So I would just like to start out by saying – Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas knows how to turn the fuck up. No questions asked. And I’m not just saying that because I’m from here but well… having gone to many of these Full Access, Prototype Industries, and Disco Donnie Presents, etc. shows – I feel like I’m deserving enough to be considered a bit of a connoisseur of the Texas EDM scene and can deem DFW as a huge factor of it. I had attended Meltdown last year and although they changed the venue this time around (which was extremely last-minute – two days before the show…YIKES!) there was no stopping to the crazy momentum they have kept up these past few years, especially with the big names they bring out.
Continue reading to hear about how a press pass turned into being escorted around the festival grounds by duo, Gent & Jawns + more crazy stories and a review of the set’s I caught which include Kill Paris, Candyland, Carnage, Deniz Koyu, Adventure Club, Zomboy, 12th Planet, Morgan Page, Flux Pavilion, Bro Safari, and Justice.
Check out our new friend DIEGOinFOCUS‘s photo’s from Meltdown as well!
I saw names like Hard Rock Sofa, Krewella, The M Machine, Steve Angello, Pretty Lights, and so much more last year and this year’s ‘Meltdown Music Festival’ was just as great, if not better. LaGrave field in Fort Worth is much like QuikTrip park in Grand Prairie so it wasn’t that big of a difference regarding the venue change but I can feel for those who had come from out-of-town and had different amenities to worry about. Shit, I met some people from South Africa! I couldn’t even believe it but the guy showed me his passport and it was so unexpected. I think it’s safe to say – the turn out wasn’t any different. The crowd at Meltdown was electric. Seriously. Such great vibes and beautiful people everywhere – it was quite the humbling experience.
Meltdown music festival’s ‘we are all together’ was a very literal thing for me. I got up close and personal with many of the artists I admire who were playing this year and let’s just say I felt very together and a part of it all. This festival was extremely laid back and being a part of the MMIBTY crew I used that to my advantage for sure. I honestly didn’t even have to do much because when I had the opportunity to meet Long Jawns and Billy the Gent and talk to them, we set it off immediately. I caught them side stage after they had put on one hell of a set. They started out with some ‘Touch It’ by Daft Punk – classic, I thought to myself – and then proceeded to build up with some of the ‘Bird Machine’ and then some heavy trap mixed with rap. The crowd was trap dancing and going absolutely insane. I was there with my friend, Sarah and we most definitely turned up. When I met the dudes though they were seriously the nicest guys ever. I told Long about how Diplo dropped ‘Turn Up’ at U.M.E in South Padre Island, TX (which was over spring break when I saw Major Lazer) and he lit up and straight up didn’t believe me. His words were something like – “Wes told me that track was really good but he can’t drop it at his set’s because it’s too heavy” but he seemed more than pleased to hear about how Diplo still brought it out during a ML set. We all met up later because my friend and I are those crazy girls that you see wildin’ in the crowd so we had plenty of that to do during Candyland and Deniz Koyu.
Meltdown had two stages so my night consisted plenty of running back and forth. We hit up Candyland after we had seen Kill Paris, Carnage, and Gent and Jawns who all put up crazy good mixes even though Carnage’s set got cut short because they were running a bit behind. He still had his chipotle gang going fucking nuts. Candyland though was so different. They played some killer remixes and they dropped their new track, ‘Electricity’, which was awesome. My friend Sarah grabbed me and was like, “Holy shit look at that guys fro.” and we both agreed Josie was straight thuggin’. Shifting to something quite different from Candyland’s set was Deniz Koyu. Even though I hadn’t really heard much of Koyu before he was playing straight bangers + his remixes of popular tracks and everyone enjoyed it. Catching up with him backstage during 12th Planet’s set was pretty tight too. He had that German accent and everything. Nice guy.
Following Koyu was none other than my personal favorite to see live, Adventure Club. AC’s set was intimate. James brought together a huge crowd of people all in a trance like state, vibing together, and going hard whenever the beats dropped. I attended Life in Color in Austin, TX a few weeks back and I personally felt as if this set had much more content and base to it compared to what I saw at that crazy paint party with all those faded college kids (who probably weren’t even aware of who they were seeing live). Leighton James dropped parts of that ‘Superheroes Anonymous’ mix and I was just in awe. I love that mix so much and not only did he play his dubby tracks but he also managed to mix in the new Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Wolfpack and GTA track – ‘Turn It Up’ and I was sold. Definitely made it to my favorites of the night. So, I don’t know how to start out by saying this but being a new writer here at MMIBTY I was not aware of what may had been previously posted about AC on the blog a while back and when I got to meet Leighton it got real awkward, real quick. I went up the guy, told him what I was representing, asked if he had heard about us, and of course he had. Mr. Hanna had quite a lot to say but regardless of what had been said Leighton was still supportive and agreed to take a picture holding up our sticker (phew). He then introduced me to UK producer/DJ, Delta Heavy. I felt really bad but I hadn’t heard any of Delta Heavy’s stuff so I felt obligated to tell him. Both of them just looked at each other and then Leighton proceeded to break the silence by saying, “you could have at least faked it!” but let’s be real here – did I want to be another one of those Coachella idiots that were on that Jimmy Kimmel clip? NOPE! So I told them that and we all joked about it. All of these guys were super chill so when it came to meeting them it was a very humbling experience indeed.
After all of the hanging out, unlimited free red bull, and goose was Zomboy, Morgan Page, and 12th Planet‘s set. Hell yeah. I got so pumped when Zomboy dropped a ‘Bootleg Fireworks’ remix and even caught Morgan Page finish his set with the classic hits, ‘Longest Road’ and ‘In The Air’. Perfect. Sarah and I got to witness all three sets with our new friends Billy and Long (This was Long’s first music festival he had ever attended – by the way) and then it was Flux. I’ve seen Flux 5 times and every set I’ve been to has been special. He surely knows how to read the crowd and always changes it up. Knick aka Bro Safari was going on, on the other stage as well so we caught the beginning of his set and Flux’s towards the end. I had the opportunity to meet Knick too and he is honestly one of the most down to earth guys I’ve met. You can truly feel the passion he has for music through his DJing and how much he cares about his audience and fans. The parts of his set that I got to see were sick. Instead of ending the night with ‘Scumbag’ he started out with it and that was most definitely a smart move. Everyone was wording those suicidal thoughts and ballin’ out. So fun. After running to Flux when I heard the distant beat of ‘Niggas in Paris’ and seeing him end his set with ‘Gold Dust’ (as always) it was time for the all mighty, Justice. I took a break from being in the crowd and sat towards the grassy area in the back for them and I felt like I had the best view of the night. Seeing the simplicity of Justice’s beats and white lights was breathtaking.
My meltdown experience was flawless and I most definitely will be attending for the next years to come. I feel so accomplished being able to represent MMIBTY as well and meeting so many great people along the way. Also, big ups to Gent & Jawns for the hospitality and making us feel like a part of the crew.