Spring Awakening Music Festival Brought the Heat to the Windy City

Photo Credit: SAMF

Spring Awakening Music Festival returned to Addams Medill Park for another year of fun under the sun and oh boy was there a lot of sun. Obviously there was fun too, however with temperatures skyrocketing into the mid 90’s it was hard to ignore. After applying SPF 30 and 20 (in hopes they would join forces to create SPF 50), we headed into our Uber and traveled about 15 minutes downtown to join the mobs of people heading to the festival. Day one of the festival would host massive lines at will call which were generally not existent by day two and three. After a quick search and pat down by security we were finally in the heat of the festival we’d been waiting months for.

Photo Credit: SAMF

The first priority was obviously filling up our camelbacks so we didn’t incur a heat stroke in the blazing summer temperatures. Unfortunately, Spring Awakening was only equipped with two self serving water stations that would be a large issue for festival goers for the entirety of the weekend. Two water stations might be sufficient at some festivals, however the problem was that it was self serving. This added unneeded time to filling up camelbacks and resulted in lines that could be at least an hour at peak times. There was never a moment during the entire festival that the water line didn’t stretch as far as the eye could see. With temperatures as high as they were Spring Awakening was playing with fire in this matter as water is the most essential tool to keeping all festivals goers safe and healthy.

Photo Credit: SAMF

On a good note, Spring Awakening staff were regularly seen walking around the festival and handing out free bottles of water to all those in need. The water stations may have lacked, however Spring Awakening showed they were aware of the problem and did their best to address it by sending staff out to keep everyone hydrated.

Now, on to the fun stuff! Friday would turn out to be one of the best days in our opinion with artists like Party Favor, Marshmello, Thomas Jack, Vanic, Louis The Child, Datsik, Galantis, and Armin Van Buuren. Our favorite set of the day would go to Party Favor as he undoubtedly produced the rowdiest crowd of the day. He’d drop his well known single “Wawa” which resulted in straight anarchy throughout the crowd. Interestingly enough, we spotted a guy dancing with two pieces of pizza in the crowd which just raised more questions than answers. We split Party Favor with Vanic who was performing not far away. His set consisted of mostly future bass which we like to sum up as “fresh”. We concluded the first night with none other than ASOT label head, Armin Van Buuren. Armin took us on a journey of sorts, rallying the crowd with his progressive trance beats, bringing tears to our eyes with his emotion-filled “This Is What It Feels Like”, and finally our favorite part of the performance, dropping his psy-trance Vini Vici collab “Great Tribe”. Other sets from Friday that we loved would come from Keys N Krates, Datsik, and Thomas Jack to wrap it up.

Photo Credit: SAMF

Photo Credit: SAMF

In addition to the highest temperatures of the festival, Saturday brought the trance to Spring Awakening. We saw performances from trance artists Paul Oakenfold, Andrew Rayel, Armin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk, and Marlo. Armin was featured as a special guest during a set that took place around 5 PM at the Trance Arena stage. Fans stretched outside the tent and it was fair to say that we would be getting nowhere close enough to experience the full effect of Armin. A split second decision landed us at Corona Beach during Paul Oakenfold. Let us say now, it was an unparalleled trance set that was topped by none other at the festival. An hour of limited vocal, fast paced trance that had everyone at Corona Beach in the zone. The father of trance exceeded expectations and delivered a much needed dose of hard trance that fans fell in love with.

Photo Credit: SAMF

Photo Credit: SAMF

Paul Van Dyk would be the only trance artist with a set reminiscent of Paul Oakenfold. Anjunadeep was also featured on Saturday and hosted sets by Anjunadeep favorites Lane 8, Rufus Du Sol, Yotto, Moon Boots, and Jody Wisternoff. The Solstice stage would experience a mishap on Saturday after Axwell ^ Ingrosso were unable to attend due to Ingrosso’s passport being stolen out of his car the night before. Diplo headlined that stage and apparently threw down a memorable set according to fans that attended. Excision closed out the Equinox stage after ZHU and delivered his signature bass that surely shattered some eardrums.

Photo Credit: SAMF

Last but not least, Sunday wrapped up the festival in extraordinary fashion. Sunday School featured some of the top techno and tech house artists with stunning performances from artists like Gorgon City, Victor Calderone, and Eats Everything. Bass Kitchen brought notorious fan favorites like Barely Alive, Kill The Noise, and Snails. Griz tore up the Equinox stage delivering his funky style that fans were grooving to until the end. Garrix closed out the Solstice stage putting forth a progressive house set mixed with a splash of future bass that fans adorned.

Photo Credit: SAMF

Photo Credit: SAMF

Stage wise, Spring Awakening did not disappoint. On one side of the festival we had the massive Equinox stage that was designed in a sort of triangle formation. The blue and green structure was easy to spot and was a great location to let loose early on in the day. The Solstice stage had a similar resemblance to the Equinox stage and the two often led to some confusion when meeting up (especially at night!). They may have been hard to differentiate as the night fell, but that’s when stage production was at its peak, the lasers lit up the crowd while the beautiful Chicago skyline served as Spring Awakening’s backdrop, illuminating the rest of the city. The two tents at Spring Awakening provided some shade during the blazing heat and were a ‘cool’ mix up between the mainstages. Last but not least and our favorite stage, Corona Electric Beach was the beloved location of the festival. It was shaped as a see through bubble equipped with a mister inside that proved beneficial when temperatures became unbearable. Mind you this is the stage that Paul Oakenfold delivered his intimate trance set to a small number of fans.

Photo Credit: SAMF

Photo Credit: SAMF

Photo Credit: SAMF

Not knowing what to expect arriving in Chicago, Spring Awakening attendees proved to be more welcoming and hospitable than we could have ever imagined. There was never a dull moment in the crowd and it was a pleasure to meet some of the local Chicago talent in addition to those diligently operating behind the scenes. The windy city did us justice and we’re looking forward to being back soon. Until next year Spring Awakening!

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