Tomorrowland kicked off in characteristically opulent fashion on Friday, delivering in excess of the next-level spectacle expected of the festival. As predicted, the largest contingent of the crowd was drawn to the jaw dropping mainstage structure, where they welcomed a battalion of the best names in dance music all day long. The magnetism of that natural amphitheater, made famous across the world by ID&T’s breathtaking after-movies, had a noticeable effect on the other stages across the festival site.

While in 2012 the 60,000 ravers seemed to sprawl more evenly around the De Schorre National Park on day one, this year the mainstage worship was stronger than ever. The never ending sea of flags, girls on shoulders and raised hands stretched in every direction, definitely made for one amazing party and its certain that, when the DJ’s are just one tiny detail in a volcanic landscape that can fire plumes of smoke and lasers, it’s not hard to be transfixed beyond measure.

No ID had a growing main stage crowd during the festival’s earliest moments and Sunnery James, Ryan Marciano, Mim and a recovered Liv from Nervo brought the packed out volcano-front venue into full swing. Tomorrowland had hardly begun but the music was already booming.

“Liv can’t lift her arms, but can beat match and mix”, Mim from Aussie duo Nervo cheerily told fans who worried that Liv could’ve just been spending Tomorrowland in a hospital bed following her accident. The duo proved to be a mainstage favourite early in the day, building on their reputation for delivering some of the most happening sets at different festivals.

Russian prodigy Arty delivered a cavalcade of anthems not long after, peaking with his own single “Together We Are” and his thundering remix of Zedd’s track, “Clarity”. A little while later, Sebastian Ingrosso warmed up at sundown for the spectacular fireworks and pyrotechnics that were to come, while Musical Freedom label head and Dutch kingpin, Tiesto took to the stage and delivered a slick crowd-pleasing set as the lasers descended. Kicking of his set he immediately dropped a massive bootleg to match the massive production — his Dyro collaboration, “Paradise”, mashed with Krewella’s “Alive”. We soon found out  that there possibly is no greater Main Stage festival presence than the one and only Tijs. Drawing heavily on his evergreen hits in the final stretch with his remix of “Silence” and “Adagio for Strings” the Dutch legend gave us a set we won’t forget for a while.

If you were curious to venture beyond the mainstage and soak up the stunning details across the rest of the festival,  Steve Aoki was captaining a Dim Mak tent stacked with rapid-fire sets, he’ll of course return to close the mainstage on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Carl Cox & Friends took control at the Ferris Wheel stage, this year featuring a towering and grandly designed butterfly design.

As Aoki was showering the front row in champagne over at his tent, John Digweed delivered in his consummate style late in the afternoon with some tough yet enjoyable techno that eased towards melodic progressive at the tail-end, while Marco Carola’s cancellation meant that both Loco Dice and Cox himself were able to pump out extended sessions (Win!).

The ‘Garden of Madness’ stage debuted for the first time at the festival, floating on a massive constructed island on the lake and visually defined by the gorgeous floral displays hanging from the ceiling – all timed to bloom with the start of the festival by famous landscaper Daniel Orst, with Afrojack playing a centrepiece set in the evening

A united Shermanology, Bobby Burns and Leroy Styles put their heads together for their 4pm set with Bassjackers and Apster’s alliance following. While Redfoo assaulted the garden with his party-rocking hype-heavy style and the opulent atmosphere survived R3hab’s chainsaw madness.

Visual decadence and aural pandemonium, Afrojack’s Tomorrowland excursion was a juxtaposition that created the perfect storm on day one. Contradicting beautiful decor with unrelenting beats, the rave garden survived the always amplified “Bangduck” intro, and even resisted to ignite upon the explosion of “Raybomb”.

For those who are more inclined to the sounds of the underground, the Paradise arena at the Buddhist-themed stage right on the lake’s edge delivered & how!, with Jamie Jones locking into his signature tech-house groove in the closing slot.

Meanwhile, coming to the highly anticipated twelve-hour marathon set, Markus Schulz was tucked away at the festival’s most distant locale, a far off area where he would have to be sought out rather than stumbled upon. Consequently, the tent was sparsely populated with dedicated Schulz faithfuls as Markus hit the one-fourth mark of his marathon. Three hours in we found him ripping through big room festival trance, catering to a small but exuberant audience that flocked to the barricades as his more dedicated fans settled into the tent’s breezy corners hoisting “Schulz Nation” flags.

Coming back to the ‘Main Stage’ hometown heroes Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike closed out the first day of Tomorrowland perched atop the massive volcano. Delivering this year’s Tomorrowland anthem that sits comfortably at #1 on the Beatport charts, “Chattahoochee“, along with their Tomorrowland Festival remix of Major Lazer’s, “Watch Out for This” the pair lit up the crowd with a wall of thunderous kicks and festival-friendly productions.  Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “Thrift Shop” mashed up with their upcoming track “Check This Out” launched the crowd into a frenzy as lasers streaked across the night sky.

Day-1 was definitely a fascinating affair, stay tuned for a daily round up of Day-2!