Identity Festival 2012 Review - Part 1

 By Max and Deirdre

It was 7:15am and I was on the train to my full time job, and all i could do was smile at myself.  The prior night I had been led through a set that is often talked about by ravers but not often experienced.  The share excitement that I left identity fest with, after pryda finished out the night, was dumbfounding.  No one on the train will ever be able to relate to my experience at this festival unless they lived during the days of Woodstock or have attended one of the major EDM festivals circling the country the last 2 years.

As a leader of a music revolution, I’ve been given the keys to a kingdom many would beg for, and access others would pay thousands.  On the day of Identity festival, that meant stage access and beyond.  It’s hard to fathom the experience of being on stage, capturing images of a historical moment, such as the first return of pryda in five years.  Yet I was blessed with the honor to share my passion and focal lens with the fans of the Comcast center, and witness their musical journey to dance music ecstasy, which pryda led them through and provide an Identity Festival 2012 Review.

Much like the repetitive dun-dun dun-dun from the train tracks, a similar steady beat carried through out the...
Comcast center on Thursday July 26^th.  The 4 on the floor beat got off to a start in the parking lot, with many fans bringing mobile dj setups to enjoy during their tailgate.  With that being said you’d think there was a big party happening in the lot, however you’d be wrong to assume so.  The Identity fest crowd was slow to show for the start of the festival.

Our intern circled the lot to absorb the type of crowd; we’d embark the next 9 hours of the festival with.  The majority of the crowd was young high school and college aged students looking for a good time.  Gentlemen were dawned in neon head to toe, and raver ladies decked out in the sexiest of bootie shorts, suspenders, and festive bras.  (However, none of them lacked the cool factor of an EDMBoston.com shirt.)   With such a young crowd we were worried, given our experience at Avicii.  Nevertheless, the vibe was refreshingly different.  Everyone was eager to take pictures with us and learn more about the Dance Music scene, if they were a newb.  The energy possessed in the younglings was at times overbearing to keep up with, but made us excited that there were still so many untapped people in the Boston area.

Heading into the Comcast Center was quick, easy, and painless for once.  There was literally no line and excitement in the air was only more prevalent inside the gates.   Immediately people corralled for us to take family photos.  After the frenzy of fans, we searched around to see the layout of the event.  This is the most important thing to do when going to a multistage venue.  Once we had our bearings, we were disappointed to find no water stations especially since the heat and humidity were ridiculously high. In fact it was dangerously hot on this July summer day.  Nevertheless, Live Nation had many vendors and concessions stands to capitalize.  Luckily some advertisers were giving out free drinks, and food.

Following the crowd flow (and noise) we found ourselves heading in the direction of the Rockstar Energy Drink Stage.

When we arrived The Eye was playing in front of a crowd that topped out at approximately 400 people.  Even with the disgusting humidity he had everyone jumping throughout his set.  He played a mix of progressive house and electro which included remixes of Swedish House Mafia’s Save The World, Porter Robinson’s Language, and House of Pain’s Jump Around were a few of our favorites during his set.  When he wrapped up his set, he expressed his gratitude to the enlarged crowd, coming close to tears at one point while also stirring up some laughs.  We looked around to observe people laughing along with the DJ.  It was fun for fans to see the personal side of The Eye and humbling to know he in in fact just like the rest of us, at least anatomically.

After the Eye, we shifted over to the ihome Mainstage, where we observed Le Castle Vania perform.  At this point the mainstage lower pit had filled in and had a lot of nice energy. His tunes played out just as grovey, with electro overtones and a robust indie dance feel that easily kept pace with Le Castle Vania’s Edgey haircut.  Dayzed productions did a phenomenal job capturing the energy and it can be seen below

After Le Castle Vania’s energetic set, we were treated to the soulful vocals of Eva Simmons.  The lauded voice that has taken over the mainstream radio airways, via “Take over Control”, was something EDMBoston beat writers were longing to hear all day.  Could this iconic vocalist bring the vocal power live to the mainstage or was she a studio queen?  The answer was her powerhouse voice blew us (and I’m sure the rest of the crowd) away.  Everywhere you looked there were people singing along with her.  On her cover of “Can’t Stop Me Now” she hit all the high notes with every once of energy her petite body could muster, with outstretched arms.  It was mind moving.  She also sung her knew song with Will.i.am "This is Love" and her track "I don't Like you".

After Simons Deirdre and I parted ways.

Deirdre:

I went into the show knowing the hype around Arty. I’ve heard from multiple friends that he killed it at Spring Awakening so I was looking forward to seeing how talented he was. Arty’s opening was incredible; he began with Porter Robinson’s Spitfire, which was one of three Robinson tracks he played throughout his set. While the crowd responded positively to the majority of the music, the crowds’ energy seemed to seep out of the pit three quarters of the way through his set. The semi-lethargic state of the crowd may have had nothing to do with Arty’s set, factors such as the heat, the time of day, and a variety of other things may have been to blame.  Nevertheless, as any good DJ would do, Arty took matters into his own hands. Sensing the deteriorating energy, he played Alesso and Sebastian Ingrosso vs. Arty and Mat Zo’s “Calling”.  Immediately the crowd awoke, tripping them back into a frenzy. Arty ended his set on a high note with his final track being, Tiesto’s “Maximal Crazy”.  Arty did a phenomenal job building up the energy during his set and peaking at the last moment with Maximal Crazy.

Absent from Arty's set was his track Around the World, one of my favorites, but I realize a one hour set time only allows for so much. While leaving the stage, Arty took some photos with fans and gave hugs.

Stay tuned to EDMBoston for Identity Festival 2012 Review Part 2, as we will bring you videos and photos of Madeon, Excision, Wolfgang, and Pryda!