As the year came to an end, only new memories were here to begin

As the 2018 came to an end, everyone’s top priority was to find the best way to celebrate the completion of yet another journey around the sun. Among the many festivities for this celebration, one of the most notable was USC’s Resolution 2019 Festival held in Seattle, Washington. With headliners such as Diplo, Porter Robinson, Seven Lions, and Borgore, the masses immediately began to gravitate towards this event.  

We arrived to the WaMu Theater around 630pm, giving ourselves enough time to get through the line and catch Porter Robinson for his early 730pm set. One of my only complaints of the night was the dreadfully long line. I’ve seen my fair share of ridiculous lines at events, especially Resolution in previous years, but you think a reoccurring issue like this would be refined by now. When we got closer to the front, it was already 750pm and we still had to wait a great deal of time before they let us through the front gates. Although this seemed to be an ordeal at the time, USC has since addressed it, and worked diligently to rectify the situation during/after the event. I’m hopeful for improved wait times for future events at the WaMu Theater.  

We entered the venue at 8 o’clock with just enough time to catch the last half of Porter’s set. As we approached the main stage, Porter dropped his hard mix of ‘Fresh Static Snow’, which was the most important part of his set to me. There were visuals of faceless entities with horns and presumed malicious origin. When the beat dropped, the crowd went wild while loud bass and static reached even the darkest corners of the room. The red tinted visuals complimented the red lasers that shot in almost every direction as the creatures continued to saunter across the screen. I was so blown away by the production for Porter’s set, in my opinion, he had the best use of the light shows even by the end of the night. 

Relieved to catch the highlight of Porter’s set, we recollected ourselves for Anna Lunoe as I was ecstatic to see her because I haven’t seen her before and enjoyed listening to her music in my spare time. She walked onto the stage and immediately threw down some filthy house music. She played some of her best hits like ‘Stomper’ and ‘Badass’, as well as an unreleased song which was a twist on Eminem’s ‘Without Me’. Anna’s visuals were simple, but consistently captivating for the entirety of the set. As her name flashed across the screen, each letter shifted between multiple different symbols as if it was a slot machine. I paid close attention to notice any different symbols I might not have seen before. My excitement only grew as the set progressed. Her consistency and minimal talking were so refreshing, it was a pleasure to watch her own the stage. 

Cash Cash emerged after Anna Lunoe’s set drew to a close. Since I first heard ‘Party In Your Bedroom’ when I was in middle school, I’ve been dying to see them. Although this was the reinvented version of Cash Cash, nevertheless I was excited to see what they had to present. Being distracted by giving out glove shows, I was unable to appreciate or take note of their visuals. Anytime I looked at the screen, I just saw a generic mix of colors and turntables that didn’t stand out too much to me. Although their visuals weren’t too exciting, I found their music to be fun and a great starting point to learn new tricks for giving light shows. This set was the most joyful of the night, as the music was nothing but uplifting for the nonstop party that was the crowd. My favorite song that was played was ‘Millionaire’ while the audience sang at the top of their lungs and grooved in unison.  

The lights dimmed as Cash Cash’s set ended. Seven Lions took the stage in a burst of color and warm melodic tones filled the theater. Listening to his set was like riding a riding a calm wave. The set had a steady built with plenty of classics, but also new hits that had the crowd singing and swaying together. That’s not to say that he didn’t bring the heat as well. His visuals ranged from beautiful underwater scenes, to colorful psychedelic art that was so completely captivating. Catching glimpses of beautiful moments shared by all, like couples kissing, friends hugging, and pure bliss on the various attendees’ faces was truly a beautiful experience. My night was made when he played ‘Freesol’ and I was so happy to have seen him for the third time and counting. 

Overall the event was well done with a few minor issues, but USC has since addressed those and worked on correcting the error for future events.

After leaving, we were all ready to call it a night as we reflected onto the festival and events we experienced throughout the year. Most of us had the time of our lives and were able to give a great start to 2019, hoping that it may carry more fortune than the year prior.

-Jeffrey Davis