From the moment Richie Hawtin took over the decks from Maya Jane Coles, he wasted no time to set the mood to a darker tone. Originally set to play an hour earlier, the weather issues that plagued Day 2 of Escapade had pushed his set to 9 pm. Hawtin wore his classic minimalist black attire, but instead of looser fitting sleeveless shirt he wore at a Montreal show 5 years ago, this time it looked like a custom fit.
The whole set was dark and moody as Richie Hawtin made frequent adjustments to the beat, bringing up the tempo and lowering it, adding a loop, a vocal clip, and whatever other sounds contained within the Canadian artists large arsenal. It seemed like there were no tracks played in a traditional sense as his show felt like one stream of consciousness as Richie Hawtin consistently analyzed the crowd and made adjustments based on how he wanted the crowd to react. At one point a fan from the front row caught his eye who was egging him on, in reaction he went to his mixer and within a few seconds the tempo was turned up. He then looked back at the fan and both nodded in approval.
With no graphics on the video screen and only minimal lighting, he let his music create the mood, and he did it to a powerful effect. Richie Hawtin wanted to be in Canada to help celebrate its 150th birthday, and he gave the country a special gift at Escapade.
2. JUSTICE (WAYHOME, TORONTO)