During a perfect summer evening at Ottawa's Bluesfest, Zeds Dead and Keys N Krates gave the audience a lot to rage about during their performances. Check out EDM Canada's official pictures of the event and see for yourself:
(Click on any photo for full size version)
Keys N Krates Ottawa's Bluesfest 2013
Full review coming soon!
DVBBS - Ottawa's Bluesfest 2013
The first night of the 2 week long Ottawa Bluesfest at Lebreton Flats started off with a bang with the power packed set by DVBBS which followed by the ever popular Adventure Club. The festival itself is sectioned off by 4 stages, where the "Blacksheep Stage", situated at the back of the Canadian War Museum, is where all of the EDM acts will be held with the exception of Dog Blood on the last night. This suits me just fine as the stage's acoustics are perfect and because it is a little sequestered from the rest of the festival, it truly feels like a place that fans of electronic dance music in Ottawa can call their own.
This year's Bluesfest, just like last year, has incorporated RFID bracelets for ticket holders which makes coming in and out of the festival grounds seamless. Once you get your ticket and/or bracelet, getting around the festival grounds have never been easier. The prices for basic necessities like water ($2) were reasonable, and even the food options are interesting and diverse. Are you in the mood for a Pad Thai, sweet potato fries, and a deep fried oreo for dessert? You can do that at this year's festival. There's even a free water station for those that want to refill their bottles. There are no shortages of restrooms as there are plenty of portable toilets outside around the grounds and you can even get access to the restrooms situated within the Canadian War Museum. First impressions of festivals are important and in this case my first impression of the organization behind this year's festival is very impressive. The organizers have been doing this for a long time and it shows.
The music was good too as DVBBS provided a high energy performance that really set the tone for the evening. The two brothers from Toronto gave the crowd a heavy electro-progressive house set that was a mix between well known tracks and their own. If I had to compare their performance to any that I've seen in recent history I'd liken them to another famous brother duo, Showtek. These guys did everything on stage including a double jump off the decks towards the end.
Adventure Club's transition from DVBBS was seamless as Leighton James, one half of the Adventure Club duo from Montreal, continued on the electro sound for a while until he transitioned into the more familiar dubstep tracks that they are known for. But he certainly didn't keep it strictly dubstep as a few trap tracks were played like Brillz Remix of Zedd's "Clarity" were mixed in with Adventure Club hits like AC's remix of "Crave You" and "Youth" that had the crowd singing. For an encore Leighton played their well known remix of Lullabies "Yuna" while giving fans in the front row a personal farewell while thanking and sharing the stage with DVBBS. Classy.
Overall the first night of Ottawa's Bluesfest was a success with a solid crowd turn out. I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of the festival which includes a special B2B set with RL Grime and Baauer tonight on the Blacksheep Stage..
Check out this amazing live rendition of Keys N Krates latest single, "Treat Me Right" which was performed live at Dim Mak studios:
If you live in Ottawa then you'll have two chances to see Keys N Krates perform live tomorrow evening. The first is at Ottawa's Bluesfest, where they will playing before Zeds Dead. The second show will start at 11 pm at the more intimate Barney Danson Theatre which is in the Canadian War Museum and will be free for Bluesfest ticket holders or $20 without.
For artists that release their tracks for free, I feel that bloggers such as myself should reward this generosity with as much free exposure as possible. That's why EDM Canada has been focusing on featuring free tracks for the past few months.
This week, on top of Pretty Lights much anticipated new album which was made available for free, I have found 2 more artists with free releases worth mentioning.
The first is the French producer Mr. Oizo who released his new funky EP called "Amicalement" for free this week, click here to download now. Also make sure to check out his last EP, "Stade 3" which is also available for free download.
The second is from the young Columbian producer Moska via Mad Decent's Jeffree's sub label. If you like another big room banger added to your playlist, then download his 2 latest tracks right now:
Osheaga, the massive annual festival that takes place every year at the Jean-Drapeau park in Montreal has just released their 2013 daily schedule. The overall lineup is massive but as EDM Canada only focuses on electronic dance music, here is the full schedule for the piknic electronik stage for all 3 days:
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm - Millimetrik
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm - EC Twins
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm - Carnage
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm - Kidnap Kid
6:00 pm - 6:45 pm - Rudimental
6:50 pm - 7:45 pm - Vilify & Henward
7:45 pm - 8:45 pm - JETS
8:45 pm - 9:45 pm - Baauer
9:45 pm - 10:45 pm - A Tribe Called Red
1:00 pm - 1:40 pm - Humans
1:45 pm - 2:35 pm - Rone
2:35 pm - 3:25 pm - Amtrac
3:25 pm - 4:25 pm - Cajmere
4:25 pm - 5:25 pm - Soul Clap
5:40 pm - 6:25 pm - Azari & III
6:25 pm - 7:25 pm - Bonobo
7:25 pm - 8:20 pm - Style of Eye
8:20 pm - 9:15 pm - Jacques Lu Cont
9:15 pm - 10:45 pm - Porter Robinson
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm - DVBBS
1:35 pm - 2:15 pm - Odzenne
2:25 pm - 3:10 pm - Robert DeLong
3:10 pm - 4:00 pm - Floating Points
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm - Jackmaster
5:00 pm - 5:50 pm - The Knocks
5:50 pm - 6:50 pm - Gramatik
6:50 pm - 7:50 pm - Tommy Trash
7:50 pm - 8:50 pm - Disclosure
9:20 pm - 10:35 pm - Pretty Lights
For tickets, Click here for more info.
