There was a song sung in the 1980s by Gloria Estephan with the Miami Sound machine. The song predicted that ‘the rhythm is gonna get you’, and that is what Electronic Dance Music (EDM) has done. EDM has come a long way, from techno and trance to house and dubstep, the revolution continues. EDM has distinguished itself as the powerhouse of music that we see today.
The days of rock and roll have come and gone,during which we saw iconic performances by rock bands like Metallica, Pearl Jam, led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath among others. Epic performances have taken place and they have found their place in the music legends history.
Today, EDM concerts are gay, trippy and good-crazy affairs; with the outstanding DJs mixing and fans dancing for endless hours to the music of their hearts. They are different from rock concerts in that they maintain the sound quality even during the live playing, making it sound the same on track as it is live.
The festivals pull in an eclectic and wild but happy crowd, brought together in unlikely places to move to the beat together. From their beginnings in the Euro scene, these festivals have become the world’s best beats collection, and below is a view of two of the most famous ones:
1. Tomorrowland
Antwerp is 16 miles from the world’s diamond capital in Belgium. Until 10 years ago, little was known of this silent settlement that is today the world’s town of Boom. The town plays host to the most memorable music festival of all time: Tomorrowland. There was a mysterious air about the set-up, not in a sinister way but rather a happy and weird way.
This chill-out party happens annually over a weekend in July, during the fine weather season. The show brings together the world’s bests acts on a single stage, making it very likely that you will dance the entire weekend away. Last year, the concert happened over two weekends (18th and 26th) to mark the 10th anniversary since the first Tomorrowland in 2004, and the numbers were astounding.
Tomorrowland always draws EDM heavyweights like Swedish House Mafia, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren and David Guetta among many others, all of whom are award winning stars in EDM.
2. The Ultra Music Festival
This EDM festival takes place in Miami every year since 1999 and has now become a global festival that celebrates EDM culture. Today, there are multiple venues for the UM festival, but the Miami chapter stands out in verve, flamboyance and a mix of culture that breathes life into the EDM revolution. The party occurs for a weekend every December at the huge Bayfront Park.
Like Tomorrowland, this show attracts award-winning EDM acts including David Guetta, Sasha and Digweed, Avicii, above & Beyond among many, many others. It comes with no surprise that tickets to the event sell out seconds after release with scalped tickets going for as much as 300% of the original offer price.
The Ultra Music Festival features in Santiago, Sao Paolo, Tokyo, Seoul, Jo-burg, Buenos Aires and Bogota.
