Lucky 2016 Made Us Feel Our Luckiest Yet!

Every year between New Years Eve and the official start of summer festival season, the Seattle area gets treated to a special event to tide us over: Lucky. We all get out our best green and gold attire, act as Irish as we feel like, and dance the night away at one of our favorite USC indoor massives. Lucky is always a great time, but it felt like there was something special and different about this year, something more than just the venue change. Formerly at WaMu Theater, this year’s Tacoma Dome rendition of Lucky was one for the books.

It seems that every issue we faced at FreakNight was not only heard but resolved for Lucky. Instead of freezing our tails off in the cold waiting to get searched, we were able to do that inside after waiting in virtually no line to get our IDs checked and tickets scanned. Once within the protective walls of the Tacoma Dome we had our longest line wait, which for us lasted a mere five minutes. The line system and wait time improvements over FreakNight were incredible.

As soon as we got into the dome we were greeted by Ghastly, followed shortly thereafter by an absolute throw-down by Rain Man. For many of us it was our first time seeing him as a solo act, and he did not disappoint. We’re going to be keeping an eye on him, because his career sure as hell didn’t end with his leaving Krewella.

Photo Credit: Turk Photos

The other issue that plagued FreakNight, and was even pointed out by headliner Deadmau5, was the sound bleed issue between the main stage and trance stage. At Lucky that issue was solved by facing the two stages away from each other and putting our beloved real-grass Clover Park in a curtained off area between the two stages. Once again the bass stage was in a separate room from the rest of the festival, so the PK Sound could really work its magic, uninhibited.

Overall, the crowds were full of your typical happy dancing ravers, but if you wanted to get anywhere at the main stage you had to have your shimmy-and-slide-past game on point or you wouldn’t get past anyone.

Unfortunately there were a few exceptions from the happy ravers, including some individuals who insisted on running away from Conscious Crew members and apparently a guy who was just plain punching people. Please remember that Conscious Crew is there to help you and not to get you in trouble, and it’s not their job to literally chase you down. To be blunt: guys, be cool.

The music was amazing all night long, no matter what stage we went to. KJ Sawka and Mr. Bill served up a unique bass-y set that featured two of our favorite drops of the night: their new song together and a badass metal drop that had us headbanging like lunatics. Steve Aoki probably had the most surprising drop of the entire night, when he hit us with Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On.

A couple of us had a particularly magic moment serenading and twirling around with strangers when W&W dropped their Hello remix. Then at the end of the night we got to let the world know with Dada Life’s help that Freaks Have More Fun, and it never felt more true.

Photo Credit: Turk Photos

Throughout the night we bounced from stage to stage quite a bit, getting a good taste for what most artists had to offer. The setup of the main stage was spectacular, and the sound at the bass stage was the kind that makes a basshead’s heart glow, but it was the trance stage that really stood out on this particular night.

Following the announcement of Bliss: The Awakening having a dedicated Anjuna stage was such a celebration of the state of trance. For anyone wondering, who didn’t spend time at the End of the Rainbow, trance is far from dead.

Overall, it’s easy to say that for many of us this was the best Lucky to date. The lineup was incredible, the stages all had great sound and production, the crowd was mostly positive, and we got to spend the whole night running around dancing like maniacs with our friends. If you didn’t have fun, that might have been your own fault.

What was your favorite moment of Lucky 2016?