LED OMFG! SD 2015 Recap

LED rang in 2015 in a big way. OMFG! SD was expanded to a three-day event, taking place December 29-31 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego. On top of that, a second stage—"The Zoo"—was added to the massive event. The lineup was packed with some of dance music's biggest names, including Tiesto, Eric Prydz, Hardwell, Madeon, Flosstradamus, and Deorro. But before we dig into the headlining acts, we have to address some of the up-and-coming producers/DJs who threw down mind-blowing sets at OMFG! SD.

What So Not absolutely blew up in 2014. Emoh Instead and Flume comprise the duo, but Emoh typically tours on his own under the What So Not name. His set on the first day of OMFG! SD injected the crowd with endless energy.

DJ Sliink and Trippy Turtle brought Jersey Club to The Zoo on consecutive days. The King of Jersey Club, DJ Sliink, was the bed-squeak purveyor on Day 1, and he did not disappoint. The next day, Trippy Turtle—arguably the most popular Jersey Club producer—almost shut The Zoo down. People began lining up to get into The Zoo 25 minutes before Trippy Turtle's set started. Some people were forced to wait in line for 30+ minutes by security due to safety reasons. However, the wait was well worth it. Trippy Turtle had the crowd dancing from start to finish, as he played his own hits interspersed with some awesome remixes. The crowd sang along when he played a remix of Ginuwine's "Pony," and I personally enjoyed when he played some Craig David.

Bixel Boys' #FREELIFE jersey adorned countless OMFG! SD attendees all three days of the event. The jersey's success has helped increase the profile of the LA-based duo. The Bixel Boys played an early set on New Year's Eve, but they still managed to whip the crowd into a frenzy with their "big room underground" tunes. After their set at OMFG! SD, Rob May and Ian MacPherson rushed to their headlining set at Bang Bang in Downtown San Diego to ring in 2015.

The LED DJs were well represented at OMFG! SD. TJR, Brazzabelle, SNBRN, Klatch, and Deth Hertz all played crowd-pleasing sets. Just a few years ago, these LED DJs were playing opening sets at Voyeur. Now, some of them are traveling across the country (or world in TJR's case) to play their own headlining shows.

The headliners for Day 1 and 2, Hardwell and Tiesto, played solid sets for the big room house music fans. Flosstradamus might have had the most energetic set at OMFG! SD, which peaked when they played their hit track "Mosh Pit." The floor opened up during the song, and attendees flung themselves against each other in a display of youthful exuberance.

On the last day of OMFG! SD, GTA played during the countdown to 2015.

Although the countdown was a huge deal, OMFG! SD was far from over. Gareth Emery and Henry Fong followed GTA with fun sets, leading into Deorro. The Melbourne Bounce producer previously announced that he was retiring from touring after 2014, and the anticipation for his set was palpable. The crowd was starting to lose its energy following the countdown, but as soon as Deorro jumped on stage at 2am, everyone went nuts.

Eric Prydz closed out the night with an awesome set. With his progressive house style, it can be difficult to fully immerse yourself in the Prydz experience during a shorter set. However, he made effective adjustments and delivered a hypnotizing set to the attendees who were able to last past 4am.

If you're having withdrawals following OMFG! SD, don't worry: LED Anniversary will be taking place at the Valley View Casino Center on February 15th!

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Tramps Like Us Day 2 Preview

We've already released a preview of the first day of Tramps Like Us that you can read here. Today, we're here with a preview of the second day of the massive event.

ƱZ is one of the most intriguing acts in the dance music world at the moment. There are many theories as to whose face is behind the ƱZ mask. Regardless of ƱZ's true identity, there's no doubt that the man behind the mask is an extremely talented producer. He's one of the most prominent names in trap music, and his talent led to prominent rappers such as Trinidad James, Casey Veggies and Problem stepping into the studio with ƱZ to help create Balltrap Muzik Vol. 1. If you've seen ƱZ live, you're familiar with the fact that he always knows how to make the crowd turn up. His wild sets have gotten Voyeur crowds so turnt up that mosh pits happened. Don't miss out on the crazy energy that the trap extraordinaire will bring to the Valley View Casino Center stage!

Next up on the list is LA resident Anna Lunoe. She just moved to Los Angeles last year from Sydney, Australia, and she's already made a huge impact on American soil. Anna Lunoe initially started her career as the host a dance music show on FBi Radio in Sydney. From there, the multi-talented Australian moved into DJing and producing. To further illustrate her talent, she's even laid down her heavenly vocals to a number of tracks. When it comes to describing Anna Lunoe's sound, don't try to put her into a box. She's been known to spin house, techno, nu disco, glitch, garage and indie pop. In an interview with Denver Westwood, she said, "I'm naturally attracted to a lot of different music, and I'm more in love with the ideas behind different musical movements than one particular genre." Anna Lunoe's diverse set at Tramps Like Us will undoubtedly be a ton of fun!

Borgore needs no introduction. The Israeli gorestep producer rose to fame on the back of his huge drops, mind-bending wobbles and raunchy lyrics. His inclusion of Miley Cyrus on his single "Decisions" led to him garnering even more attention across the globe. However, the most shocking moment of his career was when he released his collaboration with Carnage, "Incredible." The song was a huge departure from what the music industry had come to expect from Borgore. It is a big room house anthem that was played at festivals worldwide. "Incredible" showed that Borgore has plenty of tricks up his sleeve as he continues to rise up the dance music ranks. He's also shown great ability as a record label manager, as he's brought on huge talent such as Bare, Kennedy Jones and Ookay. We can't wait to see what Borgore has in store for us during Labor Day Weekend!

Chuckie has consistently made people jump for years with his high-energy music. Wait, shouldn't we be calling him Sir Clyde Narain? That's right--the Dirty Dutch purveyor was recently knighted in his homeland of Suriname. That should show you big of a deal Chuckie is! He has been a fixture in the house music scene dating back to the release of "Let The Bass Kick" in 2008. His consistency as a producer has been extremely impressive. You might need a Redbull before Chuckie takes the stage at Tramps Like Us, because he might wear you out with all the jumping you'll be doing!

Gareth Emery made a huge wave in the dance music industry when he came out in opposition to the controversial DJ Mag Top 100. The catalyst to his decision was a PR company who approached him saying that another DJ had spent $15,000 on solely Twitter advertising. Instead of spending money on DJ Mag Top 100 advertising, Gareth Emery told his fans that attending his shows was enough support, and he urdged the public to not vote for him in the poll. Furthermore, he donated $15,000 to five different charities. The move by Gareth Emery deservedly received support from many people in the music industry. Although he used to be known for his trance music, Gareth Emery has made a transition to more of a house/trouse sound, which is evident when listening to his weekly podcast.

R3hab was taken under the wing of Afrojack a few years ago, and he has turned into one of the most prolific remixers in the dance music industry. However, that doesn't take anything away from R3hab in the original production department. In the past, he's had huge success with "Prutataaa," "Sending My Love" and "The Bottle Song." He looks to have another huge hit on his hands in the near future with his track "Revolution," which he created with the help of NERVO and Ummet Ozcan. Having R3hab playing on the same night as Chuckie means that there will be a ton of Dirty Dutch music playing, so you better be prepared to do a lot of dancing!

What So Not will no longer be playing at Tramps Like Us due to visa issues, but rest assured that we have replaced their set time with a huge SPECIAL GUEST!

Be sure to get your TRAMPS LIKE US tickets here!

Tramps Like Us Interview with Gareth Emery

LED: You recently decided to forego campaigning for the DJ Mag Top 100 Poll and decided to donate to a charity of your fans choosing instead. What charity did you end up donating to? Do you think this will set a precedent and maybe have producers thinking twice about launching campaigns for poll positions?

Gareth Emery: I was surprised how viral my statement went, as it was never my intention for it to be such a big thing, and neither was I trying to influence anyone else to do the same. I was just basically saying: this is bullshit and I'm out. There were a few other producers who also decided to pull down their advertising and leave the poll, and whilst I guess it's nice they felt the same way as me, I don't want it to be seen as an attack on DJ Mag, because that isn't what it was. It was just my own personal feelings.

Regarding which charity I donated to, the poll is still open on my Facebook page, so I haven't made the final decision on who gets what, but we picked five amazing charities that people could vote on, a mix of household names and smaller local initiatives: Macmillian Cancer Support, Doctors Without Borders, Ignito Project, Daughters for Life and Brainwave. I actually decided all the causes are so worthwhile, rather than give the entire donation to the winner, I will divide it based roughly on how many votes each charity received, so they all get something out of it.

LED: You’ve played down here in San Diego quite a few times. What’s your favorite part about coming down to San Diego?

GE: Great weather, a truly beautiful city with a more laid-back vibe than most big US cities, and of course the incredible crowds that show up every time I play.

LED: You’ve also been touring non-stop all over the world recently. Any plans to get back in the studio anytime soon?

GE: I've been locked pretty solidly to my laptop writing music at every free moment recently, working on my new album which should be released around the start of next year. In my opinion it's full of the best music I've ever written. So whilst I haven't released that much recently, my live sets are full of beta test versions of tracks I am working on for the album…. so listen out!

LED: What does the phrase ‘Tramps Like Us’ mean to you?

GE: It's a Springsteen lyric right? 'Tramps like us were born to run'. That's what I usually think about it… I grew up listening to the likes of Bruce Springsteen via my parents so that's what it makes me think of.

Don't miss GARETH EMERY at Tramps Like Us on Sunday, September 1st!

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