The world’s largest paint party has swept across the nation and it’s returning to Madison bigger and better than before. Dayglow took off at full speed touring big cities like Miami, New York, Chicago and Atlanta. Madison seems small in comparison, but Producer Eric Fuller believes after their earlier stop in November that Madison can party just as big as the rest of them.
“We like to start in larger cities, then it kind of trickles into other areas. The University of Wisconsin is a pretty big party school,” Fuller said. “There are people and there is partying. That adds up to the equation of Dayglow.”
The party is getting even bigger by more than doubling the size of Dayglow’s last appearance in Madison. Fuller is expecting around 4,000 people to attend.
“We got a much bigger venue; we are at the Alliant Energy Center. We have more production, more sound, and better lighting,” Fuller said.
But the venue is not the only thing that’s changing. The entertainment will be something that Madison hasn’t seen before.
“We have The Devil from Acapulco who does a dance,” Fuller said.
The Devil from Acapulco is a man decked out in metallic silver, wearing a huge headdress. His job is to dance and get the crowd even more animated. This is admittedly an improvement from Dayglow’s last show, where the only form of entertainment was one girl dancing on stage.
But The Devil from Acapulco could not perform without the techno beats supplied by the DJ. Dayglow was able to score one of the top electronic DJs in the world – Funkagenda. Funkagenda has traveled all over the world to play his music, and will be responsible for creating most of the energy needed for “the world’s largest paint party.”
“It’s like non-stop energy from the time you walk in from the time you leave,” Fuller said.
Of course the music and entertainment are key elements of Dayglow, but the prime reason people attend is the massive amount of paint that is dumped on the crowd.
“From the stage we have speed blasters. Imagine a confetti cannon, but it has paint in it,” Fuller said. “We also have bottles of paint the crowd will have.”
The speed blasters are able to launch paint 75 to 100 feet out into the audience. For the uninitiated, the crowd becomes a canvas once paint is sprayed all over them, which is accomplished by party-goers wearing white, accentuating the vibrant neon colors.
So how exactly did getting showered with paint become such a national craze? It all started in 2006, when a college campus in Florida decided to throw a huge campus rave.
“The first Dayglow we every did, we just opened the doors and people walked in and grabbed paint. It has turned into more of a show now,” Fuller said. “I am very surprised it took off so fast.”
The show has evolved dramatically from just a bunch of college students throwing paint around, and Fuller plans to keep making changes for the future.
“We are always working to evolve; we are already working on the tour for next year,” Fuller said. “We are looking for ways to make the party more interesting. Our new thing is trying to bring in big artists.”
Fuller believes Dayglow takes people away from an average night at the bars or regular concerts and gives them unique memories.
“You get to have a big food fight with paint,” Fuller said. “People consistently think it is the best night of their life.”
Dayglow will be at the Alliant Energy Center tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30.
