Riverside festival has always been a special one ever since its creating in 2013, but this year… Oh man. They took it above and beyond. For a festival to be held on very limited space, DNA Presents find ways to make it one of the most exciting events of the festival season. I’m not just talking about the impeccable view onto the Canadian parliament or the beautiful architecture of the neighboring Canadian museum of history buildings, or the biggest lineup we’ve seen to date. I’m talking the maximum use of such a limited space without feeling like you’re squished into the festival. Not once would you feel suffocated by people, which sometimes happen at the major festivals. This aspect is often forgotten for why we had such a great time at an event. The organizer’s care for the attendees experience and comfortability is something to take note of.

Now to the music. Riverside Festival saw it’s biggest lineup since its birth. Some of the biggest acts in the world came to Gatineau last weekend, such as Matroda, Lost Kings, Borgore, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Steve Aoki, and so many more.

Starting Day 1 of 3 with a solid night of house music was the perfect warm up. With some local acts, such as Ross X Class, Mac, and others showing their talent, Matroda took the stage for dangerously hard set of hard house music. Matroda on his Red Tape Tour came and made a visit and slammed his set. Mixing some of the biggest tracks of the summer and switching to some crazy drops while keeping a house vibe. It’s also cool to note that he didn’t touch the mic once because he was so into his insane mixing.

Day 2 saw a new kind of energy. Starting the day on a more big room house lineup, the festival saw names like Maurice West, 13, Jay Hardway, and the Lost Kings performing some incredible sets and dropping crazy throwbacks, fresh music, and some unreleased tracks. To end the night, Borgore with the sunset time slot played a mixture of intense bass music with some of his classic Borgore originals. Have you heard Unicorn Zombie Apocalypse? If you have, imagine that at one of his shows. Yeah, it went crazy. To headline the night was none other than Montreal’s very own Black Tiger Sex Machine. Three guys with black tiger helmets that light up on a stage overlooking 6000 people and Canada’s Parliament was something unique. Not only did they kill their set with HEAVY bass anthems and a BTSM personal touch, the crowd’s energy was as entertaining as the show itself.

The last day of the festival didn’t take a minute to chill. Two of Montreal’s most loved local DJs, Khaos and Domeno, warmed the day up in style. Next to take the stage was Riot Ten who mixed in and out of some of the hardest bass tracks of the night. He almost literally destroyed the crowd but they kept up with him. Tritonal followed to with an emotional and powerful set for Gatineau to enjoy. Zomboy joined to the Riverside party at 7:25 pm for his second time since 2017. He honestly took the definition of the word “intense” to the next level. Dropping tracks that would make your head bang even if you’re not a headbanger, this UK born bass DJ/producer made Riverside look like one of his own. He gave the crowd no breaks with back-to-back drops of pure fire and notably starting a “Wall of the Death” while playing Eptic and Trampa’s remix of Get With The Program. It went absolutely nuts.

Closing the festival was the one and only Steve Aoki. Easily the biggest name Riverside Festival has ever had, Aoki shut the festival down in style. He is no doubt the incredible showman he’s so well known to be. Ranging his set from hard trap to psy-trance to his biggest tracks with a perfect touch of emotional songs, he had something to everyone. Though what made his set special is his way of including the crowd as the show. Bringing cakes to throw (it still fascinates me to see someone throw a cake so well), pouring champagne onto the crowd, and giving giant letters spelling “Gatineau” for photos, Steve Aoki’s art of making a great show is nothing to be underrated.

This year’s Riverside Festival went to another level. Every year the teams at EDM Canada is impressed by this event’s outcome and we look forward to many more years to come.

Tiesto

“Are you ready for some Tiesto classics?!” exclaimed Tiesto on the mic as the large crowd screamed. Toronto was SO ready to witness the global sensation’s skills on stage. He played us remixes of some favourites such as ‘Calabria' (Enur ft. Natasja), 'Feel it in my bones' (Tegan and Sara), 'Pump it' (Black Eyed Peas), 'Mr. Brightside' (Killers) and ‘Wasted' (Matthew Koma). Favourite moments during the set were: 1) When he played 'Just Be' as it is an old favourite, 2) When he apologized that he had to speed things up because he’s running late and the crowd decided that no matter how fast the beat was going, they were going to jump along! Nothing short of awesome, Tiesto proved to us once again, why he is such a powerhouse in the DJ world.

Madeon

Taking DJing to a whole new level— Madeon seemed to be enjoying being intertwined with so much technology and song power at their fingertips. He would pick up his midi controller and show the audience which buttons he was really pressing up there! Not only was he good with his tools, but he also danced just as much as the crowd if not MORE! His transitions were quick and effective with the perfect amount of highs and lows and the audience was engaged from start till finish. His dance-worthy song 'Imperium' was a big hit. Some of the side screens were lowered until Zedd’s performance and yet Madeon’s visuals stood out beautifully without being excessive. Overall, his energy and dedication to the spirit of DJing was very impressive. Not the stereotypical jumping up and down from the crowd that we commonly see.

Major lazer

As the main stage crowd took a moment’s break realizing they had JUST seen Tiesto, Major Lazer got ready for what they called ‘the largest crowd in Canada yet!’. They played a lot of their remixes and tracks (ex. 'Watch out for this (Bumaye)’, ‘Light it up’, ‘Lean on’, ‘Front of the line’, ‘Sua Cara’, ‘Bun up the dance remix’, ‘Shape of you remix’, and more). Most notably, they took audience engagement to a new level as Diplo himself jumped in a giant hamster ball and rolled over the crowd. The group was so impressed with the diversity in the crowd noting the different flags and wanting to celebrate the moment by taking a group picture with “all the flags up!”.

Their light show/visuals did not disappoint and it was refreshing to see an ending that just faded away rather than had the usual big bang. They helped us not feel left out celebrating the Caribbean festival by doing a shuffle lead by their amazing dancers. They repeatedly exclaimed their love for the city and the festival crowd there on Sunday. The show closed off the successful festival strong and the audience rushed out to their cars and ubers, a lot of them trying to get to Rebel nightclub to see Diplo for the afterparty. (Ps. Hey Major Lazer! Just in case you didn’t know, the feeling was mutual and Toronto loves you too!)

Zedd

As expected, Zedd delivered a wonderfully well-rounded performance with amazing visuals and just the right amount of his songs sprinkled in with remixes. Although I really enjoy the fact that as a DJ, one is able to add their own touches to popular songs and mix them with creativity, It was also enjoyable to hear a DJ's own discography live, for longer than a chorus at a time. This is why Zedd’s performances are so energizing because he knows what his fans want to hear.. He is a talented artist and producer who is capable of showcasing his talent while the crowd was happy to sing along. "Clarity" was still one of the biggest sing-along moments for the crowd while my favourite part of the set was the appearance of the dancing hot dog meme on screen during his newest single ‘Get Low’ ft Liam Payne. Some notable remixes were of songs by Clean Bandit, Bruno Mars, Missy Elliott, Nelly, Maroon 5, Kendrick Lamar, Queen and Daft Punk. He also ended the show with fireworks which never hurts!

French Montana

Veld fest was happy to announce the last minute addition of French Montana to the schedule replacing Lil Uzi Vert, who unfortunately had to cancel his appearances in Canada due to due to immigration and border issues. The Remy Martin Stage was happy to welcome French Montana with excitement. Although he had not prepared to perform at Veld this year, he easily delivered an excellent set. He greeted the crowd with smiles and great energy as they sang along with him the whole time. He repeatedly mentioned how much he loves performing in Toronto and judging by the crowd’s reaction, it is no wonder why! Everyone from the front row to people sitting in the ferris wheel were engaged. The festival attracted a crowd that is well versed in both hip hop and EDM. Everyone knew the words to his newest song ‘Unforgettable’ as French asked everyone to sing it loud grinning from ear to ear. A great performance through and through by French Montana.

Getter

Following French Montana, the majority of the crowd excitedly waited as Getter took the stage. Getter’s set was full of head bangers and it seemed like the crowd was expecting just that! A group got so into it, they almost knocked over the barrier wall surrounding the sound tent! They celebrated in synchronicity while holding nothing back. The visuals were very detailed and interesting, really adding to the overall look of the Remy Martin stage.

Grey

As things started to pick up on day 1 at Veld, Grey, 2 brothers from L.A known most recently for their song with Hailee Steinfeld called ’Starving' took the main stage. What made these brothers most interesting on stage was the fact that they brought in a live guitar and drum machine for their set. Not only did this give the viewers a more authentic live sound but also really had us all engaged and wondering whether the next song would feature some live instrumentals or not. The duo both alternated between live instruments and mixing, played their new song "Chameleon" which was well received. They also incorporated a fair amount of top 40 tracks, some throwbacks and Zedd remixes into their set. Although it seemed like they had some technical difficulties just over halfway through their set, they recovered quickly by gracefully ending their set strong. Throughout their performance they enjoyed moving around the stage as much as possible and entertaining the crowd until the end.

Dzeko

Torontonians know how to celebrate when one of their own comes to town! Dzeko had no trouble keeping the crowd interested as he played the most diversified set of the day. His remixes of classics such as "Sweet Dreams" and "L’Amour Toujours" were all well received and he even threw in a bit of Blur in there somehow! He ended his set with his new remix of Jonas Blue’s ‘Mama'.

Robin Schulz

There was a steady influx of people flowing in throughout the day and by the time Robin Schulz came on, the area by the main stage was full. Robin Schulz’s set gathered attention from not only the people close surrounding the main stage, but all around the site as people recognized his popular tracks. His remix of "Prayer in C" was a big hit as expected. He also had the chance to bring on a guest artist: Francesco Yates, to help him perform 'Sugar’. The crowd was clearly entertained and cheering them on.

Loud luxury

The duo from London Ontario took stage as larger numbers of people started to dance-walk their way towards the main-stage area on Day 2 of VELD. Loud luxury, who has been touring North America the past year, delivered a steady set filled with classics and chart toppers. Tracks like 'Still D.R.E', 'You Don’t Know Me', ‘Goosebumps', Hype, 'Bad and Boujee', ‘Work remix’ and 'Show me love' received the biggest crowd response. Throughout their set they delivered a good mix of rap, dance, hip hop and top 40 to engage all members of the crowd. They also had a special guest Nikki’s wives who joined them to perform their newest song ‘Show me what that body do’ which currently has almost 2.3M views on Youtube. Nikki’s vocals were great as she strutted the stage with her black sequinned onesie. Their visuals were colourful and active but more minimalistic in design with a spinning Loud Luxury logo above them for almost the entire set.

3LAU

3LAU delivered a solid performance featuring 2 special guests. His visuals featured his logo 3LAU flashing up on all main screens of the stage in different colour arrangements for most of his performance. The crowd was enjoying the set as they sang along to songs like ‘Day n night’, ‘Goosebumps’, ‘Humble’, ‘Light’, ‘Waiting for tonight' and ‘Sandstorm. He also had two special guests come join him on stage. The first was WWE wrestler Mojo Rawley and second Madison Beer for her new track 'Dead'. Both guests enjoyed dancing with 3LAU on stage.

Review and photos by Sinejan Ozaydemir. You can follow her on Twitter by clicking here.

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Riverside Festival Review

11 impressions from the Veld Music Festival 2017