Every New Year’s Eve promises reinvention, but Eternal NYE actually felt like it. Held at the Orlando Amphitheater at the Central Florida Fairgrounds, Eternal NYE wasn’t just a place to watch the clock hit midnight; it was a fully realized, two-night bass pilgrimage where sound, atmosphere, and community folded into one continuous experience. Across both nights, the festival felt less like a stacked playlist and more like a carefully written story, with each day intentionally tailored to its headliner.
Night one leaned into funk, soul, and authenticity. Night two flipped the switch into raw, bass-heavy, dubstep pressure. The contrast wasn’t accidental. It was well curated and thought out.
The Lineup: Two Nights, Two Sonic Worlds
From the moment gates opened on day one, the tone was set with heavy grooves. Early sets emphasized movement and musicality, easing the crowd into the weekend rather than overwhelming them. The energy built naturally throughout the day, culminating in a night that felt vibrant, communal, and celebratory.
Chmura and Zen Selekta opened the festival with textured, funky basslines and rhythm-driven selections that encouraged motion without demanding it. Their sound emphasized bounce, atmosphere, and detail, perfect for welcoming people into the space.
As the grounds filled out, Wreckno brought a surge of charisma and confidence, pairing vocal-forward bass with call-and-response moments that kept the vibe social and animated. Grabbitz followed with emotional range, blending live vocals and electronic production to bridge the early-day groove into more cinematic territory.
Mersiv began pushing the sound even deeper, layering hypnotic basslines and immersive sound design while maintaining the warmth established earlier in the day. His set played at weight without abandoning the funk-forward identity that defined night one.
By the time GRiZ took the main stage, the crowd was fully primed. His performance was a celebration of everything that makes him GRiZ, GRiZ; live saxophone, jazzy instrumentation, soulful melodies, and bursts of dubstep all coexisting seamlessly. One moment you were swaying, the next you were jumping up and down, and somehow it all made sense. Rather than overpowering the night, the bass was layered and intentional, woven into funky rhythms and live elements that gave the set a human, almost alive feeling. It was a reminder of joy, and a deliberate way to close out the year with warmth instead of weight.
Night One Afters: Keeping the Spark Alive
The first official afters carried the night deeper rather than letting it fade. Featuring GRiZ, Kaleena Zanders, Side Trakd, and Sage, the room shifted into a more intimate energy. Less spectacle, more soul. Kaleena Zanders brought raw vocal power and emotional warmth, while Side Trakd and Sage kept the space moving with groove-forward, late-night momentum.
GRiZ’s presence tied everything together, but his second set came with a completely different approach. Stripping away the live instrumentation, he delivered a hard-hitting, no-frills dubstep DJ set that leaned fully into bass pressure. It revealed a darker, heavier side of his sound and acted as a sharp contrast to his earlier performance, making the afters feel like a true continuation of the story rather than a detached add-on.
Night Two: Zeds Dead and a Full Bass Takeover
Day two opened with noticeably more density and edge, signaling a shift in identity almost immediately. From the first sets onward, the lineup leaned into heavy and experimental bass, prioritizing low-end, darker sound design, and cinematic tension.
Cool Customer and VCTRE laid the groundwork early with crisp frequencies, intricate rhythms, and forward-thinking experimental bass design. Their sets rewarded close listening and pulled the crowd into a deeper headspace. Black Carl! followed by pushing the energy further, introducing richer textures and heavier drops that made it clear this night would be about weight and immersion.
EAZYBAKED kept the momentum thick and grimy, delivering bass that felt playful yet heavy, while INZO offered a moment of emotional contrast. His cinematic builds and introspective elements provided light before the night fully descended into darkness.
All of this led naturally into Zeds Dead, whose headlining performance delivered the heaviest, most commanding energy of the weekend. Their set leaned deep into dubstep and bass, landing with maximum impact precisely. The entire day’s lineup had been engineered to support that sound.
Night Two Afters: No Release, Just Depth
The second night’s afters stayed true to the tone. Anchored by Liquid Stranger’s second set of the night, the energy shifted into something experimental, trippy, and fully immersive. Slower-burning and heavier, the afters felt like the natural endpoint of a bass-dominated night, the moment where time blurred and the weekend finally resolved itself.
Production, Flow, and Crowd Chemistry
Production remained sharp without overshadowing the music. Lasers and lighting enhanced the sound, and the open-air amphitheater allowed the bass to breathe. Movement between stages and spaces felt manageable, which mattered even more, across two long nights.
The crowd chemistry did the rest. This was a bass-literate audience that understood pacing, knowing when to rage and when to let moments sit. That shared awareness elevated every set.
The main stage itself was built like a futuristic monolith, framed by sharp geometric LED panels that stacked vertically and angled inward, giving the structure depth and scale. Night one leaned into warm, saturated tones of golds, teals, purples, and flowing gradients that mirrored the funkier, instrumental moments. Visuals moved fluidly, with wave-like motion and rhythmic pulses that complemented live sax lines and groove-driven bass.
Night two transformed the same structure entirely. High-contrast blacks, reds, and electric whites took over as visuals snapped instead of flowed. Jagged animations, strobing patterns, and horizontal lasers compressed the space, making the crowd feel enclosed inside the sound. By the time the night’s heaviest moments came around, the stage felt industrial, dark, and commanding.
Final Thoughts
Eternal NYE didn’t just book big names—it designed nights around them. The funky, instrumental warmth of night one flowed seamlessly into GRiZ’s dual performances, while night two’s bass-heavy intensity made Zeds Dead’s headlining set feel inevitable. Add afters to that mix, that deepened rather than diluted the experience, and you get a New Year’s festival that understood pacing, contrast, and payoff.
This wasn’t just two nights of music.
It was two distinct worlds, and Eternal NYE made sure you felt the difference.