| arul |
I originally had this posted on the scene forum as a review of EDC Day 2 Orlando. However, it turned into more of discussion of Trance's place in current US Festivals, so I am now posting here. Though I talk about EDC specifically, I figure some of you might have some comment about trance, evolution of EDM, and festivals as whole...
First, I want to say I am not trolling and bagging on the newest generation of EDM'ers. I don't want this thread to turn into that. I do want to discuss the current direction of the festival scene as it relates to EDM, and the direction of the music being played. In fact, myself being older, I get a kick out of seeing this current new generation enjoying music the way I have for so many years. However, what when down musically on Saturday night has me perplexed... I would love to have some intelligent discussion on the matter.
First and foremost, me and my wife left Saturday just saying, "we may have just come on the wrong night". Unfortunately, we couldn't make Friday. So someone who attended Friday, please also lend insight.
Some history and background on me: I attended every Ultra Music Festival in Miami, up until 2005. They were incredible. I have still kept tabs on the scene but starting a family limited my ability to attend festivals. However, I have always managed to take in a few shows a year when guys I grew up listening to come to town Van Dyk, Tiesto, AVB, Corsten, Schulz, A&B, Lange, John O'cal, Sasha, Digweed, Solar Stone, etc... I like "true trance": Tunes that are airy, full of energy, uplifting and make you smile with your hands up, with melody, rhythm, bass lines, buildups, incredible drops and lift offs, and that you can actually dance and groove to.
Me an my wife attended EDC Orlando 2012 last year on Saturday. Between AVB (2hours), Morgan Page, Tritonal, Wippenberg, and Hook and Sling we had plenty of opportunity to get our groove on and we had an absolute blast, vowing to go back again this year!
So we ended up attending EDC Orlando 2013 on Saturday. Last year's lines getting in were a mess. This year, it took all of 10 minutes to enter the grounds! Fantastic! We stopped off at the Neon Garden, because it was first in line and the sounds coming from stage sounded wonderful. Have had no experience with Atnarko or Sleazy Mcqueen, but they were phenomenal! True pros. Playing A "TRUE SET" Kind of housey, funky, with some great elements and vibe. Not much of a crowd but it was a perfect start musically with some great grooves.
Next up Digweed. The dude is a legend and still plays like it. Of course it was on the housey side, and the sound was incredible. True to form, he added energy and some big moments. Those at the stage grounds were in full dance- completely different dance from the evening. I loved seeing 18 year olds totally get off on what was coming out of the speakers, with perhaps no idea to Digweed's historical EDM significance. He laid down a "TRUE SET".
The people we great. Vendors very nice. Some cool and funny costumes. My wife was looking hot has hell in her outfit... Fun rides. Everything was just right. All in all, we did enjoy ourselves, but when the sun went down, and we were looking for some mainstage magic, we were scratching our heads.
Both Kinetic and Circuit sounded way too similar. Sometimes, they played the exact same stuff on each. Circuit Stage did have more dubstep going, but the difference ended there. We found ourselves saying "more of the same" as we went to each stage (except Neon Garden which was awesome but we wanted more up tempo).
So here is what I heard as the MAJOR musical theme running through the night: tunes that would have a small bit of groove, some melody for a couple minutes as it built up, it would peak and then instead of lifting off higher into the air, it would kick down real hard grounding you with tech heavy, no melody, heavy straight pounding beat with little to no bass line. What genre do we call this? I guess trance/house techno? It is definitely EDM, but it is definitely not trance, house, progressive, etc... It felt like they were trying to copy how Tiesto often plays festivals, but it just didn't have the same type of positive energy. I suppose they are catering to the "rager"-whatever that is. In a sea of thousands, my wife pegged it on the nose by pointing out that very few people were actually dancing. Just more of a "mosh bobbing". I replied, "yeah it feels what I would liken to different styles of "rock n roll", where what we are listening to I would liken to the "heavy metal" of the EDM scene at the moment.
Also, we notice than many of the DJ's had no understanding, plan, or direction when it came to building "A set". They were just throwing in songs. No flow, no rhyme, no reason. It felt like they were thinking "ah hah-is is a big tune, I will play it." No art to the night sets in general at all. The absolute worst when it came to set building was Martin Solveig. I don't know his story at all, so I could be wrong- But, I would suspect that he is a producer of some hits, but has no long term "DJ experience"... It was the oddest mish-mash of songs, some only last 3 minutes, with a moment that included a full on Ghetto Booty mix that killed any vibe he had.
So here I pose some questions about the future of EDM. With the current newer generation driving the festival scene in the US, is what I describe musically the norm of what can be expected? Is true trance dead at the US festivals? Was EDC Orlando on FRIDAY any different from what I describe above on Saturday?
Will I have to end up going to a festival in the UK or Amsterdam to get a proper musical experience? Will I have to go to a specific artist show and just forget festivals? What happened to festivals having those "Anthems" that would just wash over you? Was what I was hearing this generation's "Anthems"?
Am I just an old fogey reminiscing to the good-'l days at festivals when I first heard songs like Tilt-Invisible, Oakenfold-Southern Sun, Underworld-Born Slippy, Ferry Corsten-Punk, etc... and perhaps I am just out of touch? I don't think so, because I discover great new massive tunes every week. I know there is some great new trance music out there, I hear it all the time on the various radio shows like Group Therapy, ASOT, Club Elite Sessions, Skylarking, etc... The question is, is it all lost on America's youth at the moment? It sure was lost at EDC on Saturday. Where can I find it in the future? I missed last year's Ultra Broadcast, but 2 years ago it seemed awesome- Avicii, Guetta, and quite a few others really playing some great stuff. MUSICALLY how did 2013 Ultra and 2013 EDC compare? Similar?
If I took a random 1000 "ragers" from EDC in a time machine, and put them in Club Space Miami, 2002, where Tiesto played the following set, whould they not "rage" harder, better, and happier than any other time in thier lives??? I sure the hell did...And plan to again- somewhere somehow. I challenge a new school kid to build this set and let me know:
1. Saphire Cut - Free Your Mind (DT Club Mix)
2. Accessive Rhythm - Activate [Ressurection Holland]
3. Moby - Extreme Ways (DJ Tiesto Remix)
4. Three Drives - Carrera 2 [Massive Drive Records]
5. Solar Stone - Solar Coaster [Lost Language Records]
6. King Unique - Sugar High [Junior Records]
7. Midway - Monkey Forest [In Trance We Trust]
8. Paul Oakenfold - Southern Sun (DJ Tiesto Mix) [Perfecto Records]
9. Dj Tiesto Feat. Junkie XL - Obsession [Black Hole Records]
10. Flash - The Day After (Perfecto Remix) [Perfecto Records]
11. Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar (John '00' Flemming Remix) [White Label]
12. Way Out West - Mindcircus (Gabriel & Dresden Mix)
13. DJ Tiesto - Lethal Industry [Black Hole]
14. M.I.K.E. feat. Plastic Boy - Silver Bath [Bonzai]
15. DJ Tiesto - In My Memory (V-One Remix) [Nettwerk]
16. M.O.R.P.H - MaximuM Overdrive (Benicio Remix)
17. Exor vs. Project Medusa - Moonshine (Part II) [Liquid Promo]
18. Jericho - Personal Reflexion [Progrezz]
19. Nalin & Kane - Open Your Eyes (Reworked Club Mix) [Infusion records]
20. Miro - By Your Side (Original Mix) [Lost Language]
21. M.I.K.E. feat. Mass Effect - Alpha Scan
22. Jones & Stephenson - The First Rebirth (Airwave Mix)
Thanks all for reading!
(I may post this in a new thread in a general location but don't want to get flogged by the mods). |
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