Entertainment

Review: Stereosonic Pulls A Crowd Despite Adelaide Heatwave

Festival goers braved the heat for the love of dance music…

Stereosonic 2016 brought out the crowds, despite the searing 40 degree heat and it was again “suns out, guns out”, as the revelry began for another year. Despite being retrospectively marred by the sad death of a fellow Festival goer, thousands of punters braved the weather for Australia’s Biggest Dance Festival.

One of the headliners of the Festival, Major Lazer, kicked off the fun with an early start. This did have an unfortunate anticlimactic element to it. Opening with the biggest act on the bill meant the day didn’t build towards a big finale. Plus the scorching heat didn’t help things much. The crowd, as expected, were immersed in the bigger hits, particularly “Get Free” and “Lean On” but the quick changeovers and shorter lengths of certain tracks disappointed some. However, DJ Snake tore the stage apart with his high intensity set, with huge trap beats and his great live energy. This was one of the best sets of the day with a massive reaction from the audience.

Canadian dubstep king Snails delivered one of the most high octane interesting sets of the day, with the diverse change ups providing continual momentum for dancers in the Sonic tent. With an infectious grimey, dirty hook, his capacity to maintain and accelerate momentum showcased his pedigree as a live electronic magician.

One of the world’s big name DJs Dutch superstar, Armin Van Buuren set out on a pulsing trance set with huge synth hooks piercing through the heat and bringing the crowd alive. A veteran of the scene, Van Buuren generates predictable, but bankably good live sets which appeal to mass audiences at dance festivals, and this was no exception.

Rising Dutch house superstar Oliver Hender owned it with a mix of amped up house tracks. Discovered by Tiesto, Hender has been seen at huge festivals around the world like Ultra and Tomorrowland and his show at Stereos followed suit. Bearing in mind this rising icon is only twenty, his rapid rise in the dance scene is nothing short of spectacular. Carmada mixed up dance and dubstep in the evening shade with a high point being the Kanye Bound 2 remix.

Australian dance icon Will Sparks is a regular fixture at the biggest clubs in the land. His capacity to really work the audience with pulsing synth and powerful loops made him a real crowd pleaser in the early evening and he was one of the best of the Australian acts this year.

Peking Duk predictably drew a massive crowd with smash hit Say My Name, in particular, very well received. The act would have been the main drawcard for a lot of fans after Major Lazer and the atmosphere for their set demonstrates how far they have come in the last few years as perhaps Australia’s leading electronic act. Towards the end of the night Mark Sherry really got the smaller Atlantis stage pumping, no mean feat considering the masses at the bigger stages.

Part music history lesson and music show Hot Dub Time Machine didn’t have the biggest crowd, but the DJ knew what songs to play, to get dancers moving. The set appeared to be a higher energy for Stereosonic, which was well thought out.

The lesser lights also shone throughout the event. Andrew Rayel deserved a far bigger crowd for his set on the Atlantis Stage with his huge hooks, but the small crowd still gave it their all. Carnage’s animated live presence and huge beat drops really resonated with punters with dancers throwing themselves every which way during his set. The immense distorted loops and huge drops amped up the party vibes as punters lost themselves in the music. Krunk’s set was punctuated with strong pop hooks. The crowd wasn’t huge but the vibe was great.

To end on a sad note, unfortunately this year’s event will be known more for the untimely death of a patron to a drug overdose. This is unfortunate given the talented line up and effort gone into creating a memorable event. Hopefully organisers will put more steps in place next year to maintain and assist crowd safety, with the assistance of more influential bodies.

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