Arizona’s largest New Year’s Eve celebration, Decadence Arizona made its grand return to the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona for two nights, December 30-31, 2023. This year’s edition of Decadence teleported ravers to The Sky Realm, where they were met with stratospheric level production, a star-studded lineup of artists, and out-of-this-world b2b sets.
Decadence Arizona invited festival goers from all across the country to ring in the new year with dance music’s most sought-after acts. The two-day event held notable performances from Adventure Club b2b Flux Pavilion, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Chris Lake, Claptone, Cosmic Gate, Green Velvet, Illenium, John Summit, Loud Luxury, Oliver Heldens, Steve Aoki, SLANDER, Subtronics, Wax Motif, and many more.
We kicked off day one of Decadence by exploring the event grounds and getting familiar with the layout. The festival took place just outside the racetrack and it had all the amenities that an attendee could possibly need. There were plentiful free water stations, food trucks, drink tents, rave apparel/accessory booths, a silent disco, rest areas, and of course, dance floors all around.
Phoenix Raceway traded in the sounds of zooming cars for multiple stages booming with Electronic Dance Music. Decadence hosted two main stages, Grand Palace and Royal Ballroom, as well as two smaller stages, The Playground and The Bazaar, while the main stages offered headlining artists and lavish production, the smaller stages provided sets from local talent plus fun activities. For example, attendees could compete in a game of dodgeball while sipping on their BeatBox beverage at The Playground and enjoy arcade games and Voodoo Ranger beer at The Bazaar. Thankfully, they were all close in proximity which made it easy to bounce around and get the full festival experience.
Grand Palace was our main stop on the first night and we witnessed many amazing performances here. Oliver Heldens blew us away with a multi-genre set, seamlessly flowing between his renowned house music, drum and bass, and giving us glimpses of his HI-LO alias with some techno. John Summit was one of the most highly-anticipated acts and he did not disappoint. He played every raver’s anthem, “Eat Sleep Rave Repeat,” hit us with an edit of a classic, Nadia Ali‘s “Rapture,” and put us in our feels with his stunning, unreleased track in collaboration with Hayla, “Shiver”.
In between sets, we made our way to The Bazaar which was located at the very center of the festival grounds. The Bazaar served as a communal area with space to lounge, brand activations, live art, and a special stage takeover by esteemed label, Re:Sound Music. We caught local artist, SamWell‘s set and his Latin house flare was a vibe and unlike any of the other artists we had seen.
Night two of Decadence Arizona, aka New Year’s Eve draws in the most excitement and an influx of attendees ready to party. The night began at Grand Palace for an early b2b set from Bleu Clair and San Pacho. These two tech house maestros threw down a killer tracklist. Honestly, name a more iconic duo.
House music continued to fill the night with Chris Lake following the b2b at Grand Palace and Green Velvet at Royal Ballroom. Legendary DJ/producer, Green Velvet shared his Chris Lake collab, “Deceiver” and took the crowd back in time with Gloria Gaynor‘s “I Will Survive.”
The moment everyone awaits and the hardest decision… what artist will you ring in the new year with? SLANDER and Wax Motif both held the midnight time slot. We decided to check out the first half of Wax Motif’s set at Royal Ballroom. The Australian producer shook the tented megastructure with his bass house original, “WET.” As 12 AM was quickly approaching, we made our way over to SLANDER. The pair captivated fans with their blend of future bass and melodic dubstep. When the countdown appeared on the main LED screen, SLANDER brought out fellow headliner, Illenium for their single, “Lay It Down.” When the bass dropped, the balloons dropped, and the crowd roared with excitement. Happy New Year!
It was a pleasure embarking on this journey to The Sky Realm and ringing in the new year at Decadence Arizona. We can’t wait to celebrate Decadence’s 10 year anniversary later this year and we hope you’ll join us for the largest celebration yet!
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
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http://relentlessbeats.com
Photo Credit: @jveronephoto, @agile_lens, @jacobtylerdunn, @speyerphoto, @divisuals
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