My Tomorrowland experience actually started the day before the actual festival, on Thursday the 21st. My friend Federico and I had just arrived in Brussels at around 1:00pm and were walking into our hostel to check in when we ran into a group of Argentinians who were just about to leave for a walking tour of the city. We quickly dropped off our bags, and then went to join them to get a bit of tourism in before Tomorrowland.
As we walked to the start of the tour, which was located in the Grand Place Square, we noticed that there was basically no one out and about. No cars, no people, nothing. Apparently we had arrived on Belgium's day of independence, so almost everything was closed. But, as we got closer to the square, we started seeing more and more people, and a lot o them were wearing flags from countries all over the world--a trend created by Tomorrowland.
Once in the square, we were greeted by a spectacular view of Tomorrowland decorations covering the Maison du Roi (House of the King), which is a gothic palace built in 1895. The whole square is surrounded in these gothic buildings, and it was a super cool contrast to the decorations that Tomorrowland had put up. We were told that there would be a pre-party concert hosted in the square in a few hours, and in the meantime our tour began.
I'm not a big fan of walking tours, so for a decent portion of the time I was kind of zoned out, thinking about what I needed to do to prepare for the festivities the next day. Once the tour ended, I beelined back to the square where the concert had already started, so I could get a taste of what the next day had in store.
I wasn't entirely sure of where I was going, but it wasn't too hard to find my way back simply by following the sound of the music, which I could hear from several blocks away. As I arrived I immediately noticed that there were a lot more people there than there was when the tour had started, and the square was now packed, with people dancing and singing along to the music. I hung around for a while, bought a delicious Belgian beer, and sat in the shade, enjoying the music.
A little later I met back up with the Argentinians (there were five in total, now) who I had split up with during the tour (they had gone on a Spanish speaking one, I had gone on and English speaking one), and we made our way into the crowd to dance. We ran into some more Argentinians (they seem to attract one another), and partied with them for a while.
After an hour or two, the concert ended, and we headed out to a local bar, Delerium, which holds the world record for most variety of beers offered: 3,000+. We ordered two pitchers basically at random, and drank them while socializing with the surrounding people who had come to bar after the concert as well. Afterwards, we got a quick bite to eat, before heading back to the hostel for the end of the night.
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As soon as I woke up the next morning, I could feel the excitement in the air. Brussels was packed with people who were attending the festival, so the city was bubbling with energy that Friday morning. The plan to get to the festival was to try to get a ticket for one of the shuttles that went directly to the Tomorrowland venue, which left every hour. Since we were only going for the one day, we wanted to get there as soon at the venue opened at noon. It was about an hour long bus ride, so we aimed to catch the 11:00am bus.
Unfortunately, as most Latinos tend to be, the Argentinians were late. 11:00 came and went and the Argentinians were not even out of their rooms. At around 11:30, after taking a painfully long time to make and eat breakfast, we were ready to head out. About ten feet out the door, one of them proclaimed we had to go meet up with a friend he made the day before, who just so happened to be in the completely wrong direction from the bus stop. We make our way in the direction of the friend, who was also Argentinian, and also late.
Finally, by 11:50, we had found the friend, and tried to make our way to the bus station. In hopes of getting there faster we hopped into a taxi, but after realizing that getting on the 12:00 bus was hopeless, we haggled the taxi driver down to a reasonable price, and headed straight for Tomorrowland.
Once there, we headed through security, which separated those with and without backpacks. I was in the longer and slower backpack line with two of the Argentinians, and we slowly made our way through the surprisingly light security (they didn't even open my backpack). Once through, we found the rest of our friends, exchanged our tickets for the bracelets, and headed into the venue.
We walked around the festival for a while, figuring out the general layout of the massive venue. We ended up checking out the main stage, where we danced for a little while before heading to a rest area to get food and drinks. Up until then I was with the Argentinians, and the whole time I felt like I was waiting. First they got in a long line to buy some merch, then we waited for one of them go try to find a friend, then they wanted to buy drinks...it felt like I was never going to be able to get going at a pace I wanted. So, when they decided to go for lunch, I told them I was splitting paths, and I'd meet back up with them at 8:30pm. I assumed they would have motivation to find me, since I was carrying some of their stuff in my bag (including a passport), so with that in mind I headed on my way.
I walked around for a while, discovering new stages and areas with every turn, before heading in the direction of the stage where the deadmau5 vs. Eric Prydz show was set to take place later that night. I found the stage, figured out where/when I wanted to be for the show, and then headed back out to find a smaller stage to enjoy for a while. I stumbled into a stage called the Rose Garden, across the street from the mau5 vs. Prydz stage was. I was treated to some throwback hip hop mixes by a DJ who went by the name Blackout boy (who I can't seem to find anywhere on the Internet). I stayed for a while, doing a mix of dancing and sitting in the shade, before heading back to the main stage area to catch Galantis at 6:00pm.
I got to the main stage at around 5:15pm, and worked my way into the crowd, trying to get a spot for Galantis. After a few minutes, content with where I was at, I settled in and enjoyed the end of a show by R3hab. With about 30 minutes left of R3hab, there was a sudden commotion as a bunch of people in front of me started running backwards, away from the stage. Initially, I thought it was due to a fight, which is usually what causes a stampede like that, but after I noticed people holding their shirts to their noses and running, I realized that it might be more serious than that, so I ran too. Apparently, someone had sprayed the crowd with pepper-spray which caused a mass stampede of panicked people, who were fearing the worst due to the recent terror attacks in Belgium and surrounding countries.
The whole commotion lasted all of five minutes, and people soon realized that there was no real danger--just some asshole spraying pepper spray. With the music not even stopping, people quickly made their way back to the stage to regain their spots. I decided to find a spot on the opposite side of the stage, just in case of another stampede.
Galantis soon started, and while I was a little disappointed in the show, it was hard not to have fun in the crowd, dancing with random people and offering water from my CamelBak to those that seemed in need. Near the end of the show, I decided to head out of the pit, and walk up the hill to get a better view of the stage and crowd. I sat for a little to catch my breath, took a few pictures, then headed out to explore again for about an hour before I had to meet back up with the Argentinians.
I continued to find more stages as I explored, and I tried to spend a little time at all of them, getting a feel for the different genres that each offered, and the vibes that came with them. At around 8:00, I made my way back to the previously agreed meeting point with the Argentinians. I got there at about 8:15 and waited impatiently--and as usual, the Argentinians were late. At around 9:15, after an hour of waiting, I gave up and headed back out as to not miss anything else.
The mau5 vs. Prydz show was scheduled to start at 11:25, so at around 10:15, after refilling water and getting a bite to eat, I headed to the stage in hopes of getting as good of a spot as possible for the show. I slowly weaseled my way through the crowd, all the while enjoying the music from the artists playing at the time. By the time their set had ended up and mau5 vs. Prydz was about to start, I had managed to get within 10-20 feet from the front, right in the middle. Surprisingly, even so close to the front, I still had a reasonable amount of room to move around and dance in.
The show itself was incredible. Deadmau5 has been one of my favorite artists since I rediscovered him at Bonnaroo last year, and when paired up with Eric Prydz--another one of my favorite artists over the past year--it made for a magical show. The music was a fantastic mix of both of their best works, but what really made the show come together was the lights and the crowd. The light show was highlighted (haha get it? HighLIGHTed? ...Guys?) by the use of several hundred (thousand maybe?) lasers that created a cube around the stage. That, combined with the other unique light fixtures, created a show unlike anything I had ever experienced before. The crowd seemed to feel the same way I did, and everyone I was surrounded by was as happy and friendly as could be, creating the perfect concert atmosphere.
When the show ended around 1:00, it was time to head home. Due to the fact that I still had some of the Argentinians' stuff, I made my way to the nearby wifi zone to try to check in with them. After no luck, I walked to the bathroom before leaving. On my way there, I literally bumped into them (which is insane given that there are around 180,000 people at the festival), and we happily headed home together.
Tomorrowland was simply incredible. I saw flags from more countries that I could count, and everyone was just so happy and excited to be there. The one day that I got to spend there was amazing, but it left me wanting more. Even after the several hours of walking around and exploring, I know that there were still a few stages that I never saw. If I had more time, I would have spent more of it at some of the smaller stages, listening to some of the lesser known artists. My one regret of the day though was not being at the main stage for any of the shows once it got dark (which wasn't until almost 10:00). While the stage was enormous and incredible during the day, some pictures I saw of it at night were surreal. There were so many hidden lights and features that couldn't be seen during the day, and I wish I had gotten to experience the sight while I was there.
I guess it'll have to wait until next time.
Thanks for reading,
Ben
Fantabulous!!! Everything!!! Glad u figured out not to wait too!!! U can't change cultural norms, so either dont care, or do your own thing. Seemed u did a bit of both!!! Atta boy!!! Keep having fun, beingvsafe and blogging!!! Yay!!
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