Relive Tomorrowland’s Around the World virtual festival

Got a ticket for Tomorrowland’s Around the World digital festival and have yet to access their Relive platform? Our recap of our favorite sets has got your weekend sorted. All DJ sets are available to watch on the festival’s website until Wednesday, August 12.

Tomorrowland made waves online last month with one of the biggest virtual events this year. Their Around the World digital festival, held during the weekend of Saturday, July 25 – Sunday, July 26, takes place on the virtual island of Pāpiliōnem and gave the People of Tomorrow eight stages with over 70 of the biggest names in electronic music including a special guest appearance by pop superstar Katy Perry.

Watch the official aftermovie below.

With just less than a week left to access their Relive platform and witness one of the biggest virtual livestream events of the year before it officially closes this coming Wednesday on August 12, we thought it would be best to recap and highlight some of our favorite and memorable moments during the magical and fun-filled two-day EDM extravaganza.

For those who have yet to buy their tickets, they are still available for purchase here. Weekend tickets for the event cost €20, with day tickets priced at €12.50.

Before we get to the main highlights of our favorite sets, let’s quickly talk about…

The festival site interface

Once you log in to your Tomorrowland account, you’re greeted to the beautiful virtual island of Pāpiliōnem where users can fully interact with the festival site by clicking on the stages and checking out their favorite DJ sets.

Tomorrowland’s virtual festival site – the island of Papilionem

During the actual live broadcast, the festival is played out in real time with set times listed on a timetable, to simulate as if you were at an actual festival site. What we found particularly somewhat jarring was the fact that once you exit out of a stage to move into another, the music abruptly stops which takes out a bit of the immersion.

The Relive platform, however, does not re-create the real-time festival aspects that the original broadcast did but instead gives you an on-demand service where you can freely choose which sets to view for the sake of convenience.

While the festival tried to accommodate everybody tuning in from all corners of the world, the time zone was not particularly friendly for those living in Asia as those who experienced it first hand had to stay up all night until morning time (although we think that would not be much of a problem for passionate ravers and night owls!).

Nitpicks aside, the Tomorrowland creative team has designed an impressive virtual island, and we can only hope other festivals take note as it is a step into the right direction as we move into a world where virtual entertainment takes precedence as the world adapts to an ongoing global pandemic.

With that being said, the music!

Day 1

Mainstage

Daybreak Session: Oliver Heldens

Tomorrowland’s mainstage began with an hour-and-a-half-long Daybreak Session set by Oliver Heldens, who started off his set proper with his track ‘Set Me Free’ before closing out the set with an unreleased ID. It is with this set that attendees got to witness the elaborate virtual stage designs that Tomorrowland is known for and their first taste of what’s about to come later during the event.

Oliver Heldens

Lost Frequencies

Lost Frequencies followed Oliver Heldens with a stellar set filled with his edits and remixes including the melodic deluxe edit of ‘Beat of My Heart’ as the opening track, the deluxe mix of ‘Selfish Love’ and his remix of Moksi’s ‘Slow Burn’. Fans also got to chant and sing along to his remix of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Snow (Hey Oh)’ (raise your hand if you sang the song to your TV or computer screen!)

Lost Frequencies

Alan Walker

There is without a doubt that Alan Walker’s set was highly anticipated, and the Norwegian EDM superstar delivered on all fronts with a memorable one. He played a set filled with fan favorites and classics which included ‘Alone’, ‘Darkside’, ‘Sing Me to Sleep’, ‘Spectre’ and his remix of Sia’s ‘Move Your Body’. He closed off the 35-minute set with ‘Faded’ and the Ranji remix of the track.

Alan Walker

Afrojack

Afrojack gave the People of Tomorrow an incredibly energetic set that’s one for the history books. Clocking in at 45 minutes, the set gave fans a wealth of new, unreleased music in addition to his popular tracks such as ‘It Goes Like’, ‘All Night’, ‘1234’, ‘No Beef’, among others. There were a lot of reworks and remixes as well which included Nicky Romero’s remix of ‘One More Day’ and mashups such as his track ‘Ten Feet Tall with David Guetta’s ‘2U’.

He also dropped a lot of songs fans could sing along to including Bastille’s ‘Pompeii’, Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ ‘Old Town Road’, A-Trak’s legendary remix of Yeah Yeah Yeah’s ‘Heads Will Roll’, and Robin S’ ‘Show Me Love’.

Afrojack

Katy Perry

Of course this recap would not be complete with one of the festival’s biggest surprises – a special performance by none other than Katy Perry. The headlining act, who can clearly be seen performing while pregnant and is the final performance before she became a mother, started off with a huge bang where the songstress performed her latest single ‘Smile’ off her upcoming sixth album and entered the mainstage in a virtual hot-air balloon.

Katy Perry

The entire set is themed around clowns to reflect her upcoming record in which her backup band and dancers are dressed in clown outfits. She proceeded to perform a medley of her most popular songs which included ‘Teenage Dream’, ‘California Gurls’, ‘Dark Horse’, and ‘Roar’. The set, however, only lasted a mere 13 minutes or so, but we cannot deny the performance will be remembered fondly.

Armin van Buuren

As the penultimate act for the mainstage on Saturday, Armin van Buuren gave us a set filled with trance and big room tracks that fans have come to expect from the A State of Trance host. He dropped emotional bangers such as ‘I Need You to Know’, ‘Something Real’, and ‘Still Better Off’, before going hard on the second half with tracks such as ‘Boom Boom’ and ‘Tarzan’ and mashup that included ‘Blah Blah Blah’.

Armin van Buuren

Core

ANNA

ANNA’s hard-hitting techno set at the Core stage had a wealth of new, unreleased tracks as well as her signature songs such as ‘Galactic Highways’ and ‘Forever Ravers’. Those who love their techno dark and heavy won’t be disappointed with the Brazilian DJ’s repertoire of music.

ANNA

Adam Beyer

Fans of the Drumcode techno sound collectively lost their minds as the father of the label, Swedish DJ Adam Beyer, delivered a sublime techno set that was incredibly engaging from start to finish. He dropped a remix/mashup of his highly popular track ‘Your Mind’, which was one of techno’s biggest tracks in 2018, with Enrico Sangiuliano’s ‘Symbiosis’.

Charlotte de Witte

Belgian DJ Charlotte de Witte is steadily becoming one of the biggest techno artists to look out for and her hour-long closing set for Tomorrowland’s Core stage on Saturday is no exception, inviting fans to dance to her pounding techno tunes and trance tracks.

Charlotte de Witte

Freedom

Jack Back

David Guetta’s underground house alias Jack Back delivered an hour-long set at the dark and trippy Freedom stage. His set featured melodic hits such as Adriatique’s ‘Voices from the Dawn’, CamelPhat and ARTBAT’s ‘For A Feeling’, Tale of Us’ remix of ‘Cafe Del Mar’ and ELAX’s ‘Reaktor’ as the closing track.

David Guetta / Jack Back

VER:WEST

Tiesto debuted his new melodic house moniker, VER:WEST, on the first day of Tomorrowland at the Freedom stage, giving fans a new side of the artist they haven’t seen before. A welcome change compared to his mainstream sound, the hour-long set took us on a melodic journey, that when paired with the Freedom stage’s ethereal atmosphere, gave us one hell of a set that left us wanting more.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CClW7qADfyj/

Eric Prydz

Progressive maestro Eric Prydz have always blown us away with his unique live experiences, and for Tomorrowland 2020, he premiered his newest concept, [CELL.] which was an audiovisual feast for the senses. The digital experience featured all the visual spectacles that only the Swedish DJ can deliver. No screenshot can capture the experience, but luckily, this video perfectly showcases what the innovative artist is able to achieve. Definitely one of the major highlights of the entire festival.

https://www.facebook.com/EricPrydzOfficial/videos/739387586631844/?v=739387586631844

 

The Wall

Ran-D

Dutch hardstyle DJ Ran-D dropped a fiery set from start to finish which fans probably set their house floor on fire (well not literally…). Those looking for a fix of high energy, hard music should look no further.

Atmosphere

Stephan Bodzin

If there’s one thing we may all possibly agree on is that the visuals seen at the Atmosphere stage was unlike any other, and not just during Stephan Bodzin’s opening set for the stage on Saturday. With that being said, Stephan Bodzin’s set was incredibly stellar. His passionate movements while performing on stage is highly infectious and fans who are familiar with his tracks such as ‘Strand’ and ‘Diamant’ will definitely get moving to the groove.

Stephan Bodzin

Tale of Us

Tale of Us, the Italian masters of melodic techno and heads of the renowned Afterlife music label, brought a captivating set that marries music and visuals with excellence that only they know how. The incredible set featured a handful of unreleased tracks paired with a mesmerizing visual spectacle.

Day 2

Mainstage

Don Diablo

Future house pioneer Don Diablo provided a jam-packed set full of positive energy with fan favorite tracks and new releases including ‘Bad’, ‘Invincible’, ‘Inside My Head (Voices)’, his remix for Robin Schulz’ ‘Alane’, and even a mashup of Eric Prydz classic ‘Pjanoo and the late Avicii’s ‘Levels’ as well as A-ha’s legendary 80s tune ‘Take On Me’.

Don Diablo

Timmy Trumpet

The hat-wearing, trumpet-wielding Timmy Trumpet performed a bombastic set on the second day at Tomorrowland’s mainstage. From playing his signature trumpet to get the crowd bouncing to bringing out a cardboard cutout of Russian singer Vitas (a reference to their memorable collaborative performance during last year’s Tomorrowland), the set was one filled with bangers, laughs, and full-on party energy that got the crowd ready for more. The DJ even managed to deliver a heartfelt message to all the healthcare workers fighting against the COVID pandemic which we thought was a nice touch.

Timmy Trumpet
Alright, we admit that this was pretty funny

Tiësto

EDM veteran Tiësto returns on the second day for a massive set on the mainstage full of fan favorite tunes such as ‘Grapevine’, ‘Split (Only U)’, ‘Lose You’ and ‘Secrets’. He even gave his trance fans a taste of his old-school sound with Jewelz & Sparks’ rework of trance classic ‘Traffic’ (which serves to only make fans wishing he would go back to his trance roots, but that is like beating a dead horse at this point).

David Guetta

David Guetta’s second set for the festival brings his mainstream pop sound to the mainstage and included numerous tracks, remixes, and IDs from his vast discography. Highlights included his collab tracks with MORTEN  (his remixes of ‘Titanium’ and Daft Punk’s ‘Rollin’ & Scratchin’ as well as hit singles such as ‘Odyssey’, and ‘Make It to Heaven’), mashups, (‘When Love Takes Over’ vs. Alesso’s ‘Years’, and ‘Play Hard’ vs. TUJAMO’s ‘Booty Bounce’), and new remixes such as Billie Eilish’s ‘bad guy’ and classic tune ‘Sexy Bitch’.

Martin Garrix

Closing out the mainstage of the second day was none other than Martin Garrix. In addition to playing some of his anthems in the spectacular closing set (‘Forever’, ‘Tremor’, ‘High On Life’, ‘Together’), he dropped a wealth of new IDs in which his label, STMPD RCRDS, would later post on Instagram for fans to guess which artists the tracks belong to.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDJmQ9yg2Fu/

Freedom

Vini Vici

Leave it to Vini Vici for a spiritual dose of psytrance music. If you’ve ever heard or been to one of the duop sets, and we know most of you have, then you know exactly to expect. At just 34 minutes, their set featured staples such as their remixes of ‘Free Tibet’, Above & Beyond’s ‘Sun & Moon’, ‘Bla Bla Bla’, and Guns n’ Roses’ ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’.

Atmosphere

Amelie Lens

What’s not to love about Amelie Lens’ set at the Atmosphere stage? With tons of lasers firing across the stage combined with her dark and heavy techno compositions and selections, anyone who stayed for her set raved in their rooms like there was no tomorrow.

Reinier Zonneveld

We were very excited to see Dutch techno DJ Reinier Zonneveld making his debut at Tomorrowland this year with an epic closing set at the Atmosphere stage. Pumping filthy beats right in your face is his name of the game and we cannot wait to see more of him in the foreseeable future.

https://www.facebook.com/ReinierZonneveld/videos/923888284790338/

Cave

Yellow Claw

Who wants some proper bass music in your face? Yellow Claw’s set at the Cave stage is just what the doctor ordered where DJ Nizzle supplied us with a dose of classic tunes as well as new, unreleased music. We managed to have a chat with him post-performance for an interview which you can read here.

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