The 5 Stages That You Cannot Miss At Mysteryland USA 2015

It’s all about the lineup. The location, people, and culture all play an integral role in a festival’s success, but what fans anxiously await the most following a spontaneous ticket purchase is the list of names that will be playing at this year’s affair. Mysteryland USA may only be in its second year, but the Netherlands-born festival will deliver one of the most unique lineups of the 2015 festival season this Memorial Day weekend in the legendary Bethel Woods, NY. Just before the Culture & Arts festival kicks off another landmark year, Dancing Astronaut delves deeper into the Mysteryland USA lineup to showcase five stages that should not be missed.

The Boat (Day 1)

Future funk is a niche genre. Oscillating bass whips, coarse guitar riffs, and bellowing saxophone lines: it has been around since the humble beginnings of dance music in America, and Mysteryland finally felt that it was time to give the scene’s devout following its own place to get down. The lineup on The Boat Day 1 will host future funk’s dignitaries GRiZ and Gramatik, as well as the bass-heavy monikers of Savoy, Minnesota and Manic Focus. For those looking to get jazzy and bassy, head over to The Boat on Day 1 for your daily dose of funk.

Q-Dance

When the DJ transitions into that notorious, recoiling kick drum, dance music fans can foresee the mayhem that is about to ensue. Hardstyle is a genre of specific tastes; its aggressive nature coupled with nonstop energy makes live sets one where you have to physically ready yourself for an hour of nonstop movement. At Mysteryland USA, the kings of hardstyle Q-Dance will be curating their own stage on Day 1 with Frontliner and Noisecontrollers headlining to command the chaos.

Adam Beyer Presents Drumcode

For the tech house and techno connoisseurs, the perennial Adam Beyer will grace Bethel Woods with his Drumcode entourage. The underground has seen its spotlight more than ever since the commercialization of other EDM genres, and now, legendary figures like Beyer are having their moment after years of playing in the shadows of their superstar counterparts. Underground fans will find themselves at a number of stages this year with Matthew Dear hosting his own stage, Verboten hosting two days, and Richie Hawtin, Maceo Plex, and Josh Wink opening up the festival on Friday.

Webster Hall Presents Girl + Boys

Mysteryland USA will be pulling from the great city of New York to find local partners to fuel an experience in the location they know best, but in the backwoods. One such partner is New York City’s own, Webster Hall. The coveted site has hosted all too many of the world’s top musical artists and is now taking the reigns to curate its own lineup of talents. To some’s surprise, the lineup is a hodgepodge of both genre pioneers and promising up-and-coming acts. From Bakermat and Klingande to Mija to Anna Lunoe, it seems that Webster Hall has curated one of the more peculiar lineups. But if you look deeper, you’ll find that it is one of the strongest rosters of the entire festival.

The Main Stage

Despite the trending stigma surrounding a festival’s Main Stage, it could be argued that the heart of Mysteryland USA lies in the stage that will play host to the biggest names and the most fervent crowds throughout the weekend. Its roll is undeniably one to scan over as this year’s headliners attest to the SFX-backed event’s innovative approach regarding electronic music culture and the arts. This year alone, organizers have brought together live electronic artists like Empire of the Sun, Porter Robinson, and Netsky along with EDM pioneers like Diplo and Dillon Francis. Rather than picking out the most impressive names out there, Mysteryland USA gingerly selected a roster of A-list artists that have made their mark on the dance music explosion in their own way. Assuming that our mouth-watering list has tempted you, tickets are still up for sale for that impulse trip to Bethel Woods.

Tags: mysteryland usa, slideshow, stages

Categories: Features