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The Triumphant Return of Decadence Arizona [Event Review]

January 25, 2022 By Bianca Benjamin

Seven years of celebrations, two music-filled nights, four dance floors, countless musical guests, and thousands of festival goers – Arizona’s largest New Years Eve party, Decadence Arizona, made a triumphant return in 2021.

After missing out on Decadence 2020 (thanks pandemic), we’ve been eagerly awaiting its return and our annual tradition of ringing in the New Year at Decadence Arizona was back in action! On December 30-31, the spark was reignited as globally-renowned artists lit up the stages of Rawhide Event Center. The NYE music festival was revamped and glamified with elevated experiences, upscale VIP amenities, two main stages equipped with quality production, and of course, over the top performances from dance music’s most-sought after acts including Alan Walker, Alesso, Alison Wonderland, BIJOU, Chris Lake, Destructo, Dillon Francis, DJ Snake, Excision, Fisher, Gem & Tauri, Kaskade, Loud Luxury, Madeon, Marshmello, Martin Ikin, Nora En Pure, Purple Disco Machine, Seven Lions, Sonny Fodera, and many more.

Day one kicked off with headliner and legendary artist, Alesso at the Grand Palace. It was a warm welcome as he set in the nostalgia with past hit singles, “Heroes” and “If I Lose Myself (Alesso vs OneRepublic)”. The dome-shaped stage continued with massive back to back showcases all night long. Seven Lions took over the decks next and it was a cinematic production of feels and bass. His set list was pure perfection, filling the Palace with his poetic original, “Strangers,” capturing hearts with Tyler Grave‘s beautiful voice on “Only Now,” and teasing us with his unreleased track “Reason For Fighting” with Blastoyz.

Although it wasn’t easy to leave the Grand Palace, we eventually made our way over to the second stage, Royal Ballroom, to revel in some funk from Purple Disco Machine. Being one of our top sets of EDC 2021, we had to check out the German house phenom. He turned up the volume with his disco-fied version of Shouse’s “Love Tonight” and reminded everyone why he’s a mainstay on festival lineups with his Exotica original, “Hypnotized.”

The groovy tunes did not stop with Purple Disco Machine, but continued at the Gopuff roller disco right next door to the Grand Palace. This was your chance to accentuate those bell bottoms with a pair of skates as the DJ spun all of the latest house music. If the roller rink wasn’t your style, there was another disco on the festival grounds – the silent disco aka The Playhouse. Here you could throw on a pair of headphones, switch between three channels, and lose yourself to the simplicity of the music and the dancefloor.

Before returning to the main stages, we took some time to explore Rawhide and that meant stopping by one of the many craft cocktail bars, checking out the rave shops, and finally, making our way to the Rynobus art car aka The Jester’s Court. The art car was presented by Weird and Wonderful, a creative concept that debuted at Decadence 2019. Here you had the opportunity to dance alongside the Weird and Wonderful crew of costumed characters while catching some noteworthy sets from artists like Avitas, Brett Ortiz, Chassi, Fransis Derelle, Sharps, SHSTR, TRST, Dos Lonely Boys, The Hotel Lobby, and more.

The following two hours were dedicated to Madeon and Kaskade. Madeon presented his Good Faith DJ set at The Royal Ballroom, dropping his dance tracks, “You’re On” and “The Prince”. Kaskade packed the Grand Palace and enamored the crowd with his opening song, “Eyes” and continued to leave us in awe with “Disarm You”. The veteran DJ always puts on an incredible show and he was the highlight of the first day.

The concluding acts of the night included two powerhouse producers, Chris Lake and DJ Snake. Chris Lake jumped right into his set with our favorites, “Turn Off The Lights (Cloonee Remix),” “Lies, Deception, and Fantasy” with Lee Foss, his latest release, “A Drug From God,” and closed with a short “Fuck 2021” speech. Meanwhile, Grammy-nominated artist, DJ Snake had attendees turning up to his classic radio hits, “Lean On” with Major Lazer and “Taki Taki”.

Decadence day two was a little colder and a lot rainier, but that didn’t stop the excitement of what was to come as we counted down to the New Year. Everything sparkled a little more on NYE and we were ready to take on the second night. The first time slot was reserved for Alan Walker at the Grand Palace. He brightened the space with his mix of electro pop, big room, and happy hardcore. Walker delivered a euphoric experience with lasers that hit every dance chord of his vocal-driven tracks, “Sing Me to Sleep,” “Faded,” “Alone,” and “Ignite” with Julie Bergan, K-391, and SEUNGRI. It was the perfect way to kick start the night and quickly became one of the best performances that we witnessed over the two-day event.

Arizona’s very own hometown DJ/producer, BIJOU geared up to take the stage next as a replacement for DJ Diesel aka Shaq. During this time, house music was brewing at the Royal Ballroom and it continued all night long. Fisher had jumped in and the tented structure was roaring with banger after banger. Fans were “Losing It” over the Australian producer’s unreleased IDs. Sonny Fodera followed up and elevated the vibe with his luxurious piano house tunes.

Midnight was about to strike and this was the time to decide where you wanted to count down to the New Year. We wanted to kiss the year goodbye with a proper send off and the move was Dillon Francis at the Grand Palace. Francis paid tribute to the late Betty White with The Golden Girls theme song and announced “We’re drinking 99 shots for Betty White tonight.” After learning of her passing earlier that morning, it was a very emotional moment. When the New Year mark was approaching, he had us chanting hilarious positive affirmations while the number of seconds decreased and then finally, the balloons dropped – Happy New Year! It was a whirlwind experience of tears, laughter, dancing, and an extra bonus, he took his set One Deeper.

The remainder of the night consisted of Gordo, Carnage‘s house moniker continuing the groove at Royal Ballroom with his new release, “EENIE WEENIE,” while mellogang lost their mind to Marshmello’s, “Falling to Pieces (VIP Mix)”, at the Grand Palace. Decadence officially came to a close with musical duo, Loud Luxury, bass tastemaker, Excision, and Salt Lake City’s rising star, SHSTR. We chose to end our celebration with Loud Luxury as they kept us dancing until the final moments. Cheers to the triumphant return of Decadence Arizona!