On day one, Echo Beach was grooving from the get-go. Sebastian Leger, Nicole Moudaber, Danny Tenaglia and Deep Dish (with warlocks on stage!) played a quartet of vicious sets, and while Claude vonStroke only played for roughly half an hour, he brought with him those dirty beats that he’s so well known for. After hearing him play, I have to say, I’m definitely looking forward to checking out his Dirty Bird BBQ in September.
The main stage was bumping all night as well, and as the sun started to set, the production really started to shine. Pyrotechnics, fireworks and lights galore marched to the electro and big room house, as the likes of Dyro, MAKJ, TJR, Carnage, Nervo and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike kept the crowd roaring until the headliner. Justice (one of this writer’s favourite acts, and one I wish I could have seen), took to the stage to bring day one to a close, and while I know a bunch of people couldn’t “get down” to the music, thousands of fans stuck around to watch the legends throw down.
The trance stage was no slouch either, as Toronto locals Baranov and Saad Ayub kicked things off to a crowd of their faithful fans, and a slew of internationals (Andy Moor, Alex M.O.R.P.H., Fleming & Lawrence, and Simon Patterson to name a few) brought the lakeside stage to closing. Highlights for myself on day one include: Deep Dish closing out Echo Beach, and Fleming & Lawrence’s relentless psy-trance set – there was a tall, skinny dude in front of me with a water gun, who thought he was a Transformer. It was incredible.
I arrived at day two later in the day, largely due to a massive line at the gates. Unfortunately missing Destructo at Echo Beach (an act I would later make up for), my group decided that our spot for the day would be the main stage. Getting there for the bigger acts (in name), Fedde Le Grand (who we landed an exclusive interview with) brought the typical electro and big room he has become known for (no more wormhole sets), and segued into a brief set by Toronto born duo Dzeko and Torres.
It should be said that day two was hot, much like day one, but clouds from over the lake had been creeping in over the course of the day and finally settled in over the Digital crowd around the time of Dash Berlin’s set. Kicking off with his iPad message to the crowd, Dash erupted into the type of frenzied sets he routinely delivered, keeping the incoming weather off the crowd’s minds. Seemingly harnessing the cosmos and weather around him, Dash built his track Dragonfly to its apex, and upon dropping it, the heavens above opened on the main stage.
Cooling down the crowd but heating up the party, Dash commandeered his set through the weather and delivered an unforgettable moment to those who stuck out the storm (many bolted to the covered House of Boom). Eric Prydz came next and opened (to a double rainbow!) with his classic Every Day. The absolute highlight of the festival for me, Prydz crafted an audio-visual masterpiece, forgoing many of his light Pryda tracks in favour of more visceral Cirez D smack-down.
Finally, the legendary and iconic Tiësto closed out the festival in true Canadian fashion, and though he has his doubters, the former #1 DJ threw one hell of a party. Bringing out Matthew Koma for hits Wasted and Written in Reverse, and Dzeko and Torres for Can’t Forget, the Dutch DJ really got the place moving, even playing some hard-style for the crowd while still reminding fans of his old ways with the classic Adagio for Strings.