Reaping the glow of Arizona’s sold-out dreamscape of a two-day New Year’s Eve affair, Decadence Arizona inducted new and improved stage production in all five stages and entertainment additions recurring “Deca-dancers," ravers who have long attended year after year have never explored.
Every corner of the festival grounds was curated in champagne lights with an easy map layout to follow, B2B sets you wouldn’t have experienced otherwise, and an official techno after-party presented by Slander for the ideal NYE adventure.
After attending Decadence Arizona for almost five years in a row, these ravers leave the current year behind at the security gates to enter the mindset of epitomizing the first few memories of the new year as electronica glory.
Night 1: A Love Letter Goodbye to 2023
Beginning Night 1 on a high note felt like the beginning of the Greek God Apollo’s love letter to EDM with artists Disco Lines, Dark Mark, Peachy Keen and Daytona as ravers first entered.
At The Royal Ballroom, Shiba San B2B CID carried an interesting sound as this was their musical fusion in this collaboration. I saw a best friend duo in matching black skirts and white sneakers, waving in synchronous movement to the elongated, slow BPM, building the excitement in this exclusive B2B performance.
House fanatics appreciated this set like none other with this gem in lineup curation. Without surprise, INZO designed an audio experience with a great measure of bass and his own ambient-inspired tracks afterwards.
Stage-hopping was inevitable at this time of the night if you didn’t want to stay for the magnitude of Adventure Club B2B Flux Pavillion. As you walked to the other side of the festival grounds, you could hear John Summit’s live mixing of “Human” (ft. Echoes) at The Grand Palace Stage.
Brushing up to the beat on the outskirts of the stage instantly caused one to dance even if it felt like a preview of his luminous performance while one was on their way elsewhere. To no surprise, Deca-Dancers hoarded the VIP decks and every inch of the stage for the Riddim God, Subtronics.
Ravers’ excitement oxygenated their body movement while he mixed “GodLovesUgly - Remix” to his individual liking, wished us a happy new year, to drive safely, and gave us words of wisdom: “when you get home, smoke ungodly amounts of weed.” Visiting the VIP deck as he played a small fractal of bass house was truly a sight to see as smiling ravers were bopping booties to the cold night sky just before his set ended.
Night 2: Dancing to the First Track of 2024
After Bleu Clair B2B San Pacho jumpstarted Night 2 at The Grand Palace Stage, Chris Lake kicked up the crowd’s energy ten notches as this house music master never fails regardless of the great amount ravers have been exposed to his messiah-like sound engineering expertise.
Not long after, the cult and church of BTSM gathered to share their classic visuals of “Once Upon a Time in Cyberworld” (featuring our style icon and survivor Naomi, of course) while sharing a sneak peek of the next chapter scheduled to appear this year. Witnessing the next chapter in one of EDM’s most imaginative soundscape-meets-story, made this performance another easter egg experience of the weekend that ravers will talk about for years to come.
Because the party was barely getting started during Slander, couples were held in an embrace, singing to one another “Love Is Gone” to one another on the VIP deck and kissing as this was an emotional set especially for the NYE countdown. Instead of bass-dropping into the new year, Slander gave us soft, sweet ambient sounds as the clock reached 0:00 and midnight was in the cold air between bodies.
Rave families in every inch of the stage hugged in small mobs for as long as humanly possible before breaking into dance, shaping this as the most sentimental set of the weekend.
Bringing the crowd out of this emotional state and vitalizing the energy of the stage was Illenium with heavier basslines in which ravers reacted like it was their version of Saturday Night Fever. Decadence will never be the event where crowds congregate only to stand in place, Arizona is a southwestern mecca of EDM in which all bodies break a sweat on the personified dance floor.
With 3am creeping up on the full crowd, Loud Luxury ended the weekend by welcoming the first morning of the new year. Celebrating one of Arizona’s biggest NYE events with one of the most notable names in house music was easily crossed off ravers' EDM bucket list who were in search of a taste-break from bass music; bodies wouldn’t dare to stop dancing to this serotonin-dancing-groove from the duo that knows how to party.
Slander Presents BEFORE DAWN After-party
This techno set after-party was a Boiler Room set reimagined! Disco Zombie introduced the scene before the techno duo, BEFORE DAWN for their Arizona debut. Unifying soft, hard, and acid techno together in complete darkness and a few white-red strobe lights, everyone had black-out shades in wook mode similar to the opening scene of Blade.
Continuing the celebration of experiencing another year filled with EDM, Deca-Dancers found themselves on another dance floor in Relentless Beats and RBDeep’s Day One Block Party the following day with Cloonee, Layla Benitez, and Hot Since 82.
Arizona, are you hyped the wait for the second annual Body Language Festival is finally over? Body Language Festival returns February 16-17, 2024 designated for those who eat, sleep, shuffle, and live the classic four-to-the-floor beat. Buy your passes now before this becomes Relentless Beats’ next sold-out event!
