuted at Coachalla is stellar, so it’s really exciting to have him come and close the newly-designed Crane Stage on Saturday.”

Rüfüs Du Sol went to Portola last year, and Bell asked if they wanted to play the event in 2024. They decided to only play Portola on this side of the year, as the group is preparing to head out in support of their latest album, Inhale/Exhale, due for release on Oct. 11.

To have Justice performing at this year’s festival also means a tremendous amount to Bell, who became a fan of electronic music because of them.

“My love for this genre started right in 2007/2008, that’s right when they were putting together their first light show,” Bell says. “The way they’ve developed and evolved their live show over the last 15, 16 years is phenomenal. And their current live show is beautiful. It’s a spectacle.”

Bell shares his ultimate goal for the lineup was to make everything fit together, where each stage would have a different vibe but could easily flow from one to the next. He emphasized he doesn’t want fans of one genre to stay only at one stage the entire day, and that people should move around to experience all the festival has to offer.

“Every year you try to do better than you did the previous year,” Bell says. This year, we made a few stage improvements. We learned from last year we’re hypercritical of ourselves. We’ve added a VIP area in the warehouse, we’ve changed the location of the VIP area at the Crane Stage. We’ve expanded it and actually have it merged with a new VIP viewing area by the Ship Tent.”