Page 7 - We Rave You Magazine | December 2022
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EDITORIAL > NOTEWORTHY NEWS: WHAT HAPPENED IN 2022?
PC: REIN KOOYMAN
THE RETURN OF HARDWELL ULTRA MIAMI AND TOMORROWLAND
OPEN THEIR GATES ONCE AGAIN
One of the main things that 2022 gave us this year was
PC: PULA MUSIC WEEK CREDIT- RUDGR
the return of Hardwell. Heavily rumoured that he would Although life is essentially back to its pre-pandemic ways,
be coming back, he made this rumour a reality when he there were still some festivals which had to wait until this
stepped on stage at Ultra Music Festival Miami to deliver year for their turn to open their gates again, two being two
the closing set of the weekend on the mainstage. What the of the most popular festivals of all time. Of course, they DEBUT ALBUMS, DEBUT EVENTS
biggest shocker and surprise turned out to be, though, was were Ultra Miami and Tomorrowland.
with the subject of his newfound signature sound. Turning 2022 could easily be labelled as the year of debuts. From debut albums to debut events making their way into the festival
his back on the big room sound that established his name circuit, it’s been far from a quiet year.
Taking place in March, Ultra Miami celebrated their first
within the circuit, he opted to revamp with a sound that is edition since 2019. A long time coming, Ultra was one of
being described as big room techno, or mainstage techno. In terms of music, it has been an exciting and pivotal moment for many artists this year. Kicking off an exciting year of
the first main festivals to be hit by cancellations back
A sound that couldn’t be further from his pre-hiatus sound- at the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Not only fans debuts, Swedish House Mafia released their debut artist album ‘Paradise Again’ in April following the release of their
scape yet something that makes sense for the direction of compilation album ‘Until One’ in 2010. Since then, it was debut after debut with the likes of Martin Garrix’s ‘Sentio’ in April,
who celebrated the return, the artists also felt equally as
electronic music now, it proved to be extremely popular. excited, with many premiering new music for the first time Malaa’s ‘Don Malaa’ in September, SLANDER’s ‘Thrive’ in September and Salvatore Ganacci’s ‘Culturally Appropriate’ in
With the release of ‘REBELS NEVER DIE,’ his newest album, November just to name a few.
on the mainstage or performing crazy B2B sets.
fans got to see this sound even more in action, and it’s safe
to say that the internet has been loving this new era. This year’s event circuit was also shaken up with the debut of many new events. With life being back to normal, this was
On the other hand, Tomorrowland made sure their
the perfect way for new events to be brought to the masses all over the world. One of the most ambitious happened in the
return post-pandemic was going to be worth it back in
July. Setting their ambitions high, this year in the heart historical city of Pula in Croatia in June-July over a week. Titled Pula Music Week, it invited some of the world’s best house
& techno stars including Peggy Gou, Solomun, Disclosure, Tale Of Us, Boris Brejcha, Charlotte de Witte, Enrico Sangiuliano
of Belgium they added a third weekend to make up for
those that missed out with tickets being rolled over from and Black Coffee along with an extensive lineup of support artists for their own headlining events. Set in a 2,000+ year
old colosseum, the Pula Amphitheater, it proved to be a success as the event is due for another edition next year. In other
previous years. Not only this, they also saw the return of
their picturesque winter edition back in March, which also parts of the world, many other events saw equally notable success. Expanding their imprint even further, Tomorrowland
teamed up with Rock Werchter for their CORE Festival, bringing names such as Paul Kalkbrenner, Jamie XX, Dino Lenny and
happened to be only the second edition ever.
others to the picturesque woods of Osseghem Park in Brussels. In Cyprus, BEON1X Open Mind Music Festival brought house
& techno’s brightest stars in the form of Carl Cox, Boris Brejcha, Deborah De Luca to the stunning CTO Beach in Pyla.
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