Lights All Night | Dallas Market Hall | December 29-30

We had a chance to spend our New Year holiday in the Lonestar State as we had a chance to partake in Lights All Night for the first time. The Dallas Market Hall hosted us for two amazing nights of electronic music from some of the best in the business. Immersive stage productions were brought to life by artists such as Porter Robinson, Griz, Ganja White Knight, Zeds Dead and more.

Sprawled across the venue, attendees had a chance to chose between three stages to satisfy their inner curriosities. Flanked by immersive light productions and state of the art sound systems, artist had a chance to end the year by giving us their unique sounds to celebrate 2022. Lights All Night continues to prove to be one of the best New Years electronic dance festivals in the country and this year was no different. Here is our picture gallery, see you next year.

Photo Credit: Molly Polus

The Best Images Of Global Dance Festival 2017

Now that everybody has recovered from this years Global Music Festival, we want to take a look back at some of the best images from this years festival. With many changes including an all new venue the production team behind the event didn't miss a beat and pulled off an amazing weekend of some of the best in electronic music today. 

All photos courtesy of Jon Kohlwey. All rights reserved!

Flume Continues To Show Why He Is The Top Artist In His Genre

Grammy-winning producer, musician, Flume came to play at Red Rocks on this perfect summer night...as did all the 17 year olds that follow him and his tunes. But I mean, who can blame them? 25 year old Harley Edward Streten is an Australian pioneer in electronic music, especially in his genre of future bass. His latest release was a 2nd companion EP to his 2016 Skin, which was his second full length album.

Openers Touch Sensitive and BAAUER really set the mood for what was to come, Touch Sensitive being more on the downtempo side, playing bass and awing the crowd.  BAAUER really brought the trap, bass, and dubstep that got the teens around me very obviously pumped. Apparently BAAUER is the guy who made the Harlem Shake, and he did play a solid ten second tribute to it near the end of his set, because even he obviously knows it’s terrible.

A silk screen with the artwork of Alec Maasen hung as a barrier between Flume’s elaborate series of illuminated cubes. Maasen is a well-known digital and visual artist who’s done a variety of work with names like ZHU, Intel x Lady Gaga, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Tchami. He does brilliant 3D and live motion work and his talent is wonderfully showcased on Flume’s tour. Flume was assembled in a booth made of illuminated squares that were replicated above him and projected upon throughout the show. The visuals were tight, to say the least, and it’s obvious that electronic artists are stepping up their game to create an immersive audio/visual experience for the viewer.

The set included fan favorites, as well as remixes from peers like Jai Wolf and RL Grime. Flume also dropped some heavily experimental synthesizer bits and things I didn’t recognize, which is always pleasant. There was a point when I found myself thinking, "I’m too old for this.", simply because of the heavy dubstep, the set would change into a more melodic, familiar territory. The man knows his crowd, and can definitely put on a party. Not only was there a nice variety of his work, but Flume had fun and you could tell because he partied with us and put on a great show. 8/10

Words and photos: Lina Skrzypczak

Music | SNAILS | The Ogden Theatre (1/16/2016) | Review

SNAILS (Photo Credit: Jason Siegel/Jason Siegel Photography)

Sold out Ogden Theater can be a scary place, especially for young and enthusiastic show-goers who demand front stage proximity. Under the right circumstances though, namely a frigid Saturday begging for a good face melting, scary is all you can ask for. 

Wuki, not to be confused with wookie, opened for Montreal based producer and DJ, Snails. His mediocre mash ups featuring pop songs and throwbacks, like Lil Jon’s “Get Low”, were reminiscent of noise at a frat party. To his credit, the packed house swayed aggressively in approval, unable to resist singing along. From the last row of the upper deck, the decibel level and sound quality were unimpressive. However, this was not a problem when Snails threw down. Standing closer meant submitting one’s brain to melting and one’s personal space to relentless violation. 

Though the population density was intimidating, the venue was ramped with unthreatening characters exhibiting a surplus of hatpins and 16-year-old girls who evidently forget their shirts at home. Apparently bone-chilling temperatures don’t deter teenage super humans from wearing “minimalist” show attire. Fortunately, there was plenty of heat inside. 

Fittingly of vomitstep and his #freethevomit campaign, Snails kicked off his set with “SNAILEDIT”, opening with the line, “The vomit… has been freed. Do you recognize the power?” Snails is a weird dude. It’s apparent in his online presence, music, visuals, and performance. That being said, he is wholly transparent and fans love him for it. Snails primary visual is a snail projectile puking an unending supply of fluorescent spew and yet his Soundcloud has 142K followers. Apparently, and I couldn’t agree more, weird is cool. 

20 minutes felt like an hour. An hour and a half didn’t feel like time at all. Although Snails repeatedly builds up to powerful, colossal drops, their creative variations combat predictability. While there was a definite pattern in the build and climax of his tracks, the set was incredibly interesting. Stationary was not an option; anyone in the crowd not womping and thrashing was sucked into a black hole of womping and thrashing. 

The audience was young, but not without age outliers. Potentially the only person in the audience over 40 (my dad) was dancing as hard as the rest of them, though his knees and back aren’t as resilient. He described the crowd as the 80’s metal kids of today. Sure enough, there was a notable collection of head bangers. However, we were not at a metal show; we were breaking our necks to the soupy, slimy sounds of Snails, complete with a desirably disorienting light and laser show. 

What began with white strobes, transitioned to colored light beams. Then the visual projections, all featuring snail graphics, intensified the experience. During the final quarter of the set, Snails brought out the big guns… an insane display of green and multicolored lasers. He even included live instrumentation via the talented sax player, Big G, who appeared on stage for one of the final tracks. 

Only Snails could remix Backstreet Boys “Everybody” into a gritty track thick with bass without it sounding forced or inauthentic. Next time Snails visits Denver, Ultra5280 will be there. Thrilled to see what this OWSLA artist will create! Wishing him the all best, and also hoping those poor girls found their shirts. 

Article by: Haley Midzor

Music | SHOW ALERT: BASS CENTER 2016 | Bassnectar and Friends | DSG Park

Bassnectar has unveiled plans for Bass Center 2016 - a special experience across two days with limited camping, featuring the most expansive line-up for the event to date, including two extended Bassnectar sets. The packed lineup includes Flux Pavilion, Wu-Tang Clan, Flying Lotus, Porter Robinson, Lupe Fiasco, AlunaGeorge, Minnesota, G Jones, Dabin and Thriftworks. Music inside the stadium is only the beginning - camping villages located outside on the event grounds will provide fans on-site pirate radio facilities, curated food trucks and more. The event was first teased through two limited-run releases of Bassnectar Chocolate bars. Hidden inside 5 bars in each run were Golden Tickets, each granting the holder 2 VIP full-weekend passes (plus camping) to Bass Center 2016.

Pre-sale will begin on Wednesday, January 13th at 10:00AM MT with a full public on-sale starting Friday, January 15th at 10:00AM MT. General Admission Tickets will be available as single or 2 day passes for either Field or Stand seating, with prices starting at $45. VIP Field tickets are also available. Bassnectar will once again partner with CID Entertainment to offer Premium VIP Experiences, Travel Packages (including admission, hotel stay and shuttle transportation) and various tent rental options equipped with bedding, furniture and more for attendees. Bass Center 2016 will be held on Friday, July 29th and Saturday, July 30th at DSG Park in Commerce City, Colorado.

Music | HARD Red Rocks | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | July 30 | Photo Essay

In what has become an annual tradition the HARD Festival has taken residency at Red Rocks the last couple years now and has brought some of electronica's biggest acts to the stage for one bass thumping night. This years lineup included some of the best including Option 4, Destructo. Porter Robinson, Dog Blood, and Glitch Mob. We had a chance to take in the music and provide you with some of the best visuals from the night. Enjoy.

District and Pineapples (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Porter Robinson (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Skrillex waving the Colorado flag (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

The Glitch Mob (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Check out the HARD Red Rocks Slideshow below: (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)