Riverside Festival Review

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By Dominic Wren

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.

Riot Ten

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.

Contact Festival Top 5 Highlights

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By Ryan Hayes

The seventh voyage of Contact winter music Festival was a resounding success; bolstered solely by the prolific talent of this year's core A-list roster. While there were some issues with lines, especially when leaving day one, the music spoke for itself. Contact's colossal stage also played its part in wowing festival attendees. Its dazzling light show out did itself once again, entering Ultra level grandeur, and it was easily Blueprint's largest production to date. As always festivals are most appreciated when approached with an open mind, and if you are lucky you'll walk away with a few unexpected additions to your personal best of fest list...

1. Skrillex:

Although fans may experienced Jack U in recent years, 2015 at Pemberton Festival or 2016 at FVDED in the Park, Skrillex' last Vancouver solo set was in 2013. Needless to say the five year gap between performances automatically elevated this year's edition of Contact above recent iterations. With a generous mix of anticipation and nostalgia anything was possible; and for some newcomers to the scene, the set may have collapsed under the weight of its own lofty expectations. However, for the majority of fans Skrillex somehow exceeded the sky high hype that had slowly built since the festivals announcement. In the eight year's since the release of his debut EP, My Name Is Skrillex, Sonny Moore has ascended to the level of a legacy artist; amassing a catalogue of hits that traditionally takes other producers decades to achieve.

Within the opening minutes of his day one set at Contact Skrillex solidified his stature as a rightful legend within the dance music community. His set traversed seamlessly from deeper cuts like Reptile to recent releases including Agen Wida with Joyride. Die hard fans were treated to original drops for quintessential releases Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites, Bangerang, and Devil's Den, among others. Skrillex also showcased new edits of old favourites, Promises included, and highlighted his softer productions like Summit & Would You Ever. Throughout the hour and a half set Skrillex also delved in to his catalogue of critically heralded rap productions/remixes, and featured a Jack U heavy segment. There was something for everyone—it was the by far the most complete Skrillex set I have ever seen, truly showcasing his monumental body of work and solidifying his continued stature and influence within the larger global music community both past and present.

The true highlight of both days of Contact was Skrillex dropping Bangerang in its entirety. Within a second of the tracks opening chime the reaction was instantaneous. Over 20,000 fans collectively lost their minds in unison acting as a reminder to everyone in attendance of the real unifying power of music. Not only did Skrillex meet the hype, he exceeding it in every way. Here's to hoping Vancouver does not have to wait another five years.

2. Alison Wonderland

Few artists have had as big of a year as Alison Wonderland. Starting off 2018 with the release of her Billboard number one album, Awake, Wonderland went on to headline festivals around the world while continually crafting her live act as the year progressed. Beginning her set at Contact in true grandiose fashion with an operatic re-imagining of Prince's When Dove Cry, leading in to Good Enough, and I Want U—I knew from the get go her set was going to be the high point of day two.

Contact may not have been her last set of the year but it acted as the perfect culmination of everything she had accomplished over the last twelve months. Her production was spot on, highlighting both her personality and rising star power, while her set focused on her original productions and festival ready remixes/mashups. Her creativity and mixing are both leagues above the competition and it all rings true to who she is as an artist. While her remix of Dua Lipa's New Rules got the biggest crowd reaction it was her mix of 4B & Teez Whistle, with Virtual Self' Ghost Stories, and her original production Easy that was a personal highlight. Before walking off the stage Wonderland dropped Kanye and Lil Pump's I Love It and got the crowd chanting; “you're such a f**kin' ho, I love it.” She then thanked the packed arena for the compliment and ended her set...it was priceless.

3. The Chainsmokers

The first time I saw the Chainsmokers play a festival Kayne was their newest release and Roses hadn't taken off yet. I had to show up early to see them, and it was lighthearted, mostly progressive house, festival bliss—and easily my favourite set of the day. Two year's later The Chainsmokers had made a jump to festival headliners who were still finding their footing. Drew was just beginning to sing live and the duo had begun incorporating more bass heavy tracks in to their sets sandwiched with their earlier more synth focused progressive work. It was a transition set; yes they had a massive following due to their radio hits but they had not yet sorted how they sounded as festival headliners. Fast forward nearly two years to their headlining set at Contact and The Chainsmokers have it all figured out. From start to finish their set defined what it means to be a world class main stage headliner. They played their hits, past and present—from Roses & Don't Let Me Down, to Everybody Hates Me & This Feeling—dropped insane mashups like The Isley Brothers Shout vs Bellorum & Aazar Back Home, and Drew sang with charisma at all the right moments. Perhaps most importantly they had the confidence to just have fun. No matter what you can't go wrong with 20,000 people belting out Something Just Like This; and the surprised euphoria The Chainsmokers' evoked when they transitioned the intro of The Circle Of Life in to Alvaro and Mercer's Welcome To The Jungle was pure festival bliss. It was flashy, it was loud; it was everything a festival set should be, and I could not have been more won over.

4. Troyboi & Galantis:

Day one started off loud and noisy bringing the headbangers in early. Two acts saved Contact's first day from being solely a vehicle for bringing Skrillex to Vancouver. Troyboi was a breathe of fresh air filling BC Place with his larger than life persona and swagger. His sets are always artistically unique, and his chill bass vibes helped wipe festival goers palettes clean from all of the blundering bass they had just ingested. Taking the stage directly after Troyboi, Galantis turned up the energy representing main stage EDM the way it should be going in to 2019. Their set had a well defined sense of artistic style and personal flare while still hitting broader crowd favourites. Together these two acts elevated night one of Contact beyond a one act wonder.

5. Loud Luxury

The Canadian duo has had an unbelievable year. Riding on the wave of their smash hit Body they were given a chance to play festivals around the world—and fortunately for fans, they didn't disappoint. Pounding Contact with an EDM nostalgia driven set laden with pop hits Loud Luxury managed to fill BC Place early winning over the packed arena with their mashups and edits. Their transitions were tight and their set progression spot on. While they may need more time to amass a catalogue of original material to flesh out their sets with more distinct character everyone danced, sang, and jumped for the entire hour. Body may currently be their crowning jewel, but I expect more hits and an even brighter year for the duo in 2019.

Top 5 Sets Of ÎleSoniq (Festival Review)

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With just being in its 2nd year, ÎleSoniq has risen to become one of the biggest and brightest festivals to appear on the summer festival circuit in Canada. This year's edition was outstanding as they put together one of the best lineups of the season over 3 beautiful stages that managed to attract 45,000 fans. 

The layout of ÎleSoniq was well thought out with no sound bleed between the stages. There was plenty of space to chill out, and almost everywhere on the site you would find little added details that just made the area special. One of my favourite stages of the festival was the Scene stage where it truly felt like you were in the forest surrounded by trees, which made you forget that you were actually in the middle of a major city. The layout was playful and invited fans to explore. 

This year's festival was cashless which worked really well as there were many kiosks where you could load up your bracelet or you could simply register your credit card on their website. Buying anything on-site only took a few taps and as a result there were hardly any lineups at any of the vendor areas. 

With 52 artists participating at this year's ÎleSoniq, it was difficult to narrow EDM Canada's list of top sets down to just 5 as so many DJs put up great performances. But some sets were better than others and I believe that these 5 artists put their best foot forward last weekend and took the crowd to a whole new level. 

1. Snails

Snails returned to ÎleSoniq to play a hometown set that will not soon be forgotten. Once his special brand of VOMITSTEP started blaring out of the speakers, the crowd went absolutely nuts for the entirety of his set. Dubstep might not be the in-fashion sound of 2015, but for people like myself who love to get down and dirty to a sick bass drop, Snails delivered on all accounts. We heard many of his tracks mixed with others like Must Die!'s remix of "Airborne" by Zomboy, "Bruk Bruk" by Dillon Francis, and the Getter remix of Snails/heRobust's "Pump This". Snails went hard and fans loved him for it. If ÎleSoniq continues the trend of inviting artists to curate stages like they did with DJ Snake/DVBBS this year, Snails should be considered to get his own for next year. 

2. DJ Snake

DJ Snake had the honour of being given his own "Pardon My French" stage to curate on Day 1, and when it came for him to make his Montreal debut, he shined. DJ Snake sets are creative and surprising, just like when he dropped a Whitney Houston track at Ultra last year which sent Twitter buzzing. At ÎleSoniq he gave us a little of everything including tracks by A$AP Ferg, M83, Jack Ü, Big Sean, ILOVEMAKONNEN, and more. The set was diverse but always rooted in hard pounding tracks including Mercer/4B's "Bounce", "I Can't Stop" by Flux Pavilion, and his well known hit "Turn Down For What". The entire set was filled with energy and DJ Snake gave the crowd exactly what it needed to close out day 1 on a high note. 

3. Steve Angello

Steve Angello has been around and back throughout his long electronic dance music career. He was well known within the scene before the big room explosion, and rose to highest of highs as part of the Swedish House Mafia. Since then he's been vocal on social media and interviews about the need to shake things up, and challenged DJs to go beyond the obvious and give fans something new. Steve Angello wants to take electronic dance music in a different direction and that's exactly what he did in his headlining set on day 2. He gave the crowd a little bit of everything: long build ups, melodies, vocal gems, and a great mix of his new and old tracks. Steve Angello didn't take the safe route by simply playing his big hits, instead he constructed a well thought out set that fans needed to hear. He didn't ask the crowd to put their hands up or jump on command - he let his music do the talking which left a strong impression. 

4. Odesza

Odesza is a duo from Seattle that have shot through the ranks in the past 2 years to become one of the hottest acts at any given festival worldwide. They were given the duty to close out the Scene stage on day 2 and created an immersive experience for fans to behold. Their live setup is refreshing and when you watch them play their tracks live, you can feel how much passion they have for their music. The atmosphere was intimate and the crowd were electrified as Odesza played many of their biggest hits. Many of Odesza's tracks are catchy and immensely inviting, and getting to hear them live was a true pleasure. There's a good reason why these guys are on the rise and I suspect that their journey upwards is just beginning.  

5. UZ

The mysterious DJ known as UZ, and artist who shrouds himself for live performances, was on for an early set on the mainstage for Day 1 that went hard. UZ is one of the original dons of the electronic dance music trap scene thanks to his landmark "Trap Shit" series. He's been one of the main guys to raise the profile of the trap scene to where it is today. UZ crafted a dirty trap set on Friday afternoon, including a "Mosh Pit" mashup with Baauer's version of "Tell Me" that sounded fantastic live. This set was memorable because UZ helped set the bar high on day 1.