The City of Decadence: Night Two Recap

Walking into day two of Decadence it was hard to think that things could be any better. True, it was actually New Years Eve and the official count down was tonight and not to mention that it was much warmer in the Denver area but the first night was amazing. Walking in tonight into the Denver Convention Center it was an immediate difference of the crowd as well. Tonight, everyone was there for one thing and one thing only – Bringing in 2015 with the hottest EDM talent around and Decadence didn’t fail to deliver.

Walking in right around 7:30 I was lucky enough to get treated to see the Bass Physics, a duo from Colorado that had instantly awoken my ears and got me into the spirit of New Years. Right after, Snails came on and he certainly did not fail to deliver. In fact, I feel like its safe to say that Snails was definitely one of the break through acts of Decadence and proved to everyone there that we will definitely be seeing more of him in 2015. Staring at his half blonde half brunette hair and watching him jump and interact with the crowd, I couldn’t help but to feel his energy. While the term vomitstep is still something that doesn’t sound appealing it is perfect when you get a chance to listen to his sounds which are fresh, new and not even close to mainstream. It was even more exciting to hear him drop another up and coming artist, Trollphace in his set. His set was short, at about 45 minutes but it was easy to see how and why individuals were rocking out with him that night as he definitely left us wanting something more.

The Colorado Convention Center left so many places open to explore and as I took a break from the bass to head over to catch a bit of Sultan & Ned Shepard I stopped back at the Deep House Arena, pass the ever so fun Silent Disco (you need to try that once in 2015 if you somehow missed it last year) and stopped at the garden area to listen to Lost Empire & Jon Sidberry. Deep house was on the rise in 2014 and its not going anywhere during 2015 and I can tell why. I got lost over at that stage, with the handful of others who had wandered back to the arena to find it and it’s so easy to get into the habit of sipping on your drink and letting the melodies move you. Lost Empire & Jon Sidberry did a great job of this and I made a note to add them on my people to watch list. It was here that I lost track of time and luckily somehow someone mentioned that they were running to go check the last of Deorro’s set where I quickly headed over to the Global Dance Arena to check him out.

Getting there for the last 15 minutes of his set I cringed a bit as the house vibes going on where rumbling with a dance floor full of people. I settled into the crowd in the back (since there was no space elsewhere) and "Five Hours" seemed to start the minute I got settled. Hearing that song live and watching Deorro put his heart into it his music. Hearing that synth pluck go back and forth and gain momentum was a crowd moment as the crowd got hyped and soon there wasn’t one person standing still on the dance floor. I lost myself in the music and right when I was thinking of moving closer, I as everyone else watched as he thanked us for an amazing year and left the stage. It was definitely a fitting performance for a producer who is stepping back from DJing to get back into producing and helping up and coming acts make it.

Running back to catch Grizmatik seemed to be the trend as I ran into so much traffic on the way back to the Bass Arena (which was less than a 10 minute walk) I could hear the beats of Grizmatik and couldn’t help but put an extra kick in my step. I knew I would finish out my NYE countdown here and I was glad that I did. The energy from Grizmatik was out of this world. And of course…fans were treated to an even better experience as Big Grizmatik came out helped bring us into the New Year. I was fortunate to be enjoying NYE with some huge Big Gigantic fans and when we started hearing the drum beat for "I Need a Dollar" come on, we dug into our backpacks and passed out fake dollar bills to everyone around our area. Of course, it wasn’t long before everyone around got the hint and it was an amazing moment that as soon as that drop hit, a big cloud of dollar bills flew into the air and the crowd roared with excitement as the enchanting sounds of the saxophone continued to make us dance.

Counting down at midnight was an even better amazing moment, as gold and white balloons fell from the ceiling and at an event such as Decadence, no one in the crowd went without a hug or a happy new year. Right after I watched Big Grizmatik leave the stage, a quick run to the other stage it was time to pay homage to an amazing DJ that has been around for years. I realized at this set, that there is a reason why Kaskade is so successful and why he is great at closing out festivals. There’s a certain mood you get in when you realize you only have about an hour or less left at a festival. You crave more, you know you can listen to this all night yet its time to turn on the lights and get home safely. Yet at Kaskade, it seems like he took all the acts of the weekend and gave us a little bit of everything to make everyone happy. The lasers were phenomenal at the Global Dance Stage and it added to the sounds of the bass rumbling the floor. It was a great way to close out the night and I was humming Kaskade’s remix of the original Galantis track "Runaway (U & I)". From the beautiful sculptures, the amazing sound and the great atmosphere, Decadence was a huge success in Colorado this year and I cannot wait to be there again 2015.

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AUTHOR CREDIT: SHANNON BALMES