The first few weeks following Tomorrowland are fantastic for us music lovers. We spend numerous hours each day, whether at work or in the gym, reliving the festival’s sets. This year’s edition is no different, as some of the biggest names in the industry showcased loads of unreleased music. Nevertheless, Tomorrowland 2019 followed a strong and steady trend: techno is king.
We’ve had a chance to reflect on our time at Tomorrowland and are presenting you with our first hand reflections of the world’s greatest festival. For some, Tomorrowland signifies a dream come true. For others, the best way to look back at the festival is to investigate the pros and cons (hint, the pros greatly outnumber the cons). On that note, we present you with 5 of the best techno sets weekend two had to offer.
Charlotte de Witte – Mainstage
Charlotte de Witte has been a rock in the techno scene for several years now. However, it was her thunderous mainstage set at Tomorrowland 2018 which really saw her shoot to fame. We made our way to the mainstage on Friday of weekend 2 in anticipation for another hall of fame caliber set. And, to no surprise, Charlotte brought the relentless, stomping techno back to Boom, Belgium.
Mathame – Atmosphere (Afterlife)
Tomorrowland is notorious for hosting the world’s most renowned DJs while still giving up and coming artists a platform to showcase their skills. The Italian duo Mathame seem to fit in between the 2 categories. Mathame have justifiably seen their stock soar in the last 12 months with numerous successful releases on the Tale of Us label, Afterlife. You’ll know their tracks ‘Nothing Around Us‘ and ‘Skywalking‘, but they have more upcoming gems such as their remix of Rüfüs Du Sol‘s ‘All I’ve Got‘ (video below). Armed with an epic scale of production at the Atmosphere stage, the Italian duo set the tone for Saturday afternoon with a dark yet melodic set. Keep an eye on Mathame, they’re arguably the hottest artists coming out of Afterlife at the moment.
Cirez D – Atmosphere (Drumcode)
Eric Prydz fans who attended Tomorrowland weekend 2 were understandably disappointed before the festival began. The Swedish superstar unfortunately could not showcase his Epic: Holosphere setup due to a stage failure. Nevertheless, Prydz brought the show to life both on Friday (as Prydz) and on Sunday as Cirez D. While we were not able to catch the Holosphere weekend 2, we got two absolute dream sets from the man himself.
Maceo Plex – Core (Ellum)
Maceo Plex had the opportunity yet again to host his own stage at this year’s Tomorrowland. The techno titan hit the decks from one of Tomorrowland’s most iconic and unique stages, Core. The stage is set in the woods close to the Atmosphere stage, but has a much different vibe. The location is perfect for a groovy melancholic techno set and that’s exactly what the Ellum label head produced.
Adam Beyer – Atmosphere (Drumcode)
Did we save the best for last? Well, quite possibly. Closing out Tomorrowland this year was Drumcode Boss Adam Beyer. Some would argue that the only way to close out Tomorrowland is at Mainstage watching fireworks. Fine, we get it, do it for the social media. However, for the loyal Drumcode fans there’s nothing better than the classic business techno to close out the greatest festival in the world. We’ve seen many Adam Beyer sets, but this one goes right at the top of our list. Here’s to hoping we’ll hear him release the full set (or at least hour 1) on Drumcode Radio soon.
And with that we conclude the top 5 techno sets (that we personally heard) at Tomorrowland weekend 2. Nevertheless, we need to give an honorary mention to other incredible techno sets from: Tale of Us, Solomun, Patrice Bäumel, and Joyhauser.