Scene
Last weekend in front of The Garden Taproom, Defected Zagreb delivered what many of us were hoping for – a night centered around quality house music, a good crowd, and a feeling of shared purpose ahead of the summer festival season. As a pre-party for Defected Croatia, there was the right balance: relaxed, well-organized, and musically on point.
We arrived later in the evening, at the closed stage placed in the parking lot in front of the Garden Brewery, just as Dobar House was wrapping up their warmup for the main headliners. Sadly, we missed Elena Mikac, who opened the night at 8 PM. We caught it just in time to hear Tom Bug heating up the crowd for the headliners. He showed why Defected and The Garden Productions chose Dobar House – a label whose sound goes hand in hand with the atmosphere that Defected always creates.
After Bug, Sam Divine stepped up – literally – and showed the Zagreb crowd why she is called the “first lady” of Defected. My favorite moment came right at the end of her set; the last 20 minutes were full of those tracks that hit differently in a live setting – everything seemed to slow down, and the entire crowd felt totally in sync. It was powerful, and the perfect emotional finishing point of her performance.
Later, Dennis Ferrer took things in a deeper direction. His set was less about vocal highs and more about groove and pressure. Even though he moved away from the usual house sound, he still stuck to some well-known hits but gave his spin on them.
What stood out the most was the production – the sound and light quality followed the standard of such an acclaimed festival, which was named the best festival of 2024 according to the DJ Awards held in Ibiza.
The pre-party gave us a glimpse of what we can expect at the Garden Resort Tisno this summer – quality sound, good pacing, and people who are there to be present with the music.
