Tomorrowland's NYE Reigns Supreme

By Ryan Hayes

For the second time this year Tomorrowland has set a new gold standard for the industry, pushing the limits of what a digital festival can be. With twenty-four performances over four stages, the seven-hour festival exceeded its predecessor in every way. A slew of small details sold the festival’s authenticity.

The production and direction that went into editing over twenty-one hours of performances into a tight, true to life, festival experience is staggering. Gone were the close-up shots of horribly rendered CG crowds; replaced with panoramas from behind the DJ booth and sweeping footage of a packed, flag-filled, stadium. The audience got increasingly thinner the closer you got to the back of the venue, and when the stream did cut to a close up shots of festival-goers they were real extras dressed in full festival attire, singing along as they danced away to the DJs set.

Aside from the events stunning cinematography and impeccable stage design there were an array of new sounds which were implemented to magnify the viewers perceived sense of live immersion. Ambient noise plays a live part in all live recordings. From the pure white noise of crowds mulling around, to cheering/clapping/whistling, and singing along—this time around the sound design took a big leap forward. Everything popped at the appropriate time, whether it was a crowd reaction to pyro, or a spontaneous sing-along to a festival anthem.

The acts themselves seemingly felt more comfortable in their virtual setting. Altering their audience interactions; Armin repeated “let me feel those hands up,” more than once while also shouting out fans who were chair raving all around the world.

With Tomorrowland NYE the global brand has managed to successfully transfer their full relevancy and clout into the digital realm. The festival was taken seriously by the artists because it provided them with an unparalleled spotlight, and springboard into 2021. With four stages each lined with top tier talent scheduling was suddenly extremely important. Lost Frequencies held down opening duties, and for the first hour he was the only artist being broadcasted. He knew that all eyes were on him, he put in the work, and it showed.

Meduza played the beautiful Atmosphere Stage; a perfect iteration on July’s Freedom Stage. Brighter, and more immersive, the full realization of a virtual house super club. Meduza dropped 4 IDs during his set, positioning the trio for a strong start to 2021. Martin Garrix somehow topped himself—during July’s digital Tomorrowland he dropped 8 STMPD RCRD IDs—dropping a whopping 10 IDs, effectively showcasing the first quarter of his label’s 2021 release calendar. This was the largest stage to date for Tchami to showcase his diversified Year Zero sound; after years of waiting his debut album, Year Zero, dropped on October 23rd, and with no album tour Tomorrowland NYE was the albums largest release party.  

Even the festivals gimmicks received an upgrade. For its inaugural endeavour fans received a 15 minute performance by Katy Perry. This time everyone was treated to forty-five minutes with DJ Snoopadelic. He may not have been the most logical follow up to Duck Sauce, but clouds of digital smoke & a few Snoop Dogg classics can go a long way.   

Although Armin van Buuren’s set may not have been as riddled with as many IDs as his peers, the perennial favorite performed an impeccable set. High energy, easily accessible, and uplifting. Armin allowed synths to do the heavy lifting and cleanse our palates for the year to come. It has been years since I’ve placed Armin at the head of the pack, but he brought trance to Tomorrowland NYE in a big way, and it hit the right cord.

The main stage closed out the night with Charlotte de Witte, followed by Jack Back. It was the precise transition towards after hours energy the night needed. Ultimately Tomorrowland NYE was a big improvement on a predecessor that already stood leagues above the rest. The artists all brought their A-game, and an astute attention to detail made sure the festival delivered on its true to life virtual promise.

Why you should get excited about Tomorrowland's NYE event

By Ryan Hayes

NYE is just around the corner, and this year things are looking a little different. With COVID-19 restrictions in full effect across Canada our usual winter festival offerings have all been cancelled, we’ve been sequestered to our homes for the remainder of the holiday season. Under these unprecedented circumstances Tomorrowland’s digital NYE offering is the perfect, and only, true alternative for dance music lovers who are currently suffering from the winter blues. With long, dark, and cold days piled on top of a lackluster summer—we all need a shot of pure serotonin—and Tomorrowland is here to deliver.

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The digital festival is set to feature 24 sets, across 4 unique stages, from 8pm to 3am local time (adapted across 27 time zones). While July’s Tomorrowland Around The World took place in the digital wonderland dubbed Pāpiliōnem, Tomorrowland’s NYE offering has shifted to the newly minted NAOZ. Advertised as a ‘revolutionary and future-proof virtual entertainment world,’ NAOZ is the world's first virtual super-club.

For their summer festival Tomorrowland built four green screen studios around the world, each with 38 digital cameras. Jointly they amassed over 300 terabytes of raw footage, the result was a wildly successful virtual experiment and proof of concept for all future Tomorrowland events.  

The absolutely stacked lineup features mainstage legends like Martin Garrix, Armin van Buuren, & David Guetta; while branching out with acts like Duck Sauce, Boys Noize, Maceo Plex, & Charlotte De Witte. There is even a performance by Snoop Dogg AKA DJ Snoopadelic…because why not. Both Diplo and David Guetta are holding down double duty; with Major Lazer playing earlier in the night hopefully Diplo is freed up to explore his Higher Grounds house side when he hits the Planaxis stage just before midnight. Guetta has a mainstage timeslot, which promises to offer a mixture of classics and Future Rave, as well as after-party duties; he is closing out the festival on the Melodia  stage as Jack Back from 2-3am.

Tomorrowland has proven that their artists take their sets seriously, treating them exactly the same as they would a top tier festival on the global circuit. Garrix has promised 9 new IDs for his set, stating; “I’m going to play so much unreleased music and I really want to take people on a journey, playing some different sounding stuff and new things.”

Tickets are twenty Euros, approximately $31 Canadian, or the price of two overpriced festival drinks. If you want to relive all of the sets on demand for two weeks after the event it’ll cost you an extra five Euros. Round up your household bubble—or Zoom with your festival crew—find your best speakers, dress up, order some LEDs from Amazon, & keep the drinks flowing. The more stock you place in digital events like this, the more you get out of them. This is your excuse to go all out—fully overboard—and rave from home.

It’s time to celebrate the end of a turbulent year, and this is as close to the real thing as you are going to get. I promise.

Just dive in….because why not?

Tomorrowland's Wildly Successful Virtual Experiment

By Ryan Hayes

Last weekend Tomorrowland gambled big with dance music's first pay to attend virtual festival; Tomorrowland Around The World. While events like Room Service Festival previously featured over 100 artists for free, Tomorrowland showcased 60 high profile artists while attempting to create a truly immersive digital festival experience.

Website interface to get in between stages

In order to capture true to life movements Tomorrowland reportedly built four green screen studios around the world in: Boom Belgium, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, and Sydney. Each production space featured 38 digital cameras which jointly amassed over 300 terabytes of raw footage. The 60 artists were spread out over 8 themed stages each built from the ground up and housed in the digital wonderland dubbed Pāpiliōnem.

Upon entering the festival grounds it was immediately apparent that Tomorrowland Around The World was in a league of its own. Different stages opened at different times, there were set time conflicts, cheesy drink recipes, motivational interviews, and a slew of the regular nonsense you find at real life festivals designed to fill your musical downtown. Pāpiliōnem itself was beautiful, especially after nightfall when the island burst to life with hundreds of glowing multicoloured lights.

Day 1:

Oliver Heldens held down the festivals opening slot with an hour and a half long Day Break Session. The attention to detail was impressive, and the events theatrics progressed seamlessly mirroring true to life sequencing. Being the first act the digital crowd was dispersed for Heldens; the sun was high in the sky, there were no fireworks, and the visuals were toned way down. Unfortunately, so much work was put in to the main stage itself that the audience looked uncanny and low resolution. To a degree it broke the immersion. Nonetheless as the day progressed and the sun went down the focus shifted to the stage and its light show refocusing the viewer on what mattered. Helden's performance was great, he is one of the few artists who has effectively utilized the pandemic to raise his stature within the EDM community, and he deserves every ounce of light shown on his talent. 

Day one was ruled by the Freedom Stage and house music. David Guetta's Jack Back alias played an early morning set fulling legitimizing the artistic abilities of his side project. The set was easily a highlight of the day and proof that act should appear on more festival lineups. After Jack Back, Fedde Le Grand provided the only break from the Freedom Stage's programming. His set was at the Elixir Club; a secret stage housed within the Main Stage's compound. Fedde Le Grand doesn't play many North American festivals, so any set from the seasoned Dutch maestro is always welcome. 

Tiesto AKA VER:WEST

After that is was back to the Freedom Stage for a world premier performance from Tiesto's newly minted progressive house alias VER:WEST. The set was moody, atmospheric, and polished—for fans expecting anything resembling his old trance days...it would have been a disappointment. The set was good enough to leave me curious to see where to Tiesto takes VER:WEST from here; and his late addition to the lineup was the kind of massive get an all digital festival like Tomorrowland needs to sell tickets.

It was during VER:WEST's set that the Freedom Stage's visuals truly popped. The dark enclosure downplayed the audience and focused on the laser/light show which was beautifully synced with the music. Tomorrowland's team really outdid itself, I was doubtful, but the visuals really brought the experience home.

Eric Prydz [CELL.]

After VER:WEST Eric Prydz closed out the Freedom Stage with his new [CELL.] concept. It was immaculate. Tomorrowland's visuals may have exceeded my expectations, but the [CELL.] was in a league of its own. Prydz team painstakingly created the kind of genuinely unique journey that his fans have come to expect—it needs to be fully experienced to truly be appreciated. The [CELL.] didn't disappoint and was undoubtedly as good as it gets until we can all return to real life events.    

The only real time the main stage came to life on day one was during Afrojack and Armin van Buuren's sets. As soon as Afrojack hit the stage it became clear that an artists performance was just as important as the tracks they selected for their set. Filming a festival set in an empty studio is no easy task, but Afrojack brought the same energy he would to an Ultra set, and it really set him apart. During all of the sets at the Freedom Stage none of the artists uttered a single word, and while the music spoke for itself, it took the bombastic nature of the main stage and an artist like Afojack to fully complete the illusion of a live festival act.

Armin Van Buuren

Armin previously stated the importance of his Tomorrowland set in an interview leading up to the event. His hour was full of IDs fulfilling my hunch that Tomorrowland Around the World would replace Ultra as 2020's preeminent festival and the industries most importance testing ground. This was Armin's one quarantine live stream, and his chance to temporarily dominate a blog news cycle.

As much as I want to dislike Carnage...who was playing at the same time as Armin...he remains a highlight. It is  impossible not to get swept up in the pure energetic madness that takes over when he graces the stage. It's delirium, it kills brain cells, and if you let it seep in to your bloodstream it provides a full body escape from reality. 

CORE stage

By the end of day one it was clear just how much work was put in to the design of each individual stage. While Freedom provided the best lighting effects. Core brought Shambhala forest party vibes (Anna's set was a highlight), and The Cave conjured a otherworldly shipwrecked fantasy—if Han Solo, Netsky, or NGHTMRE ever really play in a cave with floating boulders alight with the glow of hundreds of luminous sparks...sign me up.

Day 2:

An early day two highlight was EDX on the Elixer Stage. His pacing and energy was the perfect way to warm up and get back in the groove for another day of music. With the original festival time table made for European audiences a few of the sets came out of the gate a little too strong for 9 AM on a Sunday morning; in retrospect Marlo put on a fantastic show, albeit at the wrong time of day for Western hemisphere audiences.

Transitioning from house to trance, the Freedom stage once again pumped out solid sets throughout the day. NWYR was a lighthearted standout. Less bombastic than Armin van Buuren's main stage set—both artists played very different edits of Blah Blah Blah, exemplifying the varied approach trance artists took on each stage. It lent credence to the authenticity of Tomorrowland's thoughtful stage curation.  

The highlight of day two was the absolutely stacked main stage lineup culminating in the one-two-punch of Tiesto, David Guetta, and Martin Garrix. Tiesto put on a middle of the road, well constructed, traditional main stage set; tracks from his latest album play much better live than they do as a casual listen. Guetta took to the stage with his near perfect Future Rave intro edit of Titanium. His selection was a mixture of Future Rave, remixed Guetta classics, a token Jack Back offering, and a handful of IDs. Guetta's set was everything his Ultra closing slot was meant to be. It was the beginning of a new era in his career; he has entirely modernized his main stage persona in a way no other legacy artist has managed to accomplish. It's unique while still being wildly digestible and it will propel him back to the top of his game.

Martin Garrix

Garrix closed out the festival with the most believable performance of the weekend. The energy he put in to creating a realistic performance was unparalleled. Not to mention it has since been confirmed that he played 8 new STMPD RCRD IDs during his set. This was Garrix at his best.

Ultimately the entire event was a resounding success. A masterclass in digitizing and bottling a festival atmosphere. The stream inevitably would have been more fun with a room full of friends...or a field of like minded festival-goers—but that would negate the very reason the virtual experience exists. Tomorrowland Around the World legitimized a new way of consuming top-tier DJ sets that will only continue to gain prominence well past COVID's current stranglehold on the market. The event may not have made many waves in Western North America, due at least in part to the time difference, but it severed as proof of concept. A million people around the world tuned in, and the next iteration will only bring more eyes.

If you missed the festival the Relive platform is now up and running with every set on demand until August 14th for just over 12 Euros. That comes to roughly $18 for over 60 hours of music. Not bad.

Until next time  Pāpiliōnem.

Tomorrowland Vies For Digital Supremacy (Online Festival Preview - July 25th - 26th)

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.

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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.