Review: Imagine Music Festival brings EDM stars, comes of age at Atlanta Motor Speedway (w/photos) – Creative Loafing Tampa

Music festivals have come a long way since their inception in the United States in the late 60s. What began as a few dozen such events spread out throughout the country has now blossomed into a multi-million dollar industry with hundreds of different festivals thriving year round.
As their popularity and attendance have grown each year, festivals are constantly refurbished with upgraded stages, increased budget for artists and in some cases exciting new venues.
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Such was the case this past weekend in Atlanta with Imagine Music Festival kicking off its fourth annual run.
Last year the festival moved from Atlanta’s Historic Fourth Ward Park to Atlanta Motor Speedway. With the ability to now host 60,000 plus, this event has made a name for itself as one of the premier electronic music festivals in the South. It also doesn’t hurt when you are able to book premier talent as Imagine promoters did this year with electronic staples Deadmau5, Tiesto, Pretty Lights, and Big Gigantic headlining alongside a staggering undercard.
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Early on it became apparent that Imagine still has strides to make in terms of growing into its new venue, even in year two. Once fans finally arrived at the venue, many were sent driving around the festival’s expansive lot looking for camping entrances and will call.
Even when you found them, the lines for both were nearly an hour long.
In addition to this, there was curiously only one main entrance into the track itself. For fans that tried to get in at peak set times, this meant a several hour long line to get in. This issue was addressed by Sunday, when festival organizers added a second entrance to accommodate the massive lines.

Final day of #IMF2017 is here! Second entrance added (Gate 14), express lanes and extra VIP lanes. Let's make it the best Imagine yet. pic.twitter.com/YXc88W9LVP

Outside of these concerns however, Imagine Music Festival was over the top with both it’s music and production.
Once through the entrance line, you were ushered up a ramp to the top of the grandstands. Your introduction to the festival came as you walked through an a section tunnel underneath the bleachers, which rattled above you from the nearby bass. It was through this entrance Imagine Music Festival was laid before you.
Spread out throughout the racetrack's infield the festival featured six stages in total, with main stages Oceania and Amazonia posted up across from each other on either far end of the track.
Keeping with its theme of “aquatic fairytale,” numerous art installations, performers, and even carnival rides were sprinkled throughout the grounds. Planning for the late summer heat, organizers went out of their way to help fans stay cool by adding a cooling hut, misting pavilions, splash pool, and dozens of water stations found around nearly every corner. As per usual the most important aspect of the festival remained the music, and this year’s artists did not disappoint.

Perhaps in anticipation for the disorganization leading inside the venue, Friday’s main acts didn’t begin until late in the night, with trap phenom Nghtmre taking on what was essentially the first headlining spot at the Oceania stage at 9:45 p.m. His set was one of the more notable of the weekend, as he blazed through many of his Soundcloud favorites in addition to sampling some upcoming new tracks, one of which was a collaboration with fellow Mad Decent label mate Dillon Francis.
After his set it was hard to leave the Oceania stage, where Datsik, Deorro, and Tiesto were all slated back to back. Datsik — who now dons a synchronized LED ninja hat and mask for his live shows following the 2016 EP Sensei — delivered one of the more bass heavy and energetic performances of the weekend.

The 46-year old Tiesto delivered a high-paced and thundering house set that likely pleased fans looking to catch classics like “Red Lights” and “Adagio for Strings.” Late in his set security passed out LED wands that together created a sea of blue radiating from the crowd.
As a giant jellyfish totem floated above the crowd and exotic dancers splashed around in elevated pools on either side of the stage, it really did feel you were submerged in Imagine’s aquatic fairytale.
Saturday’s lineup was more evenly spread out, as the festival opened up the second main stage, Amazonia, for day two.
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While the animal helmet wearing Black Tiger Sex Machine (BTSM) and dubstep fiend Liquid Stranger killed it at the Oceania early in the evening, fan-favorites Spag Heddy and Hippie Sabotage played the more artsy Amazonia. The rest of the evening had fans running back-and-forth from each of the main stages due to exciting acts on either side. At 10:45 p.m., Zomboy leveled fans with an hour long set of some of the most intense dubstep of the weekend while Kansas duo The Floozies played across the track.
Saturday’s headlining 1 a.m. spot presented one of the more distressing decisions of the weekend: choosing between genre icons Deadmau5 and Pretty Lights.
Deadmau5 — who ditched his ‘mau5 helmet’ for nearly all of his set — delivered an intense deep techno house set. Denver-based Pretty Lights, who performed earlier this year at Florida’s Okeechobee Music Festival, returned to the Southeast with his live set, which featured him mixing alongside his own band.
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The last day of Imagine was less dub/bass oriented and themed with more progressive house and trance music — as headliners Above & Beyond, Seven Lions and up-and-coming future bass star Illenium were slated to perform.
Apparently Tampa’s own Blunts & Blondes missed this memo, as he played earlier Sunday at the Six Feathers stage.  While this was one of the smaller stages at the festival, the young producer’s hype drove in a large amount of fans ready to see his notoriously mosh-y set firsthand. Later on in the night he slid over to the Silent Disco stage for a B2B set with fellow dubstep star Boogie T.

While Above & Beyond closed up shop at Oceania, many fans climbed the bleachers of the grand stands and watched Claude Vonstroke close out at the Disco Inferno Stage.
At midnight fireworks filled the sky over Atlanta Motor Speedway, marking the end of Imagine Music Festival 2017.
In only its second year at its new venue, Imagine Music Festival still has some work to do; improvements in organization and entrances are dearly needed.
But overall it’s impressive how far this festival has come in only four years time.

If it’s any indication of what is to come, Imagine Music Festival has an exciting future ahead of it.
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