THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Best of Global Dance Festival 2013

Posted by mimada on August 15, 2013

After finally resolving some site issues and getting the chance to post up in one location for more than 24 hours, I am elated to present to you a recap of Fresh New Tracks’ favorite moments from this year’s Global Dance Festival.

Global Dance Festival is the hidden gem of music festivals, not-so-quietly tucked away between the soaring red rocks a few miles outside Denver, Colorado. This year marks the 11^th running of the festival and to this day, Global has stayed true to its motive of keeping things fresh and innovative as both electronic music and the world evolve. Each day of the festival varied greatly from the next, catering to electronic music aficionados of every kind.

SO CHECK IT OUT, AFTER THE BREAK!

Friday was a bit of an experiment, introducing Global goers to something probably ranging a little out of their comfort zone: livetronic music. And it seemed to be a success. Live electronic bands such as Beats Antique and Eoto challenged the EDM-festival norm and presented on-stage visuals that blow laser shows out of the water (except Savoy, but we’ll get there).

eoto

Saturday was a fantastic mixture of local, upcoming, and chart-topping talent. As the sun was setting, Ecotek’s set started to heat things up, especially when they dropped this year’s Global Anthem. Emma Hewitt serenaded the audience, followed by Arty during whose set, quite frankly, I shed a single tear of joy. Okay maybe more than that. But I think he might’ve as well so it’s cool. Meanwhile, Candyland and Carnage were tearing things up at the top of the rock. During Candyland’s set, posse members actually shot afros out of t-shirt cannons to the audience. Then, Chipotle Gang leader Carnage #turnedup as much as possible, ending his set with new music including his latest single, “Michael Jordan,” and a remix of the Pinky and the Brain theme song. Savoy closed out the night by murdering, literally just destroying, everyone in the audience with a laser show that was absolutely out of this world. In fact, I’m confident it must have been fairly visible from space.

mile high

savoy

savoy2

Finally, Global went out with a bang due to a filthy amount of bass, bass, and more bass. Memorable moments included Kill Paris, dancing more than any person in the audience, and then leaning into his microphone to inform us that “This is a dream come true, my favorite place to play is Colorado.” Then, we went from baby-making music to a Harlem-shaking, Sosa-loving, fire-igniting back-to-back extravaganza that was RL Grime and Baauer. Shit was hot. And from there, things escaladed fast, very fast. Griz, accompanied by his saxophone, jammed out on high right into Gramatik’s set. And rest of the night was just one huge Grizmatik party. I have to admit, I snuck away from the PLM jamfest to catch Ryan Hemsworth at the top of the rocks, and I applaud those who made the same decision as I. There was a select few who managed to slip away to catch Hemsworth and we were all pressed right against the front as he floated around the stage behind the decks, dropping tracks from the complete opposite side of the spectrum compared to the rest of the weekend such as Flume, Cashmere Cat, and the like. At one point he even sincerely apologized to the gogo dancers for killing their vibe. But us, brave, adventurous souls, we were completely and utterly satisfied. Especially when returning to the mainstage and being blown away by the rest of Grizmatik’s set, topped off with headliner Mimosa. Ahhh it couldn’t have been a better ending to a perfect weekend.

rlgrime

grizmatik

As I’ve said time and time again, nothing compares to the fusion of natural beauty and technology-based electronic music. They compliment each other so well, creating an unforgettable environment with gracious attendees and top of the line acoustics. Already itching to get back.

Check out our favorite people and shenanigans from this year’s festival, as well as all the great upcoming shows from Global Dance. This fall, Denver’s concert schedule is stacked with appearences from Madeon, Jack Beats, Afrojack, and Skylab, featuring Kaskade, Dillon Francis, Manufactured Superstars, Mt. Eden, Loudpvck, and more (I’m outta breath after that one, geez).

Man, it must be nice living a mile high. Until next year!