This Saturday, March 23rd, Kristina and I got the chance to check out Excision‘s Execution Tour with support from Paper Diamond and Vaski. The tour focused on providing a visual and lighting concept unseen by the E.D.M. community before, and likely to be hard to match, as well as showcasing a speaker system and set by Excision that provided a near-ear-drum shattering 100,000 watts of bass. This tour would also be the grand re-opening show of Echostage, D.C.'s largest nightlife concert venue, home to Club Glow and Panorama Productions' massive DJ and Dance inspired events.
While initial response to the venue re-opening was met with some negative aspects, i.e. construction delays leading to late opening, and bathroom facility issues causing the shared use of one men's room, the venue more then made up for it's set backs with patient and courteous security officers, and friendly and enthusiac bar servers providing fast service for patrons wanting anything from mixed drinks to a simple bottle of water. Echostage's appeal became instantly clear upon approach of the venue, in that it mimics a 90's warehouse rave feel, with the modern conviences and confronts of an inner city nightclub. As the night continued and the music started it became increasing clear that all initial issues would be soon forgotten, and that the stage upgrades and facility improvements were well-received by seasoned Echostage patrons as well as newcomers to the D.C. scene.
The tour started off with a bang as Vaski pumped up the crowd with a trap mix of some of his original best, (Hardstyle, Zombie Apocalypse), and some heavy mash-ups of hip-hop beats and crowd favorites, setting the stage for fellow tour supporter Paper Diamond. Paper Diamond kept audience energy high with bouncing drops and his own trap mixes of crowd favorites such as “Spectrum” and “Sweet Nothing.” You could feel it in the air. Energy was through the roof both on stage and in the crowd, and the audience was ready for the spectacle of the night; Excision massive set, fondly called the Executioner.
When the lights went up, on what this reporter can only describe as a transformer descending into the midst of the crowd, and the smoke cleared, and bass roared to life, the entire audience went into overdrive. Echostage was a living, breathing, vibrating beast of Dubstep. The trap door opened in the middle of the stage, and a dark robotic voice transformed this mild mannered looking DJ into the bringer of death, and oh how sweet death would sound. As the set began the crowd transformed into a raucous dancing free for all, the kind seen only before at hardcore and metal shows. The bass had taken hold and the volume was so great that we both instantly regretted and delighted in the fact we had forgotten Earplugs. It made my contacts vibrate, and Kristina had suddenly become conscience of the movement of her nostrils. It was the most visceral concert experience I have ever had in my life. The monstrous set and visual presentation paired perfectly with the dirty grinding bass of Excision's signature style, and the ringing we, and anyone else present would have in our ears for the next few days to come well worth the experience we received. We saw the future of a genre that night, and the future is pretty epic.
photographs by Tania Hauyon
After Excision's set finished, and my heart stopped pounding outside my chest from the guttural pulse of the Executioner's growl, special guest Dirtyphonics took the stage keeping the energy high, and the lingering enthusiasm of the late crowd going until 4 am.
All in all the show is something you definitely need to check out while tour dates remain, and you can check it out here:
http://www.executiontour.com/
Also be sure to check out other Echostage productions and events as their continued efforts to grow the venue and the D.C. EDM scene go on.
http://www.echostage.com/
