(ok, ok, I always curse, but not in a review thread, typically......) :stongue:
Ok, now that I have mildy recovered, a slightly more thorough review:
1. NO DUST! not even a little bit :) :)
2. Dancefloors worked nicely. A little tilted under your feet in certain hilly-areas, but nothing to write home about.
3. All of the tents are on one side of the field, in a row, as opposed to the usual Sunday School tent being up the hill slightly. Didnt bother me a bit: I couldnt hear the other tents' music at all, and it made the "commute" from tent to tent even quicker.
4. Awesome food selections, although I wasnt hungry at all, boo :( It seems like there were a lot more options, as well as a lot more booze booths. Never waited in line for anything.
5. Great sound and lighting displays: The Hilltop has a huge lighting system that is MASSIVE and "super pretty" as I called it :stongue:
DJ's:
1. Josh Wink: Awesome set for his timeslot. Perfect amount of buildups and bombs to get us started and excited for the day. Driving beats that got us warmed up and ready for more!
2. AN21 and Max Vangelli (sp?).....ummm AKA Swedish House Mafia
3. Summery James and Marciano.....ummmm AKA Swedish House Mafia #2
4. Gareth Emery.....AKA SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA #3?!?!?! Yup, you heard me, he was def going in that direction.....eek!
5. Markus Schulz: finally, some trance! Not my fav set of all time from him, but was def working it and enjoying myself :) :) Definitely the best trance set of the day...maybe the ONLY trance set of the day. Also, Markus is a comedian as his side job, it appears...lol
6. Loco Dice: Loved it. Totally jammin while on a little break in the grass nearby.....
7. Carl Cox: See above ^^^ LOL....TOTAL DESTRUCTION!!!!!!!!! :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: Bomb after bomb after ing bomb!!!! Relentless, driving beats from start to finish, and massive skills behind the deck to boot. Sick track selection. Pure Mastery. Anyone who missed this should consider drowning themselves in their own sorrows........Seriously. GO cry in a pillow somewhere........
tubularbills
Dear Made;
THANK YOU!!!!!!!
I am seriously surprised at the set up. Hilltop Arena being bigger: AWESOME. Dancefloor in all tents: AWESOME. main stage backed up: AWESOME. lighting system in all three tents: AWESOME. Water still $3: AWESOME. Food: pretty good. all i had was a burger.
So yes, Made, you seriously surprised me. I expected the same as last year, but the improvements you made were great.
that being said, I thought the layout was a little off. The Sunday School tent should have been where it used to be. i could hear it inside Hilltop Arena. Likewise, could hear Hilltop inside Riverside.
I'll be the first to admit, I expected the dirt again. My FIRST thought, went I walked through the gate was "holy crap, I can feel grass!" I don't know if you guys had the city not mow it or something, but it worked out great. and the dancefloors were a HUGE improvement. This is making EZ shape up to be a massive festival.
Events I went to :
BT: I lol'd when he said, "what the crap?" when something went wrong. in fact a few times he screwed up and he just rolled with it. a crowd pleasing set.
Max V & AN21: Good show. I heard the same few songs afterwards in Hilltop before Gareth Emery came on.
Gareth Emery: Always a good show.
Markus Schulz: I don't know why I try....I'm always disappointed with him.
Benny Benassi: I only saw half the show, but it was all right. DIfferent from what I remember him last year.
Robbie Rivera: YES, THANK YOU JESUS ROBBIE RIVERA DID IT AGAIN:eyespop: :eyespop: :eyespop: :eyespop: :eyespop: :eyespop: :eyespop: Everything in his set was awesome, and the crowd was few; so plenty of room. the lighting show was just as awesome as his first performance two years ago. Spectacular.
Moby: same as last year. at least the tail end.
Tiesto: I don't like any of his new stuff. So I was kinda like, "meh"...but he played the golden oldies of Silence, Traffic, and Adiagio. so that was awesome. I've never heard Adagio in a big festival like this, so it really was a great feeling to hear it.
I walked over to Carl Cox, and I felt kinda bad for people because it looked PACKED. I think perhaps it was underestimated how many people would go to him....so many that there were folks outside trying to squeeze in.
There was NO wait. AWESOME. i got there around 1230pm. walked right into gate three. I wasn't searched or anything. made it nice. Event Staff seemed to have a good eye on most things, I think. better than last year's "pat-down" inspections.
a dislike:
STOP PLAYING THAT NIRVANA RIP-OFF :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: - Even Tiesto played it. ugh.
I don't know if many folks did the VIP thing or not. it didn't seem to be in a good spot this year; and it looked kinda empty.
The LED lights in the trees were a cool affect...more of that around the entire festival would have been neat; not just on the side.
Thanks to NYC for having a good handle on transportation and overall involvement (police, etc...).
Otherwise, I'm tired, slightly sunburnt, sore, have a ring in my ears, and my body aches.
Time for day 2....
Neonbeats
Loco Dice & Carl Cox FTW. That was so sick.
-everything was nicely organized, didn't wait in line to get in, bathrooms, food, drinks....all good
-no dust is awesome
-the tents are all bigger and the main stage is pushed way back....lots more room, hope it doesnt get too much more crowded. Had plenty of room to chill and dance
-Sucks Richie Hawtin couldn't do Plastikman due to technical difficulties
-The confetti at the end of Tiesto's set was awesome
gmoney44
Tiesto played Silence(i really cud care less) but then he played Traffic,Adagio For Strings,& He's A Pirate all in row..i could not believe it..that made the night for me right there..only reason i was listening to him was bc my friends are bartenders near the main stage and i was hang in with them...Carl Cox killed it as well as Loco Dice...cant wait for Sean,Simon,Zack,Ferry & Luciano tomorrow..and nothing is better than drinking for free for 3 days straight when beers are $9 a pop ha ha!..good seeing RedDog aka Joe!
seriot
how much was it at the door?
AY STAR
quote:
Originally posted by gmoney44
Tiesto played Silence(i really cud care less) but then he played Traffic,Adagio For Strings,& He's A Pirate all in row..i could not believe it..that made the night for me right there..only reason i was listening to him was bc my friends are bartenders near the main stage and i was hang in with them...Carl Cox killed it as well as Loco Dice...cant wait for Sean,Simon,Zack,Ferry & Luciano tomorrow..and nothing is better than drinking for free for 3 days straight when beers are $9 a pop ha ha
yea i heard silence on the way out i was shocked since everyone said he sucked big time before that ha ha ha...dam i didnt know hawtin was doing a dj set i woulda stayed a lil longer but i beat all that crowd leaving got on the bus quick fast ha ha ha
i agree with everyone pretty much about the festival, major improvements were made about the dust,organization,tents etc etc everything went smooth and iam looking foward to today and 2marrow
josh wink- wow wow wow guy was dropping crazy acid techno i nearly lost my ming when he dropped this
joris voorn & nic faculli- big disapointment, was there for their first 30 min and i couldnt get into it, i passed by later on and they picked it up a lil and threw down deetron-starblazer, but other then that their set was nothing crazy
gareth- i didnt wanna see him but i wassent feeling anyone else during that time, he didnt play as bad as i would have though
markus- great set he loves nyc cause everytime he comes here hes great
calderone- only caught his first and last 20 min, def was playing a good set...towards the end he was dropping some real heat...it was carl,loco and calderone just chillin up on the stage just jamming out and feeding off each other, really good to see dj's have a good time
loco dice- wow def set it up proper for carl
carl cox- he ed that tent harder than i used to do to my pillow when i was 8 years old pretending it was kelly kapowski
guy set the bar for all dj set's this weekend hands down
past few times he was in nyc it was always at cielo and he usually kept it on a tech house level...NOT ANYMORE!!! full on me while iam running techno wow still buzzing about his set
only things i didnt like:
-my ears are ringing a lil bit, not sure from which tent ( i need to invest in ear plugs lol)
- next year they should make the sunday school the same size as the river side and the othe tent imo
- more lighting and decorations in the sunday school tent, last year it had its own signature style with the tree's and good lighting, this year was nothing had a few fake lookin diamond things in the background and a few led screens thats it
other than that iam very happy with the day and cant wait to party
:D
ravracer16
I went out the night before for James Zabiela and was struggling to get out of bed. But I finally did.
I was quite surprised of how well everything moved. There was hardly any wait to get on the ferry. And once on the island the line for alcohol wrist bands were quick. And the bigger surprise there was no line to get in (I got there around 4:30 pm). You just scanned your wristband and in I went.
It wasn't has crowded as i thought it was going to be, but i'm thinking it was because it was a Friday. The real test would probably be today when everyone has off from work.
Terms of sets: Loco Dice killed it. And then Carl 'mothering' Cox just tore..it..up. I don't think it can get any better after that set.
Burak14
my only complain is the bathroom situation. they are either by mainstage or by the entrace. nothing in between. so stupid that if you ar at hiltop or riverside, ur gonna loose 15 mins of music.
Konijn
made did a really great job with the setup - bigger tents, uber-fancy booth setups, no-fuss entrance and no dust!
dope set from the martinez bros \ serviceable set from max vangelli and an21 \ surprisingly good set from sunnery james and ryan marciano (who i'd never heard of) \ good sets from markus and gareth.
caught the end of loco dice and an hour of cox which was pretty bangin' - and then headed to tiesto which i regretted -- i think the crowd was irritating me more than the dutch house he plays nowadays. bounced with burak 40 minutes into his set (which started mad late...).
turn up the volume in hilltop and bring back the sunday school buses!
mjmoney23
How is it getting out by car, do the police stop and check at all?
diabloargentino
quote:
Originally posted by mjmoney23
How is it getting out by car, do the police stop and check at all?
got out in 15-20 minutes. backed up getting out the lots (expected) but as soon as i passed that, got on the manhattan exit and flew off.
great improvements this year by made all around. still upset that the only way to get shots/patron/decent drinks is in VIP. the mixed drinks they were selling weren't that strong and had no variety. will call was a breeze. bathrooms were quick but like mentioned, inconveniently placed. i wish the sunday school tent had the red bull tent set up - those 4 cubes up top are sick.
idk if its because the areas are bigger but it did seem less packed than before - most likely bcuz it was friday. i'm expecting today and tomorrow to be rammed.
a bittersweet moment - tiesto played silence, traffic, adagio, pirates and advanced all within 20-25 mins.. and 75% of the crowd didn't recognize any of the tracks lol.
anyway - overall good time.
Swamper
Not there this year but happy to see Day 1 was a success :D
...off I go to breakfast b4 Gareth Emery on a boat
