Over the past weekend, thousands of music lovers traveled to Dallas for the 13th edition of Lights All Nights, hosted by Disco Donnie Presents. The sold out festival took place on December 30th and 31st at the Dallas Market Hall. If you’re a fan of all types of dance music, this was the place to be to ring in 2024.
Layout
Walking into the venue felt like you were transported to a mini night carnival. From entering through security, you were immersed by all of the neon colors and art installations. Positioned all around the venue were light up pathways and various colorful installations where you could show off your NYE festival costumes in some Instagram worthy shots with your friends. The most iconic spot I noted would definitely be the huge LAN sign smacked in the middle of the warehouse under a giant disco ball. There was also a 360 photo booth which made for some unique shots. The layout of the venue was very free flow as the security was very organized, expertly directing the crowds of ravers to the different stages. Food vendors were all conveniently located in one location and the food choice was honestly very good considering that festival food usually isn’t all that. One thing I did note was that there seemed to be only one water station which did cause a lot of congestion and longer lines.
Stages
The festival had a total of four different stages this year where each featured its own unique vibe. The Watering Hole and the Lonestar stages were located outside so these stages weren’t as crowded due to the cold weather outside but, did make for a good breath of fresh air when you get too hot dancing inside the venue. Then there was the Metroplex and Disco Rodeo which were the larger stages inside. These stages were mainstage worthy with super wide LED screens, endless streams of LED lights, fiery pyrotechnics, and co2 cannons.
Lineup
When looking into the lineup, Disco Donnie put together a pretty solid roster of world class DJ’s from both the house and bass genres. During day 1, those wanting to take it easier from the partying could stop by the Lonestar stage to see soothing sets from Marsh, Sultan & Shepherd, Luttrell, Massane, and Jody Wisternoff. The stage here was all vibes as the attendees immersed themselves into the melodic house sounds of these talented artists. For those wanting to shuffle the night away, the Disco Rodeo was the place to be for house lovers. The house maestro J. Worra put on her swagger and technical prowess on full display as she got the crowds dancing to her tunes. One of her recent hits released earlier this year ‘Dancing At The Disco’ made for a heck of a tune to be played at this stage. Chris Lorenzo and Kream were other standout house artists that threw down with their irresistible house grooving tracks and remixes. Over at the Metroplex stage, Sullivan King took the decks around 10:30pm and got the crowd over at this stage headbanging and raging to his tracks. The Kannibalen mainstay does it exceptionally well mixing his metal roots into his high energy dubstep sets. Another standout set from the stage was from Chris Lake. As he took the stage, the crowd went crazy when he dropped ‘In The Yuma’ and ‘More Baby’. Wanting to take a quick break from house music, I stumbled upon Phon who is a Texas based DJ playing at the Watering Hole stage. He was quite the surprise of the night as he dished out some smooth transitions ranging from house, dubstep, big room, and to progressive house while keeping the set in cohesion. Closing out the night was none other than dance music icon Skrillex. From his recent resurgence into the scene, to his recent albums, the hype to see the superstar DJ was all the craze that night. He masterfully controlled the crowds with his pristine transitions and killer hits such as ‘Fine Day Anthem’, ‘Rumble’, and ‘RATATA’. A highlight of his set was when he played his recent track ‘Pepper’.
Day 2 was definitely one for the books being that it was New Years Eve. The energy is always crazier on the last day of every festival and that could be felt from the minute you walk into the festival. The lineup on this day was definitely more dubstep heavy with non stop bass music from some of the biggest names in the scene. Level Up, Barely Alive, and Peekaboo are up and coming stars that have come into the limelight over the past few years. And the world’s largest DJ in a physical sense was there as well, with that being Shaquille O’Neal aka DJ Diesel. LA based duo ARMNHMR was also there bringing in some heavy bass with a mix of their melodic dubstep tracks. NGHTMRE rang in the new year at midnight at the Metroplex stage and had the whole room in their feels counting it down to 0. And lastly, Subtronics closed out the night with his subs and wubs.
This was my first time attending LAN and I know it won’t be my last. If you’re interesting in attending next year’s edition, their loyalty sale starts this Friday 1/12. 2 day GA passes are only 129.95 without fees and can be purchased here.
