The 10th Veld music festival has just unveiled their 2023 and it’s huge! Rezzmau5 (Rezz + Deadmau5) will be headlining which is sure to be a future classic. That massive combo will be joined by fellow headliners Above & Beyond, Illenium (live set), Tiesto, Zedd, and Loud Luxury. Set over 3 days in early August, Veld is bringing back the festival vibes in a big way.
By Ryan Hayes
This Saturday and Sunday Tomorrowland is set to take over the digital landscape. Dubbed Tomorrowland Around The World—this year's iteration features over sixty artists spread over eight original 3D designed stages. The festival aims to set the new gold standard for online events.
Unlike other quarantine live stream events Tomorrowland will prominently feature hour long sets simultaneously broadcasting across all eight stages. Although it may result in some fans only catching partial segments of an artists sets the packed schedule will help create the illusion of real life festival. Regardless of your personal musical leanings Tomorrowland will offer something for every EDM for the entirety of its six hour daily stream.
Day one begins with an hour and a half daybreak session from Oliver Heldens on the Mainstage before the Freedom stage really steals the day. The big pull for day one is the world premier of Tiesto's new alias, Ver:West: a melodic house project with heavy trance influences. That same day David Guetta's Jack Back alias takes on the Freedom Stage, and Eric Prydz closes the night with a new audio visual experience known as the [CELL.]. Aside from the name details about Prydz's new immersive set are sparse...fans will have to tune in as his visuals never disappoint.
Day two offers a big dose of trance and big room. W&W's trance focused side project NWYR follows fan favourite Dash Berlin on the Freedom stage. Elixir Club holds down heavy house vibes all day, and the Mainstage goes big with Don Diablo early in the day, before Martin Garrix closes out the festival.
Weekend passes are twenty Euros, while single day passes go for 12.50 Euros. Aside from music the festival is set to offer a range of interactive experiences, including; webinars, games and workshops on topics ranging from lifestyle/food, to fashion. Your weekend pass will also provide you with access to all the sets after the live festival stream ends from July 27 until August 2.
Will Tomorrowland Around The World re-define the digital festival landscape? Or will it come and go without notice? Regardless, the idea has peaked our interest...and we believe there are more than a few artists/sets that are worth checking out.
There is almost no other DJ on earth that can take the mainstage and own it like the Dutch legend can. While he's experimented with different styles lately, the first half was purely a big room exhibition which was adored by the younger crowd. The full power of the the mainstage was at the behest of Tiesto as the pyro, lighting, and more was fully unleashed in a coordinated dance to bring max energy.
The 2nd half of the set was when things got interesting. He went a bit darker starting with his remix of his classic track "Silence", then hit the crowd with a deeper vibe with Simon Field's remix of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good". After a few moments of educating the crowd of the deeper side of electronic dance music, Tiesto brought it back hard with his hit track "Boom". You never knew what he would play next as the 2nd half included throwbacks, Latin EDM, and remixes. This was mainstage Tiesto at his best and was a fitting end of the first night of ÎleSoniq.
Crushing everywhere he goes, Orjan Nilsen's mix of trance and elements of big room translated well to the Montreal crowd as his huge style and personality behind the decks came through loud and clear. Even though he likes to bring the biggest energy tracks to the festival stage, he also didn't forget the more emotional side of trance. The highlight was when he played "The Hardest", which features the soaring vocals of Rykka, the talented Canadian-Swiss vocalist. Orjan is a beast in the studio and continually delivers memorable live sets who deserves a shot at a night time festival slot in 2018.
At only 19 years old, Alan Walker has already assembled an impressive discography, boasting millions upon millions of plays on multiple platforms, with no indication that his run will slow down anytime soon. His 2015 smash hit "Faded" had put him on the map, but it is recent tracks like "Tired", his Sia and Julia Michaels remixes, that have kept his momentum going strong. Playing his productions with big room bangers and remixes of his more down tempo tracks combined for an ideal day 1 set at ÎleSoniq. Watch out for Alan Walker to make an even bigger impact in 2018 and beyond.
The vibes were deep and vibrant as Damian Lazarus provided the perfect atmosphere for an afternoon set. It takes a few minutes to walk up to the Neon stage but once you're there you notice a slightly more mature crowd and a lot of dancing - a welcomed sight. In certain parts of the Neon stage they had these plastic air bubbles that gave a distinct trampoline effect which added a unique jump to your dance moves. Highlights included the Catz N Dogz remix of "Woman Of The Ghetto", and Pirupa's remix of "Wonder" by Junior Jack.
Fresh from his European and Ibiza summer tour, Cedric Gervais got the day 2 crowd going with his big presence behind the decks on the mainstage. Known for his Lana Del Rey remix that awarded him a Grammy, Cedric has been active in the studio with "Touch The Sky" and his chiller release "Somebody New". But the track that is catching fire is something he cooked up in David Guetta's Ibiza studio 2 weeks ago, which is his remix of "Mi Gente" by J. Balvin and Willy William. The track fuses latin and electronic beats that sounds fresh and builds on the mega success of the Despacito remix with Justin Bieber. Cedric showcased all of these tracks and more for his memorable Montreal set.
In one of his highest festival placements yet, KSHMR took advantage of his opportunity by cranking up a set mostly composed of his own tracks infront of a crowd wanting to party extra hard after the short rain break. While some DJs that took the stage earlier in the day stuck to the safer options of playing tried and true bangers, KSHMR instead focused on highlighting his own tracks. The graphics of the show also told a story, and throughout the set there was a graphic narrative played that told a story while the crowd got a breather from all of the jumping. Big room might have had its day in the sun, but its artists like KSHMR that keep the genre going forward thanks to his releases.
ÎleSoniq was hosted in a different part of Parc Jean-Drapeau this year, which resulted in a huge new festival ground to walk around and explore. The mainstage was among the largest stages I've seen this summer, with the secondary stages being just as impressive. There was plenty of space to sit down and relax, and if it got a little too hot, ÎleSoniq had 2 water mist areas to cool you down. If anything, there was perhaps almost too much space between stages as a trip from the mainstage to the Neon stage could have easily taken 20 minutes. But if you had a choice between too much room, and not enough, I'd chose the extra space everytime. Overall Evenko did another superb job as ÎleSoniq drew perhaps the largest fan attendance this summer.
I made this one for the people who have missed the trance I used to make...real underground trance! #Itrance https://t.co/U2DJyCIJq8
— Tiësto (@tiesto) October 20, 2013
Tiesto surprises fans today as he released a trance track with Disco Fries called "iTrance", check it out:
Stripped back and minimalistic, this latest trance track from Tiesto reminds fans of a simpler time where you don't need all of the bells and whistles to get a crowd dancing. It's just so exciting to see one of the all time legends return to trance with such a beautiful and seemingly effortless track. This may be the start of a new beginning for Tiesto as has hinted earlier in the year that he is working with M.I.K.E Push on another trance collaboration.
Make sure to show Tiesto a lot of love by downloading this track to free so that we can collectively tell him how much we missed his trance days and hope that he makes more!
