Mirage season is back in NYC and the venue has kicked off the season with acts like the legendary Swedish House Mafia and most recently progressive house producer Audien with support from Ship Wrek, Frank Walker, Öwnboss, Third Party and more. What was originally a Sunday daytime show, was rescheduled to a prime time Saturday night show — and the shift in energy that followed it was evident in the music tone shift. There were some surprisingly heavy drops and song choices now that the event took place late night as opposed to during the day. Personally I was all for it as it showed the versatility of the artists there and they were able to read the crowd and play to their needs. It was a great blend of nostalgic progressive house but with a twist, a perfect example of how music is ever evolving, but always referencing the past. In that sense, progressive house truly never died.
The set up of The Mirage for this show was a 360 degree stage which was interesting to see as I have not been to a show like this since GRiZ a few years back. While it was cool to witness, I do think it would have been much more of a vibe for the original Sunday daytime show. At night, I noticed people couldn’t help but turn towards the giant 150 ft LED screen like moths to a flame — and thus making the DJ in the 360 set up much less impactful. It was however, still amazing to be able to see the DJs work in a variety of angles. It was a great show regardless and the cooler weather did nothing to stop the crowd from enjoying an amazing show.