Body Language: 36 Hours of House and Techno [Event Review]

The streets of Downtown Tempe, Arizona rumbled with the sounds of house and techno for Relentless Beats and RBDeep’s inaugural Body Language Festival. Over three days and three nights, attendees arrived and let their bodies do the talking for an intimate, yet still large-scale music festival honoring the sounds of the underground.

Body Language was set up in a block party style with three stages centered in the heart of the city at 5th Street and Maple Ave, outside of Relentless Beats’ club show partner, Sunbar. The event had everything festival goers needed to fuel up for 36 hours of dancing with free water stations, full service bars, and a variety of food vendors, including great vegan options. RBDeep partnered up with many Phoenix-based dispensaries that gave out tons of free merchandise and great deals if you were to pay them a future visit. Sunday Goods dispensary even provided a lounge where attendees could rest up and get tatted with UV body paint.

Now on to the real reason we attended – the music! Body Language made history with major performances all weekend long. The main stage, Mirage, was a phenomenon in itself with world-renowned artists and a lineup straight out of an Ibiza nightclub. Day one kicked off with local favorites, Alaska and Frank Terry, also known by their duo project, Alaskan Franks. The house music flowed with sets from VNSSA, Kyle Watson, and finally, Wax Motif‘s signature bass house as the sun was setting. Wax had the crowd fluent in the lingo of movement with his chart-topping originals, “Fly Kicks” and “WET.” The masked producer, Malaa followed up and kept the momentum going with his breakout single, “Notorious,” while Kaskade prepared to close out the night with a redux set. The Kaskade feels escalated as he took us on a trip down memory lane with “Angel On My Shoulder” and “No One Knows Who We Are.”

The Labyrinth stage was right around the corner, shaking up Maple Ave with the twists and turns of house and techno. The rave ringmaster, Rebuke, was leading day one with his new single, “Storm 2022.” Hannah Wants and Ida Engberg continued Rebuke’s,”Rattle”, and prepared attendees for Patrick Topping‘s closing set. Patrick transported ravers to a night out at DC-10 with “Be Sharp Say Nowt” and his unreleased, soon-to-be summer hit, “Shake My Booty.”

Day two of Body Language was reserved for the heavy-hitters with a roster full of legendary acts including Carl Cox and Adam Beyer. Mirage delivered unreal back to back performances with Teenage Mutants and Township Rebellion warming up the second day. Eats Everything took over the decks and unified the dance floor with each riff and pummeling beat of “Space Raiders.” Adam Beyer fed techno enthusiast’s souls with “Your Mind” and a set list brimming with Drumcode top records. Finally, the grand finale – Carl Cox. The dance music pioneer brought the Mirage stage to life, taking us to an island destination with his stand-out remix, “Finder.” It was everything Body Language fans needed – a pinch of disco, a dash of acid house, and heaps of techno.

The Labyrinth was up and running a house marathon with Anatta and Westend to start the day. Hometown favorite, Drezo, led the rally with a wave of g-house, bold synths, and dirty basslines, dropping his originals, “Heaven” and “Guap.” Shiba San held down the next 90 minutes with his ground-shaking music, including his new Basement Leak remix, “Listen.” The last leg of the night was a b2b set from two of house music’s most sought-after artists, Dombresky and Noizu. The pair turned up the energy with a memorable setlist featuring crowd pleasers, “Summer 91,” “Middle”, “Housology”, and “Soul Sacrifice”.

Day three began with a phenomenal live set from electronic duo, Kasablanca. The twosome vitalized the Mirage stage with live renditions of “Volition” and their repeat-worthy Lane 8 collaboration, “Run.” Lee Foss was next on the schedule which meant Chicago was in the house! The talented producer threw it back with his reinvented take on millennial’s favorite tracks, “My Humps”, and his highly-anticipated, unreleased flip, “One, Two Step.” Claptone kept the groove going until it was time to pass the torch to another icon, aka Boris Brejcha. The German artist’s high-tech minimal sound is unique to Boris himself. He raised vibrations with his lengthy discography featuring “Gravity,” “House Music,” and many unreleased ID’s including his encore, “Keep On Walking.” Boris does not perform in Phoenix often, if ever, so Body Language attendees witnessed history in the making.

Labyrinth wrapped up the festival weekend with Von Gold, Lucati, Gene Farris, Gordo, and Walker & Royce. Gene Farris was one of our top sets of the three-day event, giving fans a second dose of Chicago house flavor. The Windy City native livened up the final day with “Space Girl,” “We Work It,” and had the crowd belting to an old school classic by The Human League, “Don’t You Want Me.”

Abyss was the third and final stage at Body Language. It was the only indoor stage, set inside of Sunbar’s nightclub. The venue gave off warehouse vibes and it doesn’t get more techno than that. Abyss was local artist’s playground for the weekend and it was a nonstop party. Up-and-coming DJ/producer, Lance Fairchild, turned the club into an opera with ChaseWest‘s “Habanera,” spread joy with Bob Sinclar‘s, “Love Generation,” and showcased his new EP, Transport Control. If you ever get a chance to catch a Lance Fairchild set, we would 10/10 recommend it.

Overall, the inaugural Body Language festival was a success – the location was great, the event itself was very organized, there were virtually no lines or wait times, and the lineup rivaled some of the country’s biggest music festivals. We hope Body Language returns as an annual event!

Connect with Body Language:
https://www.facebook.com/bodylanguageaz
https://twitter.com/bodylanguageaz
https://www.instagram.com/bodylanguageaz
https://bodylanguagefest.com

Connect with Relentless Beats:
https://www.facebook.com/relentlessbeats
https://twitter.com/RelentlessBeats
https://www.instagram.com/relentlessbeats
http://relentlessbeats.com

Photo Credit:
Jacob Tyler Dunn
Luis D Colato
Tritt Visuals

---

Share On