A few weekends ago, seven of my friends and I piled ourselves into a minivan, and headed on our eight-hour road trip from UMass to the capital of the United States: Washington D.C. Unlike the eighth-grade sightseeing trip most of us took back in the day, we weren’t there to see the monuments and visit all the greatest history museums. We were there to see some of the greatest DJs and their incredible sets.
Project Glow Festival is an annual EDM music festival put on by Insomniac, an American electronic music event company. Each year, the event consists of over 40,000 people who spend one to two days at the two-day festival. We were grateful to have our friend’s cousin as an employee for Insomniac, so we were on the guest list and had VIP passes for the two days. The VIP area was truly amazing. Walking into a gated astroturf area, there were vibrant colors everywhere, and multiple photo-op spots. On the sides, there were food vendors, who came prepared with Mexican street food, vegan options, and classic American cuisine. There was also a bar and a few drink booths that served exotic cocktails and classic beverages. There was a “Beauty Bar” where you could freshen up your look, complete with glamorous mirrors, hairspray, glitter, and makeup. There was a bracelet-making station where you could make and trade “Kandi,” which is a slang term used for the collectible friendship bracelets people make and trade at raves. These bracelets are normally made out of beads and string with unique sayings and charms on them.
The first sets began each day at 1 p.m. and ended at 11 p.m. On the first day we drove down and arrived around 5:30 p.m., so, unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Disco Lines, who I was hoping to catch. However, we made it just in time to see Lsdream and NGHTMRE, who are two of my favorite dubstep artists. Their sets were incredible; the front of the stage was set aflame whenever the bass would consume the sound waves and reverberate into the crowd. For my first-ever festival, the crowd was surprisingly considerate, kind, and caring to others around them. I didn’t experience any safety concerns as I had anticipated. The turf was not jam-packed, despite the vast number of people, and there was ample room to move throughout the crowd if need be.
We stayed at the Pulse Stage to watch these two artists until about 10 p.m. when we moved over to the Eternal Stage to catch Tïesto’s performance. Here, Tïesto performed some of his most iconic songs such as “10:35” and “The Motto,” as well as some of his fellow artists’ music, like SZA. Tïesto then performed a continuation of his set at Echostage, a large club in downtown D.C., which we attended before leaving to go see Gorgon City perform at their afterparty at Soundcheck. Soundcheck was a smaller club, but a more close-knit venue, with a boiler room atmosphere where everyone was gathered at the stage as Gorgon City played their most iconic tracks, including “Remember” and “Ready for Love.” It was definitely a lot more techno than I personally enjoy. However, just being able to see them, and having the energy of the crowd so high, made me love it regardless.
The next day, Sunday, we got out much earlier, around 4:30 p.m., to go see Mau P, an up-and-coming artist from Denmark. I have actually seen Mau P before in Boston back in February, and we got to meet him! It was really fun to see him again, and like before he played his two top songs: “Gimme That Bounce” and “Drugs From Amsterdam.” After Mau P, we went back to Eternal Stage to see Timmy Trumpet, who played a plethora of genres, even adding in a remix of “Creepin’” by The Weeknd and Metro Boomin. He truly did play his trumpet on stage, although sometimes when he was mixing, the trumpet was definitely a pre-recorded sound. At around 7:40 p.m., Shiba San came on with some amazing house remixes, followed at the same stage by J. Worra. J. Worra is a female DJ, which is always amazing to see, and her set was out of this world. It was definitely one of my favorite sets of the weekend by far. I had never listened to her previously, but after this weekend, I dove into her work.
We left Pulse stage where they performed to catch Zeds Dead’s set at Eternal Stage. Zeds Dead’s psychedelic bass never fails to impress me, and it was definitely on brand with their usual hardcore dubstep. They opened their set by playing “Ecstasy of The Soul.” I was almost positive I had ascended at that very moment. Not only is that one of my favorite tracks of theirs, but the music was absolutely impeccable, and they had an amazing crowd. During Zeds Dead we unfortunately missed Kygo’s performance, but we made it back for the closing headliner of the weekend: Dom Dolla B2B (back to back) Green Velvet. Per usual, they had an extremely cohesive and funky set, and they played “San Frandisco,” which holds a special place in my heart since it was the first Dom Dolla song I ever heard.
Project Glow just beamed with PLUR (Peace Love Unity Rave), which was great to see, since there have been some festivals recently with not very great outcomes. I could not have asked for a better weekend with a better group of people. If you are just as into EDM music as I am, going to Project Glow should definitely be a priority for 2024.
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