album1 of many… San Holo's Toronto Concert Review

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By Sinejan Ozaydemir 

Toronto fans had the pleasure of escaping the cold to enjoy an evening with San Holo and friends on his 'Album 1’ tour this past Wednesday at The Danforth Music Hall. The evening started with three acts: Eastghost, Taska Black and BAYNK, each bringing their own unique energy to DMH. What was most interesting, however, was the serious shift in energy from the moment San Holo took the stage. It wasn’t your classic uproar that you commonly expect from the crowd welcoming a headliner, it felt more like a huge shift in energy and attention, almost like re-awakening that was extremely welcoming and free. Within minutes, we would find out why and how this happened. 

If you are a fan of San Holo’s music, you will know that he loves to combine organic sounds/live instrumentals as well as the electronic elements to create his dreamy soundscapes. 'album1' is a great example of his innovative sound that clearly stands out within the electronic music world today. In my opinion, the Album 1 tour echoed this theme and showcased his signature sound very well. 

There were many elements that made this show successful and memorable. The main one being San himself. Anyone who has been able to witness him on this tour thus far, can easily agree with the fact that the energy he brings to the stage is not like any other. The room was in a bit of a meditative/trance-like state from the moment he started performing and later, after the show was over, and I was able to review what just happened and snap out of my own trance, I was able to understand that it was mainly due to his energy. 

His genuine personality, which has made his fans fall in love with him and his music, easily comes across while watching him on stage. Given the same setup and songs, I don’t think that another musician could have been able to replicate such a performance. He was not just "in the moment" in the sense of seeing how the crowd reacts and having the typical back and forth that happens between an artist and audience. The fact that he is the person who knows the ins and outs because he has worked so hard and put so much energy into creating the music is one thing.  Seeing him experience the music so deeply and feeling like he was genuinely inviting us to be in that moment with him was a different and refreshing feeling.  

Even though the room was full of people, because of this feeling, his planned and rehearsed set seemed almost like it wasn’t planned or perfected at all. It actually felt very organic, as if we were almost getting an exclusive sneak-peek of San prepping for this tour. Everyone was in their own world, having a one-on-one experience with San-you could tell by the smiles on their faces! 

His 1.5-hour set was full of highs and lows that were impactful, while the transitions between songs were fluid. It felt like we were almost following a storyline from start to finish, but it was overall quite mellow and enjoyable and it really kept us in the moment. The crowd grooved along with him as he played guitar live, singing melodic lines in his songs, jumping and dancing to the explosive drops, erupting in spontaneous clapping and chanting the lyrics. San didn’t stop moving for a moment, he was expressive on the guitar and the mic, the quick changes to and from the live instruments and the electronic control instruments were well executed. 

We were able to hear a great mix of hits and tracks from 'Album 1'. It all seemed to fit in very cohesively, which reminds us that he really has established a clear revolutionary sound of his own within the electronic music community. The combination of the cinematic sounds and other elements such as lyrics that resemble catchy pop hooks really captivate his audience. His fans seem to be a growing niche of individuals who welcome a more complex new sound in electronic music that’s building a bridge between many other genres. 

All of these vibes were accompanied by an awesome light show and great visuals, which many electronic music fans are very used to. I think his team did a great job at utilizing the stage at Danforth Music Hall and incorporating various elements without making it seem like the main attraction and allowing the live and musical elements to shine. 

Judging by their reactions, his fans would definitely want to see him perform again in Toronto and look forward to seeing bigger and more from him in the future. He made what could have been a very standard, dry performance that was super laid out and planned, into something that was individual and unique: definitely something you had to be there for to truly understand- which I think is a true sign of a great live performance. Looks like this is Album 1 of many to tour for San Holo. 

In the 6ix with Loud Luxury: life on the road, interesting gigs, surprises on stage at VELD music festival and more... (Video interview)

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By Sinejan Ozaydemir 

EDM Canada had the pleasure of sitting down with DJ Duo Loud Luxury in Toronto last month during SPIN/CO's 4th anniversary celebration. The charity event celebrated at Rebel Nightclub raised money for Right to Play. Loud Luxury was happy to be a part of the charity event, live-DJing the spin class. 

The duo's song "Body", which now, since the interview has surpassed 135 Million streams, is enjoyed in many ways- one of which is in Spin/Co's spin classes. We chatted with Joe and Andrew about their crazy schedule, their love for the 6ix, their experiences with the greats like Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren, the most interesting gig they have played so far and what fans should expect from their upcoming shows such as VELD and new music. 

Loud Luxury is certainly on the rise globally. To keep up with what is new with LL you can connect with them on Instagram and Twitter.

The beach & the beats: Favourite sets from Dreams Music Festival 2018

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All photos and GIFs by Jason Lynch

By Sinejan Ozaydemir (Toronto Correspondent) 

Dreams Music Festival is one of the biggest EDM festivals to happen in the city of Toronto each summer and 2018’s festival was great fun! Although the weather was at times a bit wet and fairly gloomy during the two-day festival, but the fans did not shy away from enjoying some great music and partying with fellow electronic music fans. Real proof that if there is a party, especially on the beach - Toronto fans will be there! This year’s festival featured 3 stages fun-filled with great artists, each of whom brought with them their own energy to the city of Toronto. 

Here are a few of our favourite sets from the festival: 

Andrew Bayer

I don’t know who danced more during this set, Andrew Bayer or the crowd. The crowd by the waterfront stage had enjoyed a couple of good sets and was filling up the floor and the hill by the time Bayer got on stage. From start to finish, he brought a great energy-there was a lot of fist pumping and a lot of jumping. The fans at the front of the crowd near the stage had even more fun as Bayer interacted with them, at one point Bayer signaled to a fan that he liked what I believe was a stuffed toy they won from one of the attractions at the festival- and the fan threw it up at him. He then proceeded to dance with the toy before throwing it back to the fan in the crowd. Another impressive part of Bayer’s set was how prepared he seemed to be. He knew the transitions and the tunes he was playing extremely well, almost playing along to them with his hands (which I call:air-guitaring for DJs). Sometimes a set can feel like it blends into one big song if we aren’t in tune to the changes and because Bayer was so in tune and was guiding us through the subtle changes, we enjoyed them even more. Although it wasn’t dark yet, Bayer’s set was pretty hype and his Toronto fans really seemed to enjoy it!

Ookay 

The perfect way to describe Ookay's performance at Dreams Music Festival would be: the most "live-ly" and entertaining. Having an artist that breaks up the whole DJ after DJ schedule was really quite refreshing and just what the crowd needed on the Saturday evening. It is wonderful to see an artist at a festival like this who is clearly in the moment and active on stage, giving the crowd an experience that is different than many other DJ sets. He also balanced controlling his instruments and interacting with the audience very well. The set was mostly full of Ookay’s own songs that got the crowd active and ready for the remainder of the night. Overall, Ookay helped us experience some serious happy beach vibes by the main stage as the crowd danced, sang along and threw around beach balls. 

Tchami x Malaa

Following the fantastic live set by Ookay, Tchami and Malaa took to the main stage and the crowd was immediately re-energized after a long first half day at the festival. The "No Redemption" set was full of songs that we couldn’t help but dance along to, with no dull moments. It felt like the set was a bit of a greatest-hits album feel between Tchami and Malaa and they, in my opinion, were so great at giving the crowd what they wanted. Their mixes were smooth and they were focused on and flawlessly delivering an enjoyable experience the whole time they were up on stage. Their performance style really seemed to vibe well with the audience as it was quite clear that the two DJs were really well known and liked by their Toronto fans: lots of Malaa masks and prayer hands up in the crowd throughout the set! 

Kaskade

What a great performance to end day one of Dreams Music festival. Many people we spoke with on on day one were big Kaskade fans and were really looking forward to the set... And man did Kaskade deliver. From the effortless transitions to the throwback moments, it was a true celebration with Kaskade playing his melodic hits and easily capturing the audience’s attention. One of my favourite moments were the singalong's to his popular tracks, its always impressive to see thousands sing at the the top of their lungs and show an artist love on stage. It was a great vibe with bright beautiful visuals and FXs followed by fireworks-one of those typical, energetic, feel-good sets that you would imagine in your mind’s eye when thinking of an EDM festival. 

Brohug

Wondering what happens when the bros hit the beach? : Lots of dancing in the sand. The crowd was building up on day two of the festival as the trio Brohug took main stage. The three guys were all smiles clapping with the Toronto crowd during their set. The crowd didn’t seem to need much encouragement to dance however because the tracks Brohug had lined up were enough to start some shuffling and get hands up in the air. Their bright visuals were active and fun really setting the vibe for the early evening dance party. They had a lovely tribute to Avicii which got us all emotional and singing along, sending our gratitude and love to Tim. 

Galantis

Toronto has some serious Galantis fans. The main stage was packed by the time they came on and everyone seemed to be very entertained. This doesn’t come as a surprise because Galantis’s performance was definitely high energy. They have a great performance style incorporating live drumming and really moving around the stage. The pros of being a duo are really having more connection with the crowd and these guys really know how to do that well. I mean, you try not moving along to their infectious tracks while seeing them have that much fun on stage. It was impossible for the Dreams Festival Crowd not to dance. 

Armin Van Buuren

Everyone from the front to the back was jumping with Armin and having a great time! He really knows how to build the crowd up and even after two full days of raving, the Toronto crowd did not stop being in the moment with Armin until the set was over. AVB’s light show never disappoints and I think was easily the best of the festival. This caliber of visuals and excitement is an experience that EDM fans know and love and it was great to see it end off the festival with a bang. Toronto was proud to also have Loud Luxury make an appearance during Armin’s set to say hello to their hometown fans. Armin excitedly played their hit single Body while the three jumped on stage and celebrated by waving the Canadian flag around. The main highlight for me was his love for the audience. EDM concert goers are usually well versed with DJs guiding them to jump and dance along to the music but Armin seemed to have this genuine connection with individuals in the crowd. Even though there were thousands there, he spent his set pointing out individuals near and far who were dancing and trying to get their attention to dance and clap along with them: show them he was connected with them. This connectedness is always so wonderful to see from DJs (especially even more impressive from big names like AVB) and a fantastic heart warming experience as a viewer/fan. 

We really enjoyed watching Toronto fans have a great time on the beach at Dreams Music Festival. Check out our slideshow of photos here and watch more more highlights from the festival our Instagram Dreams music fest featured story and feed. 

More highlights: 

Ever After Music Festival highlights: A few of our favourite sets & moments

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Photos by Andrew Iriah

By Sinejan Ozaydemir 

Festival season is underway and this past weekend, electronic music fans, headbangers and bassheads from all over Canada gathered to party at Ever After Festival in Kitchener Ontario. The festival featured rides and attractions, a waterpark and camping. The three day event attracted tens of thousands of fans for 47 performances.

Here are some of our favourite sets/moments from the festival:

Slander

Slander’s set was one of the best sets of the festival in terms of song selection. The crowd had piled onto the main area by their set time on Friday evening and were having a great time. The hour was filled with chill vibes as Slander guided the crowd through highs and lows. They provided great variety in their one hour set and especially did a great job mixing some throwbacks into the bass heavy tracks that festival goers were there for! They played a few crowd favourites like: "Superhuman" by Slander, "Yeah!" - Usher ft. Lil Jon & Ludacris, "Never be like you" by Flume ft. Kai , "I fall apart"- Post Malone, "Physically" - Mrefjus & Gud, and "Vibrations" - NGHTMRE.

Snails

Right after Slander, Snails took the stage with a set that was bass heavy and such a good time! Although it was still somewhat early in the evening, the crowd was energized and thoroughly enjoyed this set as they were headbanging for the majority of the hour and a half set. His visuals were also lively and engaging. He was also one of the DJs paying tribute to Aviici this weekend with a remix of Levels.

Bear Grillz

One of my favourite sets of the whole festival was mid-day Saturday. The hour that Bear Grillz had the stage seemed like a lot shorter. He had really good control of the crowd and seriously entertained. Another great set with regards to song selection and mixes. There was so much dancing that Bear Grillz actually tired out the crowd, almost a quarter of the crowd by the main stage actually needed a break after this set- clearly shows that they had a great time. He also premiered a new unreleased track during his set which was well received.

Kill The Noise

Kill the noise got everyone jumping: besides the crowd loving well known more tracks throughout the set, he was also one of the DJ’s that premiered new music! He even invited Snails up to the stage to premiere their new collab called "Shake the Ground" for the crowd which was well received. Another great set from day two of the festival.
 

Drezo

A large group of people could be seen leaving the main areas of the festival and heading up the hill to the Upside Down House stage for Drezo’s set. Although the climb up the hill was challenging for some concert goers, this did not stop them as they piled in to the fenced area by the Upside Down House Stage. Totally a different vibe from the main stage, it was a great set as people danced in and out of each other’s dance circles.
 

Excision

It is always great to see headliners completely taking over while they expertly entertain their audience. Excision’s set was just that. He had a great package of tunes, visuals and excitement that  shows clearly why he was closing off Ever After Festival. The anticipation was building up as the sun went down and the crowd welcomed Excision to the stage. It was a great party through and through with fireworks and great visuals electronic music fans love.

Although the festival was not in a big city in Ontario, it was pretty packed. Observing the number of attendees was impressive while walking through the festival grounds. A good number of people enjoyed the rides and attractions but a greater number piled around the attractions that were situated at the back of the main stage to listen to the music with their fellow festival goers.

At times the crowd spanned all the way into the treed areas, and even though the festival worked hard to keep sound levels down in order to reduce the amount of noise complaints, the music could be heard and enjoyed clearly from the hills or the back of the crowd. The result on Sunday was a large and tired-out group of people who had three days of music with some of their favourite DJs.  

If you're still planning for your next festival, make sure to check out the 2018 festival guide below: