Here are some pictures I took from the IDentity festival from Toronto on July 21st, 2012:

For $25 tickets this was an absolutely stacked lineup.

Wacky Waving Inflatable arm flailing tube men!

The festival took place at Echo Beach which was literally a beach.... Earlier in the day you could see people chilling out to the music while playing beach volleyball. Thankfully I spent most of my time at the secondary stage where it was paved. Call me a traditionalist but I prefer dancing on a hard surface.

Arty on the main stage. This was the second time seeing the young talent from Russia and I still believe that he is a much stronger producer than a DJ at the moment. So far his sets are usually his own tracks with a few Beatport top 100 mixed in. The people in attendance seemed to enjoy it though.

A Tribe Called Red on the Earmilk Stage.

A Tribe Called Red performed in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd in a picturesque setting. Ottawa is proud of you guys.

Showtek performed on the "Rockstar Energy Drink' Stage. Once these guys showed up I spent the majority of the night here.

Showtek's set was plagued by technical difficulties which was no fault of theirs. The music cut out a few times, even during big build ups, but the Showtek brothers were total professionals as they managed to keep the crowd energy alive despite the challenges.

They played their recent hit collaborations including "Hell Yeah!" with Tiesto and "How We Do" with Hardwell but what got me moving the most was the hardstyle sound they used for the last 20 minutes of their set. I'm not quite ready to travel to Europe for a Defcon 1 festival but I do appreciate the no nonsense style that is hardstyle.

Excision

Excision provided nothing but the filthiest and dirtiest Dubstep beats of the night - perfect. Didn't spend that much time taking pictures because I was too busy jumping around.

Nero

Watching Nero live for the first time was the reason why I traveled to Toronto for the IDentity Festival. Having high expectations and seeing them exceeded in every way was very impressive. You felt as if Nero was taking you on a journey with equal attention paid to melody and intense drops that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Nero played mostly from their new album "Welcome To Reality" but changed it up in a few places by playing Skrillex' remix of "Promises" and recently released "Won't You (Be There)".