5 out of 5 star event: PHXLIGHTS

Genre(s): Dubstep, Drum and Bass

Rating: 5/5 stars

Description:

Parking - I was impressed how parking was so easy and fast. There were crews helping with parking and they made this experience so much better. And it was free.

Location - Getting to the Phoenix Raceway took us quite a while from the downtown but it really paid off. That remote and vast location without any neighboring buildings or anything created a surreal atmosphere with the help of a gigantic stage with top-class lighting and LED screens.

Lots of vendors and fun activity booths were cool but I really liked seeing multiple water tanks (around 10 tanks) and portapotties (30 or more?). I think the organizers knew what people need and want and all of those made our experience comfortable and pleasant.

Artists - I would like to point out two things here. First, the line-up was so well managed which means that they assigned artists to the time slot to gradually elevate the overall energy of the show. Every DJ successfully delivered their sound and the crowd was satisfied.

Second, adding one Drum and Bass (DnB) artist in the middle of all Dupstep artist line-up was refreshing because it is a kinda minor genre in American ravers. Rusko was the only DJ who played DnB and even though he played several bangers, I was able to see that the crowd was kinda lost interest to dance during his set time.

Even though this event was not a concert of one main artist, it seemed like it. All other DJs previous to Griz (headliner) seemed to play their music for warming up the crowd for him. Griz played all the Dubstep bangers and even played party hiphop songs (All I Do Is Win by DJ Khaled, etc…) which none of the other DJs tempted to play. It sure made the crowd go wilder but a little corny to me. I think DJs other than headliner went a little too under.

Reviewer Name: Soo Kim, Branden Gosse (Photo)

Date of Review: April 2022