Monthly Archives: June 2012

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Freaknight 2012 Announcement

USC Events just announced that Freaknight 2012 will be held on Friday October 26th, 2012 at the WaMu Theater.   You can RSVP on Facebook here.  As of today, the only artist announced is Morgan Page.  Unfortunately, Morgan Page fan club presale tickets to Freaknight 2012 almost instantly sold-out, I will comment here if any more are released (if any readers find any cheaper tickets please comment as well!).   Last year, many fans were able to save a significant amount of money by bypassing Ticketmaster fees and purchasing directly through Tiesto. 

Stay tuned to EmeraldCityEDM for the latest updates on Freaknight 2012, and stay up to date on upcoming electronic dance music events in the Seattle area by following the EmeraldCityEDM Events Calendar!

 

Freaknight Links:

Facebook event page

USC Events website event page

 

 

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2012 Decibel Festival – Lineup additions

Orbital, The Cannaboids ft. Erykah Badu, Carl Craig and Shpongle have been added to the 2012 Decibel Festival  lineup!  Decibel is an International Festival of Electronic Music held annually in Seattle, Washington.  Per press release issued 6/27/2012: 

Decibel Festival Founder & Curator Sean Patrick Horton: 

“As I reflect on the 2012 Decibel Festival line-up, it is clear to me that our creative scope is continuing to expand along with our audience. This being our ninth program, I must also look ahead towards our monumental 10th edition in 2013, and what that could mean for us as an organization. One thing is for certain, I’ve never been more excited to unveil what I believe to be our most adventurous and complete line-up to date.  Before I do so, I’d like to highlight a couple key cultural developments that have brought us to where we are today. 

In recent years, electronic dance music or “EDM” has been riding a wave of success unlike any we’ve ever seen in North America. Though Decibel has benefited from and even played a role in this growth over the years, the majority of our audience were supporting electronic music long before it reached the mainstream. In fact, it was the lack of acceptance that provided impetus for me to found Decibel in 2003.  Putting together this year’s line-up, I made a conscious effort to avoid jumping on the bandwagon and instead focus on a diverse  selection of artists that I feel have a unique and influential voice that spreads will beyond the  current hype. This was a calculated decision on my part and one that I feel will lead to lasting relationships with both our audience and the artists we support.

Another trend I was conscious of this year was that excessively loud, over-produced sound design. In many ways this trend has bridged the gap between teen-angst and music technology. Though I find it to be a fascinating cultural development, creatively I simply can’t relate to the music and experience as I once did. What has been resonating with me is the evolution of soul, hip hop, pop, disco and world music via contemporary electronic music. The beauty and raw emotion conveyed in so much of the music I’ve discovered over the past year signals a change, much of which I attribute to women playing a more active role as electronic music producers, deejays, performers and fans. As I mentioned in my previous correspondence, this is our most diverse line-up both in terms of the amount of countries represented and the amount of female performers (22 countries and more than 20% feature female performers).

Though we still have much more to announce (e.g. complete program, schedule, dB Conference, after parties, boat parties, updated partners and dB films to be announced on July 25th) the creative direction of this year’s festival should be abundantly clear based on the line-up presented below. I encourage you all once again to explore our new website and actively participate in social media exchanges over the next three months. September will be here before you know it!”

 

Tickets:  2nd tier discounted passes are currently available for 25% off the door price via bookr.com or dbfestival.com.  The Decibel Festival Pass gives you full access to all festival events, except shows that are not part of the official Decibel Festival, and where extreme capacity restrictions apply (boat parties, certain co-sponsored events, etc).

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Announcement: Pretty Lights – Illumination North American Tour

Pretty Lights just released tour dates for his 2012 “Illumination” North American Tour.  While sadly Seattle and the Gorge are NOT on any of the dates released today, he did post on Twitter that “a few more North American dates for the Illumination Autumn tour will be announced soon”!!!!!!  The tour will stop by Vancouver, B.C. on July 22nd and  Portland, Oregon on November 1st Eugene, Oregon on September 13th (apologies, Portland date is actually Portland, Maine, not Portland, Oregon).  Find more information about the tour here including an up-to-date list of tour dates (dates announced today are posted below), and sign up for the fan club to get presale ticket access here.

About the tour, Derek states “Good music is good music. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bangin’ dirty beat or an ambient beautiful interlude. I’ve been hard at work on a new album for more than a year.  I’ve completely switched up my process of producing & composing.  It is being created from all originally composed samples off of self made vinyl and all analog modular synthesis. It is and has truly been a massive undertaking, and there are many more surprises in store besides what I’ve mentioned, including a mini documentary about the making of the album.  Soon people will see why I’ve put so much time into this collection of music. I’m bringing the true album back. Prolific, conceptual, consistent, yet extremely diverse, and a real substantial piece of music you can sink your teeth into, not a flimsy EP or an album filled with remixes.  I’m talking about the real shit. I’m talking about taking it to the next level and really pushing the evolution of not only electronic music but musical expression in general. The 2012 Illumination Tour will be the place to hear (and SEE) a lot of what this upcoming PL release has in store.“

Tour Dates announced 6/25/2012:

July 6 2012 – Les Ardentes Festival – Liege, BE
July 7 2012 – Roskilde Festival – Roskilde. DK
July 13 2012 – Fort York – Toronto, CA
July 14 2012 – Ottawa Blues Fest – Ottawa, CA
July 15 2012 – Parc Jean Drapeau – Montreal, CA
July 18 2012 – Shaw Park – Winnipeg, CA
July 20 2012 – Kinsmen Park – Edmonton, CA
July 22 2012 – PNE Forum – Vancouver, CA
Aug. 11 2012 – Shambhala Music Festival – Salmo, BC
Aug. 17 2012 – Red Rocks Amphitheater – Denver, CO
Aug. 18 2012 – Red Rocks Amphitheater – Denver, CO
Aug. 23 2012 – Midland Theatre – Kansas City, MO
Aug. 24 2012 – Midway Festival – Columbia, MO
Aug. 25 2012 – Westfair Amphitheater – Council Bluffs, IA
Aug. 26 2012 – Summer Set Festival – Somerset, WI
Aug. 29 2012 – LC Pavilion – Columbus, OH
Aug. 30 2012 – nTelos Wireless Pavilion – Charlottesville, VA
Aug. 31 2012 – Electric Zoo – New York, NY
Sep. 1 2012 – Stage AE – Pittsburgh, PA
Sep. 2 2012 – North Coast Music Festival – Chicago, IL
Sep. 5 2012 – Big Sky Brewery Amphitheater – Missoula, MT
Sep. 6 2012 – Knitting Factory – Boise, ID
Sep. 8 2012 – Summit Pavilion – Reno, NV
Sep. 9 2012 – Blue Lake Casino – Blue Lake, CA
Sep. 13 2012 – Cuthbert Amphitheater – Eugene, OR
Sep. 14 2012 – Bill Graham Civic Center – San Francisco, CA
Sep. 15 2012 – Shrine Auditorium – Los Angeles, CA
Sep. 16 2012 – Marquee Dayclub – Las Vegas, NV
Sep. 18 2012 – Comerica Theatre – Phoenix, AZ
Sep. 19 2012 – Convention Center – Albuquerque, NM
Sep. 21 2012 – The Backyard – Austin, TX
Sep. 23 2012 – Bayou Music Center – Houston, TX
Sep. 25 2012 – Brady Theater – Tulsa, OK
Sep. 26 2012 – Riverfest Amphitheatre – Little Rock, AR
Sep. 28 2012 – MSU Horsepark Arena – Starkville, MS
Sep. 29 2012 – CounterPoint Music Festival – Atlanta, GA
Oct. 2 2012 – The Fillmore at Jackie Gleason Theatre – Miami, FL
Oct. 3 2012 – UCF Arena – Orlando, FL
Oct. 5 2012 – BayFest – Mobile, AL
Oct. 6 2012 – Mardi Gras World – New Orleans, LA
Oct. 31 2012 – TD Garden – Boston, MA
Nov. 1 2012 – State Theatre – Portland, ME
Nov. 2 2012 – Oakdale Theatre – Wallingford, CT
Nov. 3 2012 – Times Union Center – Albany, NY
Nov. 4 2012 – Tower Theatre – Philadelphia, PA
Nov. 9 2012 – The Township Auditorium – Columbia, SC
Nov. 10 2012 – Bojangles Coliseum – Charlotte, NC
Nov. 13 2012 – Boutwell Auditorium – Birmingham, AL
Nov. 17 2012 – Compuware Arena – Detroit, MI

Ticket info: 

Fan Club presale for shows through Oct 6th begins Wednesday, June 27th at 10am Local Time at  prettylights.frontgatetickets.com.  Public on sale for shows through Oct 6th begins Friday,  June 29th at 10 am Local Time at http://plmusic.pl/tour.   Tickets for the second half of The Illumination Tour will go on sale in a few weeks.

Get your tickets in advance for a chance to purchase The Exclusive Limited Edition PL Illumination Tour Tee and Women’s Tank Top designed by renowned artist ISO50.  This tee and tank top with the new design on front, and the tour dates on back is available only with an advanced ticket purchase for the Illumination Tour.

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Song of the Day – Salva remix of Mercy by Kanye West

Well, looks like we have the song of the summer here readers – I couldn’t even count how many times I heard this track dropped at Paradiso, it’s a big one!  I’ve been checking out many remixes popping up around the interwebs, and the RL Grime & Salva remix is definitely my favorite so far.

I did greatly enjoy the Figure dubstep remix quite a bit when he dropped it at Paradiso, but in my opinion this track deserves more/bigger drops and could have a bit more filth.   Still waiting on that killer dubstep remix that I know is out there, just haven’t heard a dubstep version that really stands out to me yet – if you have a favorite please comment!

Event Alert:  Salva will be performing at Bassdrop Music Washington’s upcoming event:  Machinedrum vs. Salva at Chop Suey on July 27th, you can find more information and RSVP on facebook here.

 

Get it:

Song of the Day:  RL Grime & Salva remix - Mercy by Kanye West:

 
 
Runner-up:  Figure remix – Mercy by Kanye West:

 
 
Bonus!  Digging this dubstep remix by Love Thy Brother of Metric’s new track Artificial Nocturne:

 
 

Note:  Stay tuned for EmeraldCityEDM’s Paradiso Festival event review/recap, coming soon!

 

 

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Paradiso Festival – Seattle Times Afrojack interview

Check out the Seattle Times’ interview with Afrojack regarding the upcoming Paradiso Festival:  ”Paradiso Festival at the Gorge showcases electronic dance music“.   The article states that Afrojack “is expecting a wildly enthusiastic crowd at the Gorge“!  The article also states that “In addition to music, Paradiso will feature a 96-foot-high lighted Ferris wheel“, awwwww yeah! 

More information about Paradiso is available in EmeraldCityEDM’s latest Paradiso festival update post. 

 

 

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USC Events – Seattle Times article

Interesting article on USC Events by the Seattle Times: “Seattle impresario Chad Anderson at epicenter of electronic dance music“

 

The article states that  “Seattle embraced EDM long before it became trendy and currently boasts more than a dozen electronic dance clubs“, “Anderson plans to launch a digital-music label, Conscious Records, and open a new, 650-capacity electronic dance club, Foundations, in Belltown”, and regarding hosting an event at the Gorge, Anderson states “It was like the dream at the end of the rainbow…I thought, ‘Someday we’re going to throw an event there.’ And now we’re there. I can’t wait to be at The Gorge, standing up on the hill and saying, ‘OK, it’s real’ “.

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Song/EP of the Day – Krewella

Today’s featured track is the Krewella remix of their own Rise & Fall by Adventure Club ft. Krewella.  This track was first remixed by KDrew, but the third time is the charm in my opinion with Krewella taking one more stab and adding some lovely synth-filth:

 

Bonus Bonus!  If you enjoy Krewella be sure to check out their debut EP “Play Hard” which includes a few of my favorites – “One Minute” & “Killin It”:

Purchase EP via Beatport

D/l via Rapidgator*

Listen via Soundcloud

*Please remember to financially support your favorite artists by either purchasing the tracks when released or attending their events.

 

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Paradiso Festival update 6/18/2012

Hi EmeraldCityEDM readers, I wanted to clarify that as of 6/18/2012, the Paradiso Festival is NOT sold out.  GA tickets were briefly unavailable on Ticketmaster over the weekend, however per USC Events statement on 6/18/2012:   ”Tickets are not sold out – there is a glitch on Ticketmaster that will be fixed soon.”  See the USC Events statement for yourself via comments on the Facebook Event page.

However, per this press release published 6/5/2012, Paradiso is billed as the “largest Electronic dance music event ever staged in the Pacific Northwest”.  Attendance is expected to exceed 20,000 people.  With the capacity of the Gorge at approximately 23,000 people, Paradiso is EXPECTED to sell out – though it is not sold out as of the writing of this post. 

See you at the Gorge!  
 

 

Schedule:

Full lineup as of 6/18/2012:
Avicii
Afrojack
Above & Beyond
Craze
Digitalism (DJ set)
Dillon Francis
Dodge & Fuski
Donald Glaude
Excision
Figure
Fury
Kill the Noise
Knife Party
LA Riots
Michael Woods
Nervo
Quintino*
R3hab
Skism

*Chris Lake was replaced with Quintino, read more about this change here.

Local Artists performing at Paradiso: Johnny Monsoon, DJ Dig-Dug, Hyperfunk, Sidestep, Allya, Kreeper & Myk, Aaron Simpson, James Renegade & Token, Kryspin, Wheelz, Pressha, Keano Martinez, E.N.D., Jimi Jaxon, Shauk, Como Se Va, Glitch & Swagga, JJ Salvador.

 

Paradiso Festival links:

Facebook event page
ParadisoFestival official website
Purchase tickets online through Ticketmaster/LiveNation