On June 28th and 29th I attended the Escapade Music Festival, a four day event featuring the best and latest of electronic dance music. I was invited to attend by a good friend Natalia, editor of EDM TOR, and through her was able to get an all-access pass to the festival. As someone who is not that well-versed in electronic dance music, I had no idea what to expect. This was my first music festival outside of Bluesfest and my first in-depth experience with the EDM scene. I had seen Dash Berlin perform earlier in the year and have listened to the more mainstream producers such as Tiësto and Benny Benassi. However, Escapade was something else entirely for me and I was both excited and nervous for it.
The first day at the festival felt more like an introduction to EDM than anything else. Through my friend I was able to learn the differences between the music being played at the three different stages. We ventured throughout the day but we mostly hung out at the Deep End stage. Because the weather during the day was so hot and humid, I held back from dancing until the sun went down. We were able to see some of Fedde Le Grand, a producer who I had recognized and was a fan of, and Eric Prydz. These two acts were great and I really enjoyed dancing to their music!
What I did notice immediately on the first day were the amount of people in costumes and crazy get-ups. Some people wore full-on body suits and some were decked out in beads, jewels, and feathers. The weather was so hot, I have no idea how they were able to withstand the heat in their costumes, but they looked great! Apparently dressing up is a big part of the EDM scene, though I did find it insensitive for some to wear a Native American headdress. Other than that though, the costumes and get-ups were wonderful to see.
Natalia and Veronica on shuttle to Escapade day 1
The second day of the festival was the more memorable day for me because of the producers who performed and the work involved. Since my friend was working during the festival, there were a couple of things that needed to be done before we left that day. One of the things was interview producer Guy J. I had no idea who Guy J was, but I was excited to meet him. He was a bit shy, but very polite and accommodating to the interview. Throughout the whole interview, which took place in the green room, I sat quietly next to another producer, Carnage. I also had no idea who he was but was still amazed that I could spend time with these people. I had either just come from hearing their music live or was getting ready to see them perform that very evening.
Finally, with the night winding down, I saw the last act at the Temple of Bass stage: Zeds Dead. Their music, as well as much of the music played at that stage, was aggressive and grungy. At least that’s what it sounded like to me as someone who knows very little of dubstep or any bass-type music. I also noticed that there were more guys than girls at this particular stage. It could have to do with the type of music being played, as it’s been acknowledged by some that guys do prefer a more harsh and aggressive type of electronic music. I found that to be interesting and am eager to see if that is indeed true the next time I attend an EDM show.
Veronica Fiallos – EDM TOR
