5:30am: I stumble home, with ears ringing and a massive smile plastered across my face, as a brilliant orange sunrise spreads out over Lake Balaton.
The past four days have been amazing. Balaton Sound went so far above and beyond my expectations…what an unbelievable festival. I’m even going to risk being disowned by my music-loving friends and say that, yes, I had more fun this weekend than I did at this year’s Ultra. I think it’s official. I know…I can hear your shocked gasps from here.
It’s something about being alone, I think. It’s just amazing in that context. Meeting new people, getting to dance however you want, being able to focus entirely on the music… It’s the Burning Man thing of being completely tuned in to what you want at any given moment,, and then doing it. Living totally for the now.
That strategy gave me a spectacular final day at Balaton. Words just…don’t even describe it. First, Armin Van Buuren at 9:30pm. Armin was his usual charming/amazing/perfect self. He’s always incredible, as are the crowds who come see him, although I do think I’ve heard him play stronger sets than that one. Oh well. Always happy to see him again. And I actually managed to hang out with Jon and Andrea, for a change! It didn’t last long, though, because they left for a bathroom break and I wasn’t about to leave Armin.
I felt a bit lost when his set ended…no new friends to hang out with, no clue who else was scheduled to spin. I decided my best bet was to float from stage to stage until something compelled me to stay. I danced at a pop-y stage for a while, followed by a dubstep-y stage, but nothing really held my attention.
I ended up in the big tent with a set by Nikola, who I’d never heard of. It was all right, but inconsistent. He’d play one or two songs I liked, then several more I found boring. I tried to go wandering again, but two boys immediately scooped me up and wanted to dance back in the tent. We accidentally got separated soon after entering (probably for the best, as they looked like the next in the long string of barely-legal boys who seemed to take a fancy to me at the festival), but I stuck around for the remainder of Nikola’s set.
It turned out to be a good choice, because the two sets that followed – Nicky Romero and Steve Angello – brought the house down. So incredible. I danced solidly through them both, way too lost in my own world of music and movement to think about anything else. Romero is another DJ I hadn’t heard of before, but I will definitely look into him. And Steve Angello I know well, because he’s 1/3 of Swedish HouseMafia. I’ve never seen the group live, or any of them solo, so I was psyched to finally have the chance. He opened with a favorite – Greyhound – so I knew the set was destined to go down in my personal musical history. It did not disappoint. Hopefully someone will upload it to YouTube later…
I still wasn’t ready to call it a night when Angello finished (and the next DJ sounded promising), but it was after 5am and we had to check out of the hotel at 10am. Besides, I’d been dancing solidly since 9:30pm, and I mean that literally – no sitting down, no bathroom breaks, no food, no drinks. I danced for 8 solid hours, stopping only to walk in between stages.
So I returned, once again, with a huge smile on my face and energy radiating from every pore. Jon and Andrea were already in bed (3/4 times I managed to party harder than the supposed party animals!! TAKE THAT!), so I quietly made my way to bed too.
What a perfect weekend. J
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