Relive Global Dance Festival’s Magical Return to Denver [Recap + Photo Gallery]

Day 1

The festival wasted no time getting things started. With such a stacked lineup, the energy went from zero to 100 upon stepping foot inside the festival grounds.

Throughout the day, attendees roamed freely around Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, checking out the large structures permeating the grounds. At night, these sizable metallic behemoths would come alive, spewing fire into the air. These art installations and sculptures, such as a hulking, 50-foot dragonfly, helped cultivate a magical wonderland setting.

In addition to these art installations patrons could ride a Ferris wheel, which overlooked the festival grounds, or hop on a number of other engaging rides. There was never a shortage of things to do or sights to behold. 

Keeping things alive on the Summit Stage were Electric Polar Bears, Gabriel & Dresden, Tritonal, and Tchami, among others, who all brought an incredible energy to their sets. Dion Timmer, Sullivan King, Riot Ten, and fan-favorite Decadon (who DJed a set with Brondo), were among other performers who delivered tremendous performances. Other standouts include from Option4, Player Dave, John Summit, Dom Dolla, Claude VonStroke, Luzcid, Yotto, Mersiv, and Eli & Fur.

As the sun fell, peeking through a smoke-filled horizon and over the towering Rocky Mountains, ILLENIUM, Said The Sky, and Dabin took the stage to deliver a breathtaking, monumental collaborative set. Powerful basses emanated from the scene while a tsunami of melodic bass crashed down on the audience. The electronic music titans pushed and pulled the crowd, rocking them with emotion and energy. ILLENIUM played many songs off his new album Fallen Embers, including an unreleased remix with Virtual Riot of "Blame Myself".

Meanwhile, on the Northern Lights Stage, Doctor P and Funtcase were busy delivering one of the filthiest sets of the weekend. Melodic highs and head-banging lows permeated the set before dubstep heavyweight Zomboy took the stage to take the crowd on a similarly rowdy journey.

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Eventually Kaskade graced the stage for a performance chock full of the melodic house and spellbinding selections you would expect from the dance music icon. There really is nothing quite like the sound of a large-scale crowd chanting in unison, and to hear it gives chills. Kaskade's set finished with a massive display of fireworks, lighting up the night sky and sending the energy through the roof.

Day 2

The Northern Lights stage held down the melodic bass front all day, kicking things off with an excellent performance from Colorado natives Last Heroes. Decadon followed with an immaculate set of head-banging rock and bass music hybrids, at one point asking the crowd to split down the middle, which led to an unbridled moshpit. Getter, 4B and more then performed, offering their own powerful and uniquely distinguishable sets.

On the Amazon and Tundra stages, we saw Born Dirty, Sacha Robotti, Green Velvet, Of The Trees, Spencer Brown, and Claptone, among others. Meanwhile, on the Summit Stage we saw incredible performances from electronic musc powerhouses Carnage and Deorro.

As the sun began to set, it was time for the industry legend Tiesto. He came out blazing, playing his hit single "The Business," which the crowd knew all too well. Despite some audio technical difficulties, he went on to drop a soaring set that concluded with another magnificent fireworks display.

Over on the Northern Lights stage, Gryffin's distinct sound washed the crowd over with a swell of emotive melodic music, the perfect energy to close out the night on this stage. 

Back on the Summit Stage, the crowd pooled in as they prepared for the final set of the night from none other than the dubstep superstar Excision. Thunderous bass and melodic highs weaved together in crushing bangers, pushing decibels of bass through the system in a memorable finale.

Following the end of the festival, to celebrate a colossally successful weekend, multiple more after hours shows took place. Deorro took to the stage at Reelworks, while Temple Nightclub hosted Green Velvet, Claptone played at Vinyl, Yhetti went B2B with Of The Trees at the Cervantes Ballroom, while Smoakland and Kyral X Banko played the other side of Cervantes, and Option4 performed at Larimer Lounge. 

Global Dance was a magical weekend full of great music, beautiful people, and world-class production. The fest's 2022 iteration will, without doubt, be one not to miss. 

You can check out EDM.com's exclusive photo gallery below.

GLOBAL DANCE FESTIVAL 2021

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Gallery

191 Images

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