10 party anthems that ruled over Love Festival

It’s late afternoon at the Renaissance Hotel in Aruba and the sun is beating down on a small crowd of foreigners gathered at the diamond shaped pool wearing nothing but bathing suites. Situated on the terrace overlooking the aqua-tinted ocean, surrounded by giant palm trees, a young female DJ is playing a luscious blend of steady paced house and disco. Mixmag is there to scope the scene, observing the early arrivals basking in the heat. Suddenly the DJ plays a familiar track, ‘Addict For Your Love’ by Death On The Balcony, and we’re compelled to spark up a conversation with her.

Here we meet Joa Salas, a local DJ who is due to perform at Love Festival later in the week. She’s with another local DJ, Kenny Kelly, and they tell us about the Aruban dance music scene. “You have to come out with us later tonight,” they declare as Joa finishes her pool party set. “We’re playing back-to-back at Heart nightclub and it’s going to be a proper party.”

We're there.

Later that night we get to experience Heart Music Bar, the nightclub which supplies Aruba with house and techno every night of the week. It turns out this intimate space located on the outskirts of the capital of Oranjestad, with colorful street art covering the entire outside and inside of the venue, is owned by Omar, who is also the man behind Love Festival. “We’re trying to build something here that’s not just for foreigners visiting the island, but for the locals to get exposed to and enjoy dance music,” he tells me as we discuss the upcoming festival. In the days that followed we would come to understand that Aruba is an obvious destination for tourists, but there is also a thriving dance music community filled with passionate individuals we never thought imaginable.

Since its inception in 2014, Love Festival has grown from a small gathering on a distance beach into an intimate and immersive music festival with five stages and over 40 DJs. This year's session featured international artists including Carlo Lio, Dennis Ferrer, Bontan, Roger Sanchez, Stefano Noferini and Technasia alongside a cast of talented locals like Mesquitas, Woods, Tech, Mike Willer, Oscar Booy and more. Simply put, it’s house and techno in paradise, a dreamy island oasis.

After seeing what Love Festival had to offer, Mixmag compiled 10 tracks paired with 10 experiences that made this year’s edition a five day party...

Closing out the techno stage on Saturday night (or Sunday morning) was Toronto’s techno titan Carlo Lio. His rapidly paced set was arguably the best of the week, as he blended vigorous rhythms and booming bass to the elation of the packed crowd. He played many of his own tracks, and a standout moment was his remix of Pirupa’s ‘Sunday Morning’. Lio transforms the minimal house ballad into a deep techno roller, a track that fit perfectly into his set. The vocals are instantly recognizable and hearing it on the beach was a blissful moment, suitable for bringing in Sunday morning.

NYC’s Joe Grossman was at the helm for Thursday’s pool party session and did not disappoint with a three hour set of techno and house. As the sun was setting he dropped Len Faki’s Hardspace Mix of Stephen Brown’s ‘Deep In’. This track particularly resonated with us as it was premiered on Mixmag earlier this year. That said, it brought a pace to the DJ set that would set the tone for the rest of the evening. If a DJ is playing a pre-party at the pool, they need to bring the perfect amount of energy and Grossman set it off right.

Out of the five stages at Love Festival the House Of Dolls stage radiated with a special energy that was not found at any of the others. With the local LGBTQ community at the helm, the giant pyramid-like structure featured a host of dancers and DJs dressed in costumes playing house with more of a funk and disco motif. Armand Van Helden’s classic anthem ‘You Don’t Know Me’ clearly embody the essence of this stage.

Robbie Rivera was before Roger Sanchez and Kristen Knight on the first official night of the festival and played a collection of jams that helped set the tone for the evening. With 2017 being the 40th anniversary of Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’, which Mixmag helped celebrate with a special issue of the magazine, the track has been going through somewhat of a revival and hearing Robbie play the illyus & Barrientos remix was refreshing. It’s a more pumpy version of the classic disco anthem and one that fits nicely into a high energy house set. This one went off!

Having been a regular on the island of Ibiza for countless years, Roger Sanchez helped bring some of the White Isle’s flavor to Aruba during his set. After nearly two hours he dropped Matthias Tanzmann’s ode to the popular party series elrow, which originated in Barcelona but is known for it’s legendary residency at Space Ibiza. ‘Elrow’, which also premiered on Mixmag earlier this year, is a sure party tune, so naturally it sent energy throughout the crowd.

The track that kicked off Mixmag’s week of debauchery in Aruba, we can’t leave out Death On The Balcony’s ‘Addict For Your Love’, which was played by the local DJ Joa Salas. Meeting locals in places like Aruba can help elevate the experience exponentially and it was an absolute pleasure to link with Joa and her crew. Kenny Kelly also played at the festival later in the week and smashed his set, so shouts to these two for setting the tone.

Some may be surprised to learn there is an underground DIY rave scene in Aruba. Aptly called The Underground, this community has bonded over their shared love for the deep and hypnotic rhythms of house and techno. They had a stage at the festival, which was built out of stacks of wood pallets with giant disco balls and tripped out lazers creating an immersive atmosphere. Also found at The Underground stage were the local selectors at the decks for the entire festival. This included Tech, Oscar Booy, Mike Willers and more. Here’s a track dropped by Oscar Booy which features that sensual vocals from Missy Elliot’s ‘One Minute Man’. Pure heat!

Another cut from The Underground stage that also uses a familiar sample, Agent! and Dompe’s collab ‘Sultan’ stood out as a noteworthy party tune. The sample is most recognizable from Jay-Z’s ‘Show Me What You Got’, which takes the original hook from a classic track by Lafayette Afro Rock Band. That said, Agent! and Dompe’s was released on Get Physical in 2017 and brings it into the future.

With Carlo Lio’s set a standout moment of the week, we’re including another ID from the two hour block of techno and it’s another one of his own. Released on SCI+TEC earlier this year, Carlo Lio vs DJ Pierre’s ‘Destroy This Track’ thoroughly worked the Love Festival crowd into a frenzy. Of course it was also premiered on Mixmag.

Love Festival headliner Bontan came to his set fresh off the plane and helped pick up the energy at the main stage. A clear standout ID, one that has been rinsed countless times the world over by various DJs, is his very own collaboration with Josh Butler titled ‘Call You Back’. Expect to find this track on many end of the year lists as it was in high demand and continues to get a proper reaction on the dancefloor. Hearing it on the island of Aruba was special. We'll see you there next year.