Starting Off the New Year with a Bang Decadence 2021

Decadence of 2021 was the first Decadence back from the pandemic. The first festival that I ever covered for Evoltn was Decadence so it was so awesome to be back where it all started. Relentless beats went above and beyond with the production of this event. I felt that Goldrush was more focused on an experience where Decadence was much more focused on the stages and production of the artists. 

There were 4 stages total at this event. The first two were basically two main stages but the biggest was The Grand Palace. The second-largest was the Royal Ballroom. They also had the silent disco or The Playhouse as they called it and the last stage was Jesters Court. It was the only uncovered stage and was on a giant rhino. It was so cool to see. Along with their stages, there were also other attractions like rollerskating, clothing and jewelry booths, dispensary booths, ax-throwing booths, and also many many photo opportunities. They also had the Weird and Wonderful. It was a little bit different than Goldrush as they didn’t have their own tent but we saw a lot of them walking around and doing different acts in the VIP section as well as walking through the crowds and around the venue performing. They had really cool and unique outfits and it was cool to watch them perform in the VIP from down below.

The first night on Thursday the 30th I arrived around 730/8 with my partner Zeb. We headed to the silent disco to watch our friend and DJ Sava Sounds b2b with Roil Music. They played an incredible set. We also took this as an opportunity to do the moving photo booth that was set up in the silent disco area. I really love the silent disco at every event because it’s so much fun seeing everyone bounce around with their headsets and enjoy their favorite artists. After we bounced around at the silent disco we headed to our first interview. We interviewed Odd Language and learned a lot about how he started as well as all the upcoming music and projects he has coming out in the next few months. It was really cool to hear from him and how he became a DJ. We will be posting his interview on our website. It was such a great opportunity for both us and Odd Language and he was so appreciative. 

After the interview, we headed straight for the main stage The Grand Palace. Right next to the main stage there was a roller rink set up by GoPuff. We took this as an opportunity to try it out and skated a bit in the rink before heading to the stage to watch Seven Lions and his set was phenomenal. I have never seen Seven Lions before so it was a really cool experience. We stood towards the back for this set as it was kind of packed when we got there. The visuals were really cool and showed not only in the front screens but also on tiny screens they had on the sides of the stage as well. This stage setup was unlike anything I have seen at past Relentless Beats events. We then stayed at The Grand Palace for the queen herself Alison Wonderland. This was one of the most powerful sets in my opinion. I may be biased because she is one of my favorite artists but she really blew this set out of the water. Her set was amazing and her visuals were outstanding. It was truly an amazing experience. We were also pretty close to her for her set.

We then headed over to see TRST at Jesters Court. I really liked this stage because the DJ was at the top of the giant rhino and everyone else was down below on the ground. They also had multiple TVs attached to the bottom that you could play games on while you listened and watched your favorite DJs. TRST did a phenomenal job and I had a lot of fun watching and dancing around below. We also were able to walk up the stairs to the top of the rhino but it was a bit windy and rocky so we decided to stay down below where we had a much better view. We closed down the night with Chris Lake. We actually got to see him perform at one of the first events we went to so it was super cool to see him again. We didn’t stay for the whole set but people were going crazy for it. And again the visuals and production were insane. 

The second night I started the night by myself. I headed to the venue about 6 o’clock. I wanted to get there in time for Animates set. I watched their set as people were starting to arrive. By the end of their set, they had quite a crowd going crazy. It was so awesome seeing them perform on the main stage. This was their first main stage event. After their set, I met up with them backstage and got to interview them. They were so nice and appreciative of the interview. We will also be posting their interview on our website. After I finished up with their interview I decided that I should take the time to walk around and check out all the booths and other things they had to offer. I walked around and found a Kandi booth where I purchased some Kandi and got to make my own. There were actually many different booths that had beads and such to make your own Kandi. Then I continued to walk around and checked out all the different artists selling their artwork and jewelry pieces. There were also people doing haircuts and other hairstyles that you could pay for. They also had a number of food and drink booths all around the venue. I thought it was very cool that they had included a number of different vegetarian and vegan options for people.

At this time I grabbed myself a lemonade and corn dog and headed to The Royal Ballroom. I caught the end of Destructo’s set and it was crazy. The lasers were wild and I had such a good time headbanging and checking it out. I stayed at this stage for Fisher as well. I’ve only seen Fischer one other time and it was at Crush before the pandemic and we didn’t get a very good view so it was really cool to finally see him again. I really enjoyed singing along to his set he had some really cool songs he mixed together. I also really enjoyed watching everyone dance and shuffle. After Fisher, I was able to meet up with Zeb and we headed back to the Grand Palace for an impromptu set from BIJOU. His set was completely on the spot because he performed this set last minute due to Shaq having to call out for covid related reasons and he did an incredible job. We spent this time watching his set and trying to get up closer to the front.

After BIJOU was going to be Dillion Francis. It was so great to ring in the new year with him. I have never seen Dillion Francis before so I was super psyched. His set was incredible and he even dedicated part of it to Betty White which made it even more special. Everyone went crazy for that dedication. Before the clock hit 12 he recited some affirmations with us for the year of 2022. I really enjoyed this part and thought it was really cool of him to incorporate that into his set. As the countdown ended the balloons finally dropped this year and we stayed for a few songs and then tried to head out.

At this time it was extremely packed and we could hardly walk. It was super hard to get out of this stage and was a little bit overwhelming but we made it out and headed to the Royal Ballroom for Gordo. I had also never seen him play before so it was really cool. I had never really listened to his music before either so it was really interesting to check him out. He had some really cool mixes. After Gordo, we headed out to Jesters Court again for Odd Languages set. At this point, it had started to rain and Jester’s Court was not covered. That did not stop us from dancing away to his set. Odd Language went too hard and I’m so glad we were able to catch his set. We caught the first 15-20 minutes of Excision’s set but the weather got pretty intense and we headed back to our cars. It was a great way to end the night and the New Year. 

I am forever grateful for all the opportunities that Evoltn has given me. This Relentless Beats event was nothing like I’ve been to before. They truly took in all of our recommendations from the past festivals and worked on implementing them at this event.  They had numerous heaters in areas to warm up because it was very very cold and they had covered the ground so that it wasn’t a muddy mess everywhere we walked. And as I have said numerous times before the production of this event was over the top. I’ve never seen a production like this so far. The artists all did an amazing job and the Relentless team went above and beyond. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in 2022.