^^^^
amazing man i still cant get over how sick his set was
and hawtins the night before deff the best sets of the festival hands down
aks129
missed digweed set for armin, who knew it was going to suck that bad? lately lots of killer tunes on ASOT none of which Armin played...while Digweed killed it in my old favorite genre Progressive....which I missed...
Article from the NY Times says 25k each day for an attendance total of 50,000.
It also says the event was "sold out"...idk about that...it's an outdoor event so there is no attendance limit. You can't "sell out" something like this.
Thats about $6.25 mil.... Not counting VIP, drinks, merchandise, concessions. Just yout 50k people, at $125 each. Is that obscene or what?
DPetey81
Oh boy, I sure do love these review threads. I finally just got back home and read them both. They are just so darn entertaining. From personal attacks, to absentees weighing in, and of course the ever popular - genre vs genre, this set sucked vs this one was brilliant because that's what I like and I'm right - arguments.
Well, anyway, seeing as that I'm exhausted from a long weekend, I'm going try and write a comprehensive review and post it in both threads. I hope this doesn't offend anyone. :gsmile:
Here it goes:
The friend that I was planning on staying with in Queens had to leave town unexpectedly a week or so ago. Late in the week, a friend from home decided to come along, only to have to cancel because of a family emergency. I was already unsure about going anyway, and it looked like my decision had been made easy. Still, I woke up on Friday with an incredible urge to get out of town. And so, Friday afternoon I had the car packed and was on the road all the way from central Ohio. I knew Manhattan was out of the question, so I set my sights on Jersey. On the third try, I found a decent place near the river and passed out from the drive (which wasn't bad because of an 8 hour menno set which I had been saving for just an occasion :D )
Day 1:
Wanted to catch Joris and Gareth, so left hotel with plenty of time to do so. But, of course, someone had to f' up the GW bridge by blocking up two out of the three lanes (looked like one dead car, and one stalled truck right next to each other, weird?) So, my arrival was severely delayed, but travel was a piece of cake the rest of the weekend.
I gave a half-assed quick attempt to find someone selling an extra ticket. Noticed a couple people getting rid of some, but my timing was off and I didn't want to wait any longer, so I ponied up the fee at the ticket window. I was sorry to see the clusterf*ck that had been allowed to be formed at the entry gate. In my experience, it is very unlike Made to let this sort of thing develop, especially in comparison to last year. Took a while to get in, but oh well, I'm sure it will be addressed in the future. Missed all of Gareth which really sucked (Hey ECO, check out one of Gareth's latest podcasts for his 3 hour set in Montreal) Markus had been on for a bit once I was finally in, and of as usual, he did not disappoint.
I think I strolled by the TA meetup spot, but didn't immediately recognize anyone (difficult without pics), so spent most of the afternoon roaming around, checking out different acts and inspecting the grounds. I did finally make my way over to the main stage for ATB. A sidenote must be made here: ATB was a heavy influence on my interest in edm way back in the day. To this day, I remain a loyal fan and enjoy most all of his productions, and have witnessed very good sets from him in the past. Contrary to popular opinion on some of these boards, I feel he has more than earned his spot at a main stage(popularity contest anyway), which he already plays at festivals around the world anyway. With that said, I have seen him live countless times and, in my opinion, Saturday was by far the worst I have experienced. I will always remain a loyal fan, but it was almost painful to watch and listen to this time around. Oh well, win some and lose some, I guess.
Dirty South was starting off strong before I left to catch Paco. Wow, period. After that, I saw a little of another old fav of mine, Kaskade. The tent was absolutely rammed for his set, which was pretty good overall. Another trip around before the end of Bug and the majority of Hawtin, who also delivered. Jumped over to Axwell a time or two just because I felt the vibe in that tent was pretty cool all weekend. Ran around one more time before leaving to get some much needed sleep before day two.
Day 2:
Legs already sore and feeling the effects of the drive and day one of the festival. Had to arrive at the festival a few hours before I planned because I had lined up a cheap ticket for Sunday. I spent the first few hours eating, lounging, and checking out acts I'd never seen. I had forgotten when and where the meetup was going to be, so missed that again, fail. Listened to a good amount of Cosmic Gate, and they really had the crowd going. Those two are usually in a good mood behind the decks, but this was even more enthusiasm than I had ever previously seen. Checked out some decent stuff from all over the park, including Avicii and Funkagenda before making my way over to my most anticipated set of the day, the B2B2B one at the Grove. Already a big Buttrich fan, and adding the other two was just a huge bonus. So cool to see all three guys bouncing in unison and enjoying themselves up there. I had to tear myself away because I love Anjuna so much. I didn't plan on staying for long, but to my surprise, Paavo showed up, which is a rare occurance on this side of the pond. The energy behind the decks is soo much different with him up there, so I stayed because the crowd was loving it. I thought it was a good mix of old and new, with a few remixes and other songs I'd never heard, which was nice. Ran around the park again and got some food, only to come back to Sander ripping the tent apart. It was definitely closer to the hard techy side that made him popular compared to what I'd seen the last few times from him (met his tour manager later that night at Pacha, and he agreed). I thought he was going to wreck the speakers in there. Carola was great, as to be expected, and a lot of people were enjoying Boyz Noize. I had to get back to Hilltop for one of my favorite house djs, Chris Lake. I know a lot of people think this is cheesy, cookie-cutter house, but I love the way he does it. His was my favorite set last year, and so I gave him my time during his entire set this time around. I had a very good time and was in heaven when he dropped beachball, though I dont know the remix?. I like Wolfgang a lot, but he started off too crazy for my tastes, but people were enjoying it. Rested the legs for a bit on the hill so I could catch the sea of people for Armin. Didn't think I could even get up for a while, but raised myself from the dead to venture over to Diggers. What a technician, perfect mixing with great track selection and amazingly timed drops. I don't know why I never list him as one of my fav djs, even though I love his radio show and am mightily impressed everytime I see him. He is certainly on my short list if I could choose one dj to see in an evening (along with Cox and Schulz).
Festival Summary:
Nothing could have been done about the dust, but it was bad. I gave no other thought to it but a few chuckles about "how unhealthy this must be". The port-a-pot situation was pretty good considering the amount of people that were there, especially Sunday, when I never waited more than 2 minutes to piss. I expected a lot more people this year, which was definitely the case. Just a massive amount, and looked to be almost the capacity of the area. I commented in passing to a friend last year that the park would eventually not hold the demand for this festival, and I might actually end up being right (these can sell out osterzone, reference Ultra 2010, over 100,000 and sold out). The food was good. I had quite a variety of stuff while i was there. As far as food and beverage were concerned, my only prolonged wait was for a steakburger early evening on Sunday. There was music for everybody everywhere, so I don't see any reason to complain about the sets or lineups. Sure, some of it wasn't my taste, but people looked to be having fun, so who am I to judge. If you didn't like one stage, you were free to roam around (ahem, aNYthing). I guess I am just easy to please, and before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I was 100% sober both days, so I guess I am just musically challenged, haha. I've always preferred clubs to festivals, but overall, this was a really good time and I'm glad I went.
Pacha, Sunday night:
Wanted to do Cielo, but because of the size of the place I wasn't sure I'd get in. I love C&C, but I felt that the wrong crowd might have been drawn there that night as well. My second choice would've been BlkMarket, but I failed to ger presales, didn't know where it was, or how long it would last. I was afraid that if it was an all nighter, I'd be passed out in the corner somewhere. So, I met some people at Pacha and tried my hardest to get past the fatigue I was feeling. Moby was on when we got in, and it was too hard for what I was prepared for. Guy came on after, and was closer to what I needed to at least bob my head, since my legs were clearly malfuntioning. I was most looking forward to Marco, but by the time he came on, I was all but done. I managed to squeeze out some dancing until he started his encore, at which point I jetted to get a couple hours of sleep before getting up for an all day US Open jaunt on Monday.
Monday and Tuesday:
Almost fell asleep at the US Open before catching a second (more like tenth) wind and enjoying myself. Propped my eyes open back at the hotel for Boise State's winning drive. Passed out and slept until checkout before driving back and writing this with heavy eyes.
Too old for this , haha..... Next up, WMC.
:toocool:
dxsire
yea i'm finally waking up just about now. i was not in the best of shape when i went on Sunday. my girlfriend dropped me off to catch a bus at about 6:30 am, then i decided to walk around manhattan for awhile to kill some time. i ended up walking basically from 28th to 126th. that might have been why i just about crashed afterwards.
cosmic gate does it for me. although i'm completely aware that they've been playing the same forever now. it was just about the same set that they played back in march at webster hall.
i was really excited to see a&b, that's the main reason i went. unfortunately, i didn't really get into it. i don't know if i was just tired or what, but they didn't blow me away like i had expected.
fedde was ripping some pretty nice beats. it did feel like trance was kinda absent for the most part, but i managed to have a pretty good time anyway.
so i had a ticket for the pacha afterparty, but my phone died as i was leaving ez, so i decided to catch a subway to penn station, plugged in my phone, sat down, and it was game over. i guess i'm getting old too. then since i didn't have a bus til 6:30, i decided "why not take a train?" forgetting it was a holiday monday, and i was stuck in trenton for about 6 hours, and i actually called MY MOTHER to pick me up. oh god oh god. (i live by philly, if that explains why trenton).
oh but before i forget, i wanted to cry when armin came on. i just don't know what has happened. i mean, i understand being #1 and all, but i definitely didn't feel it at all. wasn't it at spirit when armin's flight got delayed from DC and he ended up driving up, getting there late, but then ripping it? and my fondest memory of armin ever was definitely at the tobacco warehouse. those two days were so fun, i haven't had that much fun to this day.
overall, i had a decent time. wasn't the greatest day/night/weekend of my life or anything even really that life-changing at all. but it was nice to hear a bunch of different stuff. next time i won't go alone to meet people, i'll bring my girlfriend or something. it sucked being stuck at that ty train station for 6 hours.
i think i would prefer maybe a few less acts and maybe a few of the other acts getting longer sets. i don't know. i've had to be at work basically since i got home on monday morning. worked all day monday til 10:30, was back in at 6:00am Tuesday til about 6:00pm and then had to help my friend with something. And here I am still awake at 3:25am when I have to be at work at 6. I'm sorry if this whole post was a little misguided and all over the place, i just wanted to put my 2 cents in.
euphoria
quote:
Originally posted by LAdazeNYnights
yeah..weren't they still selling tix at the event too?
Yes, they were selling tix at the door.
short review -
Likes: Hanging out with awesome people, more people were open to having their pics taken in comparison to last year, drinks were more organized with speedy service. Moby, Laidback Luke, Funkagenda, Fedde, Chris Lake, Wolfgang, Dusty Kid, Calderone, were good. Sander was ok.
Dislikes: The spikes that were sticking out of the ground near the tents that everyone seemed to be tripping/falling over. Since we can't bring chairs or big bags there should be more benches or clean places to sit. What was up with that weird Brandy remix I heard :wtf: ? Armin was disappointing (too many vocals), Aoki was eh, Boys Noize was not my cup of tea at all. One was waaaaay overplayed. Oh and Digweed... I didn't catch his whole set, sorry but the parts I heard were pretty monotonous.
Other suggestions...
A sprinkler might be nice to cool off from the heat, a convenience vendor would also be helpful who sells sunblock, cigarettes, gum, batteries, earplugs, antibacterial wipes, etc. It would be less we would have to bring with us possibly making the search lines shorter.
kadomony
quote:
Originally posted by euphoria
a convenience vendor would also be helpful who sells sunblock, cigarettes, gum, batteries, earplugs, antibacterial wipes, etc. It would be less we would have to bring with us possibly making the search lines shorter.
i thought they did have a place selling that stuff?
tubularbills
quote:
Originally posted by euphoria
Yes, they were selling tix at the door.
short review -
Likes: Hanging out with awesome people, more people were open to having their pics taken in comparison to last year,
can you please post pics of the TA meetup! :)
Endgame
My long review from a Candian perspective...eh (with pics etc)
