So many glow sticks. And we’re not talking a couple hundred here. No, no. Not for a guy with a moniker such as Pretty Lights. A name like that automatically commands the need for a much more hefty number of those translucent tubes of neon light.
Well, the instant Derek Vincent Smith (the man behind Pretty Lights) went about dazzling the crowd with his electronic ways, the crowd responded appropriately, tossing thousands of glow sticks up in the air at the same time. The sky lit up just as it had minutes before, when fireworks closed out Girl Talk’s manic set.
Pretty Lights was set to be more about the grooves than ecstatic energy, though, catering to the thousands of festival-goers craving the brain stimulus his set would bring. Song after song provided this, as he reconstructed digital samplings from Kanye, Rihanna and more. There was plenty of dubstep sprinkled throughout the set, but it was that of the 'non-threatening' kind, aka the kind tame enough to keep the adults from shaking their heads in disagreement.
A phenomenal light show also worked its way across the screens as the show went on, but the truly glowing moment came as "Finally Moving," Smith's sampling and remix of Etta James' "Something's Got A Hold On Me," came pumping out the speakers. The words were muted as the crowd lovingly shouted the lyrics back at the stage, and a contently communal vibe settled over the revelers as they realized Day One was coming to an end.
