Euphoria Music Festival in New Braunfels, Texas! (Review)

Since Euphoria Music Festival was my very first festival to attend I was excited yet anxious as I didn’t know how to react to hearing that I was going to be covering this event for Your EDM. After doing some research I found the stellar line up they had waiting for Friday and Saturday, after seeing this, I knew I was in for quite the experience.

 

 

On this trip, I was accompanied by my ever helpful girlfriend and she was in charge of photography for the event including helping plan the day. So when I reference in “we/our” that is who I am speaking about. 

 

 

After collecting our press credentials we headed through the VIP entrance which also happened to be the press entrance. After a brief but thorough check of our backpacks we were greeted with The Biergarten Stage which, in German, translates to The Beer Garden. After taking a walk past the Biergarten Stage we noticed all of the venders lined up with merch including a t-shirt press that was warming to make fresh pressed shirts. Among the venders, there was one in particular who we inquired about purchasing ear plugs. Carrie (or Carry) was the salesman at the emazinglights booth and was a hilarious and passionate guy. When speaking about his booth he mentioned, “It isn’t made to be look at just for one thing; People come and see a little plushy and write it off as nothing, but when you stand back and really change your view and focus, you’re able to appreciate so much more.” Much like the festival this is exactly how I felt about the entire experience and really put into perspective how things should be experienced and appreciated.

Almost immediately I heard a certain producer announcing over the Main Euphoria Stage’s speakers, “Hey Euphoria! My name is Michal Menert and I’m going to be playing a little something for you!” As I made my way down to the main stage his introduction was met with cheers and dancing with the occasional nodding. Before then, I had heard of Michal but never had put the time aside to actively listen to his music, however I was quickly pulled in by the intimacy of his set. It’s very difficult to describe the vibe between myself and Michal’s music but the best way I can is that he had somehow managed to find the perfect wavelength with his music that really resonated with my soul/heart/ whatever you want to call it; Plain and simple, I was moved by his music, and built a soulful relationship. If you ever get a chance to see him, make a conscious effort to experience his music.

 

After Michal Menert’s set was said and done, up next was Designer Drugs. Admittedly, I had never heard of them nor their music but it was quickly apparent that they strong in the Electro House genre. Dropping tracks like Alvin Risk’s Nemesis and other Electro House bangers absolutely got the crowd cheering and on their feet. They even went so far as to drop some brand new tracks that we sadly weren’t able to get any footage of. Sorry internet.

Toward the end of their set we decided to leave and head to the Silent Disco. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, I 100% urge you to check it out. In my case it was 3 different dj’s mixing all under the same medium sized tent, but at the entrance you were given a pair of headphones. These headphones allowed you to choose between the 3 dj’s or ‘channels’ and thus choose different genres. On channel 1 was the always fun Trap genre, channel 2 contained explosive Electro house beats, while channel 3 contained eclectic techno (which brought back memories of some old Techno tunes from way back when). Both my girlfriend choose different genres, she went with electro and I with trap. I have to say, Poe Junior is quite the trap Dj. In less than 3 minutes I was jumping in place to his set and giving him a thumbs up.

Soon after we headed out of the silent disco and felt both a familiar and unfamiliar feeling. It was bass. Coming from the Main Stage, Downlink had finally taken the reins of Euphoria and giving the sound system a run for their money. Never before had I ever felt dubstep quite like that before. That’s right, felt. His bass filled set completely rocked my core and had me question whether this was actually an okay phenomenon to experience for my organs. Hat’s off to you Downlink, you have made me question the structural integrity of my body.

 

 

 

 

 

Baauer finally makes his way on stage and throughout his whole set I wondered if he would drop “Harlem Shake”. After reading around in the interwebs I knew that he might have run into some trouble of a sample that was used for the track. Surprisingly he filled his set with his signature taste of Trap and was in complete control of the crowd. I knew Texas being in the “south” would have some sort of affinity for Trap/Hip-Hop but I never knew that they would respond that well. It almost seemed as if every attendee was at the main stage. Baauer did end up playing “Harlem Shake” however it was toward the end of his set. After the song was done, he rushed off stage and up came a figure with a signature hat…

Datsik takes the stage into what I expect will be a powerful and destructive set. How wrong I was. Despite going on something as cool sounding as “THE VORTEX TOUR” his performance/set was completely lackluster. It absolutely could have been that I over hyped myself or that there was something absolutely lacking from his set. I ran into a fan of his after his set and said, “I’ve seen Datsik a while back and he was way better; He just wasn’t that great today…”

 

 

 

 

Disappointed we headed for the Silent Disco when we ran into Michal Menert! As my girlfriend was asking what we should do next I noticed Michal walking right past me and the following is what resulted…

Girlfriend: So what do you think we should do nex- (Men never interrupt your significant others like this, it is rude haha)

Danny: Michal Menert?
Michal: *Turns around, smiles.* What’s up guys?

D: Ah, I thought it was you, how’s it going?

M: It’s going alright man, just taking a walk around… I just saw some chick being carried into an ambulance by two guys and I just got a bad vibe from it. Had to get away y’know?

D: Ah man, is that what happened? That’s so disheartening to see when you’re at a place to have fun..
M: Exactly, it’s like… I don’t understand why the focus has shifted towards getting completely messed up and going to a show instead of enjoying the music and letting it move your soul. I mean, it shouldn’t be about getting so messed up that you have to get wheeled out of the event.. it shouldn’t be that way. *looks towards the ambulance*

D: Absolutely, I agree.. (solemn moment for us three)

M: Anyways, what’s your name guys?..

After our conversation ended we went our separate ways and I had a newfound respect for the musician and his passion for his craft.

Last but not least EOTO was next. I had recently watched a video describing their live set-up including some of the ways they produce Electronic Music. Of course we were absolutely curious and decided to attend. What resulted was quite mystifying. They seemed to be in some sort of lotus structure with aurora borealis-like lighting and a mysterious sound was emanating from their set. Musically, I could tell that the duo was on a completely different level. While I was only curious, I was blown away by the reception of the crowd. It was almost as if every single attendee was a die hard fan. It was truly something mesmerizing to witness and quite the way to end such an eventful night.

It was the ideal way to end the night for us and the other festival goers.

SATURDAY

 

Day 2 of our Festival Review and we already are off to a amazing start. 

Continuing the trend of live shows Conspirators were the openers of todays show and they completely rocked it! (Pun not intended.) Fusing electro house synths with melodic guitar riffs and hard hitting bass and percussion, Conspirators were easily able to get the crowd hot and ready for the next artist.

Mord Fustang took the stage next and immediately made his presence known. Displaying his signature “Hold iPad up to face” move he masterfully controlled the crowd and had us jumping in no time. It’s no longer a wonder as to why he’s so revered in the EDM community. With deep concentration he moved from track to track completely flawlessly hardly having to raise the microphone to speak to the attendees. His music did all of the talking.

After about 50 minutes into Mord’s set we decided to leave to the Silent Disco once again, to check out TRVP LORDS. I remember reading somewhere that this unique group was something not to miss and that if you had a chance to check them out, it was highly recommended. So we did and it was actually quite interesting. They managed to DJ trap track after trap track with subtle hints of dubstep, while a member managed to freestyle over the track. The overall flow of the mixing/rapping was unique and almost flawless. The number one flaw that I felt really impacted their set was keeping the attention of the audience. I would frequently see listeners changing “channels” to hear other genres. While I admit, it was very interesting to see a specific talent maneuvered in such a specific way, it lacked that factor that kept people listening.

 

 

 

After that, we heard that the Main stage was running behind on set changes so we decided to catch up with Clockwork. After seeing him in a local venue alongside Dillon Francis, I have to admit he still brought a huge surge of energy to the Second Stage crowd. The alter ego of RL Grime, Clockwork specializes in huge big room bangers that can get any raver hopping with excitement.

Soon we began to hear cheers and chants coming from the main stage to our left. So we head that way only to see that Le Castle Vania had taken the stage and was easily getting the crowd riled into a the mass noise of cheers and “woooooo”-ting. He also dropped Alvin Risk’s Nemesis remix and that’s when I noticed something disheartening. Not only did he let the track play through but he was pretending to turn knobs by making obvious motions with his arms that he was actually doing something to the track. No one really seemed to noticed or care but I personally own that track and I know that from what he was doing, it was completely un-altered; He let the track play out and pretended to twist knobs. I immediately was bummed out on discovering this, and even caught the attention of my girlfriend who asked what was wrong. After explaining (rather loudly over the cheers and music) she also got a bummed look on her face. I didn’t know if what I was feeling was the result of being some sort of “DJ Snob” or just the fact that I was actively being lied to. Either way, I stayed for his performance and enjoyed just about everyone other track he played as did the other festival goers. Admittedly I wasn’t having as much fun as they were, I tried my best to forget it happened.

 

Soon after, it was time for DIRTYPHONICS to take the stage and what an entrance they made. Completely commanding the masses with their hard hitting bass and electro house synths, they were more than able to keep everyone moving to the beat with hands thrown up. I personally never understood the logistics of having more than 2 Dj’s present at one time. It’s seems incredibly difficult to have a b2b2b2b however they pulled it off perfectly because the response was phenomenal. Soon after the members joined the crowd in stage dives and crowd chants, allowing me to momentarily forget my issue with Le Castle Vania’s set.

 

After DIRTYPHONICS electrifying set, Felix Cartal took to the stage and I know just how much people just throw this saying everywhere, but he absolutely destroyed it. With a DJing style very similar to Electro House producer Porter Robinson, concentration was extremely apparent in his set as he only tended to look up when he addressed the crowd. Someone like Felix Cartal absolutely reinstated my faith in producers being able to effectively DJ while taking into consideration “reading the crowd”. Seeing as how the night was coming close to an end, I decided to really let loose and enjoy myself.

 

The final artist of the night was none other than Tommy Trash. The “Trashy” australian wasted no time in bringing out bangers such as his remix for Steve Aoki’s Ladi Dadi. I couldn’t believe the immense number of people that were at the main stage. When I turned around to have a look, it seemed as if there was people as far as the eye can see, and every single one of them was having the time of their life. Having seen Tommy Trash before at a local venue I knew a bit of how his set would go, but never would I have imagine that it would still bring so much excitement out of me; Especially since I was a bit tired out from Felix Cartal. I think that that special skill is what makes artists and producers the highly successful people that they are. That “special power”, if you will, that allows them to bring back the crowd from the dead and really put on a show. Quite possibly one of the best nights of my life.

That concludes my review on Euphoria Music Festival, I had such a magical time and I have absolutely no complaints about the festival itself. Everything was absolutely run perfectly and always had the attendees in mind. If you ever get a chance to attend another Euphoria Fest I highly recommend you go. You will absolutely not regret it.

 

 

( I would like to give a special thanks to my co-workers at Your EDM for allowing me to have this wonderful and unique experience. I wouldn’t have been able to have the best nights of my life without you guys. I also want to give a big thanks to the PR team for Euphoria Music Fest, Caren West PR, you guys were absolutely wonderful. Highly supportive and professional, it would have been impossible to have a smooth festival without you three.

And a very special thanks to my girlfriend, who, without hesitation, agreed to help me organize our trip as well as take care of photography and scheduling. You are one in 7 billion and I don’t know where I would be without you.)

Thanks for reading everyone!

 

-Danny