On Saturday, I rushed to catch Ott.’s much-anticipated set. I had heard that his sets had been getting heavier, and while the same, familiar Ott. is still there, he certainly played a much more bass-driven set than I am used to from him. Black Tiger Sex Machine raged away in a storm of lasers at Oceania while Spag Heddy took over Amazonia. I ran to conduct an interview back at the Bullet & Chill tent but managed to catch a bit of High Kalliber’s set on my way. Nora En Pure and Claptone were both excellent, but I spent most of the next hour at Noisia having my face torn off by their ridiculous energy. They were on a tiny sound system, but they pushed it to the limit, raining fury on the decks. It was the highlight set of the weekend for me, and I hope it created some new DnB fans because it was the absolute best vibe in that little tent.

There was one drunk raver who tried to pick a fight with me during Netsky, but as soon as I got him out of the tent, the happiness and beauty of the festival transformed his mood and we parted with a smile and a handshake. Sadly, the Disco Inferno stage continued to have sound problems that interrupted Gorgon City’s set, so after a quick stop by Flux Pavilion, I decided to settle in for the rest of the night at the Amazonia stage where Pretty Lights would be performing for a full two hours. His set started a little late, but it was worth it.

I had only seen Pretty Lights once before, performing a DJ set at Freaky Deaky 2015 in Chicago. I heard all sorts of mixed responses to this night from the “PL Fam” folks I know, but it was a perfectly lovely set. Pretty Lights performed the most emotional set of the weekend, and while I heard great things about Deadmau5’s performance, I was happy to be with the band. This was a Pretty Lights Live performance, so Derek was joined on stage by percussionists and musicians who breathed a rare vitality into his productions. The festival was in full swing Saturday night, and while many people had to suffer in line, once inside the track, it was about as good as big EDM festivals can get.