Lucky 2017: The Sea of Green Returns in Full Force (Reviewed)

Where do we even begin? USC definitely pulled off yet another impressive Lucky festival this year.

There is honestly nothing better than 8 hours of dance music on a Saturday night. The amount of fun we had in the sea of green will last us quite some time. So many great memories, new friendships, positive energy and of course, great music.

This year Lucky was held at the Tacoma Dome, featuring three stages: “Lucky Arena” (main stage), “End Of The Rainbow” (trance stage/ hosted by FSOE) and “Leprechaun’s Lair” (bass stage). There were many of us from DMNW in attendance, and we all had a fair share of each of the stage. Some of us are Lucky veterans and some of us experienced our first Lucky ever. So let’s recap the night, shall we?

6-8 p.m.

We arrived at the venue right before the doors opened at 5:45 p.m. Something that unfortunately no one can control is the weather. The sun just didn’t want to make an appearance, but that did not stop the crowd. People were bundled up in sweatpants, sweatshirts, trash bags, ponchos and hoodies standing in the rain in line waiting for the doors to open.

The general admissions line when we arrived was already looped around the stadium, with the VIP line shorter but still pretty long. Once doors opened, the lines moved relatively quick with painless security pat downs.

Photo Credit: USC Events

The moment we stepped in, music pounded our eardrums and lasers flashed before our eyes (but we are not complaining!). Seeing everyone’s jaw-dropping expressions walking down the stairs from the upper to the lower level where the stages are was amazing.

The main stage was surrounded by vendors and was pretty empty for the first two hours, easy to move around. There was a lawn/ resting area separating the main stage and the trance stage, and you could hear both of the stages and a lot of noise pollution in that area at times. The bass stage was off in another room so there wasn’t much of a sound problem there. Stage production and decoration at the venue was very impressive and festive.

8-10p.m

This is when the crowd really started to show up. The venue was becoming more crowded and navigating from stage to stage was taking a tad bit longer. Audien performed main stage at 9 p.m and his set definitely took us on a feels trip. The crowd was singing along to his hits Something Better and jamming to his Pompeii remix. Oldies but goodies. Still dreaming about his Lucky set.

10p.m-12a.m

At this point, it was a full house. There were people everywhere, there were almost no back area or empty space by any of the stages. Even the bleacher seats were filling up. The “Clover Park” resting area was getting muddy from everyone’s wet shoes, thanks to the lovely Washington weather.

There were some amazing performances in these two hours from all stages. Head-bangers were going insane at the mainstage. NGHTMRE brought out Datsik on stage with him during his set. Unfortunately Orjan Nilsen couldn’t make it to Lucky due to illness, but Aly & Fila filled in doing an amazing TWO hour set at the trance stage. Then there was more neck breaking action happening at the bass stage with Liquid Stranger.

Photo Credit: Malachi Belluscio

12-2a.m

Headliner, Knife Party closed out the main stage and absolutely slayed. We all ended up at the main stage by the end of the night. The energy at the main stage was incredible, even though it was 2 in the morning, the crowd was still jumping and chanting. Knife Party played their original songs Bonfire and Internet Friends, and you guessed it, the crowd went crazy. A phenomenal set to close out the main stage, to say the least.

Photo Credit: Malachi Belluscio

All in all, the sea of green impressed us again. We can’t wait to go back for another year of dancing the night away with new and old friends to great music.

Who was your favorite performer and memory at Lucky 2017? Tell us in the comments below!