Lights all night music festival in Dallas, Texas has been home to some of the biggest names in music. With an ever improving lineup, performers have ranged from Skrillex back in 2014, to Deadmau5 this year. Along with consistent improvements to the venue, there is also excess capacity compared to last year to get as many fans in the convention center as possible. LAN was one of the best experiences of my life and I was happy to celebrate the New Year with a good group of friends. For many of us, this was the first festival or first EDM concert. I don’t want to make you read too much unnecessary stuff or bore you, so let’s jump right in.
On night one my group and I eased through security in 10 minutes and were off to see the beginning acts. I was a little bummed to see Hardwell go on so early at 8:45 pm on the Mothership Stage (or mainstage), but these DJ’s are all out here grinding and he would go on to headline Decadence in Colorado. Gotta respect them for it. Hardwell was one of the first DJ’s I really liked, especially his "Spaceman" Carnage remix. All in all, it was a good set.
My Basshead tendencies had begun to set in deep, so I didn’t have my fill yet. I was off to see Jauz whom I’ve seen before in Lawrence, Kansas. His story was one I’ve been following since the earlier part of 2015. A very fun dude to watch and it is cool to see the rising stars reach the potential that they are destined for, instead of fade away into the competitive landscape. Another one of my favorite acts from night one was Herobust. This was the second time I had seen him as well. So cool and full of energy. To see more on Herobust, here is a link to one of my previous articles featuring Herobust. Last but not least I closed out night one with Datsik. One of my top 5 favorites from the beginning of my EDM journey, this was someone I COULD NOT MISS. My friends went to Porter Robinson and said it was the coolest thing they had ever seen, but We’re the Millers had never spoken wiser words. I danced and shuffled my heart out and the hankering for more subsided until the morning.
Night two had much more in store. I’m glad I was mentally prepared. The very first group I walked in to was Black Tiger Sex Machine. One of the coolest crews around right now, these guys always get me in the zone. The slow intro just raises the intensity in the room and when they turn the lights on their masks, the party gets super hyped up. Snails was not too much later. I was so weak at this point, so I sat down towards the back with my friend and just stared in awe as he dropped his grimy bombs. This feeling never went away, but was only buttressed by Kaskade’s super out of the blue knockout performance. Talk about euphoria. One of the most stunning awe inspiring things I had ever seen! Just wonderful. To be honest I didn’t expect too much. Hadn’t really heard his music before and went in with an open mind. In hindsight I find this to be beneficial many times when there are a large number of performers or even individual concerts. Just go and check them out. See what happens. You never know who you may stumble upon and become a fan of for life.
Now my words won’t be able to tell the full story. The real reason I wrote this article is to plug the after movie I made for Lights All Night. Here is a video I recorded on my GoPro (Hero 4 Silver).
Below is a list including some of, in my opinion, the most notable artists that will be performing at Lights All Night 2016/17. In no particular order: ZEDD, A$ap Ferg, 12th planet, Kayzo, Crizzly, San Holo, RL Grime, G Buck, A-Trak, Feed Me, LOUDPVCK B2B Gladiator, Kill The Noise, Rezz, and deadmau5.
I’m going to pull a switch. I wrote this article because of my love for this festival and the experience it brought. With the increase in production, size, and amenities I know it will provide countless others a beneficial experience as well. However, I will be attending Decadence this year. I feel like a traitor, but I couldn’t really pass it up. The downside is they don’t allow GoPros or totems, or pretty much anything fun, so we will be without footage minus the shit iPhone videos and snapchats out the wazoo.
