7 sets I liked from Escapade Music Festival 2018 (Review)

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By David Mann

2018 was another glorious year for the Escapade Music Festival. Set at the Lansdowne Park for a second year in a row, it really felt like the festival has found a new long-term home in Ottawa as the spacing in between the stages was perfectly balanced. The bass stage was set within the historic Aberdeen Pavilion and was well attended all weekend. The trance/underground stage was at TD Place, which provided a proper dark environment to dance away virtually anonymously. But the the biggest party was to be had on the mainstage, which the majority of the crowd congregated all weekend. The guys from DNA Presents organized yet another almost flawless event that continued on despite the testy weather conditions. Last year the rain shut down the mainstage for one day, but this year the music and fans braved on as the rain couldn't damper their high spirits. Below you'll find the 7 acts that really stood out from this year's Escapade: 

Armin Van Buuren

Armin t the best set of the festival as he proved once again how he's the king of the festival mainstage. Through the years I've seen him use music from a variety of genres to pump up the crowd - but this time he relied on the music that he has promoted tirelessly through his popular ASOT radio show - trance. 

He started off strong with dropping psy-trance, a genre that a few years ago would be an unlikely candidate to be played at a mainstage at any festival. But with Seven Lions, the sudden popularity of Vini Vinci and now Armin, psy-trance has become a mainstay. 

Armin has been busy in the studio for the past year and it showed on the Escapade stage as he played all of his latest tracks which were all well received. Some notable tracks included "The Last Dancer" with Shapov, "You Are" with Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano, and "Blah Blah". Armin asked the crowd if they wanted to be in a state of trance, when the crowd roared in the affirmative, the Dutch legend gave them exactly that and more. The last track played was "Take Me There" by Militia, which was last week's ASOT "tune of the week", a fitting end to a brilliant set. 

Chus + Ceballos

The most dancing to be had at the festival was during the Chus + Ceballos set on day 2. The Spanish underground duo are no strangers to the scene as they have played in all of the best venues, including the much beloved Stereo nightclub in Montreal. They felt at home at the underground stage as they rocked TD Place with a consistent yet intense beat that gave you no choice but to move your feet in unison. Fixated on their monitors, Chus + Ceballos kept it to the basics, which was to craft and create the absolute best set they can do within the time given. And did they ever do that and more as the beat never dropped as a continuous rhythmic beat which reverberated within the stadium which allowed fans to dance for the entirety of their set. These guys know what they’re doing and it was an absolute pleasure to have watch the craft of DJ'ing at the highest level. Highlights included the Shaf Huse remix of "Stupidfly" by Daniel Dubb, "See La" by Prok & Fitch, "Grush" by Danny Serrano and Mendo, and "Easy Star" by DJ Fronter. 

Purple Haze

When Sander Van Doorn announced his Purple Haze project a few years ago, which saw him return to trance and the underground, I was so happy. Having seen him on numerous live streams, including a few A State Of Trance appearances, my anticipation reached fever pitch by the time Escapade rolled around. His vibe was distinctly dark as he dropped driving trance with hints of techno.  He started off with the deeper "Voice of Silence" by Cristoph, and slowly built it up to trance with "Desire of Ages" by Joseph Areas, and the recent trance banger by Orjan Nilsen "Simulator". The set was rhythmic, had a driving energy, and most important of all - delighted the fans. Once of the last tracks included Standerwick's remix of "Coming Home" by Dash Berlin, which brought chills.

Cosmic gate

The trance didn't stop as the German legends Cosmic Gate owned the crowd as they played fresh tracks from Vol. 2 of their latest Materia album. A highlight was when they dropped their remix of a personal favourite track of mine, "Only road" by Gabriel and Dresden. Cosmic Gate got the crowd moving by giving them driving trance beats at a higher BPM mixed interspersed with their well known vocal melodic classics. The guys were animated behind the decks which is always fun to see. Cosmic Gate gave a lot of love to Anjunabeats as they played a multitude of tracks from the likes of Above and Beyond, with special mention to the excellent track by Ilan bluestone and Major Levi called "Will We Remain". When "Fall into you" played, the haunting vocals by Jes was goosebump worthy. 

Rezz

Following Carnage and Ty Dolla $ign came the recent Juno award winner Rezz who wow'ed the crowd with her beautiful visuals and her unrelenting bass beats. Needing only her tracks to get the crowd where it needed to go, Rezz unleashed her powerful tracks including her latest "H E X". When she took a break from her discography, Madeon's evil edit of "Shelter" stood out. 

Sydney Blu

The dreambox stage, tucked away behind the action, was rocking all day long with a great vibe and fans committed to dance. Sydney Blu killed it by dropping rhythmic house music for almost her entire set. She didn’t hold anything back as she never stopped moving behind the decks, being in lock step with the dancers at her side. 

Slander

By far some of the biggest bass drops and crowd reactions were had when the Los Angeles duo Slander took the stage. Slander delivered a ton of bass including the "Knockout" by Krimer with a mix of hip hop like a trap remix of "God's Plan", and random throwbacks like "Yeah!" by usher. Slander punished the crowd with non-stop nastiness that brought the Abderdeen Pavilion to fever pitch. Did they eventually bring it down to give themselves the room to play their chill "Superhuman" track. Fun set that stood out from the rest. 

Top 5 impressions from day 1 of the Escapade Music Festival

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1. Anjunabeats dominated on their branded stage and the mainstage

Ilan Bluestone bringing the feels on the Anjunabeats stage #escapademf #trance #edm #edmfestival #ottawa

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Mat Zo brought a big time set to #escapademf #anjunabeats #ottawa

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Day 1 of Escapade was a celebration of Anjunabeats styled music as they hosted their own stage in the historic Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne park and later taking over the mainstage with label heads Above & Beyond as Paavo and Jono showcased their iconic tracks. 

Ilan Bluestone and Andrew Bayer are two of the biggest acts to come from the Anjunabats family and they both showcased their discography with zeal, interactivity, and with personality behind the decks. Bluestone seemed more relaxed since his performance at RBC Bluesfest last year, while Bayer brought the crowd into his world every chance he got when he wasn't busy mixing.

But the MVP of the Anjunabeats Escapade experience goes to Mat Zo, who spun an Anjunabeats classic set that left the smaller yet enthusiastic crowd in awe. While Above & Beyond was on the mainstage, Mat Zo went 30 minutes over his planned set schedule to give us "Rebound", his track with Arty that was arguably one of their biggest singles back in the day. He then took the crowd on a true time warp as he brought out the Kyau & Albert remix of "6am" by Cressida (2008), the Wippenberg remix of "Needs To Feel" by Super8 & Tab (2007), and many more. Mat Zo looked happy behind the decks and was clearly feeling the set. It was a special moment to witness. 

2. MK and Shiba San had the Ottawa crowd vibing

The underground stage was nestled at TD Place Arena where you had to take 2 flights of stairs down to reach, which set the mood for the vibe to come. Escapade transformed the arena into a nightclub feel as it was dark and moody, and the environment stood on its own from the rest of the festival. The acoustics was excellent as MK and Shiba San took full advantage of the room as they both crafted memorable sets. 

Shiba San - click to zoom

Marc Kinchen unleashed his remixes, dubs, and edits on day 1 which included his remix of Rihanna's "Desperado" that got the crowd dancing. Shiba San continued where MK left off by mixing his own tracks like his collab with Will Clarke called "Give It To Me" with the heater "On The Corner" by Solardo. If you want to go dancing, check out both of these artists.  

3. Escapade at Lansdowne Park was flawless

A little over 2 weeks ago Escapade suddenly changed plans and moved the entire festival from Rideau Carleton Raceaway to Lansdowne Park. Major festivals like Escapade take 8 to 10 months to plan, and having only 2 weeks to prepare for the new location was a daunting task to say the least. But DNA Presents, the organizers behind Escapade, pulled it off to a spectacular effect as I found no issues with the layout, the line, the food, the sound, or the stages. Everything felt polished and well organized, everybody looked happy, and the set schedule was adhered to without any major complications. Hats off to DNA Presents for pulling this off. 

4. Sheridan Grout and DJ Karl k-otik made the local scene proud

Fans that decided to head over to Escapade early were rewarded with one of the best sets of the day with Ottawa's own Sheridan Grout and Montreal's DJ Kärl K-Otik playing a special B2B set. Sheridan Grout has been gaining international attention as his productions have been showcased multiple times on Armin's A State of Trance show while DJ Kärl K-Otik has been spinning trance sets in the Montreal scene for years. They played a peak trance set at 4 pm which felt like a 4 am set at the famous Circus Afterhours club in Montreal, and felt genuine chills as they belted out euphoric tunes. Ottawa and Montreal fans should take note and make it a point to check out their next shows.

5. The Fans

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From the line outside, to inside the festival grounds and in the middle of the mainstage crowd - the fans made the festival. Whenever MK or Shiba San played something special, the fans made it known. When Ilan Bluestone and Andrew Bayer interacted with the crowd, the crowd gave them love right back. When Slushii or Dada Life wanted the crowd to jump, they jumped with enthusiasm. You can read vibe of the crowd by the smiles on the faces from every DJ I saw yesterday. Hopefully that will continue as on as we head into day 2. 

To follow the live coverage of Escapade, make sure to follow EDM Canada on Instagram and Twitter: 

8 questions answered about the Escapade Music Festival happening this weekend in Ottawa

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Escapade is a 2-day festival happening this weekend at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa that is 93% sold out which will showcase some of the best DJs on the planet over 3 stages. Taking place just a few days before Canada day, Escapade is a special event in Ottawa that lets fans have a great time on the eve of Canada's 150 birthday. EDM Canada had a chance to speak with Ali Shafaee, the director of partnerships for Escapade, about the history of the festival, the lineup, location change, and how they made Escapade extra special for Canada's 150th birthday. 

Can you give fans the history of Escapade?

We're going into our 7th year, we kinda grew from an idea which is a one day downtown parking lot party for Canada Day. After 2 years of doing that we grew into a 2-day festival with 3 stages and 30,000 attendance. So it's grown a lot. We're based in Ottawa but a significant part of our attendance comes from the GTA area, Quebec, upstate New York, and even out east.

What makes Escapade special?

What we hear from fans is that Escapade is a “really large small festival”, if that makes sense. We have a lot of attendees and some of the biggest acts in the world, but when they come here they all remark at how “intimate” the vibe is. Everybody gets along with everyone, everyone is really friendly. We don't have massive distances in between our stages, which makes it more like a homey feel, where people feel comfortable.

We get the same thing with the artists, as they feel how into the crowd are into their sets and they have a great time. We're this big festival, but in a small city like Ottawa that has had great success.

Escapade has changed locations to Lansdowne Park - how will this new  location change how the fans interact with the festival?

Lansdowne Park is a 5-minute drive from the downtown core making it a central location for all festival goers and will be easier to get to using multiple forms of transportation. Our new home will also include free transportation via OC Transpo from anywhere in the city, two outdoor stages looking over the historic Rideau Canal and an Indoor arena stage with enhanced production.

Escapade is known for its diverse lineups – can you tell me the thought process on how you created the 2017 edition?

We tried to analyze what the fans want by doing a lot of polls throughout the year, and doing a recap at the end of the year with a survey. We want to know what the fan base wants in terms of music and festival. We've always been diverse in what we want to achieve and try to cover off as many genres as possible.

Richie Hawtin is an artist that is playing Escapade for the very first time and it's Canada's 150th birthday and he really wanted to make an impact by being in Canada and doing as many shows as possible and Escapade was a target of his. We're extremely excited to have Richie come and play the festival for the first time.

Tiesto also wanted to be a part of the 150th birthday for Canada and he's an icon who's played sold out shows all across the country. We jumped at the opportunity for him to come on board. We curated a Snails stage and he's Canadian from Montreal. So we tried our best to bring in as many genres and appease our fan base.

How many do you expect for the 2017 edition of Escapade?

We are on par from where we were from last year. 30 – 40% of our festival attendees come from outside of town. This is good for businesses and hotels in Ottawa to have that many people come from out of town to Escapade.

Who are you most excited to see at Escapade this year?

Richie Hawtin is definitely one that will be on my list. I don't think I've ever seen live so he's up there. I'm pretty excited to see Alan Walker, he's an up and coming act with a great show behind him. I think Alan Walker will be the surprise act of Escapade if I had to pick one.

What's your view on the current health of the festival outlook for 2017 and beyond?

There are festivals that are struggling or have been canceled in the last few years. A lot of factors go into that, like the over saturation of too many festivals. It could be the economy, the low Canadian dollar versus the American dollar, so there's a lot of different factors.

With Escapade, just as long as we evolve into what our fans are looking for, and looking at the trends on what our fans want, then we'll be okay. As soon as you start doing something that your audience isn't looking for, then you might have difficulties. Escapade tries to evolve every year and we'll continue to do that to 2018 and beyond.

Make your best pitch: why should fans go to Escapade this year?

To celebrate Canada's 150th, with in our opinion, the best lineup to date. A lot of people say that Escapade is one of the most fun weekends of their life.

Thank you to Ali Shafaee for the interview. For the latest information on Escapade including tickets, lineups, and upcoming set times - click here.