North Coast 2026: A magical weekend among Chicago’s heatwaves & headbangers
Returning for another year at North Coast Music Festival, we blazed in last Friday, enduring the 100+ degree real feel one hand fan at a time.
Trying to beat the heat, we arrived just after 4pm, just in time for our exclusive Exron interviews. This year, we were stoked to meet with techno goddess Domina and longtime legend, Wuki. Luckily, those conversations kept us in the green rooms until just before sunset. We were able to cool off with Domina in the OCB Chill Dome, recently rebranded as The Bunker.
From there, we caught the end of Level Up, just in time to hear her drop LEVELTRONICS’ flip “Girlfriend”. This collaborative track debuted during Subtronics’ Coachella performance when he brought Level Up out as a surprise guest. Next up, it was time to see the King himself, Porter Robinson. This was possibly my favorite Porter set of all time. He dropped songs from all his eras, including some of my favorites like Knock Yourself Out, Look at the Sky, and Musician. Dancing with my friends while singing along was my favorite moment of the weekend.
Day 2 was another heater, stacked with some of the best bass and dubstep sets of the weekend. Kicking things off, we headed down to the Stadium to catch Mary Droppinz. This was my second time seeing her, and it definitely won’t be my last. She had the whole crowd bouncing up and down, knees high, and spirits higher. From there, we pretty much camped out at the stadium, oscillating between the crowd and the bleachers, fully raging face to YDG and ALLEYCVT.
Walking through the festival allowed us to people-watch, interact with the characters roaming the grounds, and explore the art installations. We grabbed a few group photos as we made our way to The Vega. Time for Wooli! Wooli dropped banger after banger, including his collaboration with Tape B, Dopamine. As well as our personal favorite, On Repeat featuring Flux Pavilion. We decided to stay in the back of the crowd for this one, which gave us optimal space for our (some would say fire) dance moves. It was a tough call leaving the Stadium while Ganja White Night was coming on, but we headed back there to close out the night with GRiZ.
This was our first time seeing GRiZ since 2020, and boy, was he back and better than ever. He was fully equipped with his saxophone and even brought out some backup performers, showing off their horns, all while perfectly in sync with the beat. When the fireworks finished and it was time to go home, we walked back to our car with our hydration pack empty and hearts full of joy. Our necks were absolutely broken by day three due to the excessive headbanging experienced on day two, but that didn’t stop us at all. The lines moved fast, just like each day before. Honorable mention to the North Coast staff. Having attended this festival for years, it continues to be one of the most organized and well-managed events in the game. We started off the day with William Black. All those feel-good hits instantly energized us for the night ahead.
Up next was BUNT. This was one of the most unique performances of the weekend, as he brought his “In The Round” show to The Stadium, creating a massive Boiler Room style set that was centered in the middle of the crowd. This allowed fans to surround the DJ booth from all sides, creating an intimate atmosphere within the large festival crowd. It felt like BUNT. was the master orchestrator, carefully crafting his fans to dance along. We lost our minds when Crankdat came out next, and then it was time for a solo side quest to The Vega for the UK legend, Sammy Virji. His high-energy performance was everything we could have asked for and more.
We cried, we headbanged, and cried some more, bopping around to the beats, singing our hearts out to every song. There’s just something so magical about being together under the fireworks to close out a festival night, and North Coast absolutely understands that part of the assignment. We didn’t want the night to end, but we will be back next year for the 17th installment of North Coast Music Festival. See you next time, coasties!
Featured image courtesy of North Coast Festival
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