I had posted this full review on Nightlife Vibe but figured I’d post it here as well.
Date changed and so was the location over the last 2 months. With all that mess, it was well worth the wait after being pushed forward. It started heavy raining at 2pm in BA. Heavy rain as in instant floods on the streets and trees falling. The location was at Roca Park and its suppose to start at 5pm. I get there at 5pm and the rain slowed down to just pouring. I’m at the very front of the line. Doors didn’t open till 7pm because of security measures due to the rain.
By now the rain stopped but the park is extremely muddy and wet. It wasn’t so bad though as long as you didn’t care about your shoes. The rain had cooled down the humid air which made for a nice breeze the entire event. To me, the weather was perfect.
Drinks were 15 Pesos for Speed+Vodka or 10 Pesos for water or coke. Didn’t seem to make sense. I did like the idea of having to buy drink tickets first then go to the bar with the ticket. Hotdogs and burgers were 10 Pesos.
There were 5 different stages. First DJ I saw was in the White Area called Carlos Alfonsin. Closed in tent with some decent lighting and video going on. The area was large and had enough room to dance there all night. He played mostly house that got everyone grooving as they entered the park. Energy picked up quick and already people were jumping. I was very impressed with his set for opening such a huge festival and was obvious that his tent was drawing the most up beat crowd. I stuck around to hear Spitfire for a bit. I stayed for about a half hour during his set with tech-house bombs being played. By now White Area got packed to the point of pushing and shoving and it’s only around 8pm. Loved Spitfire’s set though.
Walked over to the Main Stage and I can’t recall the name but a Jazzy Tangoish live band was playing. Different from what I was just hearing at White Area but still somehow fit all the whole vibe. Talented group and wish I could remember the name of them. Main stage was obviously huge and the open field was covering tons of room. Next stage I checked out was Speed Bar. The name seemed fitting for what was playing played. I’m told it’s a DJ from their radio station here in BA called Metro. Much smaller area and extremely crowded. The tent was packed to the max. Once you’re in, that’s it. Somehow moved my way into the middle where the madness was. Fast paced Eletro-ish style played. In a moment of knowing a drop in the track was going to come, the crowd would scream and when the drop came – everyone jumped. The jumping forced you to jump with the crowd. Madness and very hot in that tent. Crowd loved it and the energy was just wild.
Went back to the Main Stage to hear a bit of Guy Gerber. Guy seemed to be doing well but I wasn’t really feeling it. Too trancy for me sometimes. Stuck around to hear M.A.N.D.Y. next. The introduction track was wild and the amount of people is now covering the entire creamfields area. Incredible flawless set by M.A.N.D.Y.. Loved the video displays they had going for M.A.N.D.Y.. Another reason why they are on my top favorite. Bomb after bomb after bomb.
Walked on over to a another stage called Cream Arena. It’s a closed in arena type stage. Imagine a miniature stadium. There wasn’t a whole lot of room but for the DJ’s that played there, it seemed to bring in just enough people to fit in there. The video display was impressive but not as impressed as I was with White Arena. One of my favorite DJ’s that night was playing, Desyn Masiello. This was one of my favorite sets during the entire Creamfields. High energy house that got me moving throughout the whole time listening. His mixing was flawless and had teased us with incoming tracks that wouldn’t play till way later. He had drawn the crowd mad and knew exactly what everyone wanted. Stayed there for a good while.
Next was Timo Maas in the White Arena. Again this area is large but it had seemed pretty dead around this part and I was surprised for such a high quality DJ. Regardless Timo was dropping serious music and still seemed to be having a good time. White Arena is my favorite stage at the festival for it’s setup and sound. Next back to Cream Arena for Hernan Cattaneo and now it makes sense why Timo wasn’t getting enough credit. Hernan Cattaneo is a very popular Buenos Aires DJ. Packed the Arena up. Again too trancy for me though but the guy has skill.
Back at the Main Stage is Richie Hawtin. Unbelievable. Wish I could have heard more of his set. I haven’t been very good at ID’ing tracks since I started traveling but believe me, he played some amazing tracks. I wish I could have heard him all night really. Too bad his set was only 3 hours long.
So now it’s 3am and Tiesto is about to come on. The introduction to Tiesto is much like any of his events. 10 minute video display with synthy music. An emo thing to put on. The graphics were pretty sick though on video. Hundreds of video camera’s were recording this. Tiesto comes on stage and the crowd just went into another level. Endless amount of people in every direction jumping. I’m right up front, had to push myself in there. The tracks played I’d imagine are much like any of his sets which include at least an hour or more of his own music in a 3 hour set. Lethal, traffic, strings, etc were played. My friends love him so I stuck around for the whole thing. Something new for me I guess. Unfortunately missed James Zabiela and Jeff Mills because of this but it’s alright. Heard someone new I’d likely not want to hear again but it was a hell of a lot of fun regardless. What made the set enjoyable was the energy of the crowd. Since I was up front, the pushing, shoving, jumping, dancing, screaming, all of it made it a huge difference and way better. At one point my ears bled when I heard the Zombie Nation track (remixed) played at around 5:45am but then he closed out with Adiago for strings which made up for it. 6am and the night is done. He comes out from stage and does his celebrity status run by the side of the crowd with his hands out and all the fan girls/boys screaming and crying for him.
Overall fantastic night. Wish I could have heard more of Richie Hawtin. I loved how many choices we had with selection in music. The setup of the festival was near perfect. I do think Speed Bar needed more room. The sound in all stages came out better then I had expected. More garbage bins could have been useful since there were none at all and the garbage was just the floor. The rain did cause for a muddy event
but with the music, no one cared anyway.
Good times!
