Two years ago, I had the privilege of attending Tomorrowland, while living in Sweden. I snagged a Global Journey ticket from a friend and was lucky enough to be part of the massive festival known today. While on-site, I met a group of wonderful Flemish people whom I have stayed in touch with ever since. This is the story of my triumphant return to Tomorrolwand two full years later.
Tomorrowland is one of the largest festivals in Europe; it has music ranging across all genres and is held in a tiny little town outside of Antwerp, Belgium, called Boom (means “tree” in Dutch). Approaching the festival is honestly one of the most confusing things I have ever gone through. Somehow, one of the most sought-after music festivals in the entire world is nestled into a quiet Belgian neighborhood between fields littered with cows and farm equipment. The initial drive up includes cobbled roads, numerous neighborhood streets, and at times, the smell of cow shit.
Approaching Dreamville is a lot like approaching a childhood summer camp, you feel as if you are getting lost–on purpose. The expansive campground is instantly flooded with festival-goers from all over the world. 180 countries are represented at this festival and people are quite happy to discuss both their respective countries and how they managed to get to Tomorrowland.
Tomorrowland is by far the most loving festivals I personally have ever been to. The only slight uneasiness I witnessed the entire fest came when people were trying to lay down their tents. Due to the system the staff was using to free up space was a bit confusing and caused quite some strife between campers.
After acquiring enough space to spread out our gear, my group began the party marathon. The first night, in my opinion, is a good chance to catch up with the people you haven’t seen since the last time and explore the new parts of Dreamville. Dreamville, on its own, is an impressive feat, they put together a whole city, including stages in the Dreamville area, as well as providing access to be able to purchase anything from fresh meat to hookah tobacco.
Upon waking on Friday morning, excitement filled the air. At Dreamville, when the weather is good, it is quite an exciting place to be. People of all different shapes, sizes, and colors are roaming around speaking in countless amounts of languages and dialects. To everyone’s surprise, Friday morning was the only morning it was nice out this past year.
On the first morning, the several-mile walk to get to the festival grounds seems like it’s just a few paces. The massive amount of people going to the fest from Dreamville walked like cows down a freshly laid wooden walkway, created specially for Tomorrowland. One huge bonus about Tomorrowland is that no matter where you are or where you are going, you basically never wait in a line. Drinks are served at an incredible speed, check-in is seamless and bathrooms are plentiful. Logistically, it’s the most organized festival I have ever been to. Considering there are 180,000 people total, it’s quite the impressive accomplishment.
The entrance of the fest is surrounded by an assortment of foods from all over the world, drinks stands for hundreds of yards and just about every type of character you could possibly imagine. The end of the entrance stops in a massive, cavernous downslope resulting in the main stage. The main stage is as well done as anything I have ever seen at a festival; heck, it’s as well done as anything I’ve ever seen. Period. It’s a work of art on every level. Its expanse is so large that it is impossible to take in all at one time. Also, it could probably house over 100 DJ booths without a problem. Many people who attended the festival will only see the main stage, even so much that it seemed that about half the crowd around stuck around for the entire festival.
As you turn away from the main stage, you will start to appreciate the wilderness that engulfs the Tomorrowland. In total, there are 16 different stages to explore with all different types of music. The production value at the festival is honestly 10 times better than any other place I have been. From floating Pokemon sculptures breathing fire to bridges covered in trees grown into a canopy, to fireworks going off at all times and helicopters dropping confetti, the production at Tomorowland is second to none. Mind you, this is coming from a person who enjoys very little about the production of music; honestly, Tomorrowland is just different.
Cruising through the fest, one can start to appreciate the actual size of the place, there are stages set in so many different settings. Ranging from the glorious main stage to stages under massive tents, stages on top of hills or stages in actual caverns, there is a sense of wild in the air. In certain places, one can look over landscapes that include 3 different stages, several lakes (some of which have stages in the middle of them), drink stands, a multitude of different walking paths. The whole place is impressive.
Specifically, I am into techno. My experiences at Tomorrowland are those of techno acts and although there is a multitude of different types of music going on at this fest, we are only able to be at one place at one time. The following is a recap of the artists I was able to catch:
The underground sounds booked by the Tomorrowland people this year were second to none. I love being able to see the staples of techno that I cherish so much, as well as new names from overseas that peak my curiosity about the scene. To kick it off, we headed directly to the Opera Stage in the far back for the Carl Cox & friends stage. This day went by like a blur.
Up first was Jon Digweed. This was my first time ever seeing Digweed and it was as good as I could have hoped. We spent the entire day at the Opera Stage in the back. Monika Kruse, Nicole Moudaber, Dubfire, and Solomun completed almost the entire day. Unfortunately, I had to leave the legend himself, Carl Cox, to skip over to the Café D’anvers stage for some Jamie Jones. Jamie has been my favorite artist for some time now and his sets at Tomorrowland are a huge reason as to why I travel as far as I do to enjoy them live. He lived up to every expectation, as he always does, and following this, day one was in the books.
Leaving the fest is quite the experience, it was about a 2 mile walk back to the campsite and with all the people moving, it’s easy to feel like a cow moving amongst a heard of tired ravers. They fence in all the walk ways so things do not move fast but it’s always fun to talk to people as they move back to the campsite. It’s funny how at a huge music festival a person can see the exact same people the entire time because their music taste is similar to yours. Tomorrowland is quite strict about turning down your music in the campsite at an early hour, so unfortunately, unless you’re an artist, the after parties are completely non-existent in Dreamville. I’m torn about the way I feel about this, it’s good because you tend to sleep more and be ready for the next day, but after parties can sometimes make for the most memorable moments at music festivals. Either way, the Dreamville situation is as good as it gets amenity wise for a camping, but I think the atmosphere was a little too relaxed when it comes to getting rowdy after 1am.
Day two–and the rest of the fest was WET. We awoke with water in our tents and freezing cold temperatures, getting things done in such bad rain is a mess so basically we sat around and complained about the rain until it stopped. As the sun came out the vibe changed quickly, it was like being in a different world. After some food we booked it to the festival for what turned out to be one of the greatest days I’ve had at a festival, yet.
We caught the end of Marcel Fengler for some high-energy techno. Marcel brought a great group of enthusiasts to his set; I even met some cool French people while listening to him. We then headed to see a Chicago legend, Felix da Housecat. Felix is from Detroit and lives in Chicago (just like yours truly). His dark sounding set was capped off by his new track “Is everything OK?” The vibe at the Desperadoes stage, the only night club setting at the Tomorrowland, was electric. Following Felix da Housecat, came the set of the fest for me.
Raving George was as beautiful to my ears as she was to my eyes. This was a new artist for me and her dark, even brutal, sounding techno is exactly what I am most passionate about. She commands such a presence on stage. Much like Gesafellstein, Raving George looks like a conductor when she is on stage. She commands energy, attacks the audience with pounding techno worthy of any night in Detroit. If and when she is able to start producing more tracks, this girl could be the next big thing out of Belgium and I truly hope she is.
Immediately following Raving George, we headed over to see Maceoplex throw down. Cacoon sponsored the Café D’averse stage on Saturday and required all DJ’s to strictly play vinyl. The all-vinyl stage brings such a different element to a party; actually being able to hear a master DJ make glaringly obvious mistakes is something I have such an appreciation for. It lets you know how real the music is and adds an element of human to DJ’s we rarely see. The weather held for the right of night and Tomorrowland was off to the party races.
To close it out on Saturday, Svan Vaeth finished the night with a 3-hour masterpiece. It was one of the most raging sets I have been to in a long time. Sven Vaeth is incredibly highly regarded at Tomorrowland and the party was in full swing. To top it off, Sven threw out a few records into the crowd and one of the crewmembers was able to snag it!
Day 3 can be a struggle to get going at any festival and combined with the 3 previous nights, and the rain, Day 3 of Tomorrowland definitely started out as a struggle. I had my first shower in two days and ate some food–once again, in a downpour. This slows things down at festivals like this but it definitely doesn’t stop it. We cruised first thing to Café D’anvers stage for an all Minus Records day. Justin James and Julian Jeweil kicked it off in the middle of a downpour. My group stuck with the vibes, got out from under our hangovers and braved almost the entire day in the rain.
Shout out to the unbelievably beautiful Brazilian girl dancing in the rain for the majority of Justin James’ set. I have never seen such passion or enthusiasm from someone dancing. Her look, combined with the rain, was one of the most memorable points of the fest for me. Day 3 of a music festival can be a struggle for some, but at Tomorrowland, the techno takes over and after three whole days of partying no one gave a fuck about how cold or wet they were.
We followed up Jeweil with a trip back to the Opera stage for the legendary Chris Liebing, followed up by a live set from Paul Kalkbrenner. I much prefer Chris Leibing to Paul Kalkbrenner, as kalbrenner changes his style much too much for me throughout his set. Liebing is perfect party music to set the ending mood of a Tomorrowland. Liebing is on top of his game right now, effects in full force and an extended set was the perfect mix to start the closing.
As the Opera stage filled to the brim, Paul Kalkbrenner came on to play a live set. The mood for this set was amazing, rain was pouring down, but no one seemed to care one bit. As the storm continued to roll, the crowd became entranced in Paul Kalkbrenner’s sounds. Kalkbrenner plays amazingly beautiful music; it is constantly in flux and at the styles changed seamlessly.
As the set ended, it was back to Café D’averse for the master himself, Mr. Richie Hawtin. Although I would say that I have seen Richie Hawtin between 20-30 times, I will say that it has never been the same. It’s always interesting, it’s always exciting and it’s always different.
The moments at Tomorrowland are always spectacular, be it having to do with the music or not, this festival is definitely next level. Logistically speaking, it is kind of difficult to get to from the US, but if you ever find yourself overseas, make the effort to go. Tomorrowland is one of the most loving festivals I have been to and has provided some of the absolute best festival moments of my life.