Pretend you’ve never been to Marquee (at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.) Adrenaline seeps into your veins as you step through the velvety partitions. You are surrounded by suits and legs bookended by ultra-mini dresses and stilettos. Just before the elevator doors opens, the operator mirrors the grins around him and says, “Have fun tonight!” Drink in hand, you make your way to the floor. In case you weren’t sure, a mural on a wall proclaims, “You’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Driving through the desert from Orange County to Vegas, we were treated to the rare spectacle of moonrise over the barren peaks. Less than 24 hours ago, I had gotten final confirmation that I had won Dancing Astronaut’s editorial contest to cover the New Year’s Eve weekend at Marquee. Because no road trip to Vegas would be complete without it, we stopped at In-N-Out, hoping some double-doubles would fortify us against the sub-40 Nevada chill. After making a real friend out of the internet friend we were crashing with, we hastily decked ourselves out and hopped back on the I-15 towards the piercing, gleaming lights of the strip. The most powerful spotlight on earth reaches out towards the infinite depths of space from the top of the Luxor pyramid; like moths to flame, we were irresistibly compelled.
For trance fans, the choice for New Year’s Eve in New York was clear. Newly re-crowned number one DJ in the world Armin van Buuren was joined by Jerome Isma-ae and Jochen Miller at Pier 36 for a high-energy, nonstop party to ring in 2013. We arrived just in time to catch the last 20 minutes of Jerome’s set, but the change in mood as Armin took over the decks right around 11pm was palpable. He eased the crowd into his four hour set with familiar tracks like his collaboration “I’ll Listen” with Ana Criado, the Omnia Remix of Cosmic Gate‘s “Calm Down,” and catchy tracks from pals like Dash Berlin and Andrew Rayel.
It’s New Year Day, 2013. The last few notes of “Language” linger in Chicago’s Congress Theater as Porter Robinson exits the stage. Nineteen days from now Papa Roach will take that same stage.
I tell you this not to drive ticket sales for the aging metal band’s upcoming show, but to help paint a picture for those who haven’t visited the Congress. Its monstrous dance floor, which will soon play host to a 3500 person mosh pit, has just accommodated an equal number of ravers. This venue has no bathroom attendants, no sparklers taped to $500 bottles of liquor, just chipped paint and plenty of space to jump.
This New Year’s Eve we traveled to Brooklyn, New York for an adventure in Dadaland — Dada Life’s own man made compound and playground without rules. The entrance was visually remniscent of a Disney movie, as we bore witness to a maze of lights before reaching the venue itself. The 64,000 square foot warehouse had been transformed by promotional team, Area Event, to host 24 hours of New Years festivities for dance music enthusiasts to enjoy with every single one of their senses. Transforming the previously unoccupied venue into a menagerie of over the top production elements, unparalleled quality and a stellar talent lineup the masterminds being Area Event and the Dada Life troop turned this 2013 celebration in Brooklyn into something for the record books. This was truly an assault on all of the senses, in every sense of the word.
There was no shortage of New Year’s Eve events to choose from this year, but when the two day lineup for LED’s OMFG in San Diego was released, there was no question where I was going to spend my final days of 2012. With a behemoth lineup consisting of Jack Beats, Nervo, Calvin Harris, Nero, Dillon Francis, Hardwell, Zedd, Laidback Luke and more, OMFG boasted an astounding array of talent over its two day spread. While I would happily recount my experiences from all of these tremendous artists, no words can I spare from my descriptions of Nero and Hardwell’s sets. Click past the break for a full recap of both artists’ performances.
The tri-state area will be back with dance music talent this New Year’s Eve, and just outside of the big apple, in Atlantic City, Steve Aoki and Tommy Trash will be hosting Life In Color to ring in 2013. If you can’t make it to the colorful affair, you’re in luck — Dancing Astronaut will be hosting the livestream of sets from both Aoki and Tommy live from Bader Field starting at 10pm EST.
Head to LineRocket’s Facebook or Twitter page for more information, and see past the break for information about FlixFling.com, the livestream official sponsor.
For its second annual New Year’s Eve celebration, White Wonderland, Insomniac has created the chance of a lifetime for one lucky contestant. The Discovery Project pits daring contestants against one another to showcase their mastery of house music in the production and DJing arenas. To enter, you must remix the track “Countdown” by Bunny — it’s the one featured in the White Wonderland trailer — and then submit a thirty-minute DJ mix that reflects what you intend to play if you were opening the house stage at White Wonderland. If selected, you will join the White Wonderland lineup on New Year’s Eve alongside some of the biggest names in dance music today. Click past the break for full contest details.
With the New Year quickly approaching, we thought it would be a great idea to round up all of the New Year’s celebrations going on nationwide for our fans’ convenience. New Year’s Eve and the weekend leading up to it is often the best time to see some of your favorite shows in some of the biggest cities. This year we’ve compiled a list of the most exciting ways to ring in 2013 – whether you’re on the East Coast or the West Coast, or celebrating in Vegas or Miami, we’ve got you covered. Most events are likely to sell out, so act fast – or spend the night drinking warm beers in your friend’s basement.
Editor’s Note: We have added amazing giveaways for every region below – enter now!
Best of the Rest is a daily feature from Dancing Astronaut that recaps the most important posts of the day as well as the stuff we didn’t get to. With the rapidity that dance music news and releases come out it’s difficult for us to hit everything — we hope BOTR serves as a catch-all. Make sure to check it out at the end of each day to ensure you don’t miss anything!
Ryan Raddon, best known by his stage name Kaskade, has officially been announced to play a show on Sunday, December 30th at HQ at Revel Resorts in Atlantic City. This is the second big Kaskade announcement for the day, on the heels of the New Year’s Eve debut of new Miami property “Story.”
For those of you also attending Tiesto at Ovation Hall the following night, we recommend that you to make it a long weekend and watch one of America’s best perform at one of New Jersey’s newest hotspots. We have a feeling HQ has some big things in store for us this December – stay tuned here at Dancing Astronaut…
Event is 21+. Tickets now on sale! Click here to get yours now.
