Day 2 of Body Language Kept The Beats Bumpin’ and the Bodies Groovin’
Made by a house music lover for house music lovers, Body Language Festival did not disappoint with its grand debut. With music spanning 8 1/2 hours across 3 stages, day 1 provided exactly what attendees were seeking – thumping beats, grooving crowds, and exciting memories to be made. Although the temperature dropped as day turned into night, the dance moves only got hotter with an increasingly all-star lineup, culminating in what was an excellent first day for a first festival.
The brainchild of Thomas Turner, Founder and CEO of Relentless Beats, Body Language is a long-awaited vision that finally had the proper time to shine. Ahead of the festival, Thomas shared with us,
Since our inception, I have always been passionate about underground music, but it had never been the right time to bring something of this scale to Arizona. With the explosion of the genre in Arizona and America in general, Body Language comes when the demand is at an all-time high.
From the energy and movement felt in today’s crowd, it’s clear that Arizona has been craving a house festival, and there is no doubt that Body Language delivered. Being a Friday, the crowd didn’t really start to fill in until after the workday, but the festival-goers who were there early were certainly there to move their bodies because there was never, not once, an empty dance floor. While it initially may have seemed a bit strange to have three stages all within the vicinity of a single intersection, the execution was extremely well-done – each stage had proper sound and lighting production with the ease of navigation between each other and no sound bleed. On top of that, there were massive jugs of water to keep attendees hydrated and ample security on hand to help anyone who may have needed it.
Opening up the day was duo Alaskan Franks, who funnily got their moniker as the result of a typo during their first b2b, and Re:Sound Music founder and label manager Michael Hooker. As the first hour passed, the third stage, Abyss, opened up at the top level of Sunbar, inviting attendees into a mostly-dark room that was punctuated by flashing ceiling lights and beats from techno-centric DJs: Soulece, Jeff O’Neal, Orenda, and JUR kept the room spinning as people shuffled up and down the stairs.
VNSSA, Hannah Wants, Ida Engberg, and Bellamor brought strong feminine energy throughout the day – each delivering their own unique style of techno or house on the stages they played, ranging from bass house to dark techno, and everything in between. Talk about celebrating International Women’s Month – shout-out to all the kick-ass ladies holding it down in the techno and house scenes, and the music industry in general (Jacqueline, you were a heaven-send yesterday)! Kyle Watson and Rebūke, who are both known for their unique blends of tech house, played into ever-growing masses of people as clouds rolled in and out, granting brief moments of rest from the AZ sunshine. As the sun began to set, the most exciting moments had yet to come.
Wax Motif, known for his impeccable genre-blending and elite sense of fashion, got the crowd moving at the Mirage stage. Having recently released his debut album, House of Wax, the producer engaged attendees with upbeat basslines and continuous surprise of what genre he would mix into his set. Malaa followed on Mirage, playing to a crowd filled with “Malaa Nation” merchandise, while Patrick Topping took over on the Labyrinth stage with a brand new production for his North American tour, of which Body Language was the first stop. By this point, nighttime had fully set in and the lighting displays became more visible than ever, enhancing the audio experience with fun visual spectacles.
Bringing things home after a long day of top-caliber talent was none other than Kaskade, performing a Redux set, reserved for more intimate settings where he can bring his music back to the roots. There was, without a doubt, a sea of emotion that swept through the crowd when he took the stage, something between nostalgia and wonder. And even though it was the end of the night and some of the crowd had been there for close to a full sleep cycle, there was still ecstatic energy that carried throughout the set. It was the perfect way to end an eventful day – a return to the roots of techno and house music, all while in this weekend community filled with colorful outfits and some of the nicest people you’d probably ever run into in Phoenix (speculation since this is my first time visiting, but I stand by it).
As the House Music Anthem goes…everybody, move your body. So get your body down to Body Language day 2 because you won’t want to miss out on today’s equally exceptional lineup. Set times are below and tickets are available online. See y’all in a couple of hours!
[…] Festival, Arizona’s latest and greatest underground techno and house music festival? While day 1 proved that the Arizona scene has been craving a tech-house festival, day 2 solidified the fact […]
[…] Day 1 of the festival did really feel like the first day of a first festival. The crowd was slower to move in than the other days, which can definitely be attributed to the fact that it was also a Friday, and it seemed like people didn’t really know what to expect, though I can completely chalk that up to my first-day jitters in an unknown environment. In any case, there was definite excitement sweeping through the air as people filed in, ready to be part of this special offering. Each of the three stages had its own energy to them, even with the festival being focused on the underground scenes. […]