Though it took until the week of to sell out, expectations ran alarmingly high for Eric Prydz’ return to New York City. On the day of the show, nearly every dance music enthusiast without tickets was clamoring for a last minute chance to see the one and only Pryda.
While there was no shortage of hype for the show, there was a shortage of space at the venue, Beekman Beach Club, which filled up quickly and felt at or near-capacity by midnight. If you did your homework, this wouldn’t have been a surprise; Beekman has had its fair share of misfortunes this summer. Unfortunately for excited Pryda fans in New York City, the night did not exactly go according to plan.
Identity Festival 2012 officially gets under way tomorrow, but if you’ve yet to purchase tickets, you might not have to. We’ve teamed up with festival organizers to bring Dancing Astronaut readers the opportunity to win one of two packages to make the experience that much better.
Two lucky winners will win a pair of general admission tickets to any Identity date of their choice (not including San Francisco, San Diego, or New York), an iHome iP4 boombox, a Remix watch, and some other miscellaneous rave goodies. All you have to do to enter is join through the Punchtab giveaway, and we’ll choose a winner by Monday morning. Full details below!
n following, we’ve brought you the surreal experiences from Knife Party, Benny Benassi, Kaskade, Laidback Luke, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, and Afrojack. Crazy, we know – and July won’t be any different as another hot summer month offers loads of talent, our favorite venues, and much more partying. New Yorkers have the luxury of choosing between Fourth of July celebrations, a dance music-style 21st birthday, a dirty Dutch paint party, and a day festival that includes the most anticipated touring return of the season. We were glad to help our readers make smart event choices last month, and we are back to ensure that you continue dominating the summer as an astronaut would.
“Where My Head’s At” is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that gives readers a quick glimpse into an editor’s personal music tastes and how they developed. Subject matter will be all over the map, but we want to let you get a feel for individual editors, and where their heads are at.
Kaskade (aka Ryan Raddon) may have been crowned America’s Best DJ this summer, but he’s held the top spot in my mind — and iTunes library — for years. I was a hip-hop-obsessed high schooler until I stumbled upon Beatport and, with it, Kaskade’s 2006 album, Love Mysterious. As soon as I heard the lush, guitar-laden “4AM,” I was hooked. Kaskade’s sound and skills have grown exponentially since then, with more down-tempo tracks giving way to pounding, club-ready singles and a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix that I still can’t stop talking about. He’s now struck the perfect balance: ethereal synths and breathy vocals supported by basslines with just the right amount of party-starting kick. I’m all for Dutch or dubstep during a night out, but Raddon’s music has the ability to transcend circumstance: “Don’t Stop Dancing” will sound just as good on a Sunday afternoon as it did the night before.
The weather reports all called for rain and for once, the weather men were right. As the day went on at Skullcandy’s Identity Festival in Wantagh, New York, an ominous storm cloud loomed in the distance. It slowly but surely shuffled closer and closer to the thousands of fans packed into Nikon Jones Beach Theatre, while the eclectic music from myriad EDM genres pumped through the sound systems of the event’s three separate stages. Eager EDM amateurs and a crop of seasoned vets ignored the inclement weather and overcast skies.
By 7PM the light drizzle had turned into a torrential downpour, soaking everyone and everything in cold rain. The wind ripped through the crowds, chilling us to the core. Event security frantically urged everyone to get out from underneath the tents, ushering people to safer, more permanent structures. As the tents were dismantled, the masses were driven out into the freezing rain. It was at this moment that I made the decision to ignore the elements and push through the flooded parking lot to the front of the throng of sopping wet bodies. If I was going to stand outside in the rain, I may as well be standing front row for Steve Aoki. (more…)
We’ve seen (and interviewed) the Manufactured Superstars perform many times before, but after watching them at Identity Festival in Wantagh this Saturday, we can confirm that they are still entertaining as hell. Dressed in their astronaut suits — which we swear we have nothing to do with — they took to the Advent stage in the time slot right before the storm clouds opened up. Their equipment survived the rain that began to set in towards the end, but our cellphones survived, leaving us able to give you a recap of one of the day’s better sets.
Hot off the release of its debut album, Welcome Reality, Nero came to Identity Festival at Jones Beach ready to blow the speakers out at the Dim Mak stage. As throngs of concertgoers huddled underneath the Monster Energy Drink tent,the true dubstep fans — the ones that would never wear a “Lets Dub to Fuck Step” shirt — braved the rain and enjoyed what was arguably the best performance of the day on the Dim Mak Stage.
Yesterday we told you that Hurricane Irene meant that Miami’s Identity Festival would have be postponed, but festival organizers have just taken to Twitter to inform hopeful attendees that they’re not completely out of luck. The simple tweet reads, “MIAMI! Your @IDENTITYfest tix WILL BE HONORED for the Tampa show if you come,” and says to check back next Monday for more information about what will actually happen to the Miami show. Good on Identity making it up to its fans this early, now we just need to find out when the official re-scheduling will take place.
Chuckie has been a longtime friend of Dancing Astronaut, and we got to see him bring the Dirty Dutch to Long Island at Identity Festival this past weekend. From the second the charismatic DJ took the stage and innocently asked if everyone was “ready to jump,” we knew we were in for a high energy hour of classic Chuckie tracks and fist pumpers alike. Ready for the runaround? You know where to click.
Today, Chuckie gives us a little gift to hype up the ongoing Identity Festival sweeping America this summer. His bootleg features Jay-Z & Kanye West thrown together with Benny Benassi in a rendition he calls, “Paris Satisfaction.” The note accompanying the track on his SoundCloud declares that it’s a “Special gift for you guys! It’s a bootleg i did for my Identity Festivals!!!”
Chuckie is known for his hard hip-hop house mixes, blending turntablism with house, techno, and of course that dirty dutch sound. Grab the download below and get ready for a electro charged performance at ID Festival coming to a city near you!
