Hollywood Popular Artists

Jul 28th 2012, 05:03

While a late evening shower may have dampened the ground at the launch of Boom, Belgium's Tomorrowland Festival, the magic of the day wasn't hindered by it in the very least. If anything, the 60,000 fans in attendance Friday probably welcomed the cool down.

Banging sets by Joachim Garraud & Clockwork, coupled with the ecstatic raging of a few thousand fans, turned Steve Aoki's tented Dim Mak stage into a sauna. Of course, when rapper Lil Jon walked out and 'Welcomed all the ladies and gentlemen' to Tomorrowland, before launching into "Turbulence," mayhem ensued. And speaking of raging – notable in Aoki's set – festival goers were treated to a brand spanking new bomber of a collab with Knife Party. Fittingly, when we left Dim Mak for the day, Indonesian rising star Angger Dimas (who revealed to MTV News that a brand new Boys Will Be Boys track with Tiësto is coming soon) had just launched into "Internet Friends."

Electronic music trio Above & Beyond hosted their own "Group Therapy" stage on Friday, and among the roster of performers were 24-year old Israeli producer Matt Zo, and Aussie producer Jaytech: two guys Tony & Jono revealed are "THE GUYS" that inspire them today. Before the end of our chat, the gents reminded us that Jaytech's got a new album on the way with a departure in sound, making the switch from their Anjunadeep to Anjunabeats label. Veterans Gabriel & Dresden closed down "Group Therapy" with gusto.

MTV News and our colleagues at Dancing Astronaut have never been shy when it comes to praising Thomas Gold, and for good reason. At a time when the quality of dance music performances are the subject of artist confessionals and online op-ed pieces, Gold affirms time and again a masterful ability at conducting the builds and drops of a performance set journey. Friday evening was no exception. Sumptuous blends of Dada Life's "Kick Out The Epic Motherf---er" into Robyn S.' "Show Me Love" vocal into Afrojack and back into KOTEM was just one example.

And while the Bloody Beetroots did indeed close out Day 1 at Tomorrowland's Main Stage, there is much to be said of Swedish super-star Avicii's set, which brought out multiple firework displays for the fans. Hours before he took the stage, he revealed to MTV News that he'd be road-testing at least three to four new tracks. After playing a compelling opening edit of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" with "Fade Into Darkness," peppered throughout his set (which included Nari & Milani's "Atom," Deniz Koyu's "Bong," and Tommy Trash's remix of "The Veldt") Tim Bergling dropped in closer to 6 or 7 new songs. And it's worth noting, many of them were not typical Avicii tracks, but some more hard, aggressive, and awesome.

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