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Festival Fever: Elements Fest

March 13, 2012

Boodang and Connected present: Elements Music Festival, Edmonton AB

Welcome back to Festival Fever, your weekly stop featuring Canada’s best and some of the world’s biggest electronic music festivals. This week we are heading to Edmonton, Alberta to learn about the brand new Elements Music Festival taking place next month. Put together by two well established promotion companies, this festival is starting off big by presenting more than 30 headliners and making over 24,000 tickets available for the two day affair. Boodang, one of two teams responsible for this production has been bringing huge names to the west coast for 11 years and is undeniably part of the driving force behind Alberta’s dance music scene. The other dedicated team behind Elements, Connected Events, has a reputation for keeping the west coast captivated with their series of exciting weekly club parties and tirelessly presenting shows featuring international headliners. The background these companies possess will certainly help push their newest endeavour into the spotlight. Yet another testament to the growth of the EDM scene in Canada, Elements Music Festival is sure to garner volumes of attention and could easily place itself among the biggest our country has to offer.

Taking place at the beautifully designed Edmonton Expo Centre during the weekend of Friday April 27th and 28th, the inaugural Elements Music Festival will be impressive to say the least. The expo centre is located near downtown and makes up a significant portion of the Northlands Complex. Northlands Entertainment has hosted trade shows and events since 1879 and over time has grown into the largest complex of its kind west of Toronto. The first ever exhibition with 275 attendees took place in 1879, and now 133 years later, 4,000,000 guests attend more than 2500 events each year. With half a million square feet of flexible space and all the state-of-the-art technology you can find, it is quite evident why the Edmonton Expo Centre was a perfect fit for an event of this magnitude.

With a different approach to the festival feel, Elements will consist of four very separate, uniquely designed rooms, each of which will produce its own distinct musical and sensory experience. Fittingly named after the four elements: earth, water, fire and wind these four rooms will each provide a feel to match the name. The Earth room will host a cast of international headliners ready to play a series of hard hitting and progressive house sets. Festival goers in the Water room will be privy to a number of uplifting trance sets played by many of the biggest names in the industry. Dubstep will be the main attraction of the Fire room although other genres such as Drum & Bass will also be making appearances as a long list of artists lay down routines loaded with heavy bass and mesmerizing vocals. Powered by renowned PK Sound, the Fire arena will certainly provide spectacular sounds, intense visuals and precise feedback to immerse the fans further into the music. Anyone feeling the need for a break or just wanting to catch some air will head into the Wind room. Providing ample space to sit back, all the concessions and merchandise stands, a variety of art installations and a first aid area just in case, the calm atmosphere and lounge feel of this arena is likely to keep it busy throughout the very eventful two days.

Tickets

The depth of talent Boodang and Connected Events are bringing together to create this high-energy festival is spectacular. Day one in the Earth room will include performances from Jericho, Seelo Mundo, Nestor Delano, Mikey Daroza, as well as Burns. All of these talented house DJs will lay the groundwork for the world renowned artists to come. Michael Woods, Thomas Gold and Wolfgang Gartner will then set the mood right for the headliner of the night. Calvin Harris, having won a boat load of awards for his contributions on many of the most influential tracks of the past few years and known for his up-beat electro house style, will close down the Earth room Friday night with his mastery of music. The agenda for opening night in the Water room also offers significant performances by renowned artists. Fez, Sterling Kidd vs. Serge, DJ Cain, Bhavesh vs. Deejay Dang and Blake Jarrell will all take the stage with hypnotizing trance beats before the headliners of the night come up to captivate the audience. Next up will be world touring Wippenberg followed by the international duo, Cosmic Gate, who brings with them the ever so popular Emma Hewitt. The night will not be complete until trance legend Markus Schulz performs, currently ranked 9th in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll, Markus will fascinate the crowd with his abundance of world class hits and international flair. Over in the Fire room, the anxious fans will be treated to several bass heavy sets performed by a stellar cast of artists. Kicking things off with performances by Grimey Tec vs. Mike Science, Random Here vs. Phil Lam, David Stone, Van Damage, Andy’s Ill and Varien will set the tone for the upcoming acclaimed artists to grace the decks. Mord Fustang is on next with his signature sound and he will no doubt have the crowd ready for the two headlining groups of the evening. The Australian superstar group, Pendulum, will then tear up the stage and will be followed by Chase & Status’ enthralling DJ set. Clearly, the Friday line up at Elements is quite robust and will set up the next day perfectly, if you can’t make it on opening night, make sure you don’t miss day two, you might regret it.

Elements Music Festival is undoubtedly helping with the rapid growth of EDM in Canada, and will likely establish a name for itself from the first installment. The final day of this brand new festival comes with a plethora of international talent once again. The Earth room will host another long list of headliners, Jenn Losinsky, Mazik vs. Andy Eff and Big Daddy will all lay down steady house sets. Otto Knows then takes the stage and will surely entertain the crowd with his hot bouncy style. The Swedish duo known as Cazzette will be next up with their distinct style which has been coined “Dubhouse”. The popular pair of Spencer & Hill will then keep the crowd dancing as the much anticipated headliners prepare to work the decks. Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano will perform before the talented Montreal born A-Trak makes an appearance with his versatile skills and international experience. Last but not least, one third of the Swedish House Mafia, Sebastian Ingrosso will wow the audience by concluding the night with his range of international mega hits and create memorable experiences for all the lucky fans in attendance.

The other two stages will be equally loaded with international talent on day two. The lineup for the Water room on Saturday is no slouch and promises to be an incredible show with the likes of Grumpboiz, Mikey Wong, Neal K, Dezza and Lisa Lashes warming up the crowd. The next artist is Coone who will keep the atmosphere going with his hard trance sound. Marco V from the Netherlands will then prepare the crowd for what is still to come with his tech style trance productions. The night will come to an end in the Water arena to the sounds of ATB, currently ranked 15th in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll and has remained in the top 20 for years now. ATB aka Andre Tanneberger has been touring the planet ever since his hit single “’9pm” topped the UK charts over 10 years ago. This German superstar has released nearly 10 international albums and is known for producing engaging piano riffs that keep the party vibrant, a great way to end the festival on the trance stage. The dynamic sounds of Erupshyn vs. Travis Lydiatt, Panty Droppers, Phatcat, and Zomboy will blast open the Saturday festivities in the Fire room with loads of overwhelming bass lines. DJ Lucky Date will then play before the Israeli dubstep sensation, Borgore, drops in with his heavy metal influenced tracks. Two brothers known as Showtek are scheduled next to throw down a one off set that will satisfy the crowd. This Dutch duo is considered one of the pioneers of hardstyle, producing hits for the better part of a decade and admirably helping push the popularity of their genre into the mainstream has lead the brothers to much success. Showtek will be a perfect complement to the Fire room before the main act graces the stage. Canada’s very own dubstep superstar, Datsik, takes the reigns to finish off the night. Recently releasing work under established Dim Mak records and touring with Steve Aoki’s Deadmeat Tour has helped Datsik establish himself as one of the world’s premier dubstep artists. This young star has a record of electrifying audiences with his energetic performances, hence the headlining spot. Both days of this festival will be loaded with incredible music and brilliant visual displays, while you’re there make sure you indulge in all four elements.

All the music heard throughout the weekend will not only be produced or performed by big name DJs. The Elements Music Festival DJ Contest is searching for up and coming artists from across Canada, all applicants are submitting mixes in hopes of being selected to play in an opening slot at the festival. The lucky winner will not only be given a chance to showcase their talent, they are also provided airfare to and from their home town as well as accommodations for the duration of their stay in Edmonton. What a unique opportunity, do you have what it takes to play at Elements? Submit your mix on their Facebook page and find out.

This event is seemingly destined for greatness, with a cast of international superstars and two extremely successful companies backing it, Elements Music Festival is not only creating a buzz on the west coast but all across Canada. Considering the solid reputation of both production companies, we wouldn’t be surprised if a few fan favourites were added to the line up in the coming weeks, who might it be? Make sure to keep up with upcoming news and announcements here, and buy your tickets!

Next week we cover Decadence, a one day event taking place at the highly touted Guvernment Complex in Toronto, Canada. The names scheduled to work the decks for this annual celebration on April 5th will draw plenty of attention. Check back next week for the details.

If you know of any Canadian or International electronic music festivals we should be covering, please email Stef at festivals@djmag.ca

See you next week!

Stef Abrek