We all know Medellín.
The city, once a nexus between narcoterror and urban warfare, has skeletons, both literal and figurative, in its closet. So when the world's leading EDM festival brand Tomorrowland announced its expansion to the city, it only served to deepen the mystery.
After the disappearance of Pablo Escobar in 1993 and the eventual dismantling of the Medellín Cartel, the city had to deal with the consequences of decades of violence and lawlessness. It has a bright future three decades later, but the legacy of the drug era continues to cast a long shadow and the region still faces challenges related to crime, poverty and inequality.
The city and its dark history are inextricably connected and no festival or event can break the link. Therefore, it would be ignorant to call last weekend's CORE festival a metaphor for Medellín's metamorphosis.
But that doesn't mean the city can't try to rewrite its own narrative. True to CORE's nature-inspired spirit, the festival was like a butterfly emerging from the blood-stained chrysalis of Medellin.
“In all the years I have traveled to Medellín to visit my family, I have never experienced anything like this. [CORE]”said attendee David Contosta. “It's amazing to see how the city has changed over the years and the impact tourism has had on the city itself.”
After Tomorrowland sold out the two-day festival “in record time,” every beat pulsed with the defiance of a city that refused to be defined by its scars. The collective energy in Parque Norte was electric, a shared heartbeat of a city moving forward, not trapped in the past.
“I know this city has had a dark past, but attending the festival gave the opportunity for local talent to perform and the city's locals to forget about the violence and struggles of everyday life and embrace the experience,” Contosta continued. . “I hope that this event is the first of many and that when people think of Medellín, they think of the incredible people, the rich culture and the talented music scene, and not its dark past.”
The world of tomorrow
It's difficult to describe Tomorrowland's CORE stage and its design (a split human head with images where the face should be) to someone who hasn't seen it in person. He became a bioluminescent giant, combining the humanoid restlessness of ex machina with the surreal natural vibes of Where the monsters live.
In front of the stupefying scene, lasers in the night sky pierced ghosts of hitmen. Behind him, the lights of the houses on the hills of Manrique, Versalles II and many other neighborhoods of Medellín turned the area into a radiant mosaic.
Designed and recently debuted by Tomorrowland's industry-leading creative team, the CORE Stage is nothing short of an architectural marvel. The innovative stage inflates and deflates to fit compactly into a single container, making it portable and adaptable to locations around the world.
It's a feat of technological utopianism that could profoundly influence the global music festival landscape, especially now as inflationary pressures drive up prices. increased tour costs at unsustainable levels.
The world of tomorrow
The ghostly CORE Stage saw gigantic performances from a host of notable techno and house music artists, including Agents Of Time, Mind Against, ANNA, Kölsch and Brina Knauss. Talking with EDM.comKnauss, an emerging electronic music superstar from Slovenia, called the festival “a dream.”
But it was BICEP who put together arguably the best performance of the weekend. The duo invited us into their totally unique world, where the sublime textures of ambient music meet the primordial energy of breakbeat. It was the kind of scene where you close your eyes and lose yourself in the immensity, only to be pulled back by the insistent pulse of BICEP's percussive barrages.
Two new stages also debuted at CORE Medellín. The first was AltVerda, which was situated in the forest amidst a series of whimsical columns of light. It's here that Chet Faker delivered a lush disco-house set, and his kaleidoscopic rhythms took root beneath our dancing feet.
Deeper in the forest, on the Arbo stage, bright white fabrics hung from the trees and transformed in real time as the wind and lasers passed through them. The intimate setting hosted several local DJs, including Sinego and WOST, who couldn't stop smiling as they performed for Tomorrowland, the world's preeminent dance music brand.
The world of tomorrow
While Tomorrowland reigns as the consummate festival experience, CORE stands as a majestic parallel universe. From a cultural point of view, it is difficult to ignore the differences between its inherent rave culture and that of the United States.
All CORE Medellín DJs He rarely (if ever) spoke into the microphone. We were never told to raise our hands and there was not a single countdown before a fall, nor a demand to jump. We also didn't hear any squawking “woo-woo” chants.
Music was the language and it broke the intense Spanish language barrier. Trials seemed non-existent and it was impossible not to make new friends. Authenticity didn't just bleed: it bled.
Tomorrowland may be the sun that illuminates the festival universe, but CORE is the shining moon that changes the tides of festival culture with its own fountain of experiences. For those who cannot make the pilgrimage to Belgium, CORE is a must.
CORE's next stop is São Paulo, where its stage will appear at Tomorrowland Brazil for the first time in October. In the meantime, you can stay up to date with the brand, as well as its events, record label, and radio show. here.
Follow CORE:
Web: core.world
Instagram: instagram.com/core.world
Facebook: facebook.com/corexworld
Youtube: youtube.com/@corexworld
Follow the world of tomorrow:
X: x.com/tomorrowland
Instagram: instagram.com/tomorrowland
Facebook: facebook.com/tomorrowland
thanks to our partners at edm.com