© Rukes
Imagine Music Festival was an incredible weekend to finish off the summer season. The Imagine team outdid themselves again with creating a enveloping experience through stage production, performers, carnival rides, and heartfelt sets from all the artists. Interactive art pieces were spread across the grounds such as a pyramid with changing colors and a ring of old pianos painted in aquatic designs. When our feet got too hot from all the dancing, we could take a dip in the wade pool or float on one of the swan floaties.
When walking into the Speedway, you’re welcomed by stand-shaking bass, and you knew that you had entered Imagine’s aquatic underworld. Attendees broke through the wall of sound and were greeted by a beautiful grand view of the racetrack, with the fiery Disco Inferno right in the center to lure them in. We couldn’t get down those stairs fast enough.
Imagine had so much to offer and there was always something to be apart of, whether it was those amazing noodles (you all know which food truck I’m referring to), to the performers interacting with us as larger than life jellyfish, water sprites, mermaids, and other fantastical creatures, to the Newport House where you could be apart of a game show competition and meet new people. In the campgrounds there were Imaginarium workshops inside the Temple of the Soul for those looking to get in touch in more ways than through the music itself. After each night, campers could go to the Silent Disco and switch between hard hitting base or shuffle worthy house and techno till the sun came up.
Day One:
The first day we started off our night with Leah Culver at the main stage, Oceania. Leah Culver had an explosive performance that completely took us by surprise. There were 42 musicians and Culver sought the talents of Atlanta’s Children Choir to belt out the lyrics with her. It was inspirational, innovative, and an excellent kickoff for the weekend. Culver pushes to amp up her performance every time and this year was an experience that we hope the rest will get to see in the future.
We moved onto Esseks at Disco Inferno. His masterful blending of intricate rhythms and heavy bass really had us getting down. The Brooklyn native brought out his diverse tastes with ‘Trapped in the VCR’ from his latest EP Broken Bones (Stones) and got playfully dark with ‘Too High’. This one was definitely our favorite stage hands down. It was encompassed by a large dome and smaller screens, really allowing fans to have a bit more of an intimate experience with the artist on stage. The grass dance floor was surrounded by black domes with fire dancing above the top and pooling like a fountain on the interior ceiling. Imaginers could curl up on couches beneath the warming flames and enjoy the vibes from the music.
We camped out at Oceania to catch our bass favorites NGHTMRE and Datsik. NGHTMRE brought all the good feels by showing us a preview of his new unreleased track ‘On The Run’ before playing his euphoria-inducing ‘GUD VIBRATIONS’ and his Ghastly collab ‘END OF THE NIGHT’. He had this incredible way of bringing us up to an ultimate dance party high and then would drop the bass and get all our heads knocking. Datsik kept this going and the headbangers showed up to prove to their bass god what their necks were made of. They even broke the barrier they were going to so hard. But would we expect anything less from our fellow dubstep junkies?
One of our favorite little stages was Six Feathers. It was nestled in the corner between the path from Disco Inferno and Oceania so we always got pulled to the side between moving from stage to stage. Atlanta natives came down to show off their local talent, whether it was hard hitting dubstep, darker house/techno, or dirty trap. One duo we came across in particular, Zewmob, really got our attention. They took us on a aphotic journey in the grooving underground of tech house combined with trap. This combination may be confusing at first but the Alabama based duo does it smoothly. It completely took us by surprise and we couldn’t break away with their tracks like their remix of Past Malone’s ‘Congrats’ and Illenium’s ‘Feel Good’. Definitely one of our favorite discoveries of the weekend.
We ended day one back at Disco Inferno to vibe out with Minnesota. He was the perfect artist to finish off Friday with his smooth melodic bass to relax us from an excellent introduction to what the weekend had left in store. We took a rest on the soft green and let him float us off. He closed out the night with mixing in his abstract ‘Subterranean’ and feel good ‘Colors’ between mixing bass heavy tracks like ‘Get Deaded’ by Noisia. After his set, fans made the trek up those stadium stairs only to quickly rush over to the Silent Disco to catch a surprise set with Minnesota and BUKU. Clearly Imagine knew that there can never be enough of the blissful world he puts you into.
Day Two:
Amazonia and Aeria opened up and we couldn’t wait to see them. Aeria was an intimate tent stage that kept the trance family even closer together. We got our fill for some trance with local artist Type 41. He played energy pumping tracks like, ‘Aquis’ and ‘Ascension’, which has gotten some remix love from the likes of Ferry Corsten, Realism, and XiJaro and Pitch. Attendees quickly flooded Aeria and the Unity Family of Atlanta came together to celebrate one of their own.
Later on we went to church with Black Tiger Sex Machine. Sorry mom, but this is where we come to worship. Once again, they had an incredible set and their helmets had new lighting affects that really brought their presence to life. They shook the crowd with their melodically dark ‘Religion’ accompanied with a blaring upside down cross taking over the screens. The crowd went wild for their favorites like ‘Armada’ and ‘Face Down’. Of course they had to give us a good old punch to the face with their ripping bass and moombah backbeat with their single ‘Survivor’. BTSM’s unique blend of synth infused dubstep and metal tie ins had fans reeling, leaving Imaginers in a bass saturated daze. Ugh, take us back please.
After we finally pulled ourselves out of getting our heads knocked back, we headed over to get some emotional balance with Nora En Pure. She took us into a heavenly deep house dream, one that we were lucky to have go on for an extra half hour. It was an ultimate grooving experience and the whole crowd was under the warming glow that she always provides. Anyone passing by were immediately drawn in and couldn’t resist her infectious melodies. We got down to some of our favorites like her 2015 hit ‘Saltwater’ and ‘Come With Me’. Finally she gifted fans with her newly released single ‘Fever’ and we couldn’t thank her enough. If only she could’ve gotten an extra hour.
© abelham
When we had to, sadly, say goodbye, we headed on back to Oceania to get weird and wonderful with one of our favorite dubstep artists Liquid Stranger. His trippy visuals perfectly meshed with his bass twisting tracks like his Space Jesus collab ‘SPACEBOSS’ and his rhythmically playful ‘Can’t Stop’. He melted our faces in all the best ways and it took some work to pick ourselves up again before his next deep hitting drop. It was heavy, intoxicating, and a signature Liquid set.
We finally got to go explore the other side of the racetrack and see what Amazonia was all about. We were greeted with a much warmer color scheme to the drapes hanging to the side, with Imagine’s lady of the water adorned in long, seaweed locks. We got to catch The Floozies for some full band funky goodness. They premiered their new release, ‘Funk Jesus’ and ‘Better for You’, which quickly added themselves to our playlists. The group threw in some classics like their Griz collab ‘Simple’ and more electro inspired ‘Summer Fling’. The band was on point and we got to experience incredible solos from the artists, especially the touring drummer. This was one of our favorite sets of the weekend by far. Right before we headed to our favorite helmet hero Deadmau5, we got struck by the laser production by none other than Pretty Lights Live. Check out the photo below to see what we mean.
We ended the second day with EDM legend Deadmau5. As always, his bass shook us to our core and he laid down an excellent track list that perfectly encompassed his 20 year span in the scene. We got some of the classics like energy pumping ‘Ghosts ‘N Stuff’ and melodic ‘I Remember’ mixed in with synth heavy ‘My Pet Coelacanth’. His set took us on that slow, progressive journey that every mau5 fan knows and loves. We watched that mouse helmet bop around on stage and with anything Deadmau5, we knew to expect some humor. Some of visuals outside of incredible lasers included a dummy looking Deadmau5 with his tongue slopped out of his head, bumbling across the screens and repeatedly hitting itself against a desktop. And of course ‘Ghosts ‘N Stuff’ was accompanied with dancing middle fingers. We got a good laugh out of it and it was a great way to end the night.
Day Three:
Imagine went all out for their last day, with the lineup crazy packed with favorites like Illenium, Seven Lions, Dirtybirds Shiba San, Will Clarke, CVS, and trance favorites Above and Beyond. Yes, we caught our breath, but only for a moment before diving back in to end the weekend right. It was time to get down.
Illenium has been on fire with his career over the past year, so fans quickly flooded the Oceania stage to catch every minute. He went straight in with ‘Crawl Outta Love’ from his newly released album ‘Awake’ before diving into his melodic remix of The Chainsmokers ‘Don’t Let Me Down’. Illenium always throws down an excellent variety of his sound and he didn’t disappoint. He weaved between heart ripping melodies and mixes thick with dubby bass. Before letting us go he ended his set with the very fitting ‘Sound of Walking Away’ and a fond farewell to fans. We recommend catching him on his tour so you can experience what this young, talented artist can do.
We stayed at Oceania for our favorite multi-genre blending god Seven Lions. His set was perfectly designed and we left mind blown. Each drop took us through the journey in his discography whether it was deep dubstep, intoxicating psy trance, or melodic synths. He played our favorite heart-felt ‘Higher Love’ and his incredibly powerful remix of ‘Omen in the Rain’. He slowed it down for us with emotional ‘Rush Over Me’ before bringing it back up with his psy trancy remix of Excision’s ‘The Paradox’ with the eye of Sauron watching us from the screen, burning into our retinas. White balloons floated into the crowd throughout his set, making it just that more magical. Seven Lions transported us once again and were all too sad to return back down to Earth. Check out our clip of this epic psy trance drop.
Will Clarke started off the Dirtybird’s for their run of the night on Disco Inferno. We had been waiting anxiously for that beard to rise above the boards and immediately felt our feet taking over our body the second he dropped his first beat. He got us all cutting the rug with favorites like ‘Can You Funk’ and bubbly ‘Booty Percolatin’. He got dark and weird with it, dropping his Cuddle Club Remix of Destructo x Wax Motif’s ‘Catching Plays’. He kept his set moving smoothly with his recent collaboration with Becky Hill ‘Unpredictable’, a track with a bouncing synth melody, floating vocals, and a playful high hat featured beat. He closed out with ‘Tiny Tambourine’ and fans raised their own little tambourines high to heed the call.
Above and Beyond was, to say in so few words, utterly awe-inspiring and magical. This was my very first time seeing the duo. I was completely blown away by the intense lasers and the encompassing bass that soaked our core, even from the back of the crowd. They really know how to reach every single one of us. The night sky was decorated with bubble sculpted peace signs, stars, and hearts. They floated gently and really made us feel we were transported into a hypnotic dream. They ended their set with a beautiful display of fireworks and John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, fitting for an incredible festival and to join closer with your rave family and significant others. It was, quite frankly, romantic. The sparks trickled down and Above and Beyond left us with the message “Music unites us all” across the screens as we parted ways.
After some long hugs, and maybe some dried tears for a few of us, we quickly headed over to Disco Inferno one last time to finish off with the biggest Dirtybird of all. Father Claude VonStroke rounded off our last day with a performance to satisfy all of our dirty, weird techno needs. Amongst his own tracks like his tech savvy remix of ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ and deep house favorite ‘Barrump’, he threw some love to his Dirtybird crew. He mixed in Walker and Royce’s ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ and Fisher’s ‘Ya Kidding’. Shuffle circles churned within the crowds like a whirlpool, and we all gladly got sucked in. Disco Inferno quickly packed out and became an insane dance party. It was an absolute mad house and we couldn’t think of any other way to end our time inside the Speedway.
We cannot wait for next year and fans are already purchasing tickets for next year. If you’re like us, pick up your pass here. They get better every single year, and we are so excited to get back out to that speedway.
Connect with Imagine Music Festival:
https://facebook.com/imaginemusicfestival
https://twitter.com/imaginemusicfes
https://imaginefestival.com
Connect with Iris Presents:
https://facebook.com/irispromo
https://twitter.com/IrisPromotion
https://irispresents.com
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