Promoters come and go in Denver‘s fickle and oversaturated nightlife scene, but this Friday, July 18th through Sunday, the 20th, local powerhouse Triad Dragons hosts the 12th annual Global Dance Festival (GDF) at Red Rocks Amphitheater in nearby Morrison, Colorado. Like every other year, the event will feature the best lighting, staging and sound that the Mile High City has to offer – at arguably the best natural amphitheater in North America – but the people behind the scenes are smart enough to recognize that above all that, their most valuable asset is the music. The DJ sets that the ten artists below are slated to deliver serve as reason enough to experience GDF, and there’s plenty more where they came from.
10. Wolfgang Gartner
Kindergarten Recordings founder and a favorite DJ/producer of EDM newcomers and elitists alike, Los Angeles-based Wolfgang Gartner (born Joseph Thomas Youngman) will make an anticipated return to Red Rocks amphitheater on Sunday, the final day of this year’s GDF.
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9. Illenium and Said The Sky
Dubstep may have forfeited its breakthrough moment in the mainstream spotlight to trap music, but songs like up-and-coming, Denver-based duo Illenium and Said The Sky’s upcoming release, “Falling In” (which features vocals by previous Seven Lions and Bassnectar collaborator Mimi Page) prove that melodic dubstep – often jokingly called “lovestep” – still makes waves.
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8. Waka Flocka Flame
Atlanta, Georgia rapper Waka Flocka Flame may only be as recent of a transplant into the EDM community as his work with notorious Israeli party monster Borgore on “Wild Out,” but Colorado’s hip-hop heads will rejoice at his presence in this year’s festivities. Given his recent beef with Gucci Mayne, perhaps the change of scenery will be welcome on his end as well.
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7. Aviva
Another DJ/producer hailing from Colorado, Aviva Sonenreich wowed last year’s GDF audience with a Melbournce bounce-heavy set, and excitedly returns for this year’s edition with trappier material as a result of working with her “music husband,” Gailon Greene Jr., on their side project, Crystalline Kids. “There’s nothing like hearing your own monster heaters hit on an epic sound system like Red Rocks’,” she tells DJOYbeat.
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6. Adventure Club
“Need Your Heart,” “Gold,” “Crash” and “Wonder,” are only a few of the tracks that solidified the quirky Montréal duo Adventure Club‘s reputation as bona fide hit makers. It’s safe to say that more than a few Denver party kids are excited to see them close out the main stage this Friday, the first night of GDF.
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5. Decadon
“I like to use simple but hard-hitting rhythmic patterns and heavy synth work to create a strong, pulsing feeling to my music,” says Decadon (born Donnie Miller), another up-and-coming local bass music DJ/producer slated to grace the decks on Friday, the first day of the event.
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4. Destroid
Quite possibly the first full-on super group in the history of the EDM movement, Destroid (comprised of Excision, Downlink and Pendulum drummer KJ Sawka) put out an album called The Invasion last year that was almost as over the top as its marketing campaign. That said, their face-melting brand of “brostep” will not fall on deaf ears considering Colorado’s concentration of staunch bass heads.
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3. TSA
TSA (an acronym for “Trance Security Agency”) is quickly becoming the Centennial State’s hottest trance commodity. Making it their mission to “secure your in-flight trance music playlist,” TSA will play their set on Saturday, the second day of GDF. Prepare to see members of Denver’s trance family hold their hands out in reverence across the amphitheater when they do.
2. Treyy G
Still reeling from an eventful year of gigging with Denver mainstay Got Bass and starting an aggressive leg of touring, hometown hero Treyy G is easily the biggest local act on the lineup. Bass heads looking forward to his signature mix of hyphy Melbourne bounce, trap and electro-house will not be disappointed in what he brings to the table at GDF.
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1. Zedd
Zedd – enough said. The German-born composer/DJ/producer has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity practically simultaneous to that of dance music itself, affording his management the opportunity to be lot more selective about which gigs they accept on his behalf. His name on the flyer alone is reason enough to come to the festival – but the journey his set takes you on will deliver tenfold.
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Below are the full local artist and headliner lineups for Global Dance Festival 2014.
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