Guest Post: Angie Acuna (@angiee_ae on Instagram)
As to my surprise, I never expected to end up at Decadence Colorado to ring in the New Year. However, in my mind I knew that I did not want to be in my home state to ring in the New Year, so I had to do everything in my power to celebrate NYE in a different state with amazing friends. It was around mid September, and a lot of my friends were asking me which NYE festival I was planning to attend. I still had no idea because in order for me to attend an event the lineup has to be AMAZING. A festival’s lineup is a huge factor on whether I decide to attend or not. Luckily, as soon as Decadence’s Colorado lineup dropped, I saw Illenium on that lineup and I was eager to purchase tickets. Other than Illenium, there were a lot of other artists that stood out to me. Zeds Dead, Above & Beyond, Anti Up, Anna Lunoe, Griz, Eric Prydz, 3LAU, Bid Wild, Walker & Royce are some of the few that inclined me to purchase my ticket. Also you cannot forget about the legendary Skrillex. His anticipated return has been long overdue!! The last time I saw Skrillex was at Coachella 2016 as Jack U. By far one of the best performances I experienced, so the fact that he was on this lineup solidified my decision on attending Decadence Colorado! This was my first Decadence so I was going in with an open mind and really excited to see how the first experience at Decadence would play out.
Day 1
The first day of Decadence was amazing; as soon as I stepped inside, I immediately started to walk around and venture out to see how the whole festival was set up. I was very impressed to say the least; one of my favorite art instillations was definitely the colorful mushrooms and the cool spike ball figures that were hanging down from the ceiling. Getting to and from the two stages was pretty manageable. There was an intersection or should I say a mid halfway passage that made it easy to transition from one stage to the other. There were two stages, the Radius stage and the Vector stage.
Aside from being astonished by the art and the stages, I was anxiously waiting to see Anna Lunoe! As per usual, she absolutely amazed me with her spectacular performance! Her upbeat and fun set had my friends and I shuffling the night away. If you have not seen Anna Lunoe, please do yourself a favor and catch her set at any future festival she happens to be in. You will not regret it! Another set that was one of my favorites was Eric Prydz. I was enjoying that deep techno when I stumbled upon a really nice girl named Jas. She had the most amazing vibes and I was glad to have experienced that set with her. As the night progressed, I kept jumping from stage to stage, until I finally went back to see the boys “ZEDS DEAD”. This was definitely one of the sets that I had been anticipating to see. Without a doubt, I felt like their set was by far way better than Skrillex! (Sorry Skrillex fans). But in my opinion his set was pretty underwhelming. Maybe I was expecting more or I don’t know what it was about Zeds Dead set that it literally blew my mind away. Zeds Dead never ceases to amaze me and I definitely can’t wait to see them again because that set was truly mesmerizing.
Day 2
Moving on to Day 2 and the first thing that pops into my mind is how cold it was! It was FREEZING!!! A bit of a disclaimer here, I am from Texas and I am not used to the cold weather at all. So the fact that it was snowing on Day 2 made me a bit concerned on how well I would tolerate the weather. Thankfully, my outfit for day 2 involved me wearing a long coat, my Illenium jersey, and my two-piece outfit so I would be okay since I had plenty of layers to cover me up. The first set I went to go see was Walker & Royce and it was a very groovy set. After them, I remained at the Radius Stage for Anti Up, and as I expected it they throw down a wild set. I had seen them before and it was for their debut at EDCLV this year. Their set was just as great and even better than I expected.
Well I am pretty sure you guys can guess who I saw next!! The one and only ILLENIUM. This was my 8th time seeing him and it always feels so refreshing to see him for a new set! After seeing him so many times, you’d figured I would know what to expect, but that’s never the case. His set at Decadence was probably one of the filthiest I have witnessed. He never disappoints me, which is why I have seen him so many times. You might think I am obsessed with him at this point, and the answer is YES I AM! After Illenium’s set I walked around and saw a bit of Big Wild set. I started to wander off again and see who else was playing at the Vector Stage.
It was getting closer to midnight. My friend Ivan and I decided that we wanted to catch part of Griz set then be at the ball drop for 3LAU. It was honestly a really hard decision for me because I had never seen Griz before and I was really excited to see him. I also had recently seen 3LAU at Electric Zoo so I already knew he was going to throw down an amazing set. We stuck to the plan and saw Griz and then went immediately left to catch 3LAU for the ball drop. As I expected, 3LAU’s performance was incredible! For the countdown he played one of my favorite songs “Touch” and it was the perfect song to ring in the new year. Everyone around me was full of euphoria and we all chanted and cheered as the confetti fell down our faces.
The night was still young and I still wanted to make the best out of Day 2, so I decided to head to the silent disco. I had never been to a silent disco before so I didn’t know what to expect. As I walked in and was handed the headphones, I started to dance my heart out. The music was so uplifting and it just made me want to start dancing. I highly recommend anyone who has never checked out a silent disco, to please do so! They are honestly so much fun and everyone around you is having their time of their lives as well. The highlight of being in the silent disco was when I randomly saw my friend Taylor. I bumped into her and gave her a huge hug. I was so happy to see her because I thought I was not going to see her at all at the festival. I am sure everyone knows how hard it is to meet up at any festival; so seeing her definitely made Day 2 a memorable one.
Overall, my experience at Decadence Colorado was absolutely amazing! The music, the vibes, the whole atmosphere was vibrant. If you are ever considering going to Denver for NYE, I highly recommend you go to Decadence.
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