Imagine Brings the Heat to Atlanta Motor Speedway

Thursday

Surprisingly several ravers made it out Thursday night for the extra day added for 2019. It was a change of pace to have music other than House (what typically plays at Inferno) playing. It was dope to have the visual screen below the DJs performing. Blunts & Blondes not only did his thing early Thursday but had a late night encore at a camp stage, Port Royale. The b2b b2b produced tremendous energy. Sullivan King played front man with the mic giving shout outs to the other players, Kai Wachi and Kompany. The festival started with heavy head banging. Space Jesus had the final lap of the night at Disco Inferno as he let everyone know “We don’t always have to headbang”. The Space Boss threw down impressive tracks: many collaborations with his confidant Essex. His music had the crowd moving for a Thursday night to say the least. Random fun of the night was catching some of a set over in the VIP camping with blacklight and tapestries underneath a tent. Solid way to end an opening night.

Friday

Doctor Boom was a surprise dope set I stumbled upon at the Tech Yes stage Friday. Talented Tampa producer that had a few of us shuffling and daytime dancing. Svdden Death was one of the first night time artists to show off the new Oceania production. The lasers and pyrotechnics looked phenomenal with his visuals. REZZ followed a few sets later hypnotizing the crowd. Not sure if she did it on purpose but to see a huge black widow on screen paired with Oceania lasers it felt like the crowd was actually tangled in a REZZ spider web. Simultaneously the moon rose over the grandstands with her moon visual as well which was ironic and awesome. Surprise set of the night went to the one and only DJ Diesel. He needed no hype man as he threw down a wide range of songs. Look for his set(s) if you see his name on any lineup.

Saturday

I didn’t know Ghastly was going to have such a dope set. Not sure how many people understood the visual but the funniest thing I saw all weekend was the Jim Carrey Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls rhino scene. Literally laughed my fucking ass off! Nora En Pure dropped fire over at Disco Inferno. Alison Wonderland was arguably a top set of the weekend. Not only did she show gratitude for people supporting her recent brief personal leave phase but also in the music she played. Mad props to her for playing Outkast “So Fresh, So Clean”. Above & Beyond were entertaining in the fact that their music was good. But moreso in the vibes they created from the crowd. Everywhere I looked around people were so happy and glad to be attending their set. Now I see why they have Group Therapy.

Sunday

A few personal favorites showed up Sunday. Dirtybird Takeover was fire to check out at any point throughout the day. I’m a sucker for bongos playing during a set. Andy Ammo Schneider was the culprit during Justin Jay Sunday. Everyone was enjoying the set dancing around as if it were Day 1 at Disco Inferno. It was super cool to hear sounds from Justin Jay that emitted 80s break dance music. He even had a little assistance from J Philp as she spun before her set as well. Best visuals of the weekend by far were Jade Cicada and Tipper. Both had super wonky visuals of things out of this world, bright colors and tribal shapes. Sightings of higher conscious beings along with geometrical shapes and then some. At one point Jade Cicada had weird colorful hairy creatures transform into hills and back to their original form. To Parallel the weird visuals, he chopped up mixes of songs like “Bad Boys For Life” and “Real Slim Shady”. Shortly after the Jade Cicada set, Tipper had visuals of weird shaped figures that resembled heptapod aliens. Wonky things morphing into other wonky things one after another. Not to mention the white squares that showed up on screen, hmm..? Silly but entertaining times at both sets hearing the music while watching visuals and people with their unique dance moves. Afterwards Dirtybird Captain, Claude Vonstroke finished Imagine at Disco Inferno stage. It’s always satisfying to see more than the usual crowd enjoying House music.

Final Thoughts

Overall, another solid Imagine. I DID NOT watch every act nor did I mention every show I saw but props to every performer who showed up; dancers, stilt team, fire spinners and other included. Production improved from camp ground stages to stages inside. The Struggle Bus was clever at the base of GA camping near Silent Disco. Minus the dust kick up, Port Royale was cool for late nights. People laid in hammocks, spread out their blankets, and others danced under the stage in front of DJs performing. The infield took a boost also. Even something as small as the pianos dispersed inside were entertaining. I heard a guy playing the chorus of “Still D.R.E.” leaving the stages one night. Visual graphics, idle music between sets, lighting, confetti/streamers, pyrotechnics, sound, and LASERS were all exemplary. You could feel hot fire from Disco Inferno sitting in the grandstands! Imagine 2019 was tight, looking forward to see where it goes in 2020!

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