In the frenzy of EDM’s American explosion, cities like Las Vegas and Miami have gotten the most recognition as EDM hubs. Often unjustly lost in the mix, the Charm City of Baltimore has long been a raver capital. Steez Promo and Ultraworld’s yearly one-day massive Starscape has become cemented in the scene’s fabric. The 2012 edition of Starscape was no exception. The top-notch talent, the production values and the atmosphere prove that the real rave scene isn’t dead.

Despite being the same weekend as EDCLV, Steez Promo and Ultraworld still managed to bring in top flight talent for the 16-hour event. Spread out over 4 unique stages, ravers were able to have their pick in deciding what kind of sound they wanted for their night.

Although I arrived later than I would have liked, walking up first to Skism’s set at the Dub Nation Beach Stage made everything ok. Dropping some of the filthiest tunes I’d heard in a while, his set jumped to a whole new level of griminess and creativity when he dropped a live remix of Rage Against The Machine’s infamous “Killing In The Name of” The contrast of the filthy dub beats versus the remote location and beautiful view of the Key Bridge made for an interesting juxtaposition that set the tone for the entire event. As the night progressed though, the Dub Nation Beach Stage only got nastier as acts like the Circus Records boys Cookie Monsta & Funtcase tag-team’d for a set that destroyed the crowed and put me in a sense of awe as I watched them work together to bring the crowd to another dimension.

The Dub Nation beach stage though would be no match for Moombah master Dillon Francis who played an eclectic set that included some of his hits like “Brazzer’s Theme” and edits of other huge cross-genre tracks such as Nicky Romero’s “Toulouse” In this one writer’s ears, Dillon Francis proved once again why he is the Moombah it-boy and is only going to get bigger and bigger.

While I did move around a lot, experiencing the different stages, my personal favorite was the Bassdrop Dance Tent. Although Dillon Francis has become the it-boy for Moombahton, Bro Safari has become a pioneer for the burgeoning sound. Also known as Knick (1/3 of American DnB act Evol Intent), Bro Safari brought out his own moombah flavor that just makes you move. He played some of his older material along with his newest and had the crowd moving all along with him. When Lucky Date began his set at 9 and the sun was fully down, the dance tent elevated to a whole new level. The beats just came and came and people raved to it without any issue. With his “ballroom dance” music, LD’s hard set, set the stage for what become a raw exposition of dance music and the culture at its finest. After experiencing some serious technical difficulties that caused the dance tent to shut-down temporarily, the people of Steez and Ultraworld pushed back other sets rather than cutting any short, and it’s this kind of right-action that perpetuates the dance scene. The New York-born artist formerly known as Ewun or as he is known now, Kill The Noise literally killed the noise. Despite being behind the shut-down, KTN threw down possibly the hardest set of the night. Ripe with unreleased material for a new upcoming EP, Kill The Noise gave thanks to the loyal crowd by assaulting them with a barrage of bass and beats that sent the crowd into an absolute frenzy. Even with the technical difficulties, the following acts Zedd and Dada Life were still able to complete full their full sets and give the crowd what they came for.

On the main stage acts like Modestep brought out their live band performance to rock out to their hits like “Sunlight” and “Feel Good” and had the crowd rocking together, even performing hits from other acts like Knife Party’s “Bonfire.” Off the heels of his newest release “Flexx”, Wolfgang Gartner played a bunch of unreleased material as well as classic such as my personal favorites, “Illmerica” and “Space Junk” Wolfgang seemed to mix a blend of his earlier material with the new one and overall, did a great job of keeping the crowd moving. Circus Records poster-boy Flux Pavilion took the mainstage and when he did, you could tell that the atmosphere had changed. Busting out hit after hit like “Gold Dust”, “I Can’t Stop” and his newest release “Daydreamer,” the blonde-headed british bass brother created memories. I’m sure people will look back at this night and think of where they were when they say heard his tunes emanate from the massive sound system.

In addition to these three stages, the Sunrise stage and Fort Stage each had their share of amazing acts such as Adventure Club and Mimosa or Sazon Booya and Brown & Gammon; and we are sure that we will be back next year to do it all again. Starscape 2012 was a massive success and we are already looking forward for next year.

Special thank you goes out to: Kavi Halemane, schoolboy, Bro Safari, Kill The Noise, Zedd, Dillon Francis, and Camo & Krooked for showing me such a great time and getting a chance to talk!

Born and raised in NYC, a full-time student in the Towson/Baltimore, I’ve had a wealth of experience in electronic music. I’ve DJ’d parties and on the radio, and am an aficionado all things Electronic Music with a passion for art in general. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, you can email me with inquiries and demos at 808sJake@gmail.com And you can follow me on twitter! @808sJake Follow my music taste on last.fm too! http://www.last.fm/user/Jake0617 doandroidsdance.com