The bass capital just flexed their muscles with one of the hardest hitting festivals in the nation, as Denver got two nights of hosting some of the biggest names in the industry, from classic and legendary artists to the up & coming acts who are the backbone to our scene. None other than Global Dance Festival, produced by hometown hero’s at Global Dance & Triad Dragons; GDF had hit hard for their 2nd year at the new found home of Sports Authority Field where the Broncos play but don’t think this is their 2nd year of doing this. For their 16th annual Global Dance Festival, they brought in names everyone should know such as; Tiesto, deadmau5, Machine Gun Kelly, Future, and even Darude. To reinforce their title as the bass capital, Global Dance Fest brought in acts that brought out all the headbangers such as; Liquid Stranger, Dirt Monkey, Terravita, and some dubstep classic producers, Flux Pavilion b2b Doctor P. They didn’t tend to only bassheads though, the house lovers had a stage dedicated to practically all house music, at the Amazon Stage. With grooving artists such as Claptone, Destructo, Will Clarke, and more, the vibes were top notch at all times in the jungle vibed stage.  Topped off with epic local talent such as, Adam Stark, T.O.C, Shank Aaron, Freddy Rule, and several dozen more artists, the diversity in the music was all that an electronic music lover could ask for. Dive deep into our review of the beautiful mayhem that happened on July 20th and July 21st and relive some of the beautiful memories!

Day One 

Kickin’ the vibes off with local heater, T.O.C, which also stands for ‘Totally Outta Control’, (and his initials to his name) the bass capital showed up full strength on Friday at 3:00, ready to rage at the Northern Lights Stage. He had the crowd loosened the f**k up with a couple original produced tracks mixed along brilliantly and viciously with straight filthy tracks. Even though he may have been the first act of the day, he also had the crowd so totally out of control that he was the first to pop the rails cherry of getting slammed repeatedly on the ground by headbangers! Check out a small clip of his chaos below which was recorded by Snapaholics Photography.

Not much chill happened after TOC with another banging local dubstep artist, Shank Aaron who took the crowd that just got obliterated, and decided to smadazzle it more with disgusting beats and flawless transitions. The full Global Dance Festival was in full mode with all stages flexing the speakers and the rides gaining lines as the attendees waited for their turn for a free carnival ride. By 6:00 the conflicts starting to become a serious EDM fans nightmare. When Troyboi, Bijou, and Blackgummy all overlapped with Dirt Monkey starting halfway through, you know the rest of the day was gonna be absolutely insane. The intimacy of the Tundra Stage, which hosted Blackgummy at that time, was a unique vibe in an of its self. Hidden away in a smaller tent, compared to the rest of the stages, it presented some electro and chill vibes from acts like Two Friends, Arty, and Cosmic Gate,  as they took over the small stage for an awesome experience.  Not too long after the mau5trap up & coming superstar Blackgummy, the short travel distance from the Tundra stage to the Northern Lights stage made for an epic spot to witness the chaos of the Colorado-grown, Dirt Monkey. Defying wobbles and being iconic for a one-of-a-kind sound, Dirt Monkey took the bass capital for one of the craziest performances of the weekend! Just see how in-sync the crowd is with their headbanging during his performance below!

One of the wonders of Global Dance is the ability for a complete change of vibe by attending a different stage. After getting the filth out and the blood bumping, it was a delight to keep the party grooving but chill out with classy house music by none other than Claptone. This renowned and mysterious being performed at The Amazon stage, which turned out to be one of the most well put-together stages of the year. Filled to the top of the tent with LED screens, epic lights, and multiple laser projectors and epic inflatable designs by Algorythym Designs, it was hands down my favorite stage and the most talked about stage of the weekend. The way Claptone threw down his house music beats was just a one of a kind performance. He is from Europe and so he rarely comes to the States and when he does it is an experience that you definitely should not miss.

Unfortunately, GDF had such an amazing plethora of epic talent, there were set times and compromises that had to be made. So, in order to get the best possible experience for deadmau5, I had to leave early to catch the full length of deadmau5 and his famous cubes. He rarely brings this massive production to festivals and so it was a complete delight and honor to witness that heavenly production.

His stage construction took up most of the space, easily around 25 feet tall, this multi-million dollar production took the bass capital for a whirlwind of techhouse and electro beats. The don, deadmau5 played out oh so many of his classic tunes to some recent releases, including his newest song ‘ Monophobia’ with vocalist Rob Swire of Pendulum / Knife Party. Which can be seen below!

His visuals on the cube are always one of the main factors for an outstanding performance. He has a massive crew who worked with him for months to put together the ultimate visual and music synchronization. The mau5 would put up goofy and odd visuals along with geometrical shapes that would tie your brain and eyes together for a visual roller coaster. Incorporating nature shots and clips from music videos, deadmau5 tied his performance together perfectly. And getting ‘Strobe’ near the end of his performance… you couldn’t ask for anything else, this was the mau5 we had asked for. No trolling too… Way to go mau5!

Day Two

We really love how Global Dance started their days with locals who are currently wrecking the dance-floors in the scene! Starting day two off at the Tundra stage with some #DenverTranceFamily vibes, Adam Stark had grabbed the soul of trance and projected it out for all to rejoice. Accompanied by Team EZ performers and Colorado love, Adam Stark started the day with nothing but smiles and epic trance beats. The trance didn’t last long though as not too long after, Wakaan founder and head honcho took over for some absolute GNAR GNAR! Liquid Stranger had the Northern Lights stage for an hour of complete wonky chaos as he played a wide variety of his music and artists music who released on his label! The bass capital is used to some mainstream acts but inviting this brilliant man to come into our scene and showcase some of the hardest hitting beats in his scene is exactly what the Mile High needed. Playing beats from artists, Peekaboo, Space Jesus, Minnesota, and more, Liquid Stranger was no stranger to throwing down a flawless set. Check out this clip below!

Talking about Colorado vibes, Global Dance upped the ante by booking an awe-inspiring performance with this ultimate b2b of Colorado producers, Said the Sky and Illenium. The two, who are close friends and have collaborated together, joined the stage together for an outstanding performance where they played out future bass music and mixed in the proper amount of filth. Balancing the perfect ratio of headbanging music to vibey and beautiful music that’d bring a tear to your eye, the b2b played to an absolutely packed stage that led the day into one of the best Global Dance Festival days to date.

One of those insane set time conflicts happened near the end of the set when, revered artist, Darude came on at the Tundra, Riot Ten breaking necks at the Northern Lights, and a bearded house producer, Will Clarke on the Amazon. An absolute amazing conflict that offered music for various lovers of EDM, so while taking advantage of the diverse beats, we took shelter in the Amazon for some house beats that got the ground shaking by shuffling. Will Clarke has that bass house touch that takes deep house a notch higher with some heavy bass hits that leave shufflers grasping for air every time. Check out a high perspective of the Amazon and them filthy bass house beats below!

Not long after getting the house vibes, it was time to go break some necks during the much anticipated Terravita set. Now, what happened next was not to be expected, Figure had stayed another day and had joined the duo for a special b2b at the end of Terravita’s set. Together, they made the rail slam down harder than any other set, so loud in fact, it was heard when entering the tent. Just check out this video below of the security doing an amazing job at securing safety for the audience by holding down the rail so it doesn’t flip over.

Headbangers rejoiced as one of the classic and original dons of dubstep came to grace the main stage for one of the craziest b2b’s of the year. Flux Pavilion b2b Doctor P, who are also close friends, showed the bass capital their style of dubstep. They played a fat selection of classic beats mixed with some of the freshest dank dank from Circus Records, the two showcased some of the nastiest music in the scene. Being on the main stage, they had brought a shit ton of headbangers which enabled hard movement due to straight raging. An absolute party.

From here on out, Global Dance Fest almost became unbearable with how much amazing music was to be held. Savoy, a group who met when attending school in Boulder, took over the Northern lights stage for a laser fueled rock-dance performance! Meanwhile, bringing the rave vibes to the mile high, Lady Faith played out some hard style that really got the shufflers moving! (Check out some hardstyle in the video below!) And at the same time, the Amazon got graced with tropical house superstar, Thomas Jack. Another dominating showcase of world-renowned talent.

Savoy with those lasers though – and at a festival! It was an experience that you just couldn’t miss out on. With the band diving deeper into rock roots but not forgetting their house and electro way, they had played out a set that embodied their old music and their new releases into one hell of a performance. You can see for yourself with their VIP of I’m In Need below!

Global Dance Festival had plans of ending it with a bang and they accomplished that! Bringing in one of the biggest and most popular names in the world, Tiesto to end out the main stage. This just illustrated the sheer strength of Global Dance and how big of a production this festival really is. They had loaded his set up with fireworks, pyrotechnics, and a crowd packed full of happy attendees eager to get their dosage of Musical Freedom. In the bass capital though, it wouldn’t have been right if we didn’t end it with Adventure Club. A duo from Canada who balances the future bass with dubstep and melodic vibes to present an experience in and of itself. The experienced duo has dabbled with throwing down and mashing up some banging music but what they did at Global Dance fest was next level. Watch a clip of their performance below of their legendary song ‘Gold’ which got mixed oh so beautifully into Colorado grown, DMVU‘s song, “Bloccd.”

We hope you enjoyed our review of Global Dance Festival. Our favorite day music festival. The crew behind Global Dance and AEG deserve a huge shout out for putting together an amazing event without flaws and keeping everyone safe. It is always truly amazing seeing this amount of people have the times of the lives with the Global Dance production at home in Colorado. Thank you Global Dance!

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