Festival goers gathered at the Phoenix Raceway for two nights, December 30-31 to bid farewell to 2022 and welcome the New Year at Arizona’s largest New Year’s Eve celebration, Decadence Arizona. This year’s edition of Decadence introduced us to a whole new world, the Ancient Future, a bustling city of sorts, populated by ravers and running on the sounds of Electronic Dance Music.
This marked Relentless Beats’ eighth annual Decadence and we’ve been in attendance since its inception in 2014. We’ve watched the marquee festival grow from a single-day and single-stage event inside of Frontier Hall at Rawhide Event Center to now a full-fledged music festival with multiple stages, event activations, top-level production, and a brand-new location.
This was the first year that the NYE festival did not take place at Rawhide, but instead made its debut in the city of Avondale at the Phoenix Raceway. The new venue accommodated four stages, merch vendors, a large VIP lounge, tons of food and drink options, and even a dodgeball court for those brave enough to play.
One thing that has remained the same throughout the years is the high caliber of artists booked and this year was no exception. Decadence Arizona delivered massive performances from some of dance music’s biggest names including Cosmic Gate, DJ Pauly D, Dr. Fresch, Duke Dumont, Fisher, Flume, Liquid Stranger, Louis The Child, Nicole Moudaber, Porter Robinson, Subtronics, Tinlicker, Wooli, Zeds Dead, and many more.
Day one started with us exploring the grounds of the Ancient Future city of Decadence and our first stop was The Bazaar. This served as a communal area with space to lounge, photo ops, art, tarot card readings, the Weird & Wonderful cast of characters, and doubled as a stage with sets from Arizona’s most renowned artists.
The best local talent could also be found on the decks at the Playhouse featuring Beatbox Beatbus. The art car was the only open-air, intimate stage, but it rivaled the energy of the others with the heaviest of bass, banging house music, and endless servings of Beatbox Beverages.
The remaining two stages, Grand Palace and Royal Ballroom hosted the largest performances of the weekend and had peak production to match. They were close in proximity, which shielded us from the cold and made it easy to bounce around and split sets, which was a necessity with a lineup this stacked.
The main stage, Grand Palace held some of our favorite sets on the first night and they were all back to back. Kayzo kicked off the night with a multi-genre, bass explosion and lasers with no end in sight. Malaa followed with music from his latest album, Don Malaa and his infamous track, “Notorious”. Flume lifted spirits with his cinematic remix of Disclosure’s “You and Me”. Finally, Fisher kept the party going until 2 AM with his originals, “It’s A Killa” and “Losing It”.
Day two of Decadence is always the most anticipated day as attendees are gearing up to celebrate the New Year. The excitement is at an all-time high and everything from rave attire to production appears to be elevated.
One of the most memorable sets we caught on NYE was from the legendary trance duo, Cosmic Gate at the Royal Ballroom. The veteran producers connected with the crowd, playing their remix of Gabriel & Dresden‘s “Only Road” and their prized classic, “Exploration of Space”.
It wouldn’t be a New Year’s Eve festival without some iconic countdown sets and Decadence Arizona certainly delivered. Two duos, Walker & Royce and Louis The Child held the midnight time slot. We decided to check out both artists, starting with Walker & Royce at the Royal Ballroom. They filled the megastructure with groovy tunes, addictive tech house, and striking visuals. The industry heavyweights dropped a breakout tracklist including “Not About You” with Nala and their Ardalan collab, “Ballroom”. Multicolored laser beams delicately danced to the dreamy piano riffs of the opera inspired single, “Ballroom” and it was an unforgettable moment.
We made it over to Grand Palace just minutes before midnight to ring in the New Year with Louis The Child. The pair counted us down to an epic balloon drop and confetti shower as they played the perfect song for the occasion, “Blow The Roof”. It was an unreal way to welcome 2023!
It was a pleasure exploring the Ancient Future and continuing our tradition of ringing in the New Year at Decadence Arizona. We can’t recommend Decadence enough and truly believe that there’s no better way to spend New Year’s Eve. We hope you’ll join us for Decadence 2023!
Connect with Decadence Arizona:
https://www.facebook.com/DecadenceAZ
https://twitter.com/DecadenceAZ
http://decadencearizona.com
Connect with Relentless Beats:
https://www.facebook.com/relentlessbeats
https://twitter.com/RelentlessBeats
https://www.instagram.com/relentlessbeats
http://relentlessbeats.com
Photo Credit: @divisuals, @jacobtylerdunn, @olurockvisuals, @jaronqphoto, @luisdcolato
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