In just a few days, TomorowWorld will arrive in America.  For the first time ever, the folks behind the epic European festival Tomorrowland will bring the lights, stages, and full production expertise to Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia (i.e., right outside of Atlanta). At TomorrowWorld,  festivalgoers will party from September 27th to the 29th  in the tranquil hillside of Georgia.  

If the name “Chattahoochee Hills” sounds familiar to you, it should, it was the same location used for last year’s wonderful Counterpoint festival.  While the location may be the same, Tomorrow World will likely garner a much larger crowd than last year. This should not come as a surprise, as the Belgian international promoters advertised this festival as an international event, just like Tomorrowland.   But not to worry! After attending Counterpoint last year, I certainly felt the land (which is essentially farmland in rural Georgia) could definitely support more people.  Seems that the Tomorrow World organizers felt the same way… Check out the map below.

 Beyond the proximity of some of the stages to each other and to what appear to be large bodies  of water (stage #1?!?!), the organizers really seemed take full advantage of the large acreage at  their disposal.  If you’ve seen any videos (or any of EARMILK’s excellent photos) of Tomorrowland 2013, you understand that the organizers spare no expense in making their stages as  elaborate and fantastical as possible.  And as the debut event for America, I’m sure the  organizers and promoters want to make sure this first show is as perfect as it can be.  

Instead of taking the typical, “who I want to see” approach to a festival preview,  I’ve decided to  break down my interest in the festival by stage.  TomorrowWorld seems to be following the  method used by EDC this year to organizing performances; with more emphasis on thematic  similarity as opposed to hard-and-fast genre distinctions.  Of course, thematically many of the  artists sharing a stage will have similar (if not the same) style of music.  But some of these  planned stages contain labelmates, while others seem more like a collection of friends.   Nonetheless, part of the beauty of festivals like this is getting to hear new styles or genres that you’d never hear normally. The organizers must feel the same way.  

 I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Mainstage.  The glamour stage of the festival, the Mainstage will play  host to the biggest names in EDM every day.  While this will typically mean electro-house and progressive  house, a few trance acts, such as Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, and W&W, somehow got stuck in there.  Of  course, some might say the artists I just mentioned haven’t made proper “trance” in a long time, but I  digress… 

 Speaking of proper trance, Friday and Sunday will have dedicated trance stages.  Friday, Ferry Corsten will  play  host to a number a number of big acts on his stage, “Full On.”  Standouts here include Cosmic Gate, Aly  & Fila, and  of course Ferry himself.   The Stage is also a Back-2-Back stage, meaning Ferry will be spinning  beside each act,  following their style.  Back-2-Back sessions are always awesome, as its fun to watch these guys  feed off each other’s  energy.

Sunday, the appropriately titled “Trance Addicts” stage will see the likes of BT, Simon Patterson, and Orjan  Nielson close the weekend out for all the trance fans.  I’m not sure how Late Night Alumni got placed on  this  stage… but I guess there aren’t enough downtempo/chillout artists to warrant its own stage.  Besides,  Becky Jean  Williams vocals might provide a nice, soothing moment of calmness in the middle of the chaos.              

 I will admit, A-Trak’s “Fools Gold Clubhouse” stage has me very intrigued.  The stage has a mix of artists,  obviously all  related to (if not directly a part of) A-Trak’s Fool’s Gold record label.  This stage really runs the  gamut  of genres,  ranging from hip-hop/trap (Araabmuzik) to disco-y indie rock (Bag Raiders), to  whatever A-Trak feels like playing  that day.  Standing at this one stage all day could allow you to hear every  genre of music… or it could just leave you very confused.   Still, the performances, as varied as they might be, all promise to be great. 

With over 300 scheduled performances, there are obviously a number of artists I failed to mention that I’m just as excited to see.   But not only are we excited for the event; many of the artists and performers are just as excited!  Below, EARMILK has exclusive guest previews from CODES and Treasure Fingers.  Regular readers of the site should already be familiar with their names, as we have featured their music multiple times on the site (and are generally pretty big fans of both).  Read on to get a sense for what they are most excited to see.

CODES

For those of us that can’t afford a trip to Belgium for the real thing, this really is the next best option. If the organizers  bring half the production flare demonstrated at Tomorrowland, this really will be something to remember.   I’m greatly  looking forward to it.  Check out the official after movie of Tomorrowland 2013 below to get you pumped up for the  festival.

Make sure you stay tuned to EARMILK for all your coverage of the event, and check back after the festival for photos and videos and our review of the festival.

• Tomorrow World Official Site
• Tomorrow World on Facebook
• Tomorrow World on Twitter