As a newbie to the festival scene, GLOWfest in West Virginia was going to be my first real experience of going to a performance with multiple headlining acts. I must say that each performance literally took my breathe away in the technical ability, stage presence and skill of every artist who performed. GLOWfest pretty much exceeded the expectations of an incredible musical performance coupled with an alternative career fair. The atmosphere of hula hoopers, poi twirling, and great music combined with the expo of young entrepreneurial talent was truly something incredible to see in one place.
Paper Diamond on stage at GLOWfest Morgantown
When the CatchMyBass team arrived at the venue, we were catching the end of Ground Up, rap group based out of Philadelphia who had a dope flow and were warming up the crowd as people were sort of beginning to enter the venue. Around 6 oclock, the lights began to dim as Mad Decent’s new homie, Paper Diamond, took to the stage to give us a set filled with trap, moombahton, and dubstep stylings that got everyone grooving. Mad Decent has gained a great new addition to their team, with a talented artist like Colorado native Alex, behind the ones and twos.
Chicago natives, Krewella killin it on stage at GLOWfest Morgantown
Next to rock the stage was the Chi-city trio that is Krewella, and boy did they almost steal the show. Electric is the only way you can truly describe the set that they played, as they worked the crowd into a frenzy sampling tons of songs off their Play Hard EP. A collection of moombahton to dubstep to trapstep had the crowd raging to a level that I had never seen at any concert before. I would say, if Krewella is performing in your area that they are a must see performance and you can expect them to be doing huge things heading into 2013.
Bingo Players member, Maarten Hoogstraten, getting the crowd into a frenzy at GLOWfest
After hearing from Bingo Players online that Paul Bäumer, one of the duo, would not be able to make the performance I was curious to see how other member, Maarten Hoogstraten, was going to perform on his own. I had seen the Bingo Players perform at Pacha NYC and knew the kind of energy that they could bring to the crowd with just a few of their anthems and Maarten had come to play when he began his set with their anthem “Don’t Blame the Party” that set the tone for the remainder of the performance. I will say I could tell he was a little limited in his djing skills without having buddy Paul at his side but he still put on a great performance giving us a plethora of progressive house tracks.
Zedd (left) and Porter Robinson (right) performing their Back to Back set
I had been told that arguably one of the best DJing back to back sets right now was Zedd and Porter Robinson, and had made the trip from Pittsburgh to West Virginia primarily to capture this duo give us a great show but I must say, every single expectation I had for this performance was blown right out of the water. Opening their set with the Gregori Klosman and Tristian Knights Remix of Spectrum I knew this was going to be a performance of a lifetime. These two literally are legendary in their performance, throwing out some of the dirtiest filthiest bootleg tracks I’ve ever heard, being able to tease a sampling and send the mode in a completely new direction that you’ll never really know what to expect next only that you’re completely in their control. Definitely one of the top 5 sets I’ve seen in my entire lifetime, I recommend checking out these two whether it is on the Poseidon Tour or seperately because these are some extremely talented young musicians who love to put on a fantastic show.
Overall GLOWfest was an incredible experience and with two more stops on their tour, I recommend you go check out tour dates at their website above and plan a trip to the show nearest you! GLOWfest Village will be in larger swing for the later shows in the tour so check them out at those events as well!
CatchMyBass writers, Cherrnor and Greg (pictured middle) with CatchMyBass friends and supporters, Steve, Jim, Sam, and Matt from Pittsburgh.
