During Afrojack’s headlining performance Sunday evening, the Dutch DJ had one major question on his mind: “Is this crowd ready to rage?”. The question had one significant flaw, the majority of the audience had already been raging for nearly 20 hours, and that’s assuming some in the audience managed to sleep Sunday morning. Chicago’s Spring Awakening didn’t just lure fans of the city’s historic House heritage (e.g. Green Velvet, Derrick Carter), it was a glowing beacon for bass heads and co-ed weekend party warriors across the United States. Asking this crowd if it was ready to rage was equivalent to asking embers if they are ready to burn, just one quick breath and they ignite in their fluorescent glory.
Even with temperatures soaring Saturday, very little, besides possibly a funky downtempo set, could slow the ebb of the audience. In fact, the Saturday afternoon sun hit so harshly on Soldier Field that security took to soaking goers with commercial-sized hoses for much needed relief. When temperatures became too unbearable to handle inside Soldier Field, just ask LoBounce following some equipment failure, the scantly clad dance fiends could find some solace, and further explore the world of EDM, beneath the broad tents that covered two of the three smaller stages.
So what exactly was it that fueled this multi-day rager? It wasn’t the drugs, that’s for sure. What follows is an exploration into the sets that kept Soldier Field raging.
-Derek Staples
Senior Staff Writer
