Robert Martin

Bust out your kandi bracelets and start hydrating. Spring Awakening Music Festival is back for a fourth year at Soldier Field and the midwest’s largest EDM event is bigger than ever. The Bears’ home field is not often the site of a joyous occasion, but that changes this weekend as four stages worth of bass and bangers invade the historic stadium. This year’s fest features some massive headliners like Zedd and Hardwell in addition to a handful of high value repeats from last year (Tiesto, Diplo, Tommy Trash and Sander van Doorn to name a few). With so much talent taking to the decks, we broke down our top picks by day to keep you shuffling, jiving and thumping all weekend long. Friday Eric Prydz Arguably the most highly regarded DJ at Spring Awakening, Eric Prydz was in the game way before terms like “trap” or “big room” were used to described music. Yet another piece of the Swedish dance dynasty, Prydz brand of progressive house is built on complex buildups that explode into arena sized sonics unlike anything else at this festival. His one hour set on the Equinox stage is far too brief—good luck finding tickets for his sold out aftershow at the Mid. Thomas Jack The grandfather of the “tropical house” movement, Thomas Jack doesn't get enough credit. The Australian producer coined the term when pressured by a friend to name a genre for his smooth summery beats and now that sound has carved out a major place for itself in this scene. While Thomas Jack is the one responsible, it