The Magic of Decadence Arizona

Let me set the stage for you: It’s a minute before the countdown for the New Year is about to start, you hear GRiZ over the loudspeakers begin to play his “Infinite Bloom” ID- and if you haven’t heard this yet, trust me, go look it up on SoundCloud right now. You’re hugging and dancing with your best friend/soul sister, you start to hear the countdown, the whole crowd yells together 3…2…1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! The balloons start to drop, you give your bestie a smooch and scream the words of the song “If you want me, if you need me, I’m yours”. The vibes are completely unmatched, and everyone is on cloud 9. It’s safe to say this was my favorite moment of Decadence Arizona and, honestly, my favorite moment of 2025. This beautiful moment really captures what all of Decadence was and the amazing energy that was carried into 2026. If you weren’t there to experience this surreal countdown, first off, I’m sorry, but don’t worry, I’ll take you along with me as we reminisce on the whole experience and the amazing time that was had.

I woke up Day 1, full of extreme excitement and ready for everything the two days had in store for me, as I had been looking forward to this festival for months. All the anticipation had built up, and just stepping off the party bus and onto the grounds shot energy into my whole body. We wanted to get there early enough to see Adventure Club’s throwback set, but unfortunately, with the long line to get our tickets at the box office, we weren’t able to make it. Thankfully, Sammy Virji was on next, so we started off the night strong, boppin’ around and having a ball at his set. We usually are pretty close to the stage and in VIP, but for this set, we stood in the back of GA, and it was cool seeing the whole stage and lasers from there! My favorite song by him is “I Guess We’re Not The Same”, so of course, when he started playing that, I was jumping around and singing my heart out to it.

After that set, we wanted to go explore everything else, so we walked around and stumbled into the newest stage addition this year called The Conservatory- and it was an absolute vibe in there. It was this round and enclosed, large cone-like shape, and in the middle of it was a shining disco ball. With the disco ball and all the lasers, it created such a cool stage! There were lots of house artists that played in there, and I can get down to house, but it’s not typically my first choice. I was with my best friend, though, who is a huge house head, so being in there with someone who gets their energy from house music rubbed off on me and made it even more fun just seeing how much of a blast she was having!

After grooving in The Conservatory for a bit, we walked outside and were drawn to the rides nearby. It’s safe to say, besides the ball drop, this was one of my other favorite moments from the weekend. We typically don’t take the time to go on any rides at fests, but since the lines weren’t very long at all, we decided to go on them, and I’m so happy we did. I will definitely be going on rides in the future because of how much fun we had. The first one we went on was called Pharaoh’s Revenge, which was a big pendulum looking thing. It swung back and forth, and each time it did, your stomach would completely drop, and you’d feel yourself lift off the seat just slightly and catch some air. We were screaming and laughing so hard, so of course, we had to try the other ride. This one was called Typhoon, and it went around and around in a circle vertically, which was cool because you could see the view of the Ferris Wheel in front of you, and you were also overlooking the venue. We then decided to go back on the first ride again because of how much fun we were having. I’m so glad they decided to add these fun rides this year to make the experience even more magical and I will definitely be going on all the rides in the future! It’s such a euphoric feeling being on a ride, hearing the surrounding music play, looking out at all the pretty lights, dressed up in your rave fits, and laughing with your best friends.

I ended the night seeing the first half of Kai Wachi b2b Sullivan King and then the second half of Zedd. I started out at the b2b, which was exactly what I was needing to help close out day 1. Don’t get me wrong, I was having a great night, but I am definitely a bass head, so hearing that heavy dub just recharged my soul. I met up with some of my awesome old coworkers that I hadn’t seen in a few months, and headbanging/ dancing with them had me feeling so energetic and excited. I also thought this stage was super cool (the Royal Ballroom), and it was sadly the only set I was able to see here because it just turned out that a lot of the sets I wanted to see were at the main stage, or we were exploring other things. So, I’m thankful I got to have such a great time at this stage for this b2b- even if it was only for the first half. I ended up leaving halfway into the set because my best friend was at the main stage (the Grand Palace), seeing Zedd, and I wanted to end the night with her. I’m happy I did because his lasers were so beautiful, like thousands of colorful rainbows above us, and we got to sing our hearts out to his classic song, “Clarity”, which is always a great time.

This now gets us to day 2: The main event, if we’re being honest. Day 1 was just a little warm-up to all that was about to go down New Year’s Eve. This night for me was absolutely stacked, and most of the artists that I wanted to see were at the main stage. It was Tape B into GRiZ into Fisher into Subtronics. We still bopped around for the beginning of the night and caught a little bit of SG Lewis before going to Tape B. Walking into Tape B, the crowd was definitely building, and it was getting extremely packed. This was the only time during the festival that I didn’t have much space, and I felt like there were way too many people there. We went up on the second level that overlooked everything, but it was just as packed. I could barely see the stage, and I knew we needed a better spot for GRiZ. Some people in my group were a little hesitant to try to make our way through the crowd, but I had faith there was going to be a better spot for us. So, we started to make our way through- fanning everyone, dancing a little bit, and saying excuse me, of course. If you’re going to make your way through the crowd, that’s the way to do it, and not just shove through everyone! After making our way through the crowd and more towards the middle, there was actually more space to dance, and everyone was absolutely vibing. Tape B was playing some fire mixes, of course, like “Obsessed” (his new flip with Levity). Everyone was dancing and gettin’ down the whole time.

After Tape B ended, the crowd seemed to open up slightly, and there was some more room to dance, which was amazing, because now it was time for the moment I had been waiting for for months: GRiZ. I hadn’t seen GRiZ in over two years since his hiatus, and he has always been one of my favorite artists. So you can imagine just how excited I was for this, and to make things even better, he was the freakin’ ball drop! As I explained in the beginning of this article, the ball drop was pure euphoric magic- heck, the whole set was pure magic from start to finish. It was full of insanely good music, amazing vibes, and of course, GRiZ playing the saxophone right in front of you- which never disappoints. We were in VIP, which was pretty close to the front of the stage, so the views were unbeatable. This set exceeded all of my expectations going in, and I literally watch videos from it at least once a day to make me happy. GRiZ is such a light, and having his energy and music bring us into this New Year was absolute perfection. I think we all needed that, honestly.

Being on cloud 9 from GRiZ, we knew no matter what, we were going to have a great time seeing Fisher, and of course, we did. I always have the best time at a Fisher set, and this time was even better than his sets I’ve seen in the past. He really brought it with this one, and it was the perfect little mix-up in between GRiZ and Subtronics. “Atmosphere” is typically my favorite part of his sets, and this time was no exception. Fisher definitely had us spinnin’ in his Atmosphere the whole time. If there’s one house artist I want to see in between my favs, Subtronics and GRiZ, it’s got to be Fisher.

Lastly, closing out Decadence was Subtronics, THANK GOD. Occasionally, the closing sets in the past have been pretty mid, so I was ecstatic they chose Subtronics this year because I’ve never seen a bad Subtronics set, if we’re being honest. This was the cherry on top of just the most perfect night and weekend. Some people from my group went to see Odd Mob, but there was no way I was leaving Subby. I wanted to headbang my way into the new year, and I did just that. My favorite moment of the set had to be when he started playing a new remix of “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey, and during this song, my best friend, who had gone to see Odd Mob for a bit, ran into the crowd, and we started singing the song together. It was amazing. Subtronics really closed out Decadence right and started off the New Year with a bang.

All in all, this might’ve been my favorite Decadence yet. Not to mention, there were so many amazing and kind people I met this year, which made the experience even better. Good music surrounded by good souls, there really is nothing better. I’m so thankful to have rang in the New Year with this radiant, positive energy, and I’m going to carry that same energy with me this whole year. Wishing you all love and light in 2026, and I’ll be seeing you at the next Decadence, ready to ring in another amazing year, the magical way. ✨✨✨