iHome Presents IDentity Festival Cincinnati Review

With the kick-off of the Identity Festival this Thursday, the traveling music event of the summer is officially underway, set to electrify cities across the U.S. Dance music lovers flocked to Cincinnati's Riverbend Music Center Thursday for the first stop of the festival, now in its second year. Fans were treated to incredible production across two stages, the Rockstar Energy Festival Stage and, at the center of it all, the iHome Main Stage.

The crowd checked out up-and-coming acts such as DVBBS and Stephan Jacobs early in the day, but stuck around in the afternoon for an array of dazzling performances – Audrey Napolean, the Bingo Players, The Eye, and Arty all delivered standout sets. As just about every name on the roster is set to play numerous dates on the tour, everyone was fast to become friends behind the scenes... and onstage; ID veteran, La Castle Vania joined Madeon during his set as the French prodigy played LCV's remix of the Kaskade hit "Turn It Down."

In between seeing DJ sets, fans were able to escape the heat of the day in sponsored tents throughout the festival complex. Whether grabbing a free Rockstar drink in the shade of the company's tent, getting glam at the Tigi Bedhead Salon, or making their own DJ mixes in front of the iHome wall of sound, fans were never more than a step away from entertainment. As the sun set, however, the two bigger stages filled up in anticipation of Identity's headliners. Nero provided a typically bass-heavy DJ set at the packed Rockstar stage, while the iHome stage was full of fans hungry to see the the American return of Eric Prydz – and on his birthday, no less. Without a doubt, Prydz's performance was nothing short of triumphant. First taking fans back to 2008 with his classic track "Pijanoo," Prydz then took the crowd on a musical journey through his vast catalog. As he only does a few shows a year (and rarely in America since 2008), Eric Prydz's sets have become legendary not only for their amazing music but also for their rarity. Bringing the crowd to a steady bounce for his new hit, "SW4" and toning it down with a bootleg of Empire of the Sun's "We Are The people" and his own "Mirage," Prydz's set was perfectly varied.

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Photo by: Andrew Rauner