Life In Color recap: R3hab & Bassjackers go hard in the paint

This past weekend, the traveling Life In Color festival (formerly known as Dayglow) touched down at Governor’s Beach Club at Governor’s Island in NYC, after initially being slated for a Brooklyn stop in July. From the onset, the crowd was eagerly anticipating the event, with lines looping around and the South Street ferry entrance hours before a single song was played. There was  a distinct tilt towards a younger, college-aged demographic, which makes sense given Dayglow's origins at college campuses in Florida. The other obvious characteristic was the crowd decked out in various amounts of white apparel, in sync with the theme of the event.

The ferry trip to the island is always amusing, as the fluorescent, restless crowd is juxtaposed with families and tourists visiting the park and public spaces. Nevertheless, it seems as if Governor’s Island, as a venue for EDM events, is here to stay for as long as the weather allows. The venue has also noticeably changed for the better with each successive event. This time around, the venue's floor, which is typically filled with sand to go with the beach club theme, was covered in a tarp. We suspect this was an attempt to protect the sand from the paint, but it was an effective and welcome improvement; past events have left our shoes filled with sand by night's end. The back half of the venue is also a roomier, more airy alternative to the fairly jam-packed tent.

The event itself was, as expected a fun time. The paint gimmick took an already loaded line-up (R3hab, Bassjackers, Dalton resident Dayglow DJ David Salano and the Devil) and festive atmosphere to wildly entertaining levels. A giant clock in the backdrop, in addition to the ever present MC, would count down the time until the paint mayhem. Bursts of paint hit the crowd in increasingly intense increments, with fans becoming more colorful – and more rowdy – as the night went on.