Paradiso.
Paradise.
It’s basically the same word.
When you bring together the digital world with the natural world you get one big explosion of a raver’s paradise posted up in the most beautiful location your eyes have ever seen. Paradiso takes place at The Gorge Amphitheatre, a 27,500-seat outdoor venue located in picturesque George, Washington. With the main stage nestled in a backdrop of purple mountains, giant valleys, and the Columbia River, it’s no surprise the Gorge is considered one of the most scenic concert locations in the world
The festival is quite a bit smaller than EDC, but they still have 3 stages, numerous carnival rides and lots of food stands and other vendors. The vibe however, is still the same. There’s something to be said about festivalgoers, no matter what show you’re attending. It’s almost like we have an entirely different outlook on life; we’re more laidback, we aren’t afraid of emotion, and we would rather wear Converse than stilettos.
This year’s Paradiso was a bit colder than last year. We experienced a bit of rain, and once the sun went down it was necessary to have a sweater, or in my case, a shark onesie. Yes, a bright blue onesie pajama with shark feet raging away on the grassy hillside.
Paradiso is one of those festivals where you really can’t look your best, no matter how hard you try. It’s camping. You’re dirty, sweaty, your feet are black and your hair resembles that of a rat’s nest. But no one cares. Everyone is there to share the digitally beautiful combination with nature and forget about the real world, just for the weekend.
One DJ I was rather emotional for was Deorro. This was the last time most of us would see him perform for quite some time since he is taking time off to be with his family. As fans we can only respect him more for that decision, and it seemed every other DJ that weekend agreed. His smash hit with R3hab, “Flashlight” I swear was played by almost every performer both days. It was almost like a little tribute to his saying goodbye to the performing life. Deorro obviously threw down an incredibly high-energy set full of heart pounding big room sounds.
Another set that hit close to home was the performance given by The Chainsmokers. After interviewing these guys back in April, I’ve developed this mother-like need to make sure they do well. Drew and Alex provided us with a beautiful set full of their melodic remixes that had everyone in the crowd singing along, as well as some new originals we can’t wait to be officially released. One thing I have to hand to these guys is their ability to keep energy up. While they both are focused on the decks, Drew and Alex are non-stop jumping around the stage and singing along with their hands in the air. Their crowd interaction is always so much fun and they even graced us with taking the last ever crowd selfie. Mixing their remix of Cash Cash “Take Me Home” into the forever classic of Calvin Harris “Feel So Close” sent the entire crowd into a wild, euphoric frenzy.
One DJ who had me feeling like a schoolgirl; weak in the knees while bouncing to the seductively beautiful sounds of dubstep was Flux Pavilion. Holy shit can this guy lay down a festival set. Every single song had the whole crowd screaming for more. This was one of the few sets I was actually down in the crowd for. Everyone around me was hands up, eyes shut, lost in a whirlwind of bass. From a sexy slow mix of the Alice Deejay oldie “Better Off Alone” to his own classic, “I Can’t Stop,” the minutes ticked by as his set was coming to a close and I was still waiting for that one song. Just as I thought it was over, Flux picks up the mic and asks if we’re ready for one more song. With that I hear the ubiquitous synths start blasting over the Gorge, and I literally felt like “Gold Dust” was coming through the speakers. Flux drops the vocals and starts singing along with the crowd, and then, that peaking moment thousands of people are collectively waiting for, that enormously euphoric bass drop hits us and with enough force it was heavy enough to shake the entire Gorge.
USC Events were successful in bringing us another beautiful Paradiso. This company, year after year, listens to what the fans want and continuously listen to us in making each festival and event better than the last. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for FreakNight 2014.
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