Last week, everyone was out celebrating the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026. Whether that was out at a club, at home with friends, or at an event, 2026 was started around people we love hoping the coming year would bring happiness and good fortune. For EDM fans in Dallas, Lights All Night returned for their 15th anniversary to give them a way to start the new year in style. Having an insane lineup including names like GRiZ, Crankdat, Illenium, and many more, this Texas festival provided an exciting two day experience that provided fans with 4 stages of live music, various food and merchant vendors, and most importantly an avenue to bring in the new year with the people you love.
Day 1:
While Day 1 might not have been on New Years Eve, the energy fans brought to Dallas Market Hall was high. People flooded in at the beginning of the festival, with some getting stuck in an hour of traffic that spanned less than a mile due to everyone trying to park at the same place.
Sara Landry was the first performance at the festival, providing early arrivals with her hard techno sound at the Metroplex stage. While her set wasn’t fully packed, partly due to everyone arriving at the same time, it was a great way to begin the festival with a bang while warming up the crowd for what was to come. Directly after Sara Landry was RL Grime, a Los Angeles bred DJ who specialized in trap and bass. His set was a big pull in for fans as he took the stage with high energy and eye catching visuals.
While sets were going non stop over the two indoor and two outdoor stages, fans would still find down times to travel the venue, get food, and stock up on water for the rest of the night. Having famous festival food options such as spicy pie and island noodles, attendees felt right at home and were able to enjoy good food while still being immersed in the wubs and dubs provided by the Lodestar stage directly beside the food vendors.
Now that water and food had replenished fans energy, Netsky was next up at the Metroplex. Production for his set was enchanting, with colorful lasers dancing overhead as he made the floor vibrate with his powerful drum and bass. Wooli, a heavy dubstep artist whose sound makes anyone headbang, followed Netsky giving fans a set that was expected. Being one of the biggest draws for attendees, it was clear why as he had a packed set. Following was Mau P, who switched genres a bit to bring the energy back to techno with some house influence.
Closing out the night at the Metroplex was none other than Illenium, a DJ who has truly made an impact in the melodic dubstep scene. Attracting a huge crowd for his set, he made sure to provide Dallas fans with a set more focused on bass heavy drops and laser filled skies. Since Illenium is mostly known for his more melodic hits, especially his collaborations, he made sure to incorporate some during his set to give fans those feel good moments they hope for. While night one had come to an end, it only fueled next day attendees for the New Years Eve celebration they had been looking forward to for months!
Day 2:
The day had finally arrived for ravers to bring in the new year and the lineup was STACKED! Crankdat was the first big artist to take the Metroplex and his set got more and more packed as he played. Dawning a slightly cropped shirt that is starting to become a theme of his, this bass heavy dubstep DJ hyped up fans with an insane energy that was infectious. Up next, and while it may be odd that the most attracting set of the night was at 7:30, there was some sense to it with GRiZ’s set. This funky DJ had to navigate not one, not two, but FOUR different festivals over the course of four days. And it turned out that while he made time for Lights All Night, with how timezones work it made the most sense to have an early set in Dallas and then fly to Arizona for Decadence. Pairing these energetic, live instrumental moments with rainbow lasers that took over the venue, GRiZ was truly top set of the festival. His production value was unmatched due to his live jazz instrumentalists, guest rappers and singers, messages of love, and vibrant trippy visuals.
After he finished his set, over half the crowd seemed to need a break, with everyone veering left to exit outside where the food and water areas were. Unfortunately for people deeper in his crowd, this created a traffic jam due to everyone having to scan their wristbands to exit the warehouse. Generally this isn’t a big issue at Lights All Night, but due to the headliner level performance being so early in the night, it took over 10 minutes just to get everyone trying to leave out. This of course flooded the food area where it was probably the most packed of the whole festival.
It didn’t help either that in the next hour Grabbitz was taking the Lonestar stage, which was directly beside the food area. The ambiance created was ecstatic, giving Grabbitz a crowd that was deserving of his up and coming talents that merge alternative rock with his dubstep sound. Of course, the lasers were on full blast as the dance overhead and bounced off the disco cowboy rubber duck hanging above. Following immediately after at the Metroplex was Levity, a trio of young guys from Chicago who have burst into the industry at a hyper speed rate over the last few years.
Ending with just 30 minutes to midnight, it was finally time to say goodbye to 2025 and hello to 2026, and who better to do so but Porter Robinson! Known for having two separate genres, for this set he was under his DJ persona. While his sound differentiated some from most other acts of the festival, his dream pop and indie electronic sound fueled fans with a euphoric and glowing energy that gave a perfect intro into the new year. While his set didn’t has as many components as others, Porter showed that he didn’t need anything extra to perform a New years Eve set that would have people beaming and talking about it for the rest of the week. As he counted in the new year, confetti canons shot at midnight, marking the start of a year everyone hoped would be one for the books.
Closing out the night at the Metroplex was Knock2, a heavy edm DJ that focuses strongly on chaotic bass house and trap. His sets are known to be a bit rowdier than other artists, giving a space for those wanting to unleash deeper energies a chance to do so. With a set that fueled ravers in their last hour of Lights All Night, Knock2 held nothing back and closed out the night perfectly.
Overall the 15th anniversary of Lights All Night was a hit. Production was phenomenal across the board, and the amenities were helpful and readily available at most times. While traffic jams occurred a few times, it was never as bad as some larger festivals have been known for. The numerous genres across the four stages provided fans a chance to be immersed in different crowd energies, while also providing opportunities to discover new artists. While some might prefer the vibes of a bigger festival, Lights All Night is perfect for edm fans in Texas who want to bring in the New Year with an insane lineup, amazing production, and perfect sized venue that has a great viewing spot no matter where you are! Until next year, Dallas!
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