iHome Presents IDentity Florida Recap
This past weekend, Identity festival took Florida by storm, hitting Tampa and Miami back to back. First in Tampa on Friday and then again in Miami on Saturday, the suite of Identity Festival artists took to the iHome and Rockstar stages in both cities providing a full-on array of electronic dance music.
First off was Tampa, where the heat didn't stop fans from taking to the stages by storm to dance, rage and hear up some new tunes by their favorite artists. the iHome stage was graced by its early openers The Eye and Eva Simmons, soon to be followed by the Static Revenger. Fans enjoyed the shade of the iHome stage under the amphitheater shed, and packed in to spend the day.
The Rockstar stage however had a completely different vibe. Over on the other side of the venue and indoors, the stage was surrounded by various vendor tents for fans to explore cool iHome and Rockstar product, and escape the heat as well. The scene felt like more of a classic garage rave, and gave a whole different dynamic to the early sets by Stephan Jacobs, Audrey Napolean, Le Castle Vania and Noisia. Fans were packed into the room shuffling, hooping and gloving to the heavy bass provided by the above mentioned artists.
Later on, back on the iHome stage Arty took to the booth, bumping out a stellar progressive set featuring many of his classic numbers. Following him, electro legend Wolfgang Gartner came through with some incredible beats. The crowd went absolutely wild at his drop of "Illmerica," an incredibly original. Eric Prdyz, after presenting a fuse mini-movie of his return to america, loomed over the decks and instantly put the crowd in a dancing frenzy. A seminal moment was watching the entire crowd sing along to Prydz's recnet hit "Allein" before he left the stage with everyone wanting more.
The Rockstar stage ended the evening with a significant dosage of bass, first by dustup legend Doctor P, spinning on actual CDs. Hard-style duo Showtek rocked the crowd next, finishing their set with a crowd screaming lyrics to "FTS." The duo also signed and gave out an iHome IP4 boombox to a lucky member of the crowd mid-set. Eventually, the gigantic X teasing the crowd in the back of the stage all evening came forward as the Rockstar tent welcomed Excision with open arms.
Early the next morning, ID and crew arrived in Miami, ready for what was to be the biggest show on the tour yet. Incredibly early on, the well outfitted and seasoned Miami crowd arrived on the scene. Bayfront park which has graced the stages of the famed Ultra Music Festival was transformed and today became the iHome Main stage and the Rockstar Festival stage for another fantastic edition of Identity Festival.
In the beginning of the day, thousands filled both stage areas to grove to the sounds of Stephan Jacobs, Audrey Napoleon, Le Castle Vania, Eva Simons and The Eye. While dubstep reigned supreme in the afternoon, over on the Rockstar Stage with names like Doctor P and Noisia, the iHome stage was experiencing a really special sequence of events.
Arty debuted a new track for fans to experience, now still an "ID," however there is a vocal version coming soon (via his twitter). Following was Madeon, making his farewell set on the tour. Quite a memorable set as the young French DJ got very involved feeding off the energy of the crowd. Soon after, Porter Robinson made his Identity festival debut. The superstar American DJ laid down an exciting set, showing fans that his stint on Identity Festival will not be overlooked, interweaving between dubstep, electro and house, Porter did not disappoint. Probably the most memorable moment of the day was watching the crowd react to his playing "Language," his recent hit, and arguably one of the top tracks of the summer. Soon after this electrifying set, Wolfgang Gartner took to the booth followed by none other than Eric Prydz.
Back on the Rockstar Festival Stage, Showtek stole the night with a very memorable set to a massive crowd. Their new hit (a collab with Hardwell) "Thats How We Do" was received with screams and fists in the air. The Dutch duo ended their set with a massive group photo and left the crowd incredibly ready for the heavy dubstep sounds of Excision. Excisions set was massive, giving an incredible diverse set (within the 'dubstep' realm) to his hungry fans. The night ended almost too quickly as fans were left with a sense of wonder at the two incredibly diverse stages and array of fantastic EDM artists.
Miami Photo Gallery on iHome Facebook page.
Tampa Photo Gallery on iHome Facebook Page.