Two glorious weekends, 16 storied stages, 400,000 attendees, and over 1,000 artists, Tomorrowland festival was drafted straight from an aquatic fairytale.
Tomorrowland’s The Story of Planaxis unfolded at De Schorre park in the city of Boom, Belgium on July 27, as The People of Tomorrow were transported to an underwater oasis in exploration of the beautiful mysteries of the sea. On the first day, we dove right in, searching for the rhythm of the ocean, which led us to the progressive sounds of Cristoph at the Atmosphere stage, aka Pryda Arena. Cristoph was one of the first acts we caught at the Arena, but if you dove deep enough, you could find techno heavyweights, Sasha, Adam Beyer, Dubfire, and last, but certainly not least, stage curator and legendary producer, Eric Prydz.
Atmosphere was Tomorrowland’s brand new stage, making it’s debut as Eric Prydz’ Pryda Arena and then later transformed into a hardstyle haven with Q-dance. The stage was a tented mega structure suspended from a giant tailor-made crane construction that reached over 30 meters/100 feet with a video net that covered its entirety. The tent provided the ultimate musical experience as it encompassed the crowd in a type of 360-degree acoustic cocoon.
Each day, the stages were taken over by a new artist, label, or brand. Besides the previously mentioned, Pryda and Q-dance, you could find curated stages from Anjunadeep, Heldeep, Spinnin’ Records, A State of Trance, Barong Family, Lost Frequencies & Friends, and many more.
After many hours spent at the Arena, we finally made our way over to the Arch stage, which was being hosted by Oliver Heldens’ Heldeep label. The stage resembled ancient Roman architecture with Tomorrowland’s mantra, “Live Today, Love Tomorrow, Unite Forever,” written atop the structure. Jax Jones helped us stand by this saying by “Losing It” on the dance floor with Fisher’s new banger and remembering to “Breathe” and live in the moment. Next up on our schedule was Andrew Rayel (check out our exclusive interview here,) at the Freedom Stage. The stage was set inside of a three level warehouse, which gave infinite views of the mesmerizing lasers and LED’s that filled the space. Rayel put us in A State of Trance with Lola Blanc’s harmonious vocals on “Horizon,” brought the feels with his classic love song “One In a Million,” and finally, teased us with some new unreleased music.
We ended a wonderful first day by trekking off to the Main Stage for Axwell /\ Ingrosso. The whole festival, from the grounds, production, and even vendor booths were a sight to be seen. However, the Main Stage was truly something else. The colossal stage stood at a height of 91 feet/28 meters and width of 377 feet/115 meters centered around an immaculate seahorse and sea creatures, and equipped with LED screens and huge running water walls. Axwell /\ Ingrosso lit up the night with lighthearted singles from their More Than You Know album, “On My Way” and “Sun Is Shining,” and tugged at our hearts with their Swedish House Mafia classics. It’s easy to get emotional when they play their past SHM hits, as for many, takes them back to special moments, but the real tearjerker was when the duo played the late Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” and mashed it with their original, “Don’t You Worry Child.” As the words “don’t you worry, don’t you worry child, see heaven’s got a plan for you” played, the crowd sang and cried in unison. It was heartbreaking, but also a beautiful moment for Avicii fans.
Avicii’s presence was strong at Tomorrowland as many paid tribute to the beloved artist. It was evident that he was an important part of Tomorrowland history. The festival even honored him by placing a commemorative monument on the Bridge of Tomorrow. Check it out below:
Although the music is always our primary focus, we decided to start day two a little differently and instead explore the amenities that the festival offered. Saturday began with some DIY flower crowns and a trip to the Post Office to pen some postcards to our friends and families. The extras did not end there, Tomorrowland also had an in house hair salon for those looking to get their hair did and a tattoo shop for those bold enough to brave the needle.
After mailing off our cards, we made our way over to The Harbour House, which was being hosted by Radio Ultra Modern. Like the name suggests, the House sat right on the water with a pond that surrounded the stage. This quickly became “our stage in between stages.” Anytime we walked by, regardless of who was playing, we would have to stop and make the pier our personal dance floor.
Next up, food. Some festivals lack in this department, but definitely not Tomorrowland. If you were looking for quick on-the-go options, there were food booths all around with burgers (according to a friend, “the best burger she’s ever had,” frites with Belgium’s famous andalouse sauce, and more. Now, if you wanted more of a fine dining experience, then you had six different restaurants to choose from. We know what you’re probably thinking…who would miss their favorite sets to dine in? Well, at Tomorrowland you don’t have to sacrifice music to eat good. The Tomorrowland Restaurant overlooked the Main Stage and B-Eat Restaurant actually combines “bites and beats” by inviting Las Vegas’ best chefs to share the stage with their world class DJs.
We continued the day with the crazy antics of Salvatore Ganacci at the Freedom Stage. He had a packed house anxiously awaiting his fire beats and even hotter dance moves.
One of the highlights of the weekend was Lost Frequencies & Friends takeover of the Organ of Harmony stage. Organ of Harmony resembled the inside of a church with organ pipes lining its entirety, stained glass windows, and a butterfly emblem front and center. The music that flowed from here was just as exquisite as the structure. Lost Frequencies enamored the crowd with a live set, playing many tracks from his highly-regarded Less Is More album. You could say it was a religious experience at the church of Tomorrowland.
Some of the closers of the night included Damian Lazarus, Above & Beyond, Yellow Claw, Paco Osuna, Fatboy Slim, 2ManyDJs, and Tale of Us. We went with the legendary trio, A & B, but to be honest, it was a close call as Tale of Us’ insane lightshow at the Garden of Madness was calling our name.
Above & Beyond’s Main Stage performance put us in a state of pure bliss. We sat down on the rolling hills and lost ourselves to Zoë Johnston’s angelic voice floating from the stage as they opened with “Always.” They continued their set with “Rocket Science,” “Tightrope,” and finally, closed with “Sun & Moon.”
We rounded off the weekend with the likes of Simon Patterson, Peggy Gou, Boris Brejcha, Richie Hawtin, Quintino, Steve Angello, Solomun, Claptone, and more. Day three began at the Theatre Formidable for their I Love The 90’s party. The carousal, carnival themed stage delivered the old school vibes with a three-hour opening set from Ward.
From here, it was time to explore the Rose Garden stage. The Rose Garden is one of the most unique stages we’ve ever seen, featuring an interactive water dragon in the forefront. Being curated by the notable Spinnin’ Records, the talent here was as gargantuan as the dragon’s wingspan. Artists such as Jay Hardway, Lucas & Steve, Curbi, Blasterjaxx, and Tujamo took the stage and had the crowd and dragon move to every track.
Up next were the underground sounds of Peggy Gou at the mushroom designed stage, Youphoria, aka Mosaic by Maceo. Fans taking off their shoes and waving them in the air has become a phenomenon at Gou shows, and with only half way through her set… the shoes were off again.
The end of our time at Tomorrowland was actually the most memorable with some of our favorite sets of the weekend. We made our return to Atmosphere for a wave of minimal techno with Richie Hawtin. With each pounding beat, over 200,000 red lights sparked the the 360-degree tent. It was techno heaven.
The closers of the final night included Tujamo, Will Atkinson, Nina Kravis, Joris Voorn, Martin Garrix, Claptone, 3 Are Legend, and more. We split up our last set with Claptone and Martin Garrix. We started with Claptone at the Core stage, hosted by The Magician’s Potion imprint. Set in the woods of De Schorre, entering Core felt like you left the festival grounds and were teleported to another fantasy world. Combine that with Claptone’s groovy Fantast tunes and it was absolute perfection.
Although it was hard to leave Claptone, the final chapter of The Story of Planaxis was awaiting us at the Main Stage for Martin Garrix. Like usual, he delivered a phenomenal performance with his vocal radio hits, “In The Name of Love,” “Ocean,” and “Scared To Be Lonely,” as our underwater adventures came to a close with fireworks illuminating the night sky.
Thousands of attendees from over 200 countries plunged into the Story of Planaxis and wrote history once again for its 14th edition. We would like to thank the Tomorrowland team for allowing us to be a part of this magical experience. Tomorrowland has been on our bucket list for quite some time and after a wonderful weekend under the sea, we think it belongs on everyone’s bucket list. People of Tomorrow, we hope to see you again next year!
Connect with Tomorrowland:
https://facebook.com/tomorrowland
https://twitter.com/tom orrowland
https://instagram.com/tomorrowland
https://tomorrowland.com
Share On
