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“Neon Planet” a world full of music hungry fans, LED walls, glowsticks and confetti canons. Triad Dragons and Global Dance brought a whose who to the Denver Coliseum for their 19th anniversary of Skylab! This one night event had 2 stages, each representing their own theme. The Bass Arena was packed full of fans and LED production as musical talents Vinnie Manscalco, Gladiator, Luminox, Mt Eden and Ishe closed out the night. This might have been the smaller room at the Coliseum but the fans were packed wall to wall and showed their love to the bass feeding artists. If you traveled to the next room you found yourself at the Skylab Launch Pad. JQA, Dragon, Walder and Project 46 prepared the space cadets for an evening full of lights sound and space travel. The stage production of Morgan Page would include all 3 of these. As the lights got dark, the fans began to put on their 3D glasses in preparation for the debut of his new 3D Live tour. This hour and a half set would be chalked full mesmerizing visuals that made you believe you were truly are on a Neon Planet. As if that wasn’t enough the crowd was regularly treated to CO2&Confetti showers, matched with performances by Break Dancers and LED Hoola Hoopers.
As more Dillon Francis totems were spotted. It was easy to tell who was coming on next.. As his LED wall often said “Im a cat, and I dance”. With tracks ranging from new Francis jams to 90s hip hop it was obvious to see why his success has become a global phenomenon. Dillon made a point to tell the Colorado fans that they have always had a place in his heart and have never made him feel confined to a certain genre. Unfortunately, Colorado stood true to another well known stereotype. Francis had spent the evening dodging glowsticks and kandi when an individual happened to throw his shoes directly at the DJ. Fortunately, Dillon took it as a joke and used this opportunity to tell the individual “You’ll be going barefoot for the rest of the night now asshole!” I assumed it was to eliminate the glowstick warzone but Francis then allowed the crowd to throw there favorite kandi onto the stage. Within seconds hundreds of neon colored beads hit the stage, Francis begin collecting them till he too had arms covered with kandi. The cat kept this dance party going and never had a smile leave his face. He left the crowd chanting “encore,” but fortunately for them there encore would be Americas #1 DJ.
The Coliseum was dark, the murmur amongst fans was echoing through the crowd as they waited. The once Francis totems had now become “Kaskade we love you” signs. Just as quickly as it went black the lights shot on….
“When I was young, I would stand alone. With visions of the world that were all my own.” The music stopped but the fans did not…
“The lights in the sky weren’t that far away, Living in the vastness of outer space!”
The Neon planet was in full effect and each astronauts were connected as one through the music of Kaskade. The release of “Atmosphere” couldn’t have come at a better time nor be played in a better environment. With a packed house of 10,000 strong, Kaskade carried us into the night with back to back jams that even surprised local favorites and Beatports own, Manufactured Superstars. With their set soon up they made all feel at home with their enjoyment in Kaskade’s performance. As the confetti rain came to a stop Kaskade rose to the decks to say his goodbyes and thank the space ragers for their attendance!
We had now reached the climax of the journey and were ending the night with Nasa approved, Manufactured Superstars. This duo of Bradley and Shawn has helped make the Beatport name what it is today, so to say there caliber of tracks was top shelf would be an understatement! As is tradition they brought out the Skylab girls to throw out nearly a hundred inflatable astronauts to help make this Neon Planet feel more habitable. With an audience full of space cadets, astronauts, neon travelers and music lovers it was clear that this year’s Skylab was a total success. So next September prepare for launch as Skylab enters its 20th anniversary!
The fun doesn’t have to end their though, before the night was over Triad had released that Hallowfreaknween would again be returning to Colorado with musical performances by Gareth Emery, Showtek, DJ Bl3nd and many more. So if you are a fan of Electronic music and live in or are visiting Colorado, make sure you check out one of Global Dance/ Triad Dragons events.

Photos and words by Brandon Taylor

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