Latest news with #electronicdance
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Tomorrowland 2025 update: Festival gates officially open after fire
Tomorrowland organisers have pulled off the unthinkable in 24 hours – with the help of Metallica. Just days before the popular electronic dance event was due to kick off on in Belgium on July 18, dramatic footage showed its magical 'Orbyz Mainstage' up in flames. Organisers said it was a 'race against time' to build a substitute stage with the likes of Meduza, Axwell and Vini Vici all due to perform – but they did it. A photo posted to their official Instagram account shows the new Mainstage and while very different to the usual elaborate design that's 45 meters high and 160 meters wide – it has still been welcomed and in some cases more preffered by fans. 'Honestly this looks much better and you know why? people are closer to the DJ. It will be more about dancing than posting videos since a long time ago. I hope people there will enjoy it!' one follower wrote. According to local news outlet, HLN, stage parts from the European leg of Metallica's current M72 World Tour stored in Austria were airlifted to the site overnight, ensuring the Mainstage proceedings can go ahead as planned. One of this year's headlining acts, Martin Garrix, also took to Instagram to thank the metal heavyweights, just hours before he took to the stage. 'I cannot believe I'm actually typing this … but my set at Tomorrowland is still happening,' the post reads. 'Massive love and a big shoutout to the incredible @tomorrowland team for pulling off miracles — and to @Metallica for coming through with the new stage parts.' The new stage's sound system comes from Lier. Just as with the original stage, Phlippo Productions, along with the Antwerp-based company Noizboyz, handled the sound, the outlet reported. Meanwhile, PRG is responsible for the lighting and together, the companies set up a completely new system overnight and worked around the clock to get everything ready on time. Technicians worked on the previous Mainstage set for two weeks before it went up in flames on Wednesday. It included 2,616 cubic meters of styrofoam, 2,278 sheets of plywood, and 2,460 cans of insulating polyurethane, according to HLN. US artist Steve Aoki, who performed at Tomorrowland Winter 2025, described the image of the new stage as 'inspiring'. 'This is one of the most inspiring images in my feed. Gives me goosebumps.' 'One of the coolest pics in music history. Love you Tomorrowland,' another fan added. Footage shows thousands of people rushing in as soon as the gates open with the event due to attract 400,000 festivalgoers over July 18-20 and July 25-27. 'The symbolism of this is very powerful it shows more than just a stage that was destroyed and rebuilt,' one fan wrote. 'It reflects how the world stands today, back there, and how we envision it moving forward. 'Nothing is stronger and more imposing than the message it carries. Enjoy, this will be an incredible edition.' It's currently still unclear what caused the fire, but a local firefighter, François van den Eynde, told reporters the blaze 'spread very quickly,' likely because of the 'materials used' to build the stage, according to Rolling Stones. 'Despite all our resources, it was impossible to stop something like that,' he said. 'We tried to extinguish the fire, but as soon as you realise you're not succeeding, you have to limit the damage to the rest of the festival site. That's what we did. Everything is under control.' The 2025 Tomorrowland line-up will also see the likes of Eric Prydz, Armin Van Buuren and John Summit, as well as Australian producers including FISHER and NERVO. The team behind the massive festival, that made a whopping $A15 million in 2023, simply wrote, 'Unite Forever', after sharing the now iconic image of the new Mainstage. Meanwhile, Metallica are scheduled to bring the M72 World Tour to Australia and New Zealand this November, with stadium shows locked in for Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland.
RNZ News
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Synthony rocks the world stage
Synthony has evolved from a one-off show in Auckland to a global phenomenon. Photo: Supplied There is something electric in the air. It is a feeling, a movement, a beat. It is called Synthony. Born in New Zealand from a one-off idea back in 2016, Synthony has gone from an ambitious fusion of classical music and electronic dance hits to a global phenomenon , and it is not slowing down. "From the first meeting, I thought this could be a global brand like Cirque du Soleil - if it can work in Auckland , why couldn't it work in New York, London and Perth, Milan and Singapore," says Synthony boss David Higgins. "I could see that potential. The name, in itself, is magic ... it's genius, a merger between 'synergy' and 'symphony', it's a magic one-word brand. "The show's a magic experience. It's a breathtaking collision of electronic dance music with full live orchestra, guest vocalists, and immersive visuals. "Synthony is definitely on track to be a loved, global brand, born out of Auckland." Higgins is the second owner of Synthony, which he bought in 2018, a year after the first show was held at the Auckland Town Hall. That show cost less than $20,000, and about 2500 people attended. Synthony boss David Higgins. Photo: Photosport He bought it within a few months of that first business meeting with original owners, David Elmsly, a New Zealand pilot, and his then-partner Erika Amoore, a DJ, music producer and accountant. "I paid them well," Higgins tells The Detail . "An accountant could argue it was worth nothing, there was nothing trademarked, it hadn't made money and it was a punt ... so some could say it had no value but I balanced that with where I could see it going and we ended up paying what I thought was a fair price and a bit of an earn out," he says. Higgins is owner of Duco Events, which has a history in boxing and sports gigs. Once he added Synthony to his portfolio, he moved it from the Town Hall to Spark Arena, then Auckland Domain - where 40 thousand attended this year - and took it on the road around the country, then overseas. It quickly struck a chord. This bold idea to bring orchestral gravitas to dancefloor bangers became a multi-city juggernaut, with sold-out venues and top performers asking to be a part of it. "One of the attractive things about Synthony is it's brand-driven, rather than [based around] any one person," Higgins says. "We made an internal rule that there are no egos, there is no cult personality, there will be no one person in the lights ... it's a brand. "We treat everyone equally. Synthony is the hero, and we give opportunities to younger talent and enthusiastic talent that might not otherwise get as many opportunities, and that way we can run shows wherever we want, whenever we want. "We book local orchestras; we find local talent ... and this gives us huge freedom to go global." He says the key to their global success has been creating a "top-quality" Synthony YouTube channel. "We have been investing money in filming content live and creating nice videos ... and since we have been doing that, we have had booking enquiries from around the world. In the last year, we performed on the start line of Formula One Las Vegas, for example, we opened a resort in Greece, we have performed in Mexico ... and we are in talks for shows in London and a European tour. "There are so many opportunities. "They call it a 'J-curve' in business terms, where something builds for a long time, then there's a tipping point and it starts to take off ... and we are hoping we are on that J-curve and that it's about to blow up, globally." Closer to home, he is about to launch Full Metal Orchestra at Spark Arena in Auckland next month. He says it is "a breathtaking collision of symphonic power and hard rock energy," and the show is already nearly sold out. Then it is New York, Australia, France and Calgary. And just who will be dancing up a storm, jiggling and sweating together in the audience? While billed as a family event, Synthony is becoming increasingly popular with aged millennials, Gen X, and boomers, females in particular, who are booking babysitters and reliving their youth. It is about nostalgia and the power of music to connect people. It is a movement. Check out how to listen to and fol low The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Whitby dinosaur named Alan inspires electronic dance album
Two scientists have created a concept album partly inspired by a dinosaur named Alan found in North Claire Hind and Dr Rob Wilsmore from York St John University formed The Long Dead Stars, an electronic dance poetry group, with the duo also finding inspiration from the geology of the county's creative project is part of a scheme aiming to find alternative ways to engage people with art, science, and the landscapes of North Yorkshire."Rocks have a life, they have vitality, and dance music is something that's vibrant, alive, and about the body and moving," Dr Wilsmore said. The pair wanted to compose a track about a Sauropodomorph fossil found in 1995 in Whitby and on display at the Yorkshire name was inspired by Alan Gurr, who made the discovery, with the fossil regarded as the oldest sauropod dinosaur found in the UK."I felt like I was getting connected to deep time and this idea that there's layers of different rock formations that expose different fossils from different time periods," Prof Hind said. The album also features tracks dedicated to the dark skies of the North York Moors National Park and the fossils of Jurassic-era "tiny sea creatures" found at Boggle Hole."Pop music is generally about love," Dr Wilsmore said."It's not generally about oolitic shelly lifeforms." Speaking about creating the music, Dr Wilsmore said finding melodies was like finding fossils on the beach."Rather than being this really dry project, we wanted our research to be fun as well as serious," he the band's name, Prof Hind said: "We love this idea that a percentage of our atoms in our bodies come from an exploding supernova from a long dead star." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
