By Adam & Lauren:
After months of planning,
Illumina Live finally reached planet Earth. It was Glow's first time venturing out into a venue as large as the House of Blues but it was a risk they were willing to take, to bring their weekly Cambridge party to the masses of Boston. At the House of Blues, the debut concept, Illumina, opened itself to potentially be a challenger to the Dayglows and the Blackouts of the world.
Upon arrival, doors did not open until a half hour later than expected. Waiting outside in line, the majority of the crowd seemed to be attending one of their first EDM events. While it did not seem like they were there to really appreciate the music, they wanted to have a good time and came with positive attitudes.
When we first walked in, the House looked to be turned into a club, with purple lighting and a disco ball above the crowd setting the mood. As people slowly came to the dance floor, the first opener came to play his set. It got people moving on the dance floor, but the set list was a little unusual for an opener as they played a lot of big room high BPM tunes. Ideally its always nice to have the DJ warm up the crowd with a more gradual building of the tempo. This not only helps ease the crowd into things but make transitions for the headline acts easier. However, it did get the energy up in the room which was pleasant.
At Illumina, we had a fantastic opportunity to witness female DJs lay down some sets. Both sets by the female DJs, Danielle Dimond and Aleka, were excellent. Danielle opened second, bringing up the crowd’s mood and filling the dancefloor, while Aleka brought just enough bangers to have the audience right at their peak. Both the skills and set choices from these two made for awesome sets.
Glowkids and Fuse did not disappoint either. Masterfully reading the crowd, the night started with more common and mainstream EDM. Their second set brought in classics like Daft Punk to bring good vibes to the audience. Around 11, the audience began to diminish. However, a group of of committed EDM fans remained got to witness the best moments of the night. Feeding off the crowd Glowkids and fuse hit us with Tiësto, Above and Beyond, and other less mainstream songs, turning the club into a rave.
One of the unusual elements at Illumina was their effort to combine EDM and club music with live rock bands. There weren't only DJ's at this event. The crowd got to enjoy 4 mini sets split up between DJ's and bands. In a club-like atmosphere switching on and off between DJs and a live band felt out of place. The crowd reacted this way too, as if they were not sure how to react. Dancing slowed to a halt when the bands took the stage and the crowd seemed to disperse outwards. After they left, the DJs would have a harder time bringing the people and energy back for their set.
Illumina’s biggest strength was their production. The lights, fog, lasers, and confetti were all very well done and brought Glow into a new level. If anything could have been improved here, I would say that dancers and confetti both should have come out a bit earlier in the evening, to really bring out the theatrics to the most attendees.
Since this was the first Illumina, I must give them a ton of credit for putting on an awesome performance and light show. For the most part, the DJ’s were successful in making the crowd have the best time possible. In future events, the timing or inclusion of live acts could be worked out. While no one in the crowd knew exactly what Illumina was meant to be, I see this as a great opportunity for the show to grow into something bigger, better, and more exciting in future events and tours; something to really look out for in the upcoming years.
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