SO. MUCH. WUBS.

While I was unable to attend night 1, I only heard nothing but loads of heavy drops and lots of throwbacks. I definitely feel like night 2 DESTROYED. It was the perfect blend of trap, DIRTY drops, body-rocking and cruising songs.

We caught the last 25 minutes of Blanke, and holy crap, I have been missing out! He knew exactly what he was doing, how to rock the crowd, and has a lot of potential. I can’t wait to see where he goes. He got the whole place hyped up for not only Zeds Dead, but for 1788-L.

I have seen 1788-L a few times, but this was the first time his set was nothing like before. Deeper, more harder, and experimental. I’m used to him having a few heavier drops here and there, some Rezz-like tones, but this set was the opposite.

Lights dim, and everyone starts cheering and screaming. Hooks and DC come out and start throwing down what we all needed. One moment you’re singing your heart out to “Shut Up & Sing V2.0” then the next you’re getting down to some filthy drop.

I will say, this Zeds Dead set was filled with more trap/body-grooving songs, or SUPER hard drops, and there was no in between. I loved it. An hour and a half was not enough, and probably not even four shows.

When they say that Zeds Dead never disappoints, I 100% agree. I have never seen the same set from the boys, and I continue to be amazed and surprised every show.

Speaking of surprises… that Zeds Dead X Rezz collab at the end though… PLEASE release that ASAP! The amount of unreleased tracks they drop makes me continue to see Zeds Dead because I know that they are always treating us to new music.

The post Deadbeats Tour: Zeds Dead @ Aragon Ballroom appeared first on Red Roll.

Loyalty status has been mailed out, codes are coming soon, Forest starts a day earlier, and you’re probably trying to figure out what camping to do this year. 

The real question most forest-goers have right now: What camping are we doing? From GA, to Maplewoods, to back 40, to Good Life, I can tell you that I don’t stand with the people who say, “once you do Good Life, you can never go back to GA.” To reassure everyone, Good Life was AMAZING, but not entirely what I expected. But I’d be perfectly happy back in group camping, NEVER regular GA.

Now to break it down.

Good Life VIP PRO’S: The thing that won me over was free unlimited showers. It felt SO NICE to be able to rinse off whenever I felt like, and the longest I had to wait was maybe 10 minutes. AC bathrooms will always win my heart over, although the ones near Ranch Arena got pretty nasty. Men and women were walking into whatever was open.

The free pool party and BBQ on Wednesday was excellent too. They have free beer but we didn’t really make it in time for that. On Sunday they have a Bloody Mary bar set up till about 4pm. On Friday and Saturday they had the free drinks during happy hour, but that line was not worth it at all. When you arrive you receive 2 drink tickets. After spending over an hour waiting I was told you can only do 1 double drink or 2 regular drinks/beers. But hey free alcohol is free alcohol.

Another great thing about Good Life, you have multiple entrances throughout the forest that give you quick easy access into the camp ground and the festival ground, which I LOVED. Not to mention, the longest I waited in line to get in was about 10 minutes. That sure beats the hour line in GA. That alone really makes it hard for me to not do Good Life again. Things were exceptionally organized in Good Life and everyone was super helpful and nice too. 

Good Life VIP CON’S: Refer back to the free happy hour. Kind of annoying. In addition to that, Good Life only had about 5 vendors and maybe 6 food vendors, and 2 of those just being coffee/smoothie trucks. Alternatively, in GA, I loved walking down Main Street and having music blasting, everyone’s hanging out, checking out what’s going on at The Brainery, walking around the vendor’s tents and seeing all this creative, handmade art.

Also, maybe it was just me, but some of the artists they had playing on the stage in Good Life were disappointing. I took the shuttle to RV camping a few times throughout the weekend because there were better artists playing there. While the camping spaces were a bit bigger, we were still on top of neighbors, literally. So after being told that you have more space in Good Life and we really didn’t was upsetting. Even walking around the other VIP camping areas, the preset tents were pretty close to each other too.

I did not do the brunch that Good Life offers, but some of my friends I camped with did it. It is to be noted, however, that while it does not say anywhere online, they limit each person to 1 hot plate only. So that leaves you with eating yogurt, ice cream, cereal, and muffins in order to fill up. Even the people serving the food didn’t tell you it’s one hot plate only.

A big disappointment of Good Life was the viewing sections. Tripolee isn’t that bad, but it was a bit smaller than I thought. Ranch Arena was the worst. The only good thing about it was the big tent they had set up with the bar, shade, multiple comfy seats, and bathrooms. The viewing area isn’t centered with the stage so it’s a little off to the right side which sucked, and there was a speaker blocking most of the stage. And if you didn’t get lucky enough for a closer spot, have fun with all the trees and branches in your way. Sherwood Court wasn’t terrible, but their viewing area was pretty small too. They had a mini bar in there which was nice.

I’m not trying to bash Good Life, I just feel like for the money I paid, my viewing area shouldn’t be off to the side with a giant speaker in the way. 

Needless to say, Good Life has its perks. Was it worth the money I spent? Only if I had a 4 or 6-in-the-forest discount. Would I do it again? Absolutely!

However, I would be 100% happy with going back to group camping in GA. While the walk is closer to the gates, I just don’t want to stand in that line EVER again.

If you have your 4 or 6-in-the-forest pin, there’s a special side entrance in GA for us near the main entrance which was pretty convenient. If you’re looking for something similar to Good Life but want to save some money, and be closer to all the fun of GA, I’d recommend Maplewoods. Not only are you camping in the trees so you’re campsite is mostly out of the sun, but you have your own entrances separate from GA, and you have unlimited showers and AC bathrooms.

More information about Electric Forest 2020: 

To those who are new to the loyalty program, last year Electric Forest changed who they did their ticketing through, and there was dozens of people who did not receive a code, receive the correct loyalty code, or even get a ticket last year. Electric Forest’s team was getting hundreds of emails by the day trying to figure out what was going on. They finally sent out a loyalty recognition form to help those get their codes. Even then, some people never heard back or received a code. 

I was one of the people who did not receive a code, and when I did it wasn’t for 4-In-The-Forest. I had my heart set on doing Good Life VIP and was relying on my big discount as well. I was able to get a response back from someone, and after taking screenshots of my past receipts, I was able to get my 4-In-the-Forest loyalty code. 

This upcoming forest, it seems like things will be A LOT more organized. EF sent out an email the other day with your loyalty status and if you did not receive it, or have the right status, it explained in the email on what to do and how to fix it. Per usual, (I think) we will still get our loyalty codes emailed to us a few days before tickets go on sale. Tickets for EF usually go on sale that 2nd or 3rd week of December, and loyalty codes are emailed out about a week to a few days prior.

Also in addition to this upcoming forest, and in honor of the 10 year anniversary, EARLY ARRIVAL ON TUESDAY!!!!! What?!? I know, that seems super extreme and exciting at the same time. But don’t worry, Wednesday will still be available for early arrival as well. The festival and music itself remains Thursday-Sunday, but that doesn’t mean that some secret sets won’t pop up Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Stay tuned for more and that mind-blowing, killer anniversary line up.
Happy Forest!

The post Electric Forest 2020: Good Life or GA? appeared first on Red Roll.

If GRiZ was ever right about anything, (which he always is), then he definitely did not lie when he said, “Imaginarium is hard to explain, you need to experience it for yourself.” Because oh boy, that set did not disappoint.

If only Navy Pier allowed shows to go until midnight because I could have used a 3 hour GRiZ set.

We were towards the left side near the sound booth and I didn’t think much of it. Until the whole place goes black and everyone starts cheering, screaming, and jumping all around.

All of a sudden, about 15 feet from me, colorful lights shoot up in a square design, all the way up to the ceiling. Music starts to play and GRiZ appears in the box of lights with that sexy saxophone, laying us down with some body chilling tunes.

He jumps out of the box and a few seconds later comes out on stage and starts throwing down all his sick, wubby, body rocking, funky hits.The Imaginarium was one pretty cool set up. So many vibrant colors filled the stage, while lights and lasers swept over the crowd all night long. (Well 10pm but it felt longer…) Needless to say, I freed my mind.

Everyone around us was so excited, loving and dancing the whole set. I think the whole crowd lost their minds when he slid into “GRIZTRONICS” out of nowhere.

Aside from festival sets and free concerts for the people, we waited so long, 3 years to be exact, for another crazy night of just GRiZ at Navy Pier. One the things I love about GRiZ sets the most, are the unreleased tracks he plays. He has ProbCause and several other artists come out on stage to sing live, and he has a drum line AND choir come out blessing us all with some of the best live music performances to date.

All I can say is, I’m desperately waiting for another show announcement somewhere nearby because I need some more sax in my life.

Thank you to Ethan James Rivera Photography for capturing these amazing shots from the night!
All photos copyright Red Roll & Ethan James Photography.

The post GRiZ Presents: The Imaginarium, 2019 Photos & Review appeared first on Red Roll.

Wednesday Pre-Party

Okay, I lied. I’m going to spoil a little bit of information about Good Life. Wednesday early arrival and a FREE BBQ (those black bean burgers, yum!!!) is included. So, instead of just hanging out the camp in GA on Wednesdays, I was soaking up the sun, free food and beer, and going down a water slide. It was honestly the best kick off to the weekend, and if you do Good Life and don’t go to the pre-party, you’re messing up.

We got back and decided to go over to GA, and it was insane to see how much more camping space that they opened up! Of course, they have to accommodate for nearly double the amount of people, since they went back down from two weekends to one, but it was crazy to hear that all of that new space ended up getting filled up too! I remember my first Forest didn’t even sell out.

Thursday

Thursday and Sunday were my two days I was mostly excited for. Earlier in the day, we did a photo shoot for an engagement and it was honestly so beautiful. We walked around the whole forest and it got me excited to be able to walk around later after the sun goes down and the Forest lights up in all its glory. The new Honeycomb stage area was probably one of the coolest things Forest installed this year. (R.I.P. to the Forest stage) Also, if you found it, the hanging flower was one of my favorite installations.  

Gramatik, Ekali, Odesza, Eoto were my top favorite sets of the day. Gramatik being one of my top favorite sets for the weekend. I haven’t seen Gramatik in 3 years and the set was full of vibes, body rocking, and great energy all over the crowd. Odesza was good as always, but I’m just going to say that the VIP viewing area for Ranch Arena SUCKS. You either have the giant speaker blocking half of the stage, or a bunch of trees in the way. I finally found a nice girl who let me stand on a bench with her and I was able to enjoy Odesza. Whenever I see the boys, I always love being able to see their visuals and watching the drumline kill it, so me being 5’3, being on this bench really made my experience better. But holy crap guys, that crowd was HUGE. I believe it when they say Forest was over sold because it was extremely crowded everywhere for the most part.

Friday

Honestly, I only cared for Kygo and Subtronics. My love for Kygo is always going to be there, and let me tell you, his set was definitely in my top 5 for the weekend. The first/last time I was able to see Kygo was at Lollapalooza 2015, and it got me hyped to see him again. When I saw Kygo’s name on the line up this year, I KNEW that it was going to be better than ever. In fact, it was WAY better than I anticipated, and I tried not to boost my expectations this year. I have been sticking to that motto for Forest the last two years and it has made a big impact.

I was so antsy for Kygo, he started about 15 minutes late and I was just waiting for all the lights to turn off. When they finally did, you saw Kygo being lifted up on the stage with his piano. Flames, confetti, CO2, and colorful lights everywhere. I was moving and dancing the whole set. It gave me so much happiness, love, and excitement for the rest of the weekend. And that ending… Kygo lifted back up with his piano and a group of violinists and cellos came up on stage to play the most beautiful and heart-warming cover of Firestone. Violins and cellos are some of the most beautiful instruments in my opinion, and the crowds energy and the mind-blowing voice singing Firestone really made me speechless.

Almost every set I saw this weekend, I had a really good crowd around me, everyone vibing, dancing, laughing and smiling. A few people kept checking in with everyone around them too, so nice.

Saturday

To be honest, Saturday was the most low-key day and the only good thing was T-Pain and The Big Shebang.

T-Pain’s set was like a giant throwback for me. Every song played, I could only think of good memories from my high school days. Most of the rappers that play at Forest usually don’t show up, so I was really hyped that he was still coming.

My boyfriend has attended forest for 6 years and hasn’t experience The Big Shebang. So, we made that on our to-do list. Luckily, we were already over at that stage. And right when we finished eating, the big shebang was happening. Floating figures and light up balls, trapeze artists, confetti, fireworks, and some of the best jam music I heard all weekend put into one big area. I don’t even have words for it. If you haven’t experienced the big shebang, you’re not going all out with a bang.

Notice how I didn’t mention Bassnectar, yeah I took a nap in the forest in a hammock, oops. Aside from the nap, we explored the forest, played some mini-golf in The Hangar, and found some fairy doors. The creativity and uniqueness that goes into every nook and cranny of the Forest blows my mind every year. While they do reuse the same things from past years, they always seen to switch it up, or change the color of it. Like the Forest Goddess, she’s this gorgeous black, blue, purple, sparkly color now! Or adding white umbrellas to the colorful umbrellas to show off the lights at night. My favorite area of the Forest is the birds nest. Its always so cozy, comfortable, and I always have great experiences and conversations there.

There’s always a part of the weekend where I don’t care about the music and just focus on the Forest and connecting with myself, and I realized a lot. I always tell myself to stop stressing over things I can’t control. So I don’t know what hit me while walking around, but just this realization to stop stressing over what you can’t control, and stop timing things out, and let the Forest take you whichever direction the trees blow.

Sunday

ZEDS DEAD AND SEVEN LIONS!!!!!

Per usual, Zeds Dead always throws down, but man, ALL OF THAT NEW SHYT they threw, where’s the album?! Don’t even get me started on how hyped I was about that Billie Eilish Bury A Friend remix.

Moving over to Seven Lions and having him drop my 3 favorite songs right when I got over there got me in major feels. And all the little twists and turns his does to his set, and the mind-blowing and mesmerizing visuals, how could you not fall in love at a Seven Lions set?

Did anyone go to The Funk Hunters?! If you were on the hunt for some funk that weekend, this was it. If you’re into Daft Punk, Griz and Manic Focus, this is who you should listen to. The whole crowd was moving and grooving until the set was for sure over. We had so much space and everyone let the funk take over their body.

Overall, the weekend got better for me every hour during the days. I had a blast see some of my favorite artists, people, and the forest creations, but I just hope next year isn’t as crowded. And maybe that Big Grizmatik reunion falls into fruition. ? I kept saying that this year would be my last Forest, but honestly, I can’t just leave home. Forest 2020, I’m coming for you.

Electric Forest 2019 Photo Gallery

Check out the full photo gallery of Electric Forest Music Festival 2019 below.
Show some love to Mark Reddington Photography for capturing these amazing pictures!

The post Let’s Get Lost In The Forest – Electric Forest 2019 Review & Photos appeared first on Red Roll.

ODESZA and Foreign Family Collective have given what you all have been asking for. A dream come true: Sundara Festival, an all-inclusive destination festival on March 13-16 in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

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Your dreams are becoming reality. Sundara Fest consists of TWO unique sets from EACH of our favorite artists during these 3 days and nights. Not to mention a magical, mind-blowing, unimaginable, once-in-a-lifetime, amazing experiences yet to witness.

In addition to a ton of daytime activities including yoga sessions, beach games, surfing contests, bowling, mini golf, late-night karaoke, craft beer tastings, and tequila tastings, a number of off-site adventures are also available for guests who want to explore the best of the Yucatan Peninsula during their vacation. These adventures include, snorkeling amongst the second largest coral reef system in the world, swimming in the longest underground river on the planet, visiting ancient Mayan ruins, day trips to Tulum, and more.

Not to mention, THREE very unique ODESZA performances throughout the weekend, including a very special extended SUNDARA set, featuring exclusive edits, fan favorites from our whole catalog, and special surprises not yet announced!

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All-inclusive packages are on sale Tuesday, October 23 at 1 PM ET.

Visit sundarafestival.com for more information.

See you on the beach!

The post Foreign Family Collective & ODESZA Announces FIRST All-Inclusive Festival, “Sundara” appeared first on Red Roll.

Last year in October Porter Robinson announced a new project called Virtual Self, followed by a 5 track EP released last November and a tour announcement for 2018.

The highly anticipated Chicago crowd has patiently waited months for a Virtual Self show. Previously at Spring Awakening Music Festival back in June, Porter was not able to play his Virtual Self set due to production complications. As a result, his set at Aragon was finally his chance to show Chicago just how phenomenal Virtual Self really is.

Which left several of fans desperate and antsy for this Virtual Self set.

Before the set, Porter posted on Instagram saying he felt sick and nauseous, however he was still going to try to play the best set he could. Minutes later, he was dancing all over the stage and had the entire crowd moving.

Although I know it will never happen, during the set while he was transitioning between songs, I was waiting for him to drop a teaser of “Flicker” or “Language” somewhere during his set. But, as Porter stated on Twitter before, “no virtual self music at porter shows, no porter music at virtual self shows!”

We all know that feeling when the main artist is about to go on and all the lights shut off in the venue. Porter always knows how to give an aroma of feels throughout his whole set. It’s a warm, futuristic deep glow that many of his generation still feel, a deeply shared nostalgia for something that cannot yet be put into words.

The genre of Virtual Self is similar to most of his older music, which is very techno, trance, and a bit of hardstyle, with his production beyond any level you could imagine. It still doesn’t seem like it’s the same person on that stage.

He calls the live show and tour UTOPIA, and it was originally intended only for warehouses. It’s a show full of meticulous laser work and a full glass stage that Porter performs on top of. Hundreds of lights strobe underneath giving a mind-blowing light show overall. His figure is obscured by exhaustive amounts of fog and smoke to catch each blinding laser.

The crowd was dancing from front to back of Aragon, loving and cherishing every minute of the set.

This set was a mind-melting hour and a half of drum n’ bass and speed-core music, with one of the most unique & craziest light shows I have seen in a while. If you ever wanted to experience a real life futuristic sci-fi film, this is your kind of set!

I was almost just as excited to see Mat Zo because he rarely comes around Chicago. His set was very chill and had many different styles and flavors of electronic music. But he definitely got the got the crowd hyped up towards the last 10 minutes of his set when he started mixing up the beats to more of his harder stuff, and dropped his most known hit single with Porter Robinson, “Easy.”

Virtual Self – Porter Robinson @ Aragon Ballroom September 7th, 2018 Photos

Check out all of the photos from this event below!

Big thanks to Mark Reddington Photography for photographing this event! Be sure to give him a like on his Facebook page.

The post Virtual Self: UTOPIA at Aragon Ballroom (Photos & Review) appeared first on Red Roll.

We have less than 50 DAYS until we all reunite back at Legend Valley for the second Lost Lands Music Festival!

A limited number of tickets, and camping passes are still available for purchase. Along with the new, Thursday pre-party passes! Get an early start with some surprise guest DJ performances!

To get you excited and ready, we put together a playlist featuring ALL of the artists from the line up!

The post Lost Lands 2018 Official Playlist appeared first on Red Roll.

Get ready Coasties! This years lineup involves a unique blend of, hip-hop, EDM, indie-pop, and jam bands that continues to be tailored to a wide-array of musical tastes.

The U.K.-based jazz-funk band, Jamiroquai, who played their first U.S. show since 2005 last month at Coachella, makes their way to the festival this year. Joining them is R&B chart-topper Miguel, downtempo electronica artist Gramatik, and former Swedish House Mafia members, Axwell & Ingrosso. 

This year North Coast will also debut all-new daily showcases curated by industry collectives, showing off the best sounds in hip-hop, house, and beyond with DJ sets from The Cool Kids, Midnight Conspiracy (Reunion Set), and Chicago’s hip-hop blog turned multimedia company, Lyrical Lemonade, which includes rappers, MadeinTYO, Comethazine, and Warhol.SS.

Sunday features unique “versus” sets known as, “Chicago’s Most Wanted Battlegrounds.” with artists like,

• Porn and Chicken VS. 2FAC3D
• Bentley Dean VS. Steve Gerard
• Ron Carroll VS. DIZ
• Gettoblaster VS. Jerome Baker
• Apolla XO VS. Simone
• and RJ Pickens VS. Phil Rizzo

Summer’s Last Stand include a variety of other artists like, Snails, Drezo, Crywolf, Cofresi, Two Friends, Vulfpeck, RL Grime, Cashmere Cat, Mura Masa, Yellow Claw, DVSN and more.

Grab your tickets now for the low while you can!

The post North Coast Music Festival 2018 Lineup appeared first on Red Roll.

At first, I was worried this would be filled with a bunch of bass-heads and rude people. But, if you have ever attended Electric Forest, the vibe was better than that. The crowd created a new level of a positive vibe filled with more than respect than usual. Some may have said that it was too much bass music, or everything they wanted, but personally, I finally felt at home with music lovers of a specific genre, dancing like I’ve always loved to dance. It was refreshing and exciting at the same time. In a weird way, I felt at home.

Both stages were on an incline, so everyone in the crowd had a clear view of the performance no matter where they stood. There was plenty of room throughout the festival for this massive crowd.

Hills all around the stage provided a higher view or needed extra elevation, and a long line of trees with LED lights for the people that preferred to relax. The stage design was amazing and beautifully decorated with a unique prehistoric fashion. The main stage had volcanoes, dinosaurs, and the paradox with its mind-blowing visuals.

The other stage had a “cave-like” design. When you approached that stage, there was visuals on the outside of the tent and the inside was filled with cave rocks hanging from the top, lasers and lights all over.

I asked attendees who their favorite set was. Aside from Excision, some of the responses were, “Illenium!!! I cried 4 times, like always”, “That Excision back-to-back Datsik though”, “Destroid, it was lit, literally”, “My space mom, Rezz”, “I feel bad if you missed Herobust or 12^th Planet”, “Snails, Liquid Stranger, Seven Lions, and Protohype were my top for the weekend”.

After the festival ended, Jeff mentioned that there were 0 medical transports the whole weekend and he was in shock by how clean we left the campgrounds. From Jeff orchestrating everything up at the top, down to the volunteers who just wanted to help in the execution of his vision, talent, and this experience, Lost Lands will be unforgettable in the minds of every attendee. Everyone showed unwavering dedication and discipline in making sure that this was one festival filled with absolute perfection.

Lost Lands 2017 Photo Gallery

Photos by Mark Reddington Photography

Lost Lands stands in my top favorite festivals yet, and I can not wait to return next year. Stay tuned to @RedRollOfficial on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, www.redroll.com for photos and videos!!

The post Lost Lands Music Festival Photos & Review appeared first on Red Roll.

Jeff (Excision), aka the king of bass, has gathered the best heavy bass artists from all over the world to attend this historic event in Thornville, Ohio. With special guest Seven Lions, Destroid reunion performance, back-to-back sets from Excision, Datsik, Figure and Midnight Tyrannosaurus, you won’t want to miss out on!

Lost Lands is sure to make the ground shake with the 500,000 watt sound system and incredible stages that they have had custom built. Two of the themed stages are the Prehistoric Paradox Stage and the Caves of Soul stage which has 360 degrees of production.

The anticipation for the festival’s first year is electrifying. Lost Lands is the topic on many social media sites and attendees are excited to experience this brand new festival.

These headbangers have been waiting for an Excision festival for months, even years!

Back in May, huge news came from Excision’s twitter, hinting at an Excision curated festival. 4 months later, it is finally coming a reality.

Sets You Don’t Want To Miss

• Illenium (His new album “Awake” came out today)
• Rezz
• Zeds Dead
• Seven Lions
• 12th Planet
• Dion Timmer
• Kill The Noise
• Excision B2B Datsik
• Destroid
• Snails
• Kai Wachi
• Herobust
• Barely Alive B2B Virtual Riot

Stay tuned next weekend on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for daily photos and videos @RedRollOfficial.

Check out the daily lineup below or click here for the daily schedule. Camping may be sold out, but tickets are still available at lostlandsfestival.com

The post From Tweets to Reality: Lost Lands appeared first on Red Roll.