Surviving the 1st Imagine Festival
I have never had so many thoughts about a 2 day event (in a good way)!
The inaugural Imagine Festival was an overwhelming success. Even two weeks after the event occurred…I’m still trying to piece together everything that happened. Once you got to the festival site, everything was pretty easy. It was easy to get to stages, easy to find friends, easy to buy beer, easy to chill, easy to eat food (that sounds weird but sometimes, it can be hard to eat food)! When I heard the fest would be held next to the Masquerade, I was worried about the layout and how the stages would be arranged. Knowing the area, I knew there would be limitations no matter where the stages were. Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
The organization of the festival was very natural. You could easily walk from the natural amphitheater of the Amazonia Stage to the main, Underwater Stage and over the pond to the Imaginarium Stage in 10 minutes at a leisurely pace. Apparently, the Emancipator Ensemble had a little bit of an electro house flair because its sound was up against Fedde closing out the main stage. There was a slight noise bleed between the two bigger, closer stages on Saturday but the sound engineers got it all taken care of on Sunday. The grounds were also spotted with themed art and interactive structures. Actors and dancers walked around keeping patrons entertained at every step! I really appreciate it when festivals care enough to add these little details that make the event all the more magical. Unfortunately, our enjoyment of the madissite was dampened on Saturday afternoon when a heavy rain storm rolled through Atlanta. Some festival goers took shelter on the grounds, some left to near by stores, and others went to hotels or friend’s apartments to wait it out and dry off. Then, everyone re-united for a magical set from Minnesota. With the rain threat out of the way, the night broke out in a full out rave. It was hard to venture from the main stage where the lineup was Caspa into Seven Lions into Fedde Le Grand! Sunday was absolute bliss. The sun was beaming, everyone was fresh and ready for a new day. There were a few places to catch some shade. It was almost impossible to sit out in the sun for more than an hour.
There wasn’t much shade at the main stage but that was a good excuse to check out the other stages. I actually caught an awesome chill set from Bells & Robes from Gainesville, FL on the Imaginarium Stage while hiding from the sun. There was also a guy flying a little drone helicopter around, which was entertaining! Sunday was my exploring day. After I checked out the Imaginarium area, I walked around the pond to get a different point of view of the grounds. Then, I went to the entrance to get a breath of the misty air provided by the Incendia domes. The oasis of the Incendia domes was one of the most reinvigorating settings I’ve seen at a festival. Props to the creators! Here’s what they looked like at night…
The music on Sunday was spot on. Top notch. Glorious. However you want to label it. Ill.Gates and Protohype threw down for the ATL crowd. Supervison was the clear winner, drawing everyone away from the annoying Sky Blu (of LMFAO) set. Paper Diamond got after it with his little iPad (I’m surprised he hasn’t been featured in an Apple commercial yet). Then the real madness started….Rusko played one of the best sets of the weekend. He was all over the place! He pretty much covered every type of bass music-drum n bass, trap, dubstep, even some moombah. Oh, and he closed the set with “Everyday” (the Netsky remix, duh) because if you have that song in your tool box, why play anything else? rjd2Adventure Club loves Atlanta more than anyone (they might be tied with Excision) and they proved their love on Sunday night at Imagine! I’ve seen the Canadian duo countless times but that set was easily the best I’ve seen from them. They knew exactly what to give to what had become quite the ratchet crowd. Lots of AC originals and collabs, which is why we love them in the first place. Then the moment we had all been waiting for….it was time for Atlanta to be DESTROID. Finally! I had been waiting to see the super group consisting of KJ Sawka, Downlink, and Excision for a year and a half. They were everything I wanted them to be and more. So much beautiful bass. The weekend came to an epic end with all of Atlanta rejoicing in the dirty sounds. I remember considering going to the afterparty because it was conveniently located at the Masquerade…..but then I tried to walk. I had given all of my energy to that Destroid show.
One final note…
GAME CHANGER: bathroom attendants who were paid on tips. Those guys were literally the best people at the festival! They made sure everyone had toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
