Together As One 2011 [Concert Review]

Afrojack @ SNS Arena | Photo Source: Together As One's Facebook
Now that I've had about a full day to rest|recover|reflect on the insanity I partook during the last moments of 2010 into the first moments of 2011 I can finally share some of the highlights of Together As One [Go Ventures + Insomniac Events]. I'll explain things in the order I experienced them and I'll focus on some of the musical moments that really stood out for myself and the crowd. Following these highlights I'll share a couple comments and suggestions for future events. Let's begin...

Saturday Night Sessions Arena
Afrojack [ Official | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube ]
The first song we heard when we stepped into the Saturday Night Sessions Arena was Show Me Love by Steve Angello & Laidback Luke feat. Robin-S. The positive energy of the arena was electrifying. Everyone was singing, dancing, merrymaking and we knew things were just getting started. When you take that amount of energy and double it, that's what occurred when Afrojack dropped his remix of Show Me Love right after the original track.

Afrojack - Pacha On Acid by Ace Agency

The crowd also went wild when Pacha On Acid began to play. There's just something special about hearing the build up from 3:45 - 5:12 in a giant sized arena with the bass thumping and possessing you to move your body in ways you didn't know they moved. To be honest with you, I don't get many songs by Afrojack until I hear it live on a massive sound system. Case in point his recent track titled, Replica. Once I heard it in the arena it made perfect sense.

Favorite sing along moments would be during Take Over Control and his remix of Watcha Say by Jason Derulo. Definite TAO moments right there.

Bassrush Arena
Nero [ Facebook | Twitter | Youtube ]
With all the posts we've done with Nero on Dank Radio you can probably guess the excitement I had to finally ring in the new year with these guys at Bassrush. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed when I only saw one of the two forces behind Nero. But no matter I had the music to bring my spirits back up.

I've been playing their Essential Mix over and over for the past couple weeks and their set consisted most of the key tracks you'd expect. Early in the set you heard their In The Middle Remix and it seemed like the crowd wasn't too familiar with that track from my vantage point. The crowd however did respond when they heard MJ Cole's Sincere ( Nero Remix ). Let's just say the ladies got expressive at this point.

MJ Cole - Sincere (Nero remix) by Sunday Best

In a matter of moments I finally got to hear the set of songs I've been waiting to hear on a proper sound system. Nero's remix of The Jets Crush On You sounded spectacular. I missed it when they played the track at Audiotistic and was waiting for this soung to drop during their set. The moment when they played Downlink's Factory
 + Chase & Status' Let You Go (Nero Remix) + Nero's Welcome Reality was amazing. The passion behind the lyrics of Let You Go over Welcome Reality is perfect for a massive's speakers.

We stayed for a handful of the Drum & Bass tracks but had to make our way to the Together Arena for Laidback Luke. One thing that stayed with me was what the MC's said about Bassrush. They were happy for the continued growth of the LA Bass scene and how more people are accepting of the music and declared that Bassrush would never ever leave the scene and stay until the very end.

Together Arena
Laidback Luke [ Official | Facebook | Twitter ]
What more can I say about this guy that hasn't already been said. I've seen him a handful of times throughout 2010 and each time I see him perform he does something new/different that blows my mind. And after each set I'm extremely inspired and driven to practice even harder.

The best way to describe a LBL set is that the crowd's energy fluctuates between 80% at it's lowest point and reaches it's highest at about 120%. In essence he always manages to keep the energy at a constant of about 100% throughout his sets. Don't ask me how the math works, It just does.

LBL used his remix of iSquare's Hey Sexy Lady to build the crowd up for the countdown. Which was very appropriate especially with the "People people put your hands up" lyric. After the yelling, confetti, and toasts he brought the crowd back in with his & Steve Angello's track Be. And just when you thought things couldn't get even wilder he drops Timebomb (Original Mix).


After Timebomb he proceeded to drop a continuous stream of audio bombs that prolonged the special feeling felt during the point of countdown. If I can recall, he did a combination of Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand & Fake Blood - I Think I Like it that made the crowd erupt in excitement. In every LBL set there's always a time when you say to yourself, "WTF?! is he really playing this?". During that night it occurred when he played Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are. Just as the song was playing with the ladies singing their hearts out and the guys confused with the song choice he drops his remix of Dirty Talk.

With all musical journeys piloted by Luke a flight wouldn't be complete without a dash of Dubstep thrown into the mix. Despite the negative reaction of some audience members he still manages to guide us through the turbulence and get us from point A to point B.

Wolfgang Gartner [ Official | Facebook | Twitter ]
Just when you think the TAO attendees were beginning to run low on fuel Wolfgang Gartner picks up from where Laidback Luke left off and continues the party well into the night. 2010 was a good year for Wolfgang. He solidified his production status with a slew of continuous bangers which culminated into his signing with Ultra Records. He also left us with a special going away 2010 present in the form of an Essential Mix.

The moment he strung together Mr Oiozo's Rubber + Beyonce's Single Ladies + Mumbai Science's Gold I was in awe. It truly was one of those "OMFG I can't believe you just did that?!" moments. Another song that caught the whole tent's attention was MC Lyte - Cold Rock A Party. I never thought I'd ever hear that song at that type of event. One song I NEVER thought I'd ever hear that night was Jodeci - Freakin You. If anyone knows who made that remix he played that night please let us know in the comments section!

Wolfgang Gartner - Space Junk (Original Mix) by Adrinanna

Aside from the random songs he through into the mix to throw us off[in a good way] he included all his crowd favorites: Wolfgang's 5th Symphony, Undertaker, Yin, and his latest tracks Illmerica & Space Junk. All in all it was a great set and despite the crowds chants for an encore he only teased us and left us wanting more.

Comments + Suggestions
1) Disorganized Entrance: Bicycle racks to snake the line and organize the concert attendees in a more orderly fashion. Additional staff to do ID/Ticket checks & security pat downs. A third GA entrance point. We understand that if you want to get in quickly to an event you need to show up early and be patient. But this is never an excuse for a lack of planning by event organizers.
2) Running out of Water in the Arena: Periodic refilling[once every 30min during peak hours of 9pm-12:30am. Once an hour from 12:30am-close] of each station by additional push-carts or golf carts. The best example of this was during Coachella. Even when a station ran out, it only took 15 min. for a cart to come around and refill the buckets. If costs per additional people power are an issue you need to remember that water is a BIG sell at these events, more so than alcohol[no hard data. just based on observation].
3) Countdowns out of sync: Better communication between each stage through walkies/synchronized clocks|computers. Sound/Tech guys easing up on the alcohol consumption before the countdown[i did front of house at an all ages venue for 2 years so i know there are certain shows when you say "F(*)ck it I'm partying w/ everyone else"].

<->Nativity<->