MUMBAI : North Coast Music Festival returned to SeatGeek Stadium in Chicagoland this past weekend to welcome nearly 70,000 attendees across three days for the festival’s 13th edition. The festival transformed the SeatGeek campus into an immersive and colorful setting for attendees to revel in some of the leading acts in electronic music.

The festival’s main stage The Stadium welcomed a variety of genre-spanning acts throughout the weekend. North Coast kicked off Friday with stadium-smashing sets from energetic party starter Valentino Khan, English dubstep ace Zomboy, genre-bending producer/DJ Jauz, progressive house icon Alesso, and a pyro-fueled closing set from Marshmello. Following the close of Jauz’s set, Marshmello joined him on stage and invited North Coast attendees to sing along to celebrate Jauz’s 30th birthday.

On Saturday, The Stadium packed a bass music fueled roster from start to finish. Electro soul queen Maddy O’Neal brought the early afternoon energy followed by Esseks, Inzo, and Of The Trees. Masked musical trio Black Tiger Sex Machine made an unforgettable festival debut at North Coast and Belgian duo Ganja White Night captivated Coasties with their signature blend of bass music. The stadium remained packed to the brim as Saturday’s highly-anticipated closers Zeds Dead provided one of the electrifying sets of the weekend.

The third and final day at The Stadium showcased the vast spectrum of electronic music with stellar performances from Rossy and EVAN GIIA to start off the afternoon. Melodic bass music titan Dabin made his North Coast debut to capture the hearts of Coasties with the picturesque stadium backdrop. Spiritual bass music icon Alison Wonderland and GRAMMY winning act Flume rounded out the festival on a high note. Additionally, Flume welcomed special guests on stage to perform hit singles “Rushing Back,” “Never Be Like You,” and more.

The Vega stage impressed North Coast festival goers with a sprawling new stage design and layout. To showcase the epic new stage, Friday kicked off with the WAKAAN label takeover with sets from Cannabliss, Jantsen, Wreckno, Champagne Drip, and Lab Group followed by Liquid Stranger at the helm.

On Saturday, The Vega offered an entirely new experience as it transformed into a house music haven. The energy was kept at an all time high with sets from Chicago native Sherm, French house producer HUGEL, as well as an emotive set from Surf Mesa, and high-octane performance from Chris Lorenzo. As night fell over North Coast, legends MK and DJ Snake packed The Vega for each of their sets to celebrate another successful day at the Chicagoland festival.

Sunday provided another immersive experience for Coasties at The Vega with early afternoon performances from LAYZ, Wuki, and masked duo ATLiens. NGHTMRE delivered an epic solo set as the sun went down followed by the highly-anticipated live performance from Big Gigantic. Marking a first for North Coast, the artists returned to the stage after their solo sets as supergroup GIGANTIC NGHTMRE to round out the weekend.

For its 2023 edition, North Coast Music Festival also debuted a brand new stage called The Shipyard. Formerly known as The Canopy, The Shipyard came with a revamped design that layered shipping containers on top of each other, surrounding each performer with a bevy of screens and lights.
On Friday, The Shipyard hosted rip-roaring sets from a genre-belding lineup that included an angelic performance from Aluna, infectious future-funk cuts from Yung Bae, a crowd-pleasing selection from BLOND:ISH, a two-hour extravaganza from Gordo (the longest set of the weekend), and a cathartic closing set from Duke Dumont.

Saturday’s Shipyard lineup showcased talent from Lane 8’s This Never Happened label, which mesmerized crowds all day during its stage takeover. The day featured back-to-back sets of cacophonous melodic house tunes from artists such as Jerro, Le Youth, and Sultan + Shepard, as well a highlight, hybrid DJ/live performance from Elderbrook and a seamless, euphoric closing set from label-boss Lane 8.

On Sunday, Chris Lake’s Black Book Records imprint took over The Shipyard, and he brought over friends such as Miane, Kyle Watson, and Cloonee for standout sets filled to the brim with blazing house selections, before closing out the stage himself for one of the highly-attended performances of the entire weekend.

North Coast Music Festival 2023 also saw the return of two popular experiential areas: The Fire Pit and The Chill Dome.

The Fire Pit delivered incendiary sets from an assortment of top-shelf bass music artists such as MZG, Masteria, Daily Bread, and A Hundred Drums - an assortment of acts whose massive drops aligned with scorching blazes of fire spouting all around the stage’s central dome.

The Chill Dome offered a cooled-off safe-haven from attendees needing a break from the weekend’s mid-90s temperatures, providing enchanting lasers, refreshing air conditioning, and sets from Champagne Drip, Surf Mesa, and INZO for guests to lay down and relax to.

This year’s North Coast Music Festival also saw the return of experiential elements such as the The Giant, a large tree man sculpture by Paul Khan that also acted as the centerpiece of The Silent Disco area. The festival also welcomed back the kinetic Zephyrs backdrop and The Rainbow Lounge, a circle of hammocks fashioned around scaffolding that lit up at night.

Also making its return was the NCMF Yacht Club powered by BeatBox - a boat onsite with interior rooms that attendees could explore, a bar, and a deck at the top for a birds eye view above the crowd of The Shipyard stage.

Platinum VIP pass holders once again got access to the exclusive Platinum Lounge, which provided an open bar,  a rotating menu of small bites, and a private seating area that overlooked The Stadium Stage.

Experiential elements making their debut at North Coast Music Festival this year was BassBot, a large moving robot sculpture by Paul Khan situated in The Vega field, in addition to a ferris wheel that gave panoramic views of the festival’s grounds.

There was also Club Coast, a hidden speakeasy that festival goers had to search for and enter using daily passwords given through the North Coast app, and the Pixel Path, a set of large, glow-in-the-dark cubes that attendees could walk through along the main path.

Overall, North Coast’s 13th edition proved to be one of the most captivating yet as it continues to build its legacy as one of the premier Labor Day electronic music festivals in the United States.