Yesterday Vancouver was treated with a legendary show with John Summit and Green Velvet. As you can see below, the crowd was lit and the vibes were heavy. Stay tuned for the full report from @VanCityDanceNrd!
By Ryan Hayes
With the recent release of the Veld's 2020 lineup an official shift has begun within the Canadian festival landscape. This year Veld will be helmed by four powerhouse dance music artists; Armin Van Buuren, Illenium, Marshmello, & Martin Garrix. This slate of headliners marks the first time that Veld has not had a major rap act gracing the top of their roster since 2015 when the festival was still, for all intents and purposes, a dedicated EDM festival; the 2015 lineup did present patrons with two rap acts, A$AP Rocky and I Love Makonnen.
In the four years that followed (2016-2019) Veld became a full on hybrid festival riding the wave of rap and hip-hops integration in to the world of dance music, in an attempt to feel fresh and relevant. During this time period festival headliners included; Travis Scott, Future, Migos, and most recently Cardi B.
However, it takes more than a few big names to make a festival a true hybrid. 2020 marks Veld's lowest percentage of rap/hip-hop acts since 2016; over a 10% drop in non-EDM performers when compared to the 2019 iteration. Currently under 20% of the festivals scheduled talent is drawn from outside of the realm of EDM.
Outside of Veld, in the Canadian festival circuit as a whole, there has been a reshuffling of dance music talent. House music leaning acts continue to increase their presence while EDM artists who focus more heavily on integrating rap in to their sets have begun to wane. This shift can be seen on top of the diminishing power of rap and hip-hop artists, both as a result, and a contributing factor, to the continued evolution of the festival landscape.
The major question now is, will the 2020 festival season be more successful than 2019—and if it is, does that mark the end of the major push for hybrid festivals?
Coupled with the evolution away from rap integration is the deconstruction of the headliners reign of power. This year lineups are bigger than ever—Veld's 2020 lineup is, by far, it's largest offering to date in terms of pure numbers. Within the festival circuit there is a trend away from spending all your money on headliners, and through these means focusing on a really flushed out middle tier of talented dance music artists.
Nowhere is the shift away from rap and towards an EDM heavy mid tier more apparent than BC's FVDED in the Park. This year FVDED's heavy hitters (outside of their three headliners) include; Alison Wonderland, Alesso, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Dave, and Gorgon City. Four of the aforementioned acts are EDM artists, and that is a major shift compared to 2019 when three out of five of the festivals largest second tier artists were rappers, and one of two EDM artists had strong hip-hop underpinnings; Tory Lanez, French Montana, Louis The Child, RL Grime, 6lack.
FVDED also supports Veld's move away from a hybrid focused event. Although FVDED has roughly the same amount of rap/hip-hop acts as it always has, the 2020 iteration marks the events most EDM artists since 2017; and the first time the festival has had a dance music headliner on each night since Jack U and Zedd headlined in 2016.
Both Veld and FVDED stand as strong evidence that 2020 marks a turning point. As EDM continues to drift out of the pop-culture ethos the fans who have stuck with the genre are evolving, and finding their own particular niche soundscape. Where this road will ultimately lead is unclear—however—this year seems to be proving pivotal in the shift towards more dance music centric events. Escapade, the dance music diehard, sold out in days, Veld dropped it's rap headliners, and FVDED refocused it's budget on dance music.
By Ryan Hayes
In its eighth year Contact Winter Music Festival continued to evolve along with it's core demographic of die hard dance music fans. As Vancouver's only true EDM festival, Contact's success is integral to the strength of our cities electronic scene. Offering a little something for everyone, Contact endeavoured to find a balance between mainstream sounds and niche acts. Rather thank picking a traditional top five—because everyone has different musical tastes—I decided to focus on a slew of unique highlights that made 2019 stand out.
More clearly than in previous years Contact presented a thoughtfully curated lineup of acts and stages. On night one Said The Sky elevated the main stage with his unique blend of silky smooth vocal laden melodies, and sweeping emotional bass lines. His set was genuinely warm and welcoming and the absolute perfect sonic bridge for San Holo's signature sound. Extending Said The Sky's energy and building on the night's momentum San Holo effortlessly introduced his bouncy and uplifting original productions in to the pantheon of the night. His set melted away leaving the packed stadium feeling empowered and triumphant. It didn't matter if you knew all of the words to his countless hits—his quest for vibrant energy was genuine...and it was heard.
After Solo, Kaskade took the stage acting as the night's catalyst for change, by transitioning the energy towards Major Lazer's party centric atmosphere. Regardless of having just played Sunset Festival in August Kaskade's set was an undeniable pleasure. As one of the industries premiere veterans he knows exactly how to keep a crowd at attention. With an assist from some of his more redux slanted tracks Kaskade flawlessly edged the night away from melodic bass and towards a true bombastic spectacle—all while managing to feel fresh from his previous headlining slot.
On day two Destructo's signature g-house style brought swagger to main stage creating a stadium wide club atmosphere that expertly set up Fisher to take the reigns. Bringing his now iconic blend of house and tech to the largest dance music stage in Western Canada; Fisher's set transcended the standard categorical relevancy of a top of the fest list, and marked the first time Vancouvrites unanimously devoured house music as if it were big room circa 2011. It was just as important to behold, as it was enjoyable to experience.
Taking a detour to the FVDED stage—where bass ruled the weekend—a curated presence was just as responsible for the lineups success. Shout out to Nostalgix for bringing real talent, and fantastic Night Bass vibes, to her opening day one set; proving it pays to show up early and support local talent. On both nights the FVDED stage headliners catered to a more niche, and fervent, audience; showcasing just as much talent as the festivals main stage headlining acts. The biggest surprise of the festival was G Jones raw unbridled energy and authenticity. At this point it's rare for me to walk in to a set with limited knowledge of an artist and genuinely be blown away. His set was heavy, chaotic—at times relentless—but always artistically sound. Cutting through the breakneck BPMs and torrents of bass was an abstract...yet tangible...sense of groove, and musicality, that is rare within the modern landscape blinding bass. G Jones is not to be missed.
On day two Feed Me took the headlining FVDED slot presenting fans with the weekends biggest conflict by going head-to-head with Rezz. For the past decade Feed Me has proven to be a master of his craft. Defying genres—whether it be drum & bass, electro house, or dubstep; Feed Me's productions are always immaculate, and his set did not disappoint. While Feed Me was slaying the FVDED stage Rezz was laying waste to the main stage. As a Vancouver favourite I always fear that she runs the risk of over-saturating audiences with familiar sets, but that could not be further from the truth. Rezz hit Contact with a thunderous assault of slow moving bass. It was her heaviest set to date, it ended with a 2011 Skrillex throwback—and it was exactly what the now packed football stadium needed. The reactions she elicited from the audience were everything.
Any Contact recap would me amiss without mentioning the main stage mastery of Tiesto. Marking his first Blueprint billing in Vancouver the king of dance music took his rightful place atop the cities largest dance music stage and skilfully captured the attention of the stadiums roughly 17,000 festival-goers. At this point in time I think its fair to declare Tiesto the last remaining bastion of true main stage, big room, festival EDM. Tackling an hour and a half set—the rest of the day had standard sixty minute festival slots—Tiesto's closing performance seamlessly melted away. Not only were first-timers blown away; the crowd skewed noticeably older on day two as vintage Tiesto merch dotted the arena. There is something undefinable about a Tiesto set, a craft honed with decades of experience; and they have become a gold standard that cannot be measured against the competition. Honestly when Blueprint first announced Contact back in 2012 I thought Tiesto was a lock as the first iterations headliner and it was nice to finally see him take on BC Place eight years later.
By Ryan Hayes
Lovingly curated and nurtured by Grant Kwiecinski's renewed creative vision, the Ride Waves tour is a celebration of the core tenants embedded at the heart of dance music. Although the Commodore was unable to accommodate GRiZ' mind bending Imaginarium setup—he did manage to squeeze 24 sets of lasers on stage—the essence of the tour remained intact.
Bolstered by GRiZ' unfettered artistic scope, the entire show is constructed to transport the audience and put a smile on their face. 2019 has been an incredible production streak for Grant who released a full LP & three Bangers EPs—twenty three official GRiZ releases in just nine months. Ride Waves is his most actualized album to date, and his Bangers offshoot his brought new sounds to the stagnant landscape of bass music. Griztronics is this year's unofficial dub anthem.
As the night progressed GRiZ transitioned through a wide spectrum of musical genres. From a headbangers paradise, to saxophone infused elctro-funk, through to a house leaning section...and back around again...regardless of what GRiZ played, everyone was along for the ride.
The Ride Waves tour seems to have fostered the continual growth of a welcoming fan base; the core of which is strengthened by the genuine connection Grant facilitates with his community. It's what the catch all umbrella label of EDM needs. Artistry. Vision. Personality. A deviation from the standard commercialized path currently bleeding festivals dry of any recognizable character.
With the aid of his live band Grant brought Ride Waves alive for attendees. PROBCAUSE rapped alongside Grant throughout the show and carried songs including 'My Friends & I Pt. 2' and a stellar rendition of the impactful 'It Gets Better' which is usually helmed by DRAM. Chrishira Perrier's soulful vocals always ushered a torrent of energy from the crowd; highlights included 'I'm Good' & 'I Like That.' Stepping out from behind his guitar we were treated to Muzzy Bear's vocals on Ride Waves' 'Caught Up.'
The entire show represented the physical embodiment of Grant's desire to step out of his creative comfort zone and take his GRiZ persona to new heights. Grant played more saxophone, led sections on guitar, and—even lent his vocals to live renditions of tracks from both Ride Waves & his Bangers EPs.
Perhaps not the fever pitch for energy, but certainly a peak for pure vibes; Cruise Control sat squarely in the middle of his show. After ramping up the audience with a string of heavy wubs he expertly brought us back to a beautiful middle ground with chilled funk vibes. We were all in it together, and that was the point.
Like Bassnectar before him, and more recently Excision, Grant is in the midst of creating something both intimately important to a growing section of super fans, and commercially viable on a large scale. Ride Waves may have been his sixth album but it is just the beginning of a much larger act two for Grant Kwiecinski.
By Ryan Hayes
For the second year in a row Lululemon's Seawheeze half marathon brought world class dance music headliners to their Sunset Music Festival. Following in last year's footsteps, the event itself ran like a well oiled machine; clean, fast, efficient, with a stellar audience.
Big Wild opened the musical portion of the night with a bliss'ed out set dripping in chill vibes—perfectly setting the tone for sunset and paving the way for Kaskade's diverse offering. The audience, including many marathon runners who were unfamiliar with his catalogue, were drawn in by the live elements of his performance. Standouts included When I Get There, and 6's to 9's. It was the perfect example of why festivals are so important to the health and growth of a musical community. Big Wild definitely walked away with new fans.
As darkness set in Kaskade set out to regal fans and newcomers alike with and hour and a half set split between two worlds. Beginning with an extended intro edit of Fun Kaskade ran through big room cuts of his classics, and a large portion of Redux 003; strung together by the occasional inclusion of mainstream anthems like Journey's Don't Stop Believin' . While the internet has recently made its disdain for the widespread acceptance of Kaskade's Redux sound crystal clear...times change...audiences evolve...and house music is now king.
As far as Kaskade is concerned, this shouldn't be a surprise. Released in 2015, fan favourites, Never Sleep Alone and Us (among others) have been low-key paving the way for old school leaning house vibes to penetrate large scale festival audiences. Tight and Fun both recently got official releases on Kaskade's latest Redux offering when they just as easily could have been released on one of his mainline albums. The transformation is complete. The two worlds have officially blended. This is who Kaskade is now. If you are attending a Kaskade festival set you will hear a little bit of everything; traditional festival bangers, dingy club beats (Dancin'), downtempo melancholia (On Your Mind), self indulgent remixes (2nd Street), and modern Redux anthems (More).
Kaskade's set at Sunset Festival marked the prominence and staying power of a true legacy artist. Sure a set at Shambhala will tend towards the more house'y side of things, and a Redux branded show will drop the big room aspect altogether—but for the majority of his audience Kaskade now represents a diverse array of music faithfully chronicling his evolution over the past two decades.
After a second year of dance music heat Sunset Festival is fast becoming a staple for Vancouver EDM fans. Here's to hoping next year continues the trend.
