Win tickets to EVER AFTER Music Festival in Kitchener Ontario!

Are you ready to be transported into a fantasy world? That is what EVER AFTER Music Festival has in store for you!

The festival running from June 8th-10th has it all: great lineup of musical acts led by Canada's own Excision, a waterpark, midway rides, games and fun zones including an Enchanted forest and an Interactive EA trail. 

EDM Canada has teamed up with EVER AFTER Music Festival to give our followers a chance to win a pair (2) of General Admission Passes to experience EVER AFTER Music Festival! 

To enter: 

1) Follow Ever After's official Instagram page
2) Follow EDM Canada's official Instagram page
3) Comment on EDM CANADA's EVER AFTER CONTEST Instagram post tagging your friend and using the hashtag #winwithedmcanada

Winners must be 16+ years old (must be able to present two pieces of government issued ID upon entry to the festival). Open to residents in Canada and the United States

The contest is live now and closes at Noon (12 pm) on May 31st! The winner will be contacted via Instagram so make sure to check your messages on May 31st. 

Good luck! 

5 ways to steal the show - Kygo’s Kids in Love Tour review

By Sinejan Ozaydemir (Photo cred: Wendy Wei)

Last week, Toronto had the pleasure of a visit from Kygo on his Kids in Love Tour. It was a night filled with dancing, singing, and blinking lights at the ACC. Here are some ways Kygo showed us how to steal the show: 

1. Cool stage design with plenty of pyro

X marks the spot! The stage was made up of multiple sections with raised elements and moving parts, not to mention a soaring screen at the back of the stage. There was a mirroring X shape to the stage, as an X shaped piece hung from the ceiling. As you can see in the photos and videos (here and on our instagram page), this design had crazy pyrotechnics coming from the base of the stage as well as the ceiling echoed this mirroring effect. They did use plenty of these FX throughout the show, it wasn’t just the one-off explosion of fire during the last song type of thing, which was impressive. The visuals up on the huge screens were of high quality and the camera angles from Kygo’s main control centre made us feel that much closer to the action. We were able to see him play multiple instruments close up and also had the pleasure of seeing fans' reactions on the big screen throughout the show as a live camera captured moments of joy. Overall extremely pleasing visually. 

2. Play your own extensive catalogue of well known songs that the crowd expects

One thing we see more and more with artists who are not only producers but also instrumentalists, is the extensive catalogue of their own songs they play live. It creates a show that is less full of remixes of top 40 tracks and more full of songs the Toronto crowd knew oh-so-well. Kygo primarily played his own tunes, which I think the crowd was wanting an expecting. In fact, his fans were highly familiar with his work knowing lyrics to older songs as well as new releases. Did I mention they were also dancing non-stop? 

3. Bring on phenomenal artists that know how to perform live and get the crowd pumped up

If you didn’t know, Kygo has been bringing live acts on tour with him for a long time now. He especially made headlines as he brought out numerous notable guests at Coachella. At the Toronto show, we were blessed with a few of those guests who were all great live performers. Parson James (’Stole the show’), Bonnie McKee (‘Riding Shotgun’ & 'This town’), Justin Jesso (‘Stargazing’ ‘Firestone’), and Jason Walker (’Sunrise’) lent their talented voices live and really knew how to work the stage! (We have posted short clips from each of the performances on our Instagram so make sure to check them out!)

4. Dont forget about the “live" aspect

A big complaint I hear from people, especially from people who don’t primarily go to EDM shows is that “nothing is really 'live'-the DJ/Producer is just pressing play on a track they have recorded ages ago and that we have heard on the radio hundreds or thousands of times”. Well, not that this is always true, this was definitely not the case on the Kids in Love tour as Kygo played every type of virtual instrument possible while recreating each song live. Also, as if that wasn’t enough to please any EDM lover, why not just go ahead and get a branded light-up piano and a live string section to “mix things up”. It definitely isn’t what most DJs do.  We saw him on the big screen playing which ever instrument (whether it be one of the keyboards or pad boards, or the drum pad) and truly recreating the sound live. I thought that it was quite enjoyable to see him interact with the audience, switch between instruments, run up and down the stairs to get to the piano and the keyboard on the lower stage. It showed off his talent on and love of playing the keys.  Definitely better than solely jumping up and down to music which would have been especially boring in the arena setting. Plus, that is our job! 

5. Fun for everyone

One way to make sure that you get every one in a giant arena excited, is to ensure that they are all involved in every moment. Why not have a stage that is raised or that moves so every seat in the house is a great seat? The main section of the stage where Kygo resided for the majority of the show was raised up high above the main stage so that the 300 level seats were also the best seats in the house, as they had a direct view of the Kygo control station. The front of the stage where he had his beautiful branded piano was on an elevator so it raised up during the two songs he was down there, so that everyone got a great view. Another fun feature that kept us in-the-moment was the light-up bracelets we were provided. Not only did it create a visually pleasing atmosphere showing the grandeur of the room but also kept us excited as to when the one on our wrist would be on and which colour it would turn next. A fun little addition to the show which I think more artists, (especially in EDM) should use to add that extra little spark to a show. 

Overall, the Toronto Kygo fans really enjoyed their time at the ACC with Kygo. The show had the best of both worlds: The live aspects of a non-EDM show and the crazy visuals and pyro elements we EDM fans know and love.

Kygo brings his popular tropical house sound to Toronto next week with his “Kids in Love” Tour

By Sinejan Ozaydemir 

Fresh off of performing live with various notable artists (Jamie Foxx, Ryan Tedder, Rita Ora, Ariana Grande, KJ Apa, … just to name a few) at Coachella , Kygo continues his "Kids in Love” tour and brings it to Ontario Canada. The well-known writer and producer will be in Toronto performing his new songs from the Kids in Love album as well as old favourites in a show that (judging by his Coachella set) is sure to impress. The concert will be held at the ACC in Toronto next week, May 2nd 2018. If you haven’t already purchased your tickets you can purchase them here: http://ow.ly/XWo530jEIJ5 

To listen to the Kids in Love album on Spotfy here: http://ow.ly/GQp230jEIJY 

Watch the Veld 2017 official aftermovie

It's been a while since there's been an aftermovie worthy of showcasing on this blog, but this Veld 2017 aftermovie meets these expectations and more. There are a few goosebump moments in this 6 minute video and you may want to watch it twice, check it out: 

Loud Luxury's sold out show at Uniun Nightclub (Concert review)

By Sinejan Ozaydemir

Uniun Nightclub welcomed Ontario Djs Loud Luxury for their “Factory Fridays” this Friday Jan 19 2018. The DJs threw an energetic party for their Toronto fans who were very familiar with the duo.

Loud Luxury helped club-goers start their weekend off right with great deep bass mixes of top 40 and popular dance music tracks such as "Rockstar", "Congratulations" by Post Malone, "Unforgettable" by French Montana, "Different Way" by DJ Snake, "Boom" by Sevenn & Tiesto, "Going Under" by Borgeous (Loud luxury & Leon Lour Remix) and more.

The crowd was very well versed with their top tracks like "Show Me", "Fill Me In "and their recent hit "Body". They knew all the lyrics and their singing along overpowered the speakers at times. The bright screens surrounding the dancefloor and DJ booth lit up with Loud Luxury’s simple yet active visuals that featured their logo, as well as clips from their music videos.

The music video for "Body" was featured and enhanced the whole experience as club goers danced along to the song watching the big bright video on screen. The TV screens placed throughout the club had video of Loud Luxury’s visuals as well as live video of the DJ duo spinning. This meant that people downstairs in line for coat check or on their way to the bar or in the private booths at the back of the club experienced what the people on the dance floor did at all times of the set.

For anyone who had never been to a Loud Luxury show, I think this was a great introduction to the duo’s sound and performance style. They provided a great mix of songs throughout the night, which kept people dancing. They partied hard with the crowd, jumping up and down non-stop behind the decks and interacting with the audience. They were pointing and acknowledging them directly and, of course, clapping with them. They also jumped out of the DJ booth to dance with their fans, sing along at the top of their lungs and give some high-fives, which really got the room pumped up! As we left the nightclub, I could hear people still singing “Body” amongst their friends outside of the club.

Loud Luxury is on the rise. Their track Body currently has over 10 Million listens on Spotify. Judging by their sold out show in Toronto, they have a lot of fans hungry for what is to come in the rest of 2018!

Follow Loud Luxury on Spotify to hear their latest tracks by clicking here. 

Loud Luxury will be performing with DVBBS in Montreal on Friday, March 9th at New City Gas in Montreal. They will also be in Ottawa at Barrymore's for a headlining show on Friday, February 2nd.