Deidre:
Madeon was next up on the
mainstage. The youngster has been known to play a very mainstream setlist,
but with professionalism and the ability to weave in and out of
subgenres. When he took the stage, he did just that. He jumped around
from playing his hit “Pop Culture” to Skrillex’s “Breakn A Sweat” and almost
everything in between. My favorite moment was when he dropped Knife Party’s
“Sleaze” complete with strobe lights and smoke. The end of his set was filled with
grand visuals and intense light shows, which complimented the dawn sky, a first
of the day. The 16 year old French prodigy left the stage with the crowd
screaming for more.
And more is just what the
crowd at the iHome stage got. Wolfgang was up next and he tore it apart.
Between his huge bass drops and build-ups I could hardly keep my composure. The
volume of the music had increased drastically between Madeon and Wolfgang (and
to my surprise would get EVEN louder for Prydz). At this point, the other
stages had closed and the pavilion on the main stage filled in. The
obvious crowd favorites in Wolfgang’s set included “Illmerica” and “Redline”.
I personally enjoyed...
“Own The
Night” and the “Devil’s Den,” both of which encompassed strobes and quick
flashes of light enhancements. By this point, the crowd was more
energetic then they had been all day, girls throughout the large crowd were
sitting on top of men’s shoulders, and everyone was covered in sweat, with
gigantic smiles on their faces.
The sea of people at the
main stage had proliferated. What began as groups of people decked out head to
toe in neon running from stage to stage, in frenzies, had transformed into a
group of fans and friends engaged and cohered by a commonality. Music.
Maxwell:
Music would be just what
Eric Prydz would delver.
A harmonious synth progression filled
the air sans lights, when Eric Prydz, aka Pryda, set kicked off at the main
stage. In the enchanted darkness,
tensions grew deeper as the progression heightened and a smoke cloud filled the
stage. Through this mystical dark air a silhouette of Pryda slowly emerged,
highlighted only by a strengthening blue aurora of light. As Pryda’s presence became more defined,
so did his opening track choice. The vocals “reach out…to space” looped with
the synth progression until the tension was thick and omnipresent. At the perfect moment the vortex of synths collapsed and
transpired into a powerful drop.
We were finally underway with Eric Prydz in America after waiting 5 long
years.
Pryda had
started us off with his remix of “Personal Jesus”. Within 1 minute 42 seconds time the conductor called all
aboard. At that time Pryda had
everyone in palm of his hand, where they remained for the rest of the
night. Throughout his set he
proved why he was a legend and what progressive house truly can be.
Pryda gave
fans little choice but to tilt their heads back, close their eyes, and go on a
spiritual house voyage. He wove
and interwove tracks together effortlessly and left fans wondering if songs
ever changed. The mind-bending
turns, prolific raises, and deep breakdowns left EDMBoston spiritually
fed. This set was a crown jewel that
we embraced from its start.
Null and
void of Beatport top 10s of the moment (besides Allein), Pryda played all of
his own remixes and original tracks.
It was refreshing to say the least. Not to mention, the perfect way to cap off the night’s
darkness and day’s festivities was with something unique.
The crowd
was filled with a lot of fans witnessing Pryda for the first time, but Pryda
had no troubles getting them to react to his music with vigor and
enthusiasm. Pryda knew when to
give the crowd what they needed. When he sensed the crowd getting tired, a slow
bridge would be played for everyone to rest. He would then build back up the energy and drop the bass to
get everyone moving again. With
each build and drop the energy in the tracks intensified thought the set.
Prydz only
rested on one mainstream song in his set, which he remixed. Midnight city came on half way through
and sent the amphitheater into chaos.
The chart-topping track was fun and effective because it briefly changed
gears up in the middle of the set.
We hope
Pryda returns sooner rather then later as we’d rank his set within the top 5
played in Massachusetts for the year!
Closing
Thoughts on our Identity Festival Review 2012:
The controversy surrounding
the Mansfield Identity Festival is unfortunate because instead of highlighting
what we witnessed that night, it’s received a negative backlash. The public
will never be able to understand the inclusiveness of an EDM festival. People
had set up tables in the parking lots welcoming strangers to stop by and make
Kandi bracelets. The media won’t understand we witnessed best friends and
strangers drape their arms around each other, singing along to their favorite
songs. They won’t realize that the majority of people in attendance for
Identity went for one thing- THE MUSIC. Instead only the negative and
unfortunate events of Identity Festival will be publicized and that’s something
I hope this article changes. To
take a quote from the Swedish House Mafia, “We Came. We Raved. We Loved” and
because a fraction of those in attendance choose a different course, doesn’t
mean our community is riddled with any additional problems other then society,
in general, is troubled by.
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